As Cassum watches me, her eyes sit sunken in her skull. I taste a flicker of suspicion and reach out to stroke her face, but she shies away from my touch. I click my tongue. Why is she making this so difficult?

"Show me what happened to you." The branches of a nearby tree bend under the wind carrying my words.

Her gaze flicks toward the ground but not before I catch the flaring horror in her enlarged pupils.

"It's okay."

I reach out again and this time, she lets me wipe away a strand of her hair that is stuck on her bloody cheek. Closing my eyes, I soak up the energy of death coating her like a rash of poison ivy.

Laughter.

"That pup will walk all over you, Nicollo. You're too soft."

"Says the female who demanded that Arabella heals field mice."

"They were cute." Cassum whips her head around. "Did you hear that?"

Nicollo stares at the tree line. "Is anyone there?"

A shudder runs through Cassum's hollow corpse. The sweet stench of sweat sticks to my nostrils. Clenching the burning herbs in my fist, I ready myself for the imminent attack.

"Open your mind to me, Cassum. Otherwise, I can't help you."

Her face twists with fear. She's hiding a terrible truth.

"What is it?"

She shakes her head.

You shouldn't be here, Raelyn.

I squint at the sudden voice that has dropped on me from the height of the trees. "Kaleidopae?"

The old warlock only spoke to me once, the first night I trained with Sazith.

Cassum's soul is not the only one that was torn. You cannot help her. She cannot cross into the afterlife until she has made peace with herself.

I shake my head. "I want to see what happened to her."

An angry energy in the air engulfs me, blowing twigs and leaves into my face. I stand my ground. "Cassum, whatever it is, you need to let go."

Cracking from the force of the wind, a branch above me crashes down. I just get my arms up before it hits me in the back of the head. Cassum stares at me with sorrowful eyes. A bang explodes in my ears and everything turns dark.

I wake up on my stomach with the heat of the sun burning into my skull. With a groan, I sit up and run my fingers over the back of my head. Something warm sticks to my skin and I don't need to look at my red coated fingers to know it's blood.

"You should have listened."

I turn to find a woman the age of my foster mother sitting cross-legged in the grass not even ten feet from me. Her raven hair is braided and pinned up to a crown. Familiar eyes stare at me with a hint of disapproval. Raking through my mind, I try to place them. Then it hits me: the steel blue color and her facial features are just like Marush's.

"Kaleidopae."

"You recognize me."

I glance around the field. The long grass sways softly in the wind and the sky is so blue it's blinding. I squint into the light but can't make out the sun. "What is this place?"

"They call it the afterlife."

My forehead wrinkles. This can only mean one thing. "Am I dead?"

"No, child. A gifted Caomhnóir can cross over without delivering his or her soul to the goddess of death. That's what you've done."

"I didn't mean to—"

"You did it unintentionally because you refused to let go of Cassum's secret."

"But what could've been so bad—"

"Confiding in you wasn't your decision to make." She smiles. "But what's done is done. You wouldn't be the warlock you are without that stubbornness." Getting to her feet, she stretches out her hand. "Come. You wanted to see what happened to your friend, so now you're going to see."

I take her hand and she pulls me up. As she leads me down the field, I reluctantly follow her. How am I going to get back to my world? Better yet, will I be able to return at all?

On cue, dark clouds rush across the sky, killing most of the light. Trees pop up left and right and multiply until the field is covered by a thick forest with leaves whooshing around me. Branches grab at my hair and shoulders. My shirt catches on a thorn bush. Before I can free myself, a gust of wind takes me off my feet. Ivy shoots from the ground, tying me, wrapping around me, tighter and tighter. Breathing becomes an effort as the plants squeeze the life out of me.

"Kaleidopae!"

"Relax, child."

Flashes of light, a sting in my ears. I'm falling through the forest ground, deep and fast. The shadows that fall with me laugh.

"Try to relax or the next part will hurt."

When I hit the ground, the impact takes the wind out of me. I squint for my eyes to adjust to the brightness of the sun. All of a sudden, I'm standing in a clearing; it's the one that turned into Cassum's graveyard. When I look down, the spit dries up in my mouth. I'm no longer in my own body. As I tentatively move my arm, Cassum's skins tighten around me.

"Is anyone there?" Nicollo calls out next to me.

We need to take cover.

The words don't flow from my mouth. Instead, I hear myself saying. "Probably just a deer." I laugh my fear away.

What are you doing, Cassum? You can't survive this ambush.

Too many wolves are going to attack.

My body is not under my control. Cassum strolls over to a bush and picks a berry. "Speaking of deer, I could use a bite to eat before we go back."

"You need to teach your females not to be so polite. From what I saw during meals, they all wait until the males are full before digging in."

"I agree. That pack has gotten stuck in the last century and I'll have to make a lot of changes."

"You certainly have your work cut out—"

I scream "watch out" as a large wolf flies toward Nicollo, pulling him down. Shifting into Cassum's wolf, I delve my teeth into the soft flesh of the attacker and tear apart his shoulder. His blood stings on my lips.

He howls in pain, but I don't ease up until three wolves leap at me at once. One is another Alpha crushing me underneath his heavy body. I manage to toss him off, but not before he takes a chunk out of my neck. Fighting the seething pain, I snap my teeth to the left and to the right, grabbing any body part of my opponents I can find. Four more wolves have joined them and I'm slowly losing my strength.

