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?”

well better try,” Iona said, surprising Jandin

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

skirt, she withdrew a tiny vial with a

the Mother Goddess,” she murmured as she poured a drop into Cassandra’s slack mouth, then another,

beats beneath her palms

to the babies. The squirming subsided and she smiled. “Strong 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 end the fighting. And you will. But first,

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. You must birth them out

a short nod. She struggled to her feet, clutching her stomach as waves of pain racked

or they will

cut short as her body ripped apart and knitted back together beneath her skin,

whined and collapsed to the floor and Iona quickly followed. “Now

several minutes but Cassandra managed to birth two

who had come

at the olde worlde magick that

Iona one last vision as she saw the twins, hand in hand, the male and female, tied to each other in strength and weakness,

knowing her time was drawing near. She retrieved the vial from her pocket again and gave each baby one drop,

that?” Cassandra asked, her voice weak. “What are you

Mother Goddess’ children as much as they are yours. They would need their ethereal mother’s milk to thrive,

“What?”