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Traumatized was putting it lightly. The crimson stains on her clothes had been too much to bear. It didn’t matter that she was supposed to be my mate or whatever that actually meant. I didn’t want to see anything hurt, not even a stranger.
“So… any chance those wolves are still out here,” I asked, trying to sound casual, “or are we just marching in ready to die?”
Valentina looked up at me with a calm smile that shouldn’t have eased my nerves. It did though. “I wouldn’t let the big bad werewolves hurt you. Mark and I took care of them.”
“You killed them?”
“Yes,” she said simply. “They tried to hurt us.”
“But… I thought you said we were supposed to unite the worlds,” I said, my voice dropping. “Not kill them off.”
“They were collateral damage,” she replied flatly, like she was naming the weather.
It should’ve disturbed me. And it did.
In some twisted way, it also stirred something darker in me. She wanted to protect me from monsters, and I’d never had that before, someone so fierce. Still, even if she wanted to, she shouldn’t have to kill anything.
My imagination pictured her delicate brown fingers ripping through fur and flesh, and my throat went dry. I wasn’t sure if I was more disturbed, or more drawn to her for it. Those feminine hands seemed too pure for that. I knew better. She was perfectly capable. I could still feel her foot against my chest. It had been nothing short of painful.
We hadn’t gone far before she leapt onto my back, treating me like her personal chauffeur. The deeper we continued down the forest path, something felt different this time. The air itself felt alive in a way I couldn’t explain, because it was also utterly at rest.
Everything was still. Too still.
It was as if the forest itself had taken a breath and forgotten how to exhale. No birds. No deer. Not even the distant roar of the waterfall.
It wasn’t long before the air finally took a breath. Flickers of gold and silver, tiny lights formed a path that felt like one we weren’t meant to take. Amid the glowing trail and vibrant moss, a voice drifted through the trees, soft, ethereal, singing in the distance.
“Do you hear that?” I asked, already veering toward it. The tune was heartbreakingly beautiful. It played in my ears, low at first, like a scratch against the mind, until it grew loud as I followed. As it grew in volume, my whole body began to vibrate. It was as if the melody wrapped around my bones, anchoring into my system, trying to burrow itself soul-deep.
Do you see me?
Can you feel me?
Come and find me…
Down… down… down… to the Willing Tree.
My feet carried me off the path Valentina had led us down, toward an overgrown trail dusted with glittering gold that hung in the air. It felt like the voice was promising me every dream I’d ever dared imagine. I wanted it—desperately.
If you see me
You will be free
You just need to
Go down… down… down… to the Willing Tree.
Valentina’s hands clamped over my ears, desperate, trembling, gripping the cartilage raw. Then her voice echoed in my mind: Don’t listen. It’s dangerous. But my feet moved and my mind was made up, carrying me toward the sound, every step a promise I’d make it to the Willing Tree.
Your heart feels so open
No fear to be found
Please do come quiet,
Not a peep, not a sound
Willingness is not reckless
