Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
ISLA
I t’s been hours since I’ve returned to my room. Cain brought me lunch and updated me on Asher, stating his meeting is running longer than usual, but that he will be with me soon. Though Cain has nothing to say about the subject I’m most excited about right now.
Elodee.
She could be here tonight. I could have my best friend with me and she can properly freak out with me over the unreal reality that this world, and everything in it, actually exists.
I’ve spent the afternoon weighing everything I’ve learned about this strange, enchanting place. Aside from missing Elodee, I find few downsides. Even the daunting prospect of turning into a wolf sparks more curiosity than fear as I lounge in the bath, my mind swirling with what-if s.
Attempting yoga on my bed after bathing, I seek the elusive peace that might connect me to the wolf Asher insists lingers within me, a creature reborn through death and time. The notion feels like a myth, an ancient tale told by a fireside, under the stars.
Still, no new memories have surfaced and I haven’t sensed another being hanging inside my head, but I have decided that I want to see Asher’s wolf. I’m pretty sure that was him I saw the first night I was on the balcony. He was so far away and it was dark. I think if I’m going to bring my animal spirit to the surface, I need to better understand how all this works.
What does it take to transform from human to beast? Who is in control? How do I change back? What happens to my clothes? So many questions and not enough answers to come by as I sit here alone.
I get up from the bed and head to the small desk to grab pen and paper. My mental list feels as if it has hit capacity. I need to start writing these things down before I forget some of the more important pieces.
After filling up nearly two pages of notes, there’s finally a knock at my door. I drop my notes onto the end table and before I take a step away from the bed, Asher is letting himself in.
His sapphire eyes light up the moment they settle on me, causing a warmth to spread throughout my chest. I take a step forward, then hesitate.
I barely know this man. I shouldn’t want to wrap my arms around him the second he’s within my sights. I shouldn’t want to taste him again and wonder how much he was holding back earlier because we were in public.
Yet my skin tingles in anticipation and my muscles bunch, wanting to leap forward into his embrace.
“Isla,” he cautions, his voice a low thrum. “As a wolf shifter, my senses are… acute.” He steps closer, his gaze in tense, predatory as he inhales deeply. “And right now, your thoughts are like a siren to the beast within me.”
Oh.
Oh.
Son of a… He can smell my thoughts? Or probably more like the reaction my body is having to said thoughts.
I’m in so much trouble.
“I’m sorry.” I step back until I’m pressed against the mattress behind me.
He continues to stride forward, not stopping until he’s standing in front of me. Close enough to feel the heat rolling off his skin but never actually touching me.
“Never apologize for your desires.” His words come out layered with a rumble that lights my inside on fire.
And when he strokes the back of his fingers gently over my cheek, my eyes flutter closed as I grip the comforter behind me, doing my best to stay upright.
Seconds tick by as I lose myself to the velvet of his touch. My previous racing thoughts are nothing but a distant memory until he speaks again.
“You should know, we have Elodee.” His words are like ice water over my senses.
My eyes snap back open and stare up at him, still standing close. “Where is she?”
I move to pass him, but he catches my wrist, his grip gentle yet firm. “Before you see her, there’s something you must know.”
Anxiety clenches my stomach. “If someone hurt her?—”
His soft chuckle cuts me off. “Nothing like that. She’s in perfect health, sleeping soundly in the next room, even, but you need to understand who she is before you see her again so that you can explain everything to her when she wakes.”
I struggle for breath, my hands starting to tremble. “What do you mean?”
Losing Elodee will kill me, so if Asher is about to tell me she can’t stay, I don’t know what I’ll do.
His next words are a cautious whisper. “You once told Grayson she was like your soul sister.” I nod in confirmation before he continues. “You were more right than you knew. Issie, she is your sister.”
“I’m sorry. What?” My eyes feel as if they’re going to pop right out of their sockets as I shake my head. “We were foster siblings. What do you mean, she’s my sister?”
“Before you vanished, you had a sister named Estee,” he explains, his voice gentle. “Nobody has brought her up to you because we didn’t want to hurt you while you were still processing so much. We thought that she’d died and chosen not to come back. Now, we believe whatever happened to you, Estee must have figured it out and the same thing happened to her.”
