Enigma

Chapter 41

Playing with the twins in their fur was Lillian's new favorite pastime, during which her wolf was relaxed and in balance with her human side.

The three were playing in the woods. The sun shone bright and strong through the towering firs. Birds sang a cheerful morning tune and a summer breeze ruffled her brown fur. The twins' laughter rang in her head.

"Mommy, look! It's a rabbit!"

"It won't work on me again," Lillian linked Ezra, pulling him by his hind leg, careful to keep her hold gentle. It took her a few tries to know how to carry the twins without hurting them with her sharp canines. But once she let her wolf take the lead, instinct took over and she did it.

After breakfast, she'd shifted and chased the twins from their cabin into the woods. Elijah was trapped under her, only his head poked out, wriggling to get out.

Linking was flawless. When before she had to focus in order to mind-link the twins, now it became as effortless as speaking.

Elijah managed to crawl out and scrambled away. Lillian raised her head and looked at him, a wolfish grin on her wolf's face. She let Ezra go too, and the two pups collided and rolled around, growling and biting.

Their brown fur caught the sun, looking like golden threads. Lillian's wolf rested her head on her paws and relaxed. It had been two days since she came to the pack. She spent the majority of that time in her cabin with the twins, occasionally taking a run outside with them. The isolation cleared her head, she felt more at peace with her new self.

She still pushed her wolf back sometimes, but she was getting better at accepting her instincts and behaviors as hers.

Lillian yawned until her jaw cracked. Shaking her head, she sniffed the air. Noah's scent tickled her nose for a fraction of a second. Maybe she just imagined it, but they were close to his cabin.

He spent the night as his wolf in her bedroom, and for the two days she hadn't seen the man. Now that she could mind-link him, too, it was no longer an issue. He gave her space, for which she was both grateful and annoyed. The need to be around him was gut-wrenching, but her wolf seemed to want to burst out of her skin whenever he was close.

But this was enough isolation for Lillian. The pack understood that she needed time and space and they gave her both, but she already missed them. It was about time to get back to normal life again.

Besides, Elle and Arthur had been in the cabin near the border of the pack since the day of their arrival. Today the Seer would join them. It was time Lillian faced the music.

A chill ran down her spine.

Lillian froze. The fur on her back rose. She sprang to her feet and looked around, then remembered Noah's words. "Use your nose. Treat it as another pair of eyes."

"Boys, come here," she linked the twins. They must have heard the urgency in her voice because they jumped to their feet and ran to her side. Lillian raised her nose to the air and tried making sense of what it was telling her. It was frustrating since all she could smell and see were the woods around them.

A breeze blew right then, carrying with it a scent. Lillian snapped her head that way. She knew that scent, but for the life of her she couldn't remember who it belonged to. Damn her memory. But it was a female, of that much she was certain.

Grass crunching on the other side. She turned her head and watched carefully. Her ears pricked back and a growl shook her chest.

Blake appeared.

Lillian's growl stopped. Blake was in his skin, dressed in a pair of shorts, his brown hair damp. Lillian relaxed a fraction. She felt a tug in her mind and allowed it. Blake's voice filled her head.