I glance at Nicollo in the hopes he can help me. He has managed to shift, but he is outnumbered just the same. Blood flies from his mouth as he desperately tries to keep several wolves away from his neck. One makes it through, tearing open his vein of life. Breath failing him, he slumps to the ground. His eyes coat over with the haze of death.

I roar with the pain of losing a friend. His future as a father, his life with Arabella, all torn from him in the blink of an eye. Rising on my hind legs, I toss off a new attacker. Blind with rage, I go after Nicollo's killer, tearing away muscle and flesh. Cutting open his mouth, I taste my friend's blood; his death burns like acid on my tongue. My heart is torn; on one hand, I'm satisfied for taking revenge but the other half mourns a loss that will be hard to absorb.

Run, Cassum! You can't beat these bastards!

I ignore Raelyn's warning shout, my focus returning to the dozen wolves who have surrounded me. I will not run like a coward, and if the Moon Goddess decides to claim me today, I will die with pride and honor, the way an Alpha should. Baring my fangs, I snarl at the closest wolf. His sleek, black fur shines in the sun. As his gray eyes pierce into me, a strong pull taunts me to rub my scent into him, have him mount me. For the blink of an eye, I'm distracted by the image of lying with him in heat. When his head rams into my side, I snap out of my daze.

We roll on the ground until I gain the upper hand. Lowering my head for the kill bite, I stop with my fang resting on his pulsing vein of life. A shudder runs through me; something in me refuses to take his life. I raise my head and our eyes meet; the sparkles in his gray irises capture me as if under a spell. I hear myself whimper in submission. In the next breath, I fly through the air and crush into a tree.

Shaking my head to get rid of the sudden dizzy spell, I try to get back to my feet, but the wolf is upon me. He tears into my spine, ripping, shaking. My limps go numb underneath me. Whimpering, I crash onto my stomach. The wolves around me snarl and snap their teeth. I'm immobilized; the wolf's bite has taken my ability to move my legs. I can't even crawl to safety.

When a newcomer steps out of the bushes, I turn my head. Lance Ward. He holds his head high, although for the Alpha-borns who have surrounded me, he's only an inferior wolf, both from his size and status. The others still part to let him pass. He approaches me, his fangs exposed in a grin. He snarls, preparing himself for the kill bite. Just before his teeth dig into me, the wolf who has paralyzed me bites him away. Apparently, he isn't eager to let another wolf take the credit for taking down a Raynes.

His teeth snap while he takes his time preparing me as if I were a piece of prey. Rolling me on my back, he prods me with his snout. I'm helpless and at his mercy, my nerve ends no longer connected to my spine to send commands from my brain to my limbs. I still refuse to concede defeat by lowering my gaze. I won't beg for my life nor will I remind him that I spared his.

Exposing my throat, I make it easy for him to go for the kill bite. His teeth enter my body in the same spot a wolf claims his mate and with my last-ditch effort, I repay the favor by slicing into his neck. I will not be the only one left with a lasting war wound. As our blood mixes, a surge of electricity pulses through my broken body. A soul fusing with a soul. A heart tearing with the pain of losing a true mate.

It can't be.

The same breath that carries with it the exhilaration of having found my true mate is my last. I can't hold onto life no matter how hard I try. With a tremble, my soul splits away from my body. Shifting into my skins, my spirit steps back to watch my true mate lick my wounds with pain ripping through every inch of his body.

A second spirit is torn away from Cassum's, shooting up to hover over the clearing.

You are not Cassum, child. You did not die.

I shake my head to make sense of the voice in my head. A victory bark springs from Lance's snout.

"Wake up, Raelyn." Someone squeezes my shoulder.

As my consciousness returns, I'm sucked into a funnel. A beam of light engulfs me and I'm slammed into the ground. When I open my eyes, Cassum's spirit kneels beside me.

"Wake up, Raelyn."

I squint at the night sky above. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure. A large tree branch fell on you and you were unconscious for a while. I even thought for a moment you were dead because you had stopped breathing."

As I sit up, memories flush back. "I know what happened."

"What do you mean?" When I try to soothe her, her spirit shies away from my hand.

"I know that it was your true mate who killed you."

She drops her gaze. "Then you also know why I have to stay."

"That's nonsense. You both didn't know until the very end. Please, let me take your spirit to the afterlife."

"I can't. I saw him mourn as the guilt was eating him alive. He has no clue that I have forgiven him. Until he knows, I can't leave."

"Look, Cassum, I promise I'll find him and let him know that you'll be waiting for him in the afterlife."

She shakes her head. "I have to make sure he's okay." Tears fill her eyes. "I can't leave until he found happiness. Bring him here and let me tell him myself that I've forgiven him, and then I'll go with you."

"That's not how it works." Her mate is not a Caomhnóir; he won't be able to see her spirit.

"Then make it work." She spins around and heads for the forest. At the tree line, she turns again. "And until he's with you, I'm staying right here. Don't come again and try to change my mind, neither you nor that guy."

"What guy?"

But she has already disappeared between the trees before the wind can carry away my question.

~~~~

© Sally Mason 2018

This work is protected by copyright and should not be copied, downloaded, translated or used in any way without my expressed consent. Please don't steal it. Thank you!