Chapter 35 A Guardian’s Shield and a Leader’s Command
A GUARDIAN’S SHIELD AND A LEADER’S COMMAND
“They taught us softness was weakness because they knew what would happen if we ever turned gentle hands into fists.”
—Eyleen ársa
Noel
“Imiss the leaf spirits,” I say as we walk toward something that makes Theron tense every time I ask about it. What is this place?
“You can summon them whenever you want,” he replies, his voice calm as he holds up a low branch to clear the path for me.
After everything we’ve been through, I feel strong, alive. Our healing session made me feel like a new person. His saliva definitely heals more than open wounds.
“Can I? Do I just . . . call them?” I ask.
He nods, his steps slowing until he stops entirely.
I stop too, taking in the beauty of the forest around us. The trees sway in the breeze, their leaves are bright and beautiful green. We’re beyond the barrier now, and it’s so refreshing to walk freely.
Eyes closed, I fill my lungs, letting the forest’s energy seep into me. Nature feels like home—this feels like home. Soon, all women will be home. By the goddesses, I swear it.
“My dear leaf spirits, please, come to me,” I whisper.
A gentle breeze brushes against my skin, and I hear the quiet, tinkling laughter of the spirits, so sweet and pure it makes my heart sing.
They appear, flying toward us with tiny arms full of colorful petals, they’re as joyous as I remember.
“Theron.”
He tears his gaze away from the leaf spirits, and his expression shifts as he turns to me.
“You’ve noticed,” he says.
“There are blue rose petals among them,” I reply, reaching out to take one. The petal feels cool against my fingers, its glow faint but unmistakable. I know well what a blue rose petal looks like.
“Blue roses do not grow without purpose, do they?” I repeat his words from when we first met.
“They do not,” he confirms. “That is why we’re here.”
I glance down at the petal in my hand. Something about this unsettles me. My leaf spirits, show me the source.
The spirits circle around me. Their tiny voices blend with the wind. Suddenly, they jolt forward.
Heart pounding, I follow them. There’s a strange sensation in my chest, like some part of me is trying to tear itself free, pulling me toward something I need to know.
I sprint after the spirits, my brows knitting as I scan the blur of the woods around me. Each step feels faster, like I’m moving beyond my own limits. My legs drive me forward.
What is this?
The forest changes, every sound sharper, every texture more vivid. I feel the stones underfoot before I even step on them, hear every leaf shiver in the wind. Even the air tastes different.
What’s happening to me?
And then I catch the scent. It wraps around me like a memory I can’t place. Blue roses. My chest tightens. I look around, my gaze darting between the trees, but I don’t stop running. Where is it? Where?
I skid to a halt. My voice is raw as I shout, demanding an answer, “Where!” The word echoes through the forest. Home.
The spirits tug at my gown, and I don’t question them. I run. The pull in my chest grows stronger, guiding me as much as they do. The crystal on my pendant, ándor’s crystal, begins to pulse against my skin.
My eyes widen as I move forward, the forest giving way to something I can’t yet see.
What is going on?
It looks familiar. Like a house—a vólkin house. It’s grown, not built. How?
My blood thunders in my ears. The crystal on my pendant pulses harder with each beat of my heart.
“ándor?” I call, my voice cutting through the quiet. Nothing.
Is it ándor’s home? Is that why you’re pulsing?
The leaf spirits tug at me, pulling me toward the right side of the house. They flit. I follow.
This house is enormous. Whoever grew it must be powerful, almost as powerful as Theron. Theron.
Where is he?
I stop to glance over my shoulder. He’s not there. I hadn’t even noticed he didn’t follow. My chest tightens, but the spirits pull harder, urging me forward.
Footsteps. Heavy, getting closer. Could this really be ándor’s home? Is that why it’s outside ávera?
The scent of blue roses grows stronger, sweet and overwhelming my senses. And then I see it. I stop. Goose bumps rise along my arms as my eyes widen. A blue rose garden. But it’s not like the one I grew. This one stretches endlessly, covering the land.
“My mate.”
Theron?
I lift my head, and there he is, standing tall, arms crossed. Kael, Zephyr, and Aeson are with him, and a few other vólkins I don’t recognize beside them, forming a wall.
“What is this?” My voice is low, sharper than I intend. Something twists inside me. Anger? Unease? Why are they circling me like this?
Theron takes a step closer, and the others stay where they are.
“Do not move,” I snap.
His ears twitch, but he listens. He stops.
“Answer my question, Theron.”
“You were weak—”
“I am NOT!” My pulse thrums in my ears, my anger rises hot and fast, and I advance on him.
“Noel,” he growls. A warning.
The leaf spirits dart behind him frantically. There’s something there, something behind him.
“Move,” I command. My gaze sweeps over the others. “ALL OF YOU!”
Mother taught me how to command a room, how to claim space and demand what’s mine. And I will. I always will.
The vólkins exchange hesitant glances before they slowly step back. All except Theron. He doesn’t move.
I’ve softened with comfort. Too much. “There is no room for softness, Noel,” Mother would say. She was right. She was always right.
There is no room for softness.
“You’re in my way,” I say as my eyes stay on Theron.
His jaw clenches. “I am never in your way. We walk the path together, my mate.”
“Is that why you haven’t told me about this house?” I ask, holding up the crystal. Its light pulses against my palm. “ándor’s crystal is pulsing. This house belongs to him, and he was connected to my mother. And you didn’t say a word.”
Theron exhales, his shoulders sagging before he places a paw on his chest. “When you collapsed, I thought I’d lose you. I thought that restoring balance and following the prophecy would mean nothing if you weren’t here.”
His paw presses harder against his heart as he speaks.
“Your soul is wounded, and I brought everything else upon you. I was a selfish male. A selfish mate.” He clenches his paw into a fist. “I should have taken you far from all of this. I should have shielded you from the world, from everything. I should have shown you that you can trust, that you can love. That you can see the beauty in life.”
If he had shielded me, everything my mother taught me—everything she sacrificed—would have been for nothing. Her lessons weren’t to coddle me or to keep me from the world. They were to prepare me to restore balance, to make me the leader I am meant to be.
Everything points to me. The blue-rose blood, the prophecy, the vólkins, the spirits, and the goddesses. It all comes back to me.
Theron didn’t ask for this, no more than I did. None of it was by choice.
“If this is what you want, my mate, I will move. But I will not leave you to weather it alone.”
And with those words, he steps aside.
My heart sinks at what I see.