la

ecame my

he bitter roots I clawed from the earth and chewed with broken teeth. I was

with my elbows, the raw skin scraping against rock and dirt. Every movement was agony, b

had failed to kill. I had to li

lter in hollow logs and under rocky overhangs. I learned the patterns of the sc

ciated frame. The life inside me grew stronger, its kick

n the midst of

. It was different from the constant ache of m

bo

at the entrance, the rain lashing down in blinding shee

ng hand to hold. Just me, the st

ned. But beneath the pain, something ancient was waking up. I had been called wolfless my entire life. No inner wolf. No shift. No power. But the wolf wasn't the o

later. Right now, th

e ripped from my throat. Sweat and rain mingled on my face, blurring my vision. In the flashes o

ve me s

he diaphragm-and they didn't need wrists or ankles to do their work. I surrendered to the contractions, and when the urge to

echoed the thunder outside, the

bo

my chest, my ruined body trembling, and tried to shield his fragile form from the

didn't stop.

onger than before

ddess.

ing the labor, began to seep again. Whatever had awakened in

h itself. I had nothing left. My body was an empty, brok

t scream in my mind. Live

ipping into the abyss, t

gi

es crashed back down. The blood flowed freely again. The failsafe had d

g her beside her brother. Two tiny, wrinkled, perfect ba

d do

f my vision going gray. Exhaustion a

l over the c

wore a dark, form-fitting suit and a smooth, featureless mask that covered t

art s

ildren, but I couldn't even lift

luid grace. They walked directly to me, the

h the mask, was fixed o

y k

hed out, not for m

with no force, no air behind it. Tears I d

bit. Help! Someone! But out here, in the Barrens, I wa

om my arms. The baby, so small

s hesitation, the figure turned a

Powerless. Utterly, completely powerless. A wail of pure, animalist

erything. Only to have my child stolen

life from me. I closed my eyes, ready for the end. My daug

w fell across

open my eyes. This was it. The

't charged with danger. Instead, a faint, clea

f herbs and

me, their cloak whispe

my forehead. It wasn't

A quiet presence in th