| I was surrounded by warmth, the warmth of something big holding me and not the fire of the animal that lived inside of me. Opening my eyes, I looked up into the face of Taka, who was cradling me in her paws. "Tasha? Sleeping Panther, she's awake!" she cried out and lowered me slowly to the ground. I stood wobbly on the soft grass only to fall back into the dragon's paws. "Wha...what's going on?" I mumbled and suddenly, everything came back in a flash. "Will!" I yelled and tried to run towards the house but only succeeded in falling on my face. "Pup, calm down. William is safe. You are safe. Everything is fine," Grandfather said, trying to help me stand but I shrugged him off. "Why did you make me do that? Why?! I almost killed him! I could have killed him..." I yelled, letting out something of a sob and a scream but I forced myself not to cry. If I started crying, I wasn't sure I could ever stop again. Hysterics weren't good for too much. Grandfather simply stroked my hair that was now braided back tightly. "You know the reason, pup," he said softly. "If it did not happen now, with you somewhere in control of it, it would have came out later and you really would have killed him. William allows you to feel and the wolf fears that. You fear that. Imagine what would have happened in the heat of the moment? You would have destroyed him." I swallowed, nodded, and slowly tried to get up. "I understand what you were trying to do Grandfather...but can you tell me next time?" I managed, looking down and finding that I was re-clothed. My elder helped me stand and gave me a small smile. "I will try," was all he said and he led me towards the house, Taka looking on with a sad look. Inside, Will was lying on the couch, in the pajamas he wore the night before, normally rosy complexion pale. "God, Will are you ok?" I asked and ran to hug him. He hugged me back and smiled a little. "As ok as I'm going to get. I'll be fine in a few minutes," he said softly, holding on to me longer than normal but I didn't care. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know--" "Tasha, shh...it's not your fault. I know that." I blinked and looked at him. His warmth and understanding flowed through me and I relaxed. "How can you be so calm and I just almost killed you?" I said in disbelief. Will shrugged. "I know it wasn't you," he answered simply. "If I may interrupt you two," Sleeping Panther said, a smile in his voice. "Will must regain his strength. You must train today...in your normal WolfAngel forms. And you have a meeting tonight." I arched an eyebrow. "A meeting with who?" "A triumvirate." |