The room spins as I absorb his words. This reshapes everything I thought I knew and all I’ve yet to understand. “Why would anyone want to harm us?” I whisper, the question a weight in my heart.
Asher steps closer, enveloping me in his presence. “We don’t know yet. But whatever their motives, they underestimated your strength. We’ll find the truth, Issie. I promise.”
In that moment, his vow feels like an anchor, grounding me amidst the storm of revelations and giving me a hope that I didn’t know I needed. Plus, he’s right. Whoever might have done this to us, they won’t go unpunished, even all these years later.
A shudder courses through me at the thought of our tormentors still lurking, possibly planning to strike again. “So, they murdered me, then my sister, and we’ve been stuck on Earth ever since? Am I understanding what you’ve pieced together correctly? And what if they get to us again before we figure this out? We will go back to Earth, taking away my memory of these last few days?”
My stomach hollows out. Losing the knowledge of what I’ve gained since stumbling into this world paints a shadow over my heart.
Asher’s grip tightens on me reassuringly. “Nobody is going to take you from me again. I can promise you that,” he declares with fierce certainty. “And yes, I believe you were cursed to be reborn on Earth. Though I can’t fathom how—since magic supposedly doesn’t exist there—your soul managed to leave Lunara and be reformed into another life without the blessing of the Gods.”
I lean into his warm touch, seeking comfort. “How is that even possible here?”
“The gods,” he explains solemnly. “Every soul born in Lunara has the choice upon death to return to the realm of the gods, where they can stay and rest, or to be reborn, living another life.”
“Is their world, like, heaven or something?”
“Or something,” he replies, a bit of tension lacing his words. “The gods have long kept to their own world, and we prefer to leave them to it, only seeking their help when we have no other choice. When one of us chooses not to be reborn, there is a place where our souls rest. The gods are very vague on what that means, but they promise peace and nothing more.”
Interesting. I guess it makes more sense now that my mother would have taken that option. I may not have ever thought about having children, but I can imagine that losing two of them would be unlike any other pain in the world. Recovering from that doesn’t seem possible.
“Grayson.” I gasp. “He was close to death. He wanted…”
Asher nods. “You returned just in time. Another few days and he would have been gone.”
My mind reels at the thought. He’s the only real connection I’ve felt since coming here. Sure, there’s the attraction to Asher and a sense of home in my surroundings, but that split moment when my heart opened to Grayson, when I knew he was family, I can’t forget that. I also can’t imagine almost never having met him.
“Is Elodee with him now?” I ask because I can’t wait any longer to see her. I need her to be with me and I need to be the first face she sees when she wakes up. More than that, I need to wrap my arms around her and have a good cry because, holy shit. I thought what I’d already learned was a lot, but this is another level of unbelievable.
His hand slips down my arm and his fingers entwine with mine. “I’ll take you to her and then we can carry her in here. She should only be out another twenty minutes or so.”
We exit my room and I move in front of Asher, releasing his hand to rush into Grayson’s room. Throwing open the door, I see him standing over the bed, looking like a completely different man than the one I had dinner with last night.
The color is back in his face, his stance is strong and steady, and his shirt doesn’t hang as loosely from his frame. Hell, he might even be a couple of inches taller.
As he smiles at me, a profound connection—a burst of familial warmth—floods through me, reinforcing the bond I’ve only begun to rediscover. It’s like the sun’s rays piercing through a long, overcast sky.
I close my eyes and another memory flickers within my mind, drawing back to a time I don’t ever want to forget again.
“Higher, Daddy!” I giggle, grinning widely at the brunette girl next to me on the swings. She’s maybe a few years older than me in this memory, but I would recognize her anywhere.
Elodee .
“Me next, Daddy,” she exclaims, kicking her feet wildly.
“I only have two arms, girls,” Dad says joyfully. “You can either each get one big push at a time, or small pushes together.”
“Big ones!” Elodee and I scream together as I hold on to the chains of the swing with all my might. Though I do wonder…would I be able to fly if only I let go? Even if I couldn’t, I’d still be okay because Daddy would catch me.
He always has.
I blink rapidly, coming out of the memory. Asher’s arms are around me, keeping me upright as tears stream down my face. “Dad.”
