Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
ISLA
M y lungs are burning—a dry, ragged ache unlike anything I’ve felt before, coupled with a sharp, stabbing pain right at my breastbone. I try to lift my hand to feel for some sort of wound, but my arms are like lead-filled weights.
“I told you she would come back.” Elyn’s voice filters through from a distance, her tone matter-of-fact.
“I’d keep your fucking mouth shut.” Asher’s voice is taut with fury, his hands gripping mine with a strength that speaks volumes of his fear and relief.
Well, this sounds like things are going swimmingly.
I hear shuffling and then a deep growl. “I mean it, Elyn. I don’t care if you’re an elder or that you belong to another pack. You killed my fucking mate and you’re not going to get away with that. If I didn’t think she needed me right now, you’d already be dead.”
Elyn snickers. “Kind of like your mate just was,” she taunts, and Asher’s subsequent roar makes my skin ice over .
Or maybe it’s because he releases me and is probably charging the crazy old lady. I should probably do something about that.
“Ash,” I groan between coughs. I throw my arm over my body, forcing myself to turn onto my side, but I end up twisted into a painful position.
“Issie?” The agony that accompanies my name as it falls from his lips nearly rips my chest open, but my body is shaking so badly that I can’t concentrate on any one ache in particular.
I open my eyes in time to see Asher drop Elyn to the ground. I’m pretty sure he just had his hands around her neck, but that’s not anything I can care about because in the next second, his arms are around me, his body like a shield against the cold and chaos. His warmth seeps into me, battling the chill that has set into my bones, making my teeth chatter.
“You’re okay, love,” he whispers, his lips pressing a series of kisses to my forehead. “I have you.”
I try to talk, but the air is still returning to my lungs and I need a few more moments before I brave more words.
Elyn appears in my line of sight, red marks on her neck, and she stays about twenty feet back while meeting my stare. “Where does it hurt most?”
I start to point to my chest, but Asher turns me away from her. “I told you to stay away from her.”
“You might be the king, but you know nothing of what your mate needs right now,” she says without an ounce of fear in her voice. “You asked me to come here to help her and I’m going to finish what I started or she’ll never find peace, I promise you that. ”
His chest rumbles, vibrating my whole body as he speaks. “You said you would heal her blocks—you never mentioned anything about killing her. You can’t possibly expect me to let you near her after that.”
“I not only expect it, but I know you’re going to,” she says haughtily. “She needs me and, even if you don’t want to admit it, you know this to be true, which is why you haven’t killed me yet. The bond thrums wildly inside you, searching for its missing half. I can give you that.”
Asher looks down at me, his eyes dark and wild. “I’m so sorry, Isla. I never thought you would be hurt like this, or I wouldn’t have asked her here.”
“I know.” My voice is raw and scratchy, but I can’t stay quiet any longer. “But I think she’s right. I don’t remember dying just now, but there’s an echo of something inside me that wasn’t there before.”
“It’s your wolf,” Elyn says, cutting in. “Once you shift, your pain will be gone and you will know your heart of hearts, but I can’t assure that your mind will be fixed. There’s a darkness embedded within you that I’ve never encountered.”
Asher’s head whips toward her. “You never mentioned that.”
“And you never asked,” she quips. “You chose to yell and threaten my life instead of considering that I was doing exactly what Isobella needed.”
“I told you, her name is Isla,” Asher corrects, but based on the smirk on Elyn’s face, she already knows that.
“Yes, her name is Isla, but she is not the only one who was taking residence within that body,” the elder wolf explains. “Your mate was born on Earth and she was carrying three separate souls within her. While Isla and Isobella are one and the same, their soul was split in half at some point, adding to Isla’s confusion and her inability to bond with her wolf’s spirit. Now that her soul has been properly forged together by her brief dance with death, she should be able to move forward.”
If I weren’t so exhausted, I’m pretty sure I’d be questioning everything she’s saying, but I can barely keep my head up, let alone process what’s being said. Though there’s a warmth in my chest that grows with every ragged breath I take as I close my eyes.
A peacefulness amongst the travesty of the wound I can’t see but know is there nonetheless. Drawing on that repose, I relax further into Asher’s embrace and trust that Elyn is telling the truth.
I have no reason to believe her, but considering Asher almost snuffed the life out of her and she’s chosen to stay and finish the job, I also can’t ignore her.
I take a jagged breath that feels as though I’m swallowing tiny daggers whose only purpose is to slice at my skin, but when I let that same breath out, the pain leaves my body with the air. Every time I repeat the action, the healing heat within my chest spreads further.
Though that doesn’t take away from the void that I can only assume, now that I’m thinking more clearly, is from when I was stabbed, it does provide me with a strength unlike anything I’ve ever known.
“Isla?” Asher whispers my name, holding me tighter. “Talk to me.”
I want to ease his worries, but I can’t. Not when I’m so close to…her.
One breath in, one breath out, one step closer to victory .
There’s a flicker of a presence within my mind, but that’s not where she begins. This being lives in my heart, a beating part of me that I never should have been able to live without yet somehow did.
I wait patiently for her to come forward, knowing she’s been locked away for much too long.
Muffled voices sound around me, but all I can focus on is this magnificent beast within me. She’s strong and resilient and full of a peace I’ve only ever wished for.
The closer she comes, the stronger my body becomes, healing from her bright energy that not only relieves my body from the chills, but fills my core with light and love.
Nobody will ever hurt you again , I promise her.
