A broad, tawny head lifted and turned toward the door. The whiskered muzzle pulled back, exposing wicked, curved teeth. A low, rumbling growl filled the room. The long, thick tail twitched, the inky tip flicking. And then the broad head turned to Jillian—rubbed against her…like a house cat marking its territory.
Wolf took a step back. A long one.
Power thrummed from the bed. A current of energy, feral and radiant. This beast was not a mortalheschrmal.It was pure spirit. The essence of nature. Of immortality.
Another low, vibrating growl echoed from the bed. Its energy filled the room and pushed through the door. Wolf backed up farther. He was intruding on something not meant to be shared.
Hisanistaahad said Jillian’sheschrmalvisited her often, but until just now, after witnessing those glowing green eyes and whiskered face, he had not truly believed it.
“So, my dearHo'cee...” Her arms folded across her breasts, hisanistaalifted her stubbornly proud chin. “Do you still believe I am lying?”
“I never believed you lied,” Wolf protested, feeling ten again. Any moment now, her slipper would come for his head.
“You believed me old,” she countered, “with untrustworthy eyes.”
She was right. He hadn’t truly believed her. Until now.
He scrubbed his hands down his face. “It was a difficult thing to believe.”
“But now that you have seen it for yourself, you believe me?” A smirk lifted the corners of her mouth.
“Indeed.” His voice was calm, considering the pounding of his heart and the shaking of his legs.
This was not his first encounter with a spirit essence. But the memory of histhae-hratawas blunted by age and time. Andit had happened outside, amid the wind and trees, with grass beneath his feet. Woodland spirits did not connect with their chosen inside human dwellings. They avoided walls, windows, and doors.
Until now. Until Jillian. Herheschrmaldid not exhibit normal spirit animal behavior. Nor did he remember histhae-hratahaving such raw, elemental power. Were all lion spirits so powerful? Perhaps O’Neill would know.
“This is not the first time Jillian’sheschrmalhas joined her in bed. But I have never heard of a woodland spirit doing such a thing. Have you?” his mother asked. The affront had left her voice, leaving curiosity behind.
“No, I have not.” He stared at the partially open door. His mind was already questioning what his eyes had shown him. “How often does it come to her?”
“I am not sure.” A thoughtful expression settled over her face. “Since her claiming, Jillian often wanders the woods of home. She is never gone long. But when she returns, she seems...more whole each time.”
Wolf considered that. “Perhaps herheschrmalwas joining her.”
“Perhaps.”
For three cycles, his shadowle'ven'ahad withered within hisanistaa’s Brenahiilohome. She’d shown no interest in walks or nature or the warmth of the sun. All those cycles of lingering with one foot in the waking world and the other in theTabenethahad shrunk the spark of life inside her. Such spirit sickness could not be broken by mortal manipulation.
He would know. He’d tried repeatedly to break theTabenetha’shold on her, until finally he’d given up.
He should never have given up.
“Is this aheschrmalspirit thing, do you think, this returning to her?”
Wolf yawned. “This I do not know.”
What he did know was who to ask.
But O’Neill should be in bed by now. Shadow knew the warrior needed sleep. As did Wolf. While the encounter between Jillian and herheschrmalwas curious, it was not dangerous. If the lion intended harm, it would have acted before now. He could give O’Neill and himself time to sleep.
Five hours later, he left a message on O'Neill’s cell as he walked to hisanistaa’squarters. Sleep had not refreshed him, filled as it was with twitching tails and glowing eyes.
His mother opened the door at his knock and stepped aside to let him inside. He entered the room to find Jillian sitting at the dining table. He checked beneath the table and then scanned the room.
His mother caught his wandering gaze and shook her head. “It disappeared, as it appeared, from empty air.”
Wolf considered that. Of course it must have materialized in Jillian’s room. It was a spirit essence, not a physical creature. It did not need a mechanical ride to join Jillian on base.
