Little One timidly steps closer and holds out her hand to shake mine. Elias reaches out to stop her.
Normally, I don’t shake hands or hug. I don’t like being touched. Yet as I take her dainty hand, a burst of white light and a tingle of electricity snake up my arm and embed themselves into my chest. I study her face, her breathing. She doesn’t appear to have the same response to me. Furrowing my brow, I bend forward slightly. How can this be? “Can you remove your glasses?” I ask.
She jerks back just a little, like I slapped her in the face.
“I didn’t get a good look at you when we first met, watching you run away,” I joke with a genuine smile. I don’t want to intimidate or scare her away.
Reluctantly, she removes her ridiculously large glasses.
It’s her—the girl in the picture. Same heart-shaped face. Dark contrasting eyebrows. Her eyelashes aren’t as long as theywere. I see the scars much clearer on the left side of her face, like someone deliberately cut into her flawless skin. A white puckering scar sits in the hollow of her throat. White scars run along her arms and across her wrist.
What the hell did they do to you?
Anger spreads through my entire being. I want to kill the fucker who hurt her. I swallow the emotions that flare up in my chest and clear my throat. “I trust you are doing well?”
I wince. I sound like an asshole. I feel eyes staring at me. Everyone in the room scrutinizes me.
She offers a tight-lipped smile and a nod. Then, she turns away from me to face Anders.
“Yes. I received your application. We can discuss it when I’m done with this meeting,” Anders says to her.
I look around the room. Was I so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t hear her speak?
Chris laughs. “Little One, girls are not allowed in the guard.” She swivels toward Elias. “Don’t look at me. I don’t make the rules, Little One. You know that.” She stares at him for a moment, then at Chris, and back to Anders.
Anders raises a hand. “Jessica, I promise we will talk about this later. No more arguments.” She emits an irritated sigh, and Anders smiles. “You have my word.”
She nods and rounds the room, giving Elias and Chris hugs. Walking behind Anders’s desk, he receives a hug and a peck on his cheek.
He blushes. “‘Bout time. I was starting to feel left out.”
She pats his shoulder and leaves the office, taking her light with her. She doesn’t look back at me or say goodbye.
I feel a little—what? Miffed that she dismissed me so easily. Especially when I can barely hold it together. “Did I miss something?” I ask. “I swear I didn’t hear a word utter from her mouth.”
Anders clears his throat. “My apologies, Shadow. I should have explained while she was here. She doesn’t speak because the tracheostomy caused some complications. This past week, she’s managed small sounds and short phrases but nothing substantial. She’s also used to not speaking so she doesn’t. Initially, when we brought her back from Whitemore plantation, she bonded with me and the Langhlam twins, and we could communicate through a mind-link. Recently, she mind-linked with both Chris and Elias. She doesn’t know how she does it, and she can’t seem to do so on command. Her mind-link is also one-sided. We hear her, but she cannot hear us.”
“Mind-link? A mind-link usually works only when in wolf or animal form and with members of the same pack. Only a true Alpha can communicate with pack members in human form through a mind-link. Even then, that’s rare. Obviously, she’s a magic dweller. I could sense her magic surrounding her. It practically enveloped the whole room.”
Anders frowns. “I’m sure there’s more to it, but without knowing her origins…”
I stare at Anders. As clear as day, I see it. “I’m sorry, Anders. What is your relationship with the young woman?”
Chris smiles, and Elias chuckles. “You see it, too. Don’t you?” Chris asks.
“What is it you see?” Anders grimaces.
I issue a crooked smile. “Other than the similar characteristics you both share? The eyes and nose? And, if her hair was any lighter, it could be almost white.” He maintains my gaze without replying. “She has strong magic, stronger than anyone I encountered, including you.”
Anders reclines in his chair and wipes a hand over his face. “This can’t be,” he whispers.
“Where’s the paternity test?” Elias asks. “The results should have arrived by now. It’s been a few weeks.”
Anders pulls an envelope from the top drawer of his desk. “I didn’t have a chance to open it.”
“Or maybe you wanted to convince yourself you didn’t need to,” Elias suggests. Anders passes the envelope to Chris, who gives it to Elias.
“Why would you request a paternity test?” I ask.
