“Yeah...so?” Her voice caught. He watched grief hit her face, darken her eyes, then flood the space between them.
Footsteps sounded behind her, followed by Muriel’s voice. “Who is it, Gracie?”
Gracie. Daniel’s twin.
Which meant he had a daughter.
Chapter twelve
Day 26
Shadow Mountain Base, Alaska
As O’Neill loped down the stone corridor ahead of him, Wolf settled into an easy, ground-covering walk. Samuel would not be pleased that he’d sent thejie'vandown to Muriel alone, without stepping in to run interference. But the upcoming conversation was not meant for his ears...or Samuel’s, for that matter. It was only relevant to those who’d given Daniel and Gracie life, even though one had not participated in hisanvaats’lives.
But he could find no fault in O’Neill for his absence. If he hadn’t known the twins existed, how could he be present?
And it was clear O’Neill had not known of his fatherhood.
Although his initial rage had subsided, Muriel’s revelation outside the clinic still shocked him. Counting back from the twins’ birth, he could estimate the date of their conception. Yet no matter how he scoured his memories, he found no evidence in past events that linked the two together. Indeed, Muriel had been fixated on Wolf back then—not just through their senior year, but through all of high school. He’d been aware of her crush, even considered taking her up on her flirtatious advances. Shadow knew he, along with every other heterosexual male on campus, had been attracted to her. She was beautiful, smart, kind—who wouldn’t want her on their arm? But he wasn’t in love with her. Nor was she his spirit mate. Instead, she was the sister of his best friend, his blood brother. A few minutes of physical pleasure were not worth breaking a lifetime of friendship.
Yet sometimes, in the dark of night, when sleep fled, questions hit his mind like stones in a clear pond where the ripples spread to shore. What would life be like if he’d chosen Muriel? If they’d mated? Would Daniel and Gracie have been his? Would he have a family?
If he’d taken that path back then, he wouldn’t be stuck in emptiness now, tied to a woman who didn’t want him, facing a future with no mate, no children, no family.
Thejie'vanwas out of sight when Wolf’s mind returned to the now. Although...outcast didn’t fit him anymore. Through recent events, his old adversary had proven his worth... had proven his wisdom. Shadow Mountain—indeed, theHee'woo'nee—were lucky to have O’Neill on their side. This truth shocked Wolf as deeply as Daniel’s parentage. Although perhaps it shouldn’t have. It was strange how closely their thoughts mirrored each other’s.
Benioko had once told him to look past O’Neill’s needling...that if he looked deeper, he’d find more similaritiesthan differences between them. He was starting to find the Old One had spoken the truth.
Samuel would hate the new world awaiting him when he awoke—his body broken, theTaounahagone, O’Neill accepted, Daniel and Gracie’s parentage revealed, having missed theTaounaha’sunbinding ceremony.
He would enter a different world than the one he’d left.
It would take days before Benioko’s body transitioned from flesh to ash. Even longer before the ash cooled enough to transfer to the sacred clay vessels for return to thebrenahecee.Even if Samuel returned to the waking world before the transition completed, he would be too weak to accompany Wolf for the reseeding ceremony. Wolf would have to return to thebrenaheceealone, without hisCaetaneeby his side, and spread the Old One’s earthly remains across the four corners of the Kalikoia homelands. The reseeding would spiritually and physically nourish the lands theHee'woo'needepended on for survival.
Such it had been since the very beginning of theHee'woo'nee.
Once the heat of the fire receded, and the air was breathable again, he’d return to the chamber and sit beside his old friend, bearing witness to his transformation from husk to spirit. He’d done this with Jude. He would do it with Benioko. Doubtlessly he’d do it for many others before he drew his last breath, and the followingBetaneesat beside Wolf’s transforming husk.
Betanee.
Firstin command to the Shadow Warrior’s earthside mouthpiece. But they had noTaounahanow, so who did he serve? Hisjavaanee? The one chosen by the Shadow Warrior yet refusing his duty? If Aiden continued to refuse, would the elder god choose another?
This was unknown territory.
If Aiden continued to refuse hisTaounaharole, perhaps O’Neill’s strategy would work. If they convinced him to confront his nightmares, in the guise of banishing them, perhaps Aiden would forge a connection with the elder gods and pass on any relevant information. Aiden didn’t have to believe, he just had to repeat.
This approach, while a trickster scheme, could prevent the foretold onslaught of death. Although death was not the correct description. Transformation was more accurate. Aiden’s teammates were not dead. Yet not alive, either.
Instead, they’d been transformed into somethingother.
Time to speak with his stubbornjavaanee.His cell phone was tucked away in the pocket of his cargo pants. As he reached for it, tension squeezed his shoulders. The beginnings of a headache seized his skull. Aiden did not make such conversations easy.
Aiden picked up on the first ring.
“Where are you?” Wolf kept his tone neutral.
“The isolation chamber.” Tension sharpened Aiden’s voice.
