They’re simple and earth toned. A fitted pair of pants, slightly worn at the seams, and a linen shirt with frayed edges and sleeves. It strikes me how different this is from the carefully tailored clothes I wore in the wraith court. These clothes weren’t made to impress anyone.
When the bowls are empty, I set them down on the table and slide out of the bed before heading to gather the new outfit. The clothes aren’t a perfect fit, but they’ll keep me covered and that’s all that matters here. Outside, the mountain air is substantially warmer than it was the night before, the rays of morning sunlight warming the air and the earth. My head tilts up instinctively as it washes over me, and for a few seconds, I simply bask in it.
It hits me as I lower my chin and take in the vast lands before me, that this is the first time I’ve been able to openly explore on my own. There’s no king to watch my every move. No attendant to cater to me. Just me and whatever decisions I want to make.
While my desire to learn more about this war and where I’m from is constantly in the back of my mind, Ican’t deny this moment of independence is sorely needed.
A giddy excitement fills my chest and my feet hastily carry me forward.
I follow the winding path back to the main area where I ate last night and take note of all the details I missed then. Smoke curls gently from a few chimneys I pass by and I hear laughter from somewhere nearby. I trail along a narrow footpath to head toward the sound, fingers brushing tall grasses, until I reach a small clearing.
Children are gathered under the watchful eye of an older woman. Her long braid is streaked with gray, her arms crossed tightly, but her expression is patient. One boy stands in the middle, barefoot and frowning hard at the ground. His shoulders twitch before bones begin to shift beneath his skin, and then suddenly, paws appear in place of his hands and feet. Just paws.
He groans in frustration, wobbling as he stares down at them.
“I wanted the full shift!” he grumbles, voice still too high-pitched to sound truly angry.
“You’ll get it when your spirit’s ready,” the woman says. “Half-shifts mean you are beginning to learn from each other, and that’s a good sign for what’s to come.”
Another child giggles nearby, currently mid-shift herself, with soft, long white ears twitching from herhead though nothing else has changed. The lesson continues as I move on, their laughter fading behind me and leaving me with a soft smile.
Further down the path is a stall with sliced roots and smoked meats spread across rough-woven fabric. I watch two people trade with barely a word, just one pressing three strips of dried meat into the other’s palm while taking herbs in return.
The air is warmer here in the clearing, sunlight catching on the river that cuts through the valley just beyond the treeline. A few younger kids wade knee-deep in it, shrieking as they splash each other.
There’s no performance in any of it. I’m simply being allowed to exist in their world, being granted a glimpse of it.
For the first time since I woke up in this world, I don’t feel like I’m focused on simply understanding and surviving it, but on actually living in it.
I turn toward the footpath again, not ready to return to Torryn’s home, but unsure of where to go from here. It’s clear there’s a pattern to everyone’s daily lives, and while I’m thankful to get a glimpse of it, I don’t want to disrupt it.
“You’re not simply a craving…you’re a disruption.”
Riven’s words surface in my mind and I can’t help but wonder what he’s doing and if he’s upset with my decision to come with the shifters. While he hadn’t argued with me, the disappointment was clear in thesolemn look in his eyes and lack of his usual confidence.
Footsteps distract me from the thought.
I glance over my shoulder and see three men approaching. I peg them to be young adults, each broad-shouldered and relaxed in that loose-limbed way shifters seem to have despite their stature.
Their expressions aren’t threatening, but they are far too curious for my liking as their eyes sweep over my body.
“You’re new,” one of them says. “Didn’t see you come in last night.”
“She smells like the alpha,” another adds, brow arching as he sniffs the air lightly. “He hasn’t claimed her, though.”
I stiffen slightly, keeping my shoulders square even as they close in around me, forming a triangle with me in the center.
“I’m just passing through,” I say carefully. “To find Torryn.”
That name makes them pause, but only for a breath.
“He’s sworn off taking a mate,” the third one says, his voice light but too smooth, almost like he doesn’t believe me. “Not the claiming type. Everyone here knows that.”
“Which means,” the first adds, “you’re not mated.”
They all look at me like that’s the bestnews they’ve heard all day, and my body shivers instinctively.
“Do you even have a form yet?” the second one asks, eyes narrowing slightly. “I can’t smell any specific spirit on you.”
