THE AWAKENING

Iona’s old bones creaked and rattled beneath her thin skin and she wished she could still transform. She missed the feel of the ground beneath her paws, the feel of arterial blood gushing into her mouth as she took down prey.

Ah, those were the days.

Now she was stuck in this old woman’s decaying body, her mind still as sharp as ever, but her ability to do anything more than shuffle and limp was lessening by the hour.

She’d known the minute she saw Cassandra, she’d be The One. Relief and sadness followed the knowledge but when one has lived as long as she, the relief was a bit more pronounced than the sadness.

And now the time was here; albeit a bit more quickly than she’d anticipated. Thankfully, she’d already paid her homage to the Mother Goddess for all the years she’d given her and she was ready to pass the torch.

Cassandra was dying.

She pushed aside the wall of men standing helplessly around Cassandra’s inert body, shocking everyone with her sudden appearance. “Seer!” Tieran exclaimed. “Serra—“

“Has poisoned Cassandra with wolfsbane,” she cut in irritably. “Yes, yes, go make yourself useful and get me my bag as well as a sharp knife.”

“A knife?” Tieran repeated but Iona’s no-nonsense stare quelled his questions and he left quickly.

To Jandin, she said, “You must keep Tieran from this room. I must be allowed to complete the ritual in order to save her life. Do you hear me?”

Jandin nodded fearfully. No one would gainsay the Seer. “Yes. Can you save her?”

world rests on her survival, I damn well better try,” Iona

for any of this but you’ve handled yourself well. I know you will shoulder this next

a pocket in her long skirt, she withdrew a tiny vial with

drop into Cassandra’s slack mouth, then another, and another, until the

stomach, felt the frantic beats beneath her palms and whispered

little Alphas,” she murmured, sighing when she realized she would never know them. “You will do your kind proud and bring the clans together. You must

checked the babies’ position and frowned. Breech. Cassandra’s eyes opened slowly as the magic of the Mother Goddess counteracted the poison but a different threat loomed. Iona looked into Cassandra’s blearily focused eyes and instructed her firmly, “Your babies will die if you do not transform right now.

managed a short nod. She struggled to her feet, clutching her stomach as waves of pain racked her body. “I can’t,” she gasped. “H-hurts too

they will

her body ripped apart and knitted back together beneath her skin, transforming her into the

and collapsed to the floor and Iona quickly followed. “Now push them out, Cassandra. Let your body do

took several minutes but Cassandra managed

who

changed into infants. Iona marveled at

vine to the eternal and immortal. The Mother Goddess granted Iona one last vision as she saw the twins,

vial from her pocket again

Cassandra asked, her voice

as they are yours. They would need their ethereal mother’s milk to thrive, just like you

“What?”