Soul Bonds

20. Nathan

Silas dreamed of a Grecian beach. He breathed in deep, filling his lungs and heart with the scent of home. The ocean in front of him was the most perfect shade of blue. He could feel the sun beating down upon his bare arms and legs. He heard footsteps in the sand behind him, and he smiled, expecting his Mama, or his Aggele. He turned, but instead, he was faced with an extremely large black wolf.

The wolf's eyes were a piece of the ocean behind him. His fur was an inky black, but one of his hind legs was red. The wolf sat down next to Silas, looking out over the water.

"What did the ocean say to the beach?" The wolf's words echoed in Silas's head. His grin grew wider.

"Nothing," Silas replied gravely. "It just waved.

"One day, I tried to catch fog."

"But you mist."

They both grinned at each other then turned to watch the waves.

**********

"So, you're telling me the reason I don't remember anything after being at home is because we turned into wolves, and that black wolf we hauled here from Victor's is really North."

"Yes."

"And if I don't do this bonding thing with Peanut, I'll turn back into a wolf and that I might not ever be able to turn human again."

"Essentially, yes."

"Is everyone here very stoned?¹ Luke, is this one of your overly complicated pranks?"

"I happen to believe my pranks are just enough complicated, thank you very much. And, anyway, if this was a prank, I wouldn't be able to do this." Luke took a running start at Nathan, shifting after his second step. He jumped and his front paws landed on Nathan's shoulders. Luke leaned in, making sure Nathan got a good ole dose of doggy breath, before jumping down and shifting back to human.

"The fuck...," Nathan breathed and sat down heavily onto a chair.

Luke and Gabe started a speed shifting competition while Owen turned to Kota.

"Dakota, you made contact with the Anderson team?"

"Did Mr. B actually...," Nathan whispered at Sean.

"Yes," he interrupted. "It's a Pookie thing. She's magic."

"The world really is ending." Nathan muttered as he dropped his head in his hands.

"Yes, I reached Lily, and we passed on the information my wolf had on the prophecy about the convergence. Emergency services are back online and local governments are getting back to work as well. The federal government should be releasing statements very soon. The Academy team attached to the Secret Service was instrumental in tracking down the new President."

Kota paused and started tapping each finger against his leg in order, counting a beat. After a breath, he continued. "Based on the news reports and the Andersons' intel, we believe those affected fall into three categories. Those, like us, who can bond with their animal and shift between forms, those who just became an animal, with no chance of shifting forms, and finally, those like Sang, who did not change forms during the convergence, but have an animal they will be able to bond with once they find their soul bond mate or mates. This last group suffers from hallucinations, seemingly brought on by their animal trying to get their human half to complete the external bond."

Kota took a moment to consider his next words. "I don't think this was a one - time event. The second group, who turned into animals without the potential to return to their human forms, I do not believe that will be repeated. The rest though, the convergence isn't over. We will need to identify bond mates early, and start the training to encourage the formation of the soul bonds. We need Soul Seekers, all that we can find. I.. I think Sang's wolf is a Soul Seeker."