Awakening the Wolf by Crymsyn Hart Read Free Book Online

asked.
    “Snatches of this. Flickers of that. Running through the woods. Just running. That was all I wanted to do. But there seemed to be another part of me that was there.”
    “You weren’t flying? What was this other part you mentioned?”
    “No. I’ve told you before. There’s something else lurking in my mind when I get angry or hurt. A shadow self that I can never really get a glimpse of. Last night it was there with me during all of it—almost protecting me—and I gave into it.”
    “Were you afraid of this other part of you, this shadowed self?”
    Illiana sat her tea down. “No. I welcomed it. It’s here with me. Even now, it’s listening. And I think you know exactly what it is.” She met her aunt’s gaze and waited for the other woman to respond. Coret got up from her chair and paced the small room. The silence between them became deafening. The wind curled around Illiana’s cheek and calmed her, running its fingers over her tea and cooling the surface. The breeze tried to reassure her that it was okay, but Illiana did not want to listen to it. All she yearned for was the truth. It would give her something to grab ahold of, if she knew exactly what the darkness was. Did she have to fear it? Was she losing her mind? Her aunt stood by the window and tended a few of the herbs. Illiana wondered if she was going to answer her and was about to ask her when Coret began to speak.
    “Your mother never wanted you to know.”
    “Know what?”
    “The truth about who you are. About who your father was.”
    Cold dread filled Illiana and nearly stopped her heart. Whenever she had mentioned her father to her mother, a murderous gleam came to Lelana’s eyes. Lelana would stop whatever she was doing and tell her never to bring up the subject again. All Illiana had ever been told was that her father was dead. They had been together for a few months and her mother was pregnant before her father died. Illiana knew she had inherited traits from him. She was heavier than the ravens, had darker skin, and her features were not like the rest of her flock. She assumed it was because of him that her mother could never look upon her with true acceptance. Now it was time to learn the truth.
    “Who was my father?” Illiana whispered.
    “It’s not about who your father is, but about the part of him that’s inside of you. About your heritage.”
    She shook her head. “No. I need to know about my father and about what’s inside of me.”
    Coret smiled and went behind the beaded curtain. Illiana heard rustling with tins and glass being knocked together. When her aunt returned, she took Illiana’s hand and placed something inside of it. “This was something your father gave me. He said it represented his clan.”
    Illiana opened her hand and inside of it was a necklace on a leather thong. The leather was old and cracked, but the pendant was a silver rectangle. Embedded in it was a square of turquoise and below that a circle of amber. That language etched in the silver was not one she could read. The metal was cool, but the stones were warm to the touch. She wrapped her fingers around it and held it close as she tried to sense something in the metal or the stones. A full draft rose around her and then danced out. Illiana figured that it meant to say that it was tied to the necklace. Right there she knew her control over the air elemental was inherited from her father. What else had she gotten from him? What was it about him that her mother did not want to tell her? Had they had some illicit love affair and relationship that were forbidden by the flock or her mother’s family? Had their affair led to his death? Tears burned her eyes, but she wiped them away. Knowing that Coret was willing to tell her about her father, about who she was, made her jumpy with anticipation. What was it that disgusted her mother so much that she could never look her directly in the eye and tell her the truth about where she came from?
    “What