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He sounded like the voice of the trees.
He was the voice of the trees.
The Alpha said, you don’t belong to me you aren’t mine you aren’t MINE but you could be you could be because of who you are.
“I don’t know who I am,” I admitted, and it was a terrible thing to say aloud, but after the words were out, I felt… lighter.
Almost free.
The Alpha took a step toward me. i know i know child but you will i promise you will you are important you are special you are—
Lightning flashed, and I saw I was surrounded. Dozens of wolves were prowling among the trees. Their eyes were red and orange and violet—
The trees snapped from side to side in the harsh wind.
I thought I was going to get blown away, carried into the black sky above and lost in the storm.
The wolves stopped.
They tilted their heads back in unison.
And howled.
It tore through me, and it was breaking me, it was crushing my bones into powder. I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t find a way to stop it, and I didn’t want to. That was what hit me hardest, that I didn’t want it to stop. I wanted to be consumed, to feel my flesh tear and bleed onto the earth beneath my feet, to sacrifice myself so that I would know I mattered, would know that I meant something to someone.
The Alpha said, no you can’t that’s not what this is this is DIFFERENT this is MORE because you are MORE and—
Hands settled on my shoulders.
A voice whispered in my ear.
It said, “Robbie. Robbie, can you hear me? Hear my voice. Listen. You’re safe. I’ve got you. Would you hear me, dear? Please.”
The hands tightened against my shoulders, fingers digging into my skin, and I was jerked backward, flying through the trees. The wolves were screaming, screaming, screaming their songs of fury and horror, and as the world began to crack around me, as it shattered into pieces like so much glass, one wolf stepped out of the shadows.
It was dark gray with flecks of black and white on its face and between its ears.
And in its mouth, it carried—
I gasped as I sat up, chest heaving. For a moment I didn’t know where I was. There were wolves and trees, and they were breaking, and I had to put them back together. I had to find all the ways to make the pieces fit, to make them whole again so I could—
“You’re all right,” a kind voice said. “Robbie. You’re okay. It was just a dream. You’re safe.”
&
nbsp; I blinked rapidly, trying to catch my breath.
The man next to my bed looked worried, the deep lines on his craggy face pronounced. He was wearing his nightclothes. His feet were bare, thin and bony. His hair was long gone, liver spots on his scalp and the backs of his hands. He was hunched over, more so with advanced age than concern. But his eyes were clear and kind, and he was real.
Ezra.
I immediately calmed.
I knew where I was.
I was in my room.
I was in the house I shared with him.