The word is barely a whisper on my lips and laden with years of loss, but he seems to have no problem hearing me. “Oh, Issie.”
I stumble forward and right into his arms. “I missed you so much. ”
One hand holds me tightly around my back and the other against my head. “Oh, my girl. You have no idea.”
We stand there, crying together, and the more time that passes, the stronger my connection to this man grows. Almost as if there’s a tether tying us together, bonding us for all eternity.
Memories come, but they’re more like brief flickers of moments in time. Each one with Grayson in them. Sometimes it’s just the two of us and sometimes Elodee is there as well, but it’s never more than that.
I crave to see my mother, to hear her laugh and see her smile, but her image never comes.
“I don’t know how I could have forgotten you,” I tell him, wiping at my face with my hands and looking up at his face. “It’s undeniable now.”
“We’re going to figure this out, Issie,” he promises, giving my shoulders a squeeze. “I’m just glad to have both my girls back. If only your mother could be here, then everything would be perfect.”
A twinge of sadness accompanies his words, but the memories of her are too faint, too intangible for true sorrow. Instead, I find solace in his strength, in the promise of answers and justice.
Elodee makes a noise and I move to get a better look at her, needing to see my best friend, my…sister. I laugh to myself. She’s going to love that more than anything.
“El?” I say softly as I take her hand and inspect every inch of her body. Like me, she’s changed ever so slightly. The scar on her forehead from when I accidentally hit her with a toy truck when we were little is no longer present.
Her skin glows, a creamy radiance that seems illuminated from within, and her hair, now woven with strands of deep purple, adds an exotic flair to her natural brunette. As she turns restlessly, murmuring in discomfort, I gently cup her cheek, trying to soothe her. “It’s okay. I’m here.”
Her discomfort is palpable; she shifts again, a groan escaping her lips, but her eyes remain shut. Concern tightens my chest, and I glance anxiously at Asher and Grayson. “What’s wrong with her?” My voice is edged with panic.
Nobody answers me and anxiety constricts my chest like a vise. I lean closer, pressing my ear against her chest, listening to the strong, steady beat of her heart. Yet her body betrays signs of distress: her arms twitch, and her torso twists in silent agony.
Impatience and worry sharpen my tone as I shake her gently. “Elodee, wake up!”
“Damn, Isla,” she murmurs, her voice thick with grogginess. “Give me a minute. I just had the craziest…” Her words falter as her eyes flutter open, confusion clouding her gaze as she takes in her surroundings. “Holy fuck. Am I still dreaming?” She rubs her temples, squeezing her eyes shut again. “What is wrong with me?”
My hands cover hers, grounding her. “Absolutely nothing is wrong, and you’re not dreaming. I thought the same when I got here.”
But she’s disoriented, shaking her head in denial, unwilling to accept this new reality. “Something is wrong with my head. I’m seeing…”
Asher steps beside me, his voice steady. “She’s remembering already. Estee, can you hear me?”
Her response is snappish. “Of course I can, idiot. You’re standing right next to me. ”
Asher raises a brow and I apologize on her behalf. “She’s never really been a fun person to wake up.” Then my eyes widen and my attention goes back to Elodee. “You didn’t correct him when he called you ‘Estee.’”
Her eyes finally open and instead of the brown I’ve always known them to be, they’re golden and bright. “Why can’t I tell what’s real and what’s not?”
“Do you know who I am?” Asher asks her and she shakes her head. “That’s okay. You’re not supposed to remember everything at once.” He turns to me. “Why don’t the two of you go into your room and you can explain things to her?”
I glance behind me, wondering why Grayson hasn’t said anything, and then I realize he’s not here. “What happened to?—”
Asher cuts me off. “He thought it would be best not to overwhelm her more than she already was. He’ll see her soon.”
Why doesn’t that surprise me?
I smile down at my best friend and now sister. “Think you can walk or am I going to have to carry you?”
“It’s about damn time you did some of the lifting between us,” she jokes as she pushes herself up, looking around. “Where the hell are we and how did we get here?”
“That’s what we’re going to chat about,” I promise, happier than I’ve ever been in my life. We might not have all the answers even between the two of us, but just having Elodee here is everything to me and I hope she’s about to handle this a hell of a lot better than I did.