**Jarin**The day had finally arrived. I stood outside the old holding with Doran and some of my other pack members. It was the first day Atlas and Asher were tutoring Thea in regards to her new found powers. I had planned to be there but I felt this was too important to miss. At least that’s what I was telling myself. If I was really honest with myself though, I was here because I needed to see Viola again. I needed to know if I had imagined my attraction before. Until then, I couldn’t focus on Thea properly.Movement in the trees caught my attention. Cloaked figures moved towards us. They had arrived. I watched as the figure at the front removed their hood. I steadied myself. She was so unlike any werewolf woman I had seen, and more beautiful than I remembered. She walked in such a way that was both graceful and dangerous. Now I couldn’t deny that I was attracted to her. I tried not to think about what this me

**Thea**The first thing I felt was sore. Then nausea. I thought about opening my eyes but decided to wait a few moments. Something had happened. Then it all came flooding back, gaining control of my mage powers, shifting for the first time, Atlas carrying me…I decided to finally open my eyes. I did so slowly, squinting at the bright light. As the room came into focus, I saw Bessie was sitting in front of me. Concern covered her face.“Thea? How are you feeling?”“Sick. Aching” I croaked.She got up and went to the table, picking up a jug of water and decanting some into a glass. I pushed myself up on to my elbows a little. Without asking she brought the rim of the glass to my lips and I took a few sips. That felt better. I slumped back into the pillows.“The aching is normal after your first shift. The sickness might be th

**Atlas**I was still reeling from Gurtar’s kill. The only thing I was thankful for was that Doran had not made any more attempts to talk to me about it. What also helped was that I had barely seen Jarin. He was so busy with the council that our paths didn’t normally cross. He wasn’t spending a lot of time with Thea either. I had mixed feelings about this. On one hand I loved the fact they didn’t appear to be getting close. On the other, what would this mean for our collective future? It was also strange he was doing so much of the council work himself. It was something he would usually delegate to me. I guessed he wanted me to focus on Thea’s training.  Because of the training, I had now spent far more time with Thea than he had. For the past few days, we had been experimenting with Thea’s abilities. After she had heard about the wolf

**Atlas**After letting Thea go, I decided to head back to my chambers. I needed a drink. A big one. I pushed the door open, heading straight for my cabinet where I kept the alcohol. Suddenly, someone cleared their throat. I turned and saw the last woman I had slept with before finding Thea, barely clothed and lying on my bed.“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”“Temper temper. You seem like you could do with releasing some frustration,” she purred.I couldn’t believe the audacity, I opened my mouth to tell her to leave, then something dawned on me.“How long have you been here?” I demanded.“Too long…an hour maybe.”I began to tremble. Fearing that I was going to be able to predict her answer to my next question. &ldquo

**Jarin**I blinked at her dumbly. Not really knowing what to say.“Oh…right…I mean that’s…excellent news!”Was it excellent? For my species it was. But for me? I looked at her as if for the first time. This is to be my wife. She’s wonderful but she isn’t who I want. I shook myself. I couldn’t have any thoughts like that now.“Can I ask what about meeting your father has helped you come to that decision?”Her eyes looked cold and she wasn’t smiling. “I believe what my father is saying is true. There will be an attack from the mages. He explained how the pendant I was wearing was hiding me from them as well as supressing my powers. Now it’s gone they will be able to detect me. If what the seer said is true, then we should unite as soon as possible.”