Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
To my lake.
Home?
Yes.
And no.
Pieces of me started fusing back together. Pieces I wanted. Others I didn’t as I stopped in front of the thickest part of the Primal mist. Behind me, the reeds continued brushing against one another, swishing in time with my heartbeat.
I could will the Primal mist to part. I could open the gateway. I could because I could do anything I wanted—
A scent reached me. Fresh and citrusy and stronger than before. I spun, a low growl rumbling from my throat as the reeds shook and parted.
A wolf stalked out onto the road, its fur a glossy silver in the dimming starlight and lavender-streaked skies. The beast was huge, a good head taller than me, broader at the shoulders. And a predator to his core.
But he was a beautiful creature, and I wanted to run again because I knew he would give chase. He’d been doing so for hours, tracking me across the river and into the woods. It was in his nature to do so.
But he hadn’t been hunting me. I knew this, even in my…nota form. He’d been watching over me, as he had done for most of my life.
The silver beast drew closer, its intelligent gaze locking with mine. Silver eyes.
I froze.
The wolf stopped a foot from me and then changed. It was like the stars themselves danced over the wolf’s fur in a wave of shimmering, silvery light that lasted for only a second or two. The silver fur retracted. Hard, golden-bronze flesh appeared. Muscles lengthened, becoming leaner. Paws shrank and thinned, becoming fingers. Legs with a dusting of dark hair formed, and then arms.
His scent…
A man now crouched before me in the same place the wolf had been—a russet-haired man I knew was tall even though he wasn’t standing.
My gaze flickered over his features. The high, broad cheekbones were familiar. So was the full mouth. I…I knew those lips. Had felt them on my skin. Heard them whisper sweet words. But this was no mere man. He was powerful.
Primal.
A Primal of Death.
And he was…
The mist drifted over the road, drawing my attention back to the wall. To the gateway.
“Liessa,” he spoke, and I shuddered at the shadowy sound of his voice. “You can’t go through there. Not like this.”
My head snapped back to his, and our eyes locked.
“Plus, you must be tired,” he said, keeping his voice low. Gentle. “You’ve been running for hours.” He glanced up at the pink-and-purple-streaked sky. “Dawn is approaching.” His chest rose in a shallow breath, and then he extended a hand. “Let’s go home.”
Home.
I leaned forward and sniffed his hand. Fresh air. Citrus. His scent.
My other half.
My heartmate.
My King.
Husband.
My everything.
He was mine, and I was his.
The cork in the neck of the vessel loosened even more. I became more of myself and less the wild, free animal. My gaze shot to his arm. The four half-moon cuts were gone. So was the blood, but I could still see it in my mind. My head lowered.
He dropped his arm. “I’m fine, liessa,” he assured me, somehow sensing where my mind had gone. “But I’ll be perfect once you come back to me.”
I wanted that, but I…
I wanted to be free. There was no looming war or crown I didn’t even want. I was stronger in this form. I was myself. Nothing could gain the upper hand. If they tried, they wouldn’t have a hand—or a head. In this form, I could be the monster.
He lifted his arm again, once more extending a hand to me.
Hissing, I swiped out a paw in warning.
He didn’t even flinch.
His hand didn’t waver.
“Come back to me.” He tilted his head, and a lock of hair kissed his cheek. “Will you do that? Please?”
A shudder went through me. I was never able to deny him when he said please. No matter what. No matter what form I took—unless it was for something I wasn’t ready to share.
I stepped toward him and then stopped. I wasn’t even sure how I’d turned into this or why it had happened, so I didn’t know how to come back to him.
“All you have to do is will it.” A charge of energy passed between us as his fingers sifted through the fur on my cheek. “Like you do when using the eather. Just want it, liessa.”
Something beautiful.
Something powerful.
Closing my eyes, I nuzzled his palm and then concentrated. I wanted it, so I willed it.
The change came at me faster than before. Silvery light appeared all over my limbs and then washed over my body just as it had done with Ash. The process was far more fluid. Tendons loosened as my bones contracted, snapping back into place. My fingers thinned and lengthened, and my jaw shrank. I felt my hair slide over my shoulders, but I never felt the roughness of the road beneath my bare knees.