I lift my hand slightly, staring at it like it might give me answers, not at all knowing where to even start.
Then, I take a deep breath, muttering to myself under my breath, “Okay. Just…focus.”
On what, I have no idea, but I close my eyes anyway.
I try to remember the feeling from before, that pulse and the way it moved through me without permission. I reach for it now. Rather than on a physical level, I search within myself, as I might to draw out my inner wolf and initiate my shift.
For a while, nothing happens even while I concentrate on the barely-there hum under my skin. Then, without warning, I feel a flicker. At first, it’s soft and unsteady, causing my breath to catch.
Through my surprise, I let go of it and collected myself before trying again.
I concentrate harder, letting the restlessness fuel it, and allowing the frustration to bleed into something more controlled. Before I know it, the air around me changes, and a faint ripple brushes against my skin, like heat waves lingering in the distance.
When my eyes snap open, a small, almost invisible distortion hovers just above my hand, trembling as if it might disappear at any second.
Unable to bridle the excitement it brings me, realizing now that I have something useful to pull from, I grin to myself. “Okay…that’s something.”
I push a little more as I ride the high of progress, and as I hold it a moment longer, the ripple wavers, and at the slightest drop of concentration, it snaps out of existence.
Blinking and realizing it will likely take a long time for me to master something so unpredictable, I sigh to myself and sit back a bit. “Right. Still terrible at this.”
“I wouldn’t call it terrible.”
With a jolt, I glance over, catching Zane standing in the doorway with his arms crossed while he watches me.
I was so focused on seeing what I could do that I didn’t even sense him entering the room. The thought annoys me, but I push it aside.
“How long have you been standing there?”
He shrugs like it’s nothing. “Long enough.”
I scowl. “Creep.”
He ignores that, stepping further into the room. “That was controlled compared to before.”
Staring at him for a moment, I try to gauge his expression and body language, waiting for the reaming to begin. Instead, he looks just as calm as usual, and his words sound sincere.
“You’re not going to lecture me?”
His brow furrows slightly, like he doesn’t know what I’m talking about. “About what?”
“Using magic,” I gesture vaguely at where the ripple had been before it dissipated. “For losing control, and being a ‘liability.’”
The corner of his mouth twitches, and he considers his words before letting go of a simple response. “That’s tempting.”
I huff to myself and barely resist the urge to roll my eyes. “Of course it is.”
“But no,” Zane continues, sitting on the nearby love seat. “I’m more interested in what you’re doing.”
That throws me off more than if he’d started criticizing me, and for a beat, I don’t even know what to say. I clear my throat softly. “You’re actually interested?”
“Yeah.”
I hesitate, then I murmur, “I don’t really know what I’m doing. I’m just trying to figure it out. It’s not very impressive.”
Looking at me with genuine interest, he doesn’t entertain the latter statement. Instead, he asks, “How does it feel?”
Glancing at my hand again, a small piece of me worries this kind of thing might have an expiry, or that if I can’t find a way to control it, I might really become a problem for more than just Zane and his Alpha buddies.
