LIANA
I feel good. Really good. The pain has just gone and damn, I feel amazing! Lean, strong… Goddess, I feel so strong. It’s just flowing out of me in waves and damn, it feels incredible.
Opening my eyes, I look to Lucian who’s staring back at me with a wild look. I don’t quite feel completely myself right now. I’m more animal than I’ve ever felt. I can’t even reach him through the link.
His stance lowers slightly and he skulks to the side with a soft, guttural growl.
Well, that works magic on me. When he lowers his front down into a bowing kind of position, my wolf lets out the strangest yip I’ve ever heard from her and..
Oh Goddess, really?!
He stays put and keeps his eyes down while we quite literally strut around him in a circle, my wolf whipping her tail around his in a kind of teasing dance. Reaching his front again, I end up surprising myself with my next move. As he stands up, we bow forward, leaving our ass in the air in a very undignified pose.
Without hesitation, he plunges his face down to smell me. I swear if I was human right now I’d be dying of embarrassment… So why is this so hot?
My whine screams desperation when he gives me a gentle lick. Just before he goes to climb onto me, I whip around and nip at his neck gently.
It definitely takes him and me by surprise, and he starts panting. No doubt my taste is lingering on his tongue. Without any warning. I dart from the room and start running through the house.
His howl cuts through the air and tells me I can run but I won’t get away from him. He’s happy to chase and is giving me a head start. Leaping out of the patio doors, I take to the grounds of the estate with speed, my paws digging into the dirt and my tongue lolling out into the fresh evening air.
I let out my own howl, calling him to join the chase and catch me to get what he wants. It’s what I want too, but I won’t make it easy. He’s going to have to work for it. Darting between the trees and dodging the protruding roots, I feel fast. My reflexes are heightened and my agility is doubled.
The night itself feels perfect exactly the right temperature and just enough moonlight from the almost–full moon. I’m not sure why this is happening now, but it feels far too good for me to be concerned. It feels right, not something to be afraid of
Another howl splits through the night air as a warning that he’s closing in on me. I run harder and brush my fur against a few trees, leaving clues for Lucian. Suddenly I reach a small clearing and everything falls silent. Not even the sounds of wildlife can be heard.
I stop in my tracks and lift my nose for a sniff. I can still get a few whiffs of Lucian, so he’s out here, but everything is silent. I can’t hear him anymore. I look around, pulling my tongue back into my mouth. Something catches my eye in the clearing ahead,
Moving around the tree blocking my eyeline, I peek around its edge and freeze
Sitting in the clearing is a wolf. An incredibly calm, beautiful, and almost ethereal looking wolf. It’s looking straight at me but is relaxed and shows no signs of threat.
I feel urged to move from behind the tree and step closer.
very
Sniffing the air again, I take in that it’s a female. The closer I get, the more she mesmerizes me. A beautiful, white wolf with a kind of blue hue around her, she looks like the moonlight itself. The silvery light almost seems to make her glow.
I’m lost in the sight of her. She is magnificent, her eyes such a pale blue they’re almost white. I’m so lost that I don’t notice Lucian until he bounds out of the surrounding tree line. He growls and snarls at the wolf, immediately shielding my body with his, and turning his face to the “Threat.”
Les a second. She doesn’t move but simply stares into his eyes–and he starts to relax. I feel myself starting to shift back, and he
to shift 100.
On his knees at my side, he looks up to the beautiful she–wolf before us and sighs a shaking breath,
-Mother?‘lur whiners almost unsure but the wolf hows had to then white in stile immediately and ences her hand
2:10 PM ďt
“Mother?” he whispers, almost unsure, but the wolf bows her head low, then shifts. Lucian stands immediately and embraces her hard. He completely towers over her, but holds her close. “Mother.” His voice cracks slightly before he steps back.
Taking my hand, he pulls me close to his side, smiling.
“Mother, meet my mate, Liana. Liana, my mother, Isla.”
She smiles at me brightly. Her skin still has that slight bluish glow, but I go down to my knee for her in respect.
“Queen Isla.”
“New Queen, Liana,” she replies as I rise again, smiling. “Come here, darling. I’ve been dying to meet you.”
Lucian nudges me forward a little, and she pulls me into a surprisingly warm embrace. She looks as if she’d be kind of cold to the touch, but she’s not. Something about her touch sends small vibrations through me, raising the hairs on my skin.
I run a hand down my arm, flattening the hairs with a chuckle as I step back into Lucian’s hold. He looks down at me and smiles as his mother watches over him with something like relief on her face.
“Lucian–you can see?” she asks and he looks up at her and nods. Her shoulders relax and she lets out a long breath. “Thank you, Liana,” she directs at me and I smile back.
“I always wondered, you know.” Lucian chuckles and she laughs too, but I raise my eyebrows, not understanding their amusement. Lucian jerks his head toward his mother. “Remember me telling you my mother was a saint? Well she really is now. She’s a servant of the Goddess herself.”
My eyes widen as I look over at Isla, and she smiles, tilting her head to one side to reveal two neon–blue scars on her neck from a bite.
“You could have told me, you know,” Lucian says, squeezing me tighter.
“I know, my son, but…you needed this path. It was your fate.”
He nods against the crown of my head and presses a kiss against my hair.
“I’ve missed you, but I’ve always been here, my son.”
“I know. I felt you. The Goddess let you come here?”
“Yes…but for another reason.” She turns, looking behind her, and smiles. I look past her and can’t believe my eyes. I start shaking, and Lucian holds me up.
“Liana.” Her voice sounds exactly the way I always imagined it would.
“Mommy!” I cry, scrambling from Lucian and throwing myself into the arms of my mother.
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