Chapter Thirty–Two
We made our way back to the house and into my father’s office before I saw anyone else. An omega brought in plates of rare steak. “Dad?” My stomach clenched looking at the meat. I couldn’t tell if I wanted it, or my body was rejecting the idea of eating it.
“You need a lot of meat. You wolf is begging you to shift. It’s her time to shine now that the power portion has been handled. But you have things to worry about other than shifting, and this will help keep Nix under wraps.” He nudged the plate in front of me. “Try it. I know it probably doesn’t look appetizing, but I promise you, you will enjoy it.”
I reached for a fork and knife, but my nails shifted to claws before I could wrap my fingers around the utensils. I snatched up the meat and tore into it, blood dripping from the meat. It was still so rare. Nix settled farther back into the forest in my mind’s eye, and Megan settled next to her.
I’m sorry Amy. I seem to be losing control. Nix started to pace as I continued to tear into the meat. By the time I had finished off the first, Megan had completely laid down. But Nix was still antsy.
“How do you feel?”
“Scared. Nix is antsy, pacing just below the surface.” I shook myself as my father slid another plate in front of me. “Another one.” I snatched it up, ripping into it like it was my prey. “Rare meat will settle your wolf for a time, but sometimes you might need a little help.” My father pulled out a little bottle from the desk. The bottle screamed danger.
“What is that?” I chewed the last bit of the second steak and my claws shifted back to my normal fingers, eyes were still golden. Nix had stopped pacing, but she was alert.
but my
My father twisted open the bottle and the spicy scent of whatever was inside hit my nostrils. I could feel myself twitchin
to move away from the bottle. “This is wolfs bane” He pulled the last steak to himself and sprinkled a tiny amount onto the steak and then pushed it towards me.“You don’t need to have a lot. Just a sprinkle will do when you’re on edge.”
“Will do what?”
“Wolf’s bane removes the ability to shift.” He nudged the plate again. “It burns a little. But it isn’t horrible. Try it.”
I grabbed the last steak and took a bite. The wolf’s bane set my gums on fire, but it didn’t taste like anything. I ate the rest of the steak with no problem, but by the time I finished, I could feel my gums were a little swollen and burning
“It burns.” I swiped my tongue over my teeth, and my dad podded
“I want you to take a little every day.”
“Why?”
“Well, first, I want to keep you from shifting. You’re ready Second, I want you to start to build up a resistance.” “why?” I couldn’t seem to form a different:
My mouth was a light,
“Because I want you to be able to protect yourself. And if you ever have someone try to poison you with wolfs bane, you will be able to still shift, and you can recognize the signs and be ready.”
“How often do people poison others with wolf’s bane?” I wiped the sweat that had gathered on my lip.
“I was poisoned with wolfs bane more times than I could count, but my inother did this for me, and I’ll do the
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Chapter Thirty Two
same for you.”
“How do I know I can still shift?” I wanted to itch my gums, but I clenched my fists instead.
“Take wolfs bane daily. Once you have mastered covering your scent, we will stop for a while until your first shift comes on. Then every day you will take the wolfs bane, and then try to shift. Once you body has built up enough resistance to it, and you can shift still, we can move on to the next thing.”
I
“What’s the next thing?” I was out of my depths. “Why do I even need to do this?”
“Because I need to know that you are safe, even away from me. And that you will always wo access to your wolf” My father shook his head. “You never shifted in your last life, and you were made into Brandon’s victim. I will ensure you will be no one’s victim ever again.”
“You ignored my question.” I pointed out, and that gave me an uneasy feeling. “What’s after wolfs bane?”
My father looked down at his hands and then back up into my eyes. “Silver.” I shivered at the word but nodded.
Chapter Thirty–Three
Chapter Thirty–Three
“Close you eyes.” I had barely wiped the sleep from my eyes when my dad sat me down in his office with Uncle Ronnie. I settled deeper into the chair and closed my eyes. “Now I want you to pull Nix closer to the surface until your eyes shift.
“The wolfs bane?”
“Won’t interfere. We waited the last two days to clear it from your system.” My father settled behind his desk. That made sense. I have been shut in my room for the last few days, doing my best not to shift. And staying clear of other wolves has been my saving grace. “Close your eyes Amy.” I nodded. “Once Nix is close to the surface, I am going to have Ronnie scent you. Once your scent has shifted, we can work on the next step.”
“If Uncle Ronnie can scent me, won’t that screw me over?” peeked out of one eye and my dad shook his head.
“We won’t be shifting fully, just bringing Nix forward enough so we can tell when you manage cloaking yourself.” I closed my eye again and shook myself.
“Nix, I need you to come closer.” I whispered, and Uncle Ronnie laughed.
“You know you can talk to her in your mind, right?”
“You know you can shut up. Right old man?” I shot back, and he chuckled.
Nix slunk out of the trees in my inner sanctum. And she slowly approached me. Amy, are you sure this is safe?
“Not at all, but we have to hide our scent, and this is the way we learn.” I shrugged and waited until she came closer. 1 felt my eyes shift as she got closer to the surface of my soul and I opened my eyes to face my father. Okay.”
My father cocked his head toward me and Ronnie got up. Once he was next to me, he knelt down and sniffed around me. I held still as he scented me and waited until he pulled back to look me in the eye. “You’re hiding things, little pup.” Ronnie’s eyes had shifted to his wolfs gray eyes and leaned in again. “But I have her scent.” He leaned back and popped back to his feet. 1
“Okay, close your eyes again Amy.” My father leaned down on his desk, and I settled back into myself. “Connect with your power.” I stumbled on what I was supposed to do but then I remembered the pot. Nix, Megan, and I rushed to the clearing, and I slid to a stop in front of it. I placed my hand on it and I felt a rush through my body. This was power. “Soon you will connect to it without a thought. But for now, you may have to touch your power source.” I nodded along “Now I want you to picture a blanket.”
“A blanket?” I furrowed my brow and waited.
“Yes.” My father’s voice was amused. “It’s a huge blanket that you toss over Nix, and your tuck her in.”
“How does this help? Tucking her away? And how does it help when she is out?” Uncle Ronnie chuckled and my dad growled softly.
“It’s just a metaphor that you can imagine helping with the cloaking.” He explained, but I couldn’t get past tucking Nix in out of my mind. I giggled and shook my head
“It’s not going to work. I keep plcturing her as a baby.” Nix prowled, and I laughed outright.
“I need you to picture a way to either change your scent, or picture a way to keep it in.” My father explained.
Like a scented candle or something?” I just stared at my dad, and he smirked.
“Something like that. We just need something your mind can picture, and hold on to in the back of your mind. Something that will come easily so you don’t have to focus on it.‘
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“Okay..” I trailed off and closed my eyes. “What works better?”
“Why don’t you try one and we will check, and then the other? Which ever works the best is the one we will focus: on.” I started with the scented candle since it was the easiest to picture. I walked back to my clearing and sat down by the pot. Nix dropped a candle at my feet and I placed it on the stump.
“How do I light it?” I turned to Nix, and she chuffed before she leaned down and huffed out a soft breath, lighting the candle. The soft scent of vanilla and cinnamon wafted out. “How’s that?”
I waited for Ronnie to get up and I heard him take big breaths in, taking in my scent. “You originally smelled of citrus and berries. Now you smell confusing. Like you added vanilla and cinnamon. It’s weird.”