She doesn’t speak back to me, but I know she hears me. There’s a connection between us that thrums so wildly within me, I don’t know how it could have ever been snuffed out to begin with.
Her spirit presses in and around me, forging us together and filling me with an undeniable love that can’t be compared to anything in all the worlds.
This wolf is me and I am her, just as I was once Isobella. We are all the same, we are one, and we are finally whole. I may have my own soul and this ferocious animal has hers, but the closer she gets, the more I can feel us merging as one.
She settles within me, a beacon of hope, promising me that no matter what happens next, we will be okay. Together, our joy and success is inevitable, as it always should have been.
Her energy grows, extending from my chest, spreading out through the rest of my body. The vibration of her power rolls through me and I start to shake. My skin heats to an almost uncomfortable temperature and a blinding light appears behind my eyes.
I need to do something, but I don’t know what. Everything is bottlenecking within me, overwhelming my senses yet empowering me at the same time.
“Shift, Isla!” Asher shouts, his clamorous demand breaking through my mind.
I can’t feel his arms around me any longer, but just as my wolf’s strength lives within me, I can sense a longing toward him that begins at my heart and feels never-ending.
Though the intensity of that emotion needs to wait a while longer.
Nobody explained to me how I’m supposed to shift, but the memory of seeing my silver wolf comes back to me and I concentrate on her square snout, her ocean-blue eyes, the perfect tips of her ears, and the steady stance she holds as she remains still, waiting for her chance to run.
You’re free , I tell her softly and just like that, my body feels as though it curls in on itself before unfurling with a glory that can’t be matched.
A burst of energy explodes from every pore, bones break and shift, but there is nothing painful about this transformation. There is only light and love and peace.
My wolf takes shape and the moment she’s in control, her head tilts toward the rising sun and she howls, the sound coming from deep within us, reverberating through the air for endless miles.
Before the sound has faded, she looks at Asher and whimpers. The desire to be with him resonates with both of us, but before we can do so, we have to take care of ourselves first .
Go , I say gently.
In the next second, we’re running as if our life depends on every lengthening stride we take. Maybe it does. This time, when my lungs burn, I cling to the pain, knowing there will never be another moment like this in my life.
My wolf is here and I will never let her go again. Her presence hums inside my mind, a steady partner I don’t know how I could have forgotten in any lifetime.
She mourns for the years lost but weeps for the time we still have as we race through the forest for no other reason than to bond with one another. There is no destination in mind, just the sense of freedom that only nature can provide us.
As she loops around a fallen tree, she cuts left and starts to slow. Listening, I hear the river once again, but we’re nowhere near where we were with Elyn.
There isn’t a soul around us, which surprises me. I expected Asher to follow, but I appreciate him giving me this moment with my wolf. One I needed more than anyone could have ever explained to me before.
She stops at the riverbank, her head moving until we can see our reflection on the water’s smooth surface. Our chest heaves from the exertion and our eyes seem almost wild, unrestrained, but as her tongue lolls out the side of her mouth, I know neither of us has ever been happier.
Closing my eyes, I settle into the warmth of her spirit. As she drinks from the water, more memories come back to me. None of them standing out brighter than the other, but twenty-plus years of friendship the two of us shared is returned to me.
My first friend, the first being I knew would never hurt me and would show me unconditional love .
As the memories start to fade, our chest starts to pound all over again, but not because of an overwhelming amount of energy we need to expend like before.
No, this time, it beats only for our mate.
It isn’t just memories of being one with my wolf before that are returned to me, it’s of her and Asher’s wolf running together, nipping at each other, knowing there will never be another for either of us.
Suddenly, the drive to get back to him, to feel his skin beneath mine, to mark him and hold on to him for the rest of my long life isn’t something I can ignore.
Neither can my wolf.
This time, when we run through the forest, our paws barely touch the ground, eating up the distance we’ve created.
With every step closer, a tether begins to unfurl within my chest, leading us forward. Asher’s woodsy scent envelops me and makes my wolf’s body shudder with anticipation so strong that I can’t tell who’s more desperate for him, me or her.
After too many minutes later, we return to the place we left him, not slowing until he’s within our sights. We glance around and notice we’re alone. Elyn isn’t anywhere close, though her scent still lingers.
Even though logically, I know the elder isn’t a threat, a growl grows within my chest as we come to a stop.
Asher holds up his hands. “It’s okay. I’m here and you’re safe and nobody is going to interfere.”
He steps closer, his movements slow, but that isn’t working for us.
My wolf pictures my human form and I instantly know what she wants, what we want. I need to shift back .
Calling her energy back toward my core is like breathing in the sweetest treat. With every inhale, she comes back to me and the light returns until my body is searing with heat and then, just as quickly as she came to be, I’m back on two legs.
Only I’m missing a thing or two.
None of my clothes have returned with me, but that’s the least of my thoughts as soon as my gaze connects with Asher’s.
As if the world has been off-kilter every second before this, everything around me steadies. The anchor tying me to this world now extends to the man before me. A man whose love extends beyond reason, whose mind fascinates me in ways I’ll never be able to understand but never want to forget.
His breaths give me life. Without him, I do not exist. It has always been him, from the moment I came into this world and not just two weeks ago, but centuries ago.
The colors of the sky and trees and earth are brighter just knowing him and the elation that fills my heart as he reaches for me is more than I deserve, but I take every bit he’s offering.
Mate .
My entire essence seems to levitate with the sheer force of the bond we share. He is mine, and I am his—now and always.