Page 10 of Enchanting Her Monsters
We start on a path in the woods that appears well traveled. The forest swallows up the morning light, but my eyes quickly adjust to the darkness.
“Have you ever had a death like that?” I ask.
He nods slowly.
Goddess, it feels strange talking about this with another phoenix. My father is long gone, his magic was snuffed out when I was just a fledgling. I didn’t get much guidance from him since he was taken when I was so young. My heavy heart feels as though it’s been lifted as I realize I finally have another phoenix to help me.
But quickly, my anger swells inside again at what the witch who killed me did to me. Memories of her torture fill my mind.
Then what’s been eating me up since that death finally comes out as I shout, “I can’t shift!”
After a long silence, where I see his concern on his face, Raithe asks, “At all?”
I can’t believe I admitted that to him. I’ve never even told my pack.
I want to punch Raithe for the sad look of pity on his face.
I want to scream.
I want to fucking shift!
Turning my gaze away so I don’t have to look at his pity, I admit, “I can only manifest my wings and fire.”
“I understand now that your last death wasn’t an ordinary one. But if you have your wings and fire, your phoenix is still inside you.”
I fall to my knees, emotion overcoming me, covering my face with my hands in shame. “But I’m broken. It’s like a piece of my soul is missing, not just my memories.”
Raithe kneels next to me and says quietly, “My last death was the worst yet.” He sighs heavily. “Without going into a long ass story, I’ll say I only survived it emotionally because of Amira. Because I finally gave in and trusted her, she saved my soul on so many levels. And I’ll never be able to pay her back.”
Scraping together my dignity, I get to my feet, considering his words, and we continue down the forest path.
“So you truly don’t have a problem Amira being a witch?” I ask with no small amount of skepticism, but my voice comes out as small and weak—it matches how I feel.
Raithe stops abruptly and looks at me. “She has essentially given up being a witch, and chose Darius and me as mates. If it weren’t for her, we’d be dead or still being tortured. She has done more for supernaturals than most supes, so no, I don’t have a problem with her.” He levels his gaze at me, and I feel the weight of his focus like a threat. “Jade is in your pack, whether you like it or not. So you better figure out how to drop your prejudice or leave them.”
My feathers are ruffled, but the asshole isn’t wrong. “I’m trying. It isn’t easy.”
“Maybe, but it’s not as hard as you’re probably making it.” Raithe turns and continues back on our walk. “What everyone seems to forget is that we are all individuals. We are more than our species, or magic, or lineage, or sexuality, or whatever the fuck there is to see on the surface. More importantly, we are the choices we make every damned day.”
I think about his words. Who have I been if I only considered my choices?
I don’t like the answer.
And Jade? She has only been kind, accepting, and giving.
I just hope I can repair any damage I might have caused and develop a friendship with her.
Because no matter my hang-ups, she’s in my pack now.
4
TRAINING
JADE
“I’m nervous about talking with Amira,” I admit to Maxum as we walk up to the main house.
“How so?” His voice is calm and filled with authority, like a hot professor might sound in one of my novels.
