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She understood it though. “I’m here. I’ll do what it takes to save you. Anything, if she makes it.” She wasn’t talking to me anymore. She gripped my hand, kept holding it even when I lost the strength.
The world spun around, and I couldn’t remember what I was supposed to be doing. I only knew pain, and my entire body went slack. I couldn’t move anything.
A cold nose touched my cheek. I knew people were around me but I couldn’t hear them, couldn’t see them, couldn’t feel them.
Couldn’t take the pain anymore.
Then it was only dark.
It was only cold.
I was floating through the darkness. Was I already dead? But I felt Amelia’s hand in mine, warm and safe and real.
“Amelia?”
“I’m here, I think. It’s dark, but there are trees.”
It was as though her words made them true. I saw the trees, felt my feet touch the floor. And then I was standing with Amelia.
“What’s happening?” I asked, looking down at myself. I had no wounds, and the pain was a vague memory.
“I’m not sure.” She looked different, but I couldn’t place why.
An old woman stepped out from amongst the trees and smiled. “Here you are at last.”
“You,” Amelia said. “Margo, this is my spirit guide. I told you about her, didn’t I? But wait, what is this?”
“A conversation, I expect.” The old woman looked me over. “You’re finally on the right path. This wasn’t exactly what I expected, but I suppose she’ll do. Not quite a seventh of seventh either.” She shrugged. “It’s more important that there’s a willing vessel, and a spirit ready to join.”
Amelia held up her hand. “Wait, a what now?”
“Some are born with the spirit of a wolf already inside them, others discover their joining at an important age, and then there’s this.” She gestured towards me. “This, I didn’t predict. Isn’t life interesting?”
Amelia and I exchanged a glance.
“Hold up,” Amelia said. “Are you telling me…” She shook her head, looking as though her entire world had up-ended. “Are you saying that there are wolf spirits out there, waiting to, what, invade our bodies?”
A sudden howl rang out in the distance. We all shivered simultaneously. Somehow, I knew it was Dorian. An echoing howl came from the forest around us, and it gave me an odd feeling in my chest. I grew anxious to return.
“Don’t worry,” the spirit guide said. “He’ll buy you enough time if you want it. Amelia, you found your wolf when you were ready. Just because that is normal to you doesn’t mean it’s the only way. Some find themselves attuned much earlier.”
“Born with the spirit,” Amelia whispered. “You mean… Why the hell didn’t you tell me any of this before?”
“Because you always push too soon instead of waiting for fate to take its course, witch-wolf.”
“Witch-wolf,” I scoffed, a mixture of disbelief and nervousness taking me over. “What does that make me? A death-wolf?”
Amelia’s spirit guide laughed. “More like a dread-wolf. No, I call you Guardian, a final return to the white wolves of old. An unexpected, twisting path, but here we are, at the end of it.”
Amelia had turned away and was whispering rapidly to herself, apparently trying to process whatever the hell was happening. I had no such luck.
“Girl,” the spirit guide said impatiently. “Are you paying attention? Your debt is paid in full. You have done enough to restore the balance to the pack and all others. This will do if she accepts the cost.”
“I don’t understand,” Amelia said in a small voice. “I thought… My ancestor was supposed to be the mother to a white wolf. I was supposed to repay the family debt when she screwed up the curse. I thought that meant that I would take her place, that my children would—“
“Who said you would have children?” the spirit guide asked. “Besides, you are the one who begged your ancestors to help this girl survive. How did you think that would look? There is always more than one way to end somebody’s story.” She cocked her head to the side. “I’ll admit, this outcome surprised me, too. But I suppose it makes sense. When darker magic is misused, it affects everyone, everywhere, all species, all lives. The werewolves weren’t the only ones affected.”
“How could I have possibly fixed all of that?” Amelia asked.
