Awakening the Beast (4 page)

“Why are we only hearing about this right now? Why haven’t you confided in us before?” Belik asked.

She shrugged. “I didn’t want to worry you.”

“You have to tell us if it happens so we know what to do. Belik can’t read the elements and I don’t have control over fire and air the way you do. I can only reason with the water and earth. What happens if something goes wrong and we can’t get you back?” Ohanzee did not want to think about losing the woman he loved to the elements. He hardly understood half of her power, too, but it was a strong gift. It also enabled her to tap into the currents of the spirits within her dreams so she could tell the future.

The earth had been rumbling for the past few months. Three months ago one of the mountains in the distance had begun to smoke. Maybe Illiana’s dreams and the quakes were all tied together. Maybe the spirits were telling them they had to go. When he glanced up in the sky, he saw the smoke in the sky thicken and grow darker. The disruptions in the earth jarred him when he searched for rocks. Did this have something to do with how Lelana had shown up? Was the world starting to change? His world had transformed when Illiana had walked into it. New things were happening to him every day while his mate learned more about herself and her abilities.

Illiana sighed. “It won’t happen again. I promise. I’ll tell you if I feel them creeping up on me.”

“It sounds as though the elements are living things inside of you, Illiana,” Belik commented.

Her forehead creased for a minute. “They are. I guess. Ranolo said we’re all made up of the four elements. It all depends on which one is the strongest. We can take qualities from them depending on our personality. Ohanzee is stronger with earth than he is with water which is one reason why he’s so stubborn. You’re stronger with water, that’s why you’re able to go with the flow of things.”

“But I’m a raven. Wouldn’t that mean air is my stronger element because I can fly?” Belik asked.

“I’d think that, too, but I’ve figured out it doesn’t matter which animal we are. Even though I’m wolf and raven, it doesn’t mean that air and earth are my strongest elements. Sometimes it feels like I’m changing all the time, evolving with the way the elements talk to me. Something’s happening inside of me. When I reach into the elements and look upon them, there is another thread binding them all together. Whatever this fifth string is, it leads me to places I haven’t gone before. I’ve tried to describe it to Ranolo, but he doesn’t know what it is. He tells me to believe in myself and listen to the spirits because that’s who is bringing me the dreams.”

“Do you believe they’re the ones that warned you about the forest? Or do you think that it’s this other fifth element you’re experiencing?” Ohanzee asked.

She raked her fingers over her face. “I don’t know. Can we talk about this later? I’m sure I’ll be fine and I really need to go back and speak to my mother.”

“Is that such a good idea?” Belik asked.

She got up from the bed, kissed Belik, and squeezed Ohanzee’s arm. He saw her troubled gaze, but also the determination that made him love her all the more. It did not matter what he said to her. Illiana would do whatever she needed to do and there was no stopping her. One of the attributes that came from the earth was her strength. One day that strength would help her lead a nation.

* * * *

Illiana walked out of the cabin and squared her shoulders. This time she was not going to let her mother get the better of her. As Lelana had told her story, all Illiana could think of was that her mother was awake. Once the shock had dissipated from that revelation, she focused on the recounts of the cougars and the vultures claiming the forest for their territory. That meant the vultures and the cougars had some kind of pact the way the wolves and the flock did. If she was the one who had put all of this into motion, then she had to put an end to it. She had to go back and reclaim their land and see what had been done to her beloved forest. Was there anything left? How many survivors were there? In her dreams she had never seen the end to the fire. Even the Mother Tree had been consumed. The main pavilion they had built their lives around and did all of their ceremonies at was destroyed in her dreams. Illiana thought of the many times she had walked on the pavilion and run across the bridges and branches that connected all the aeries together. It was all lost. The weight of the deaths rested on her shoulders, but she had to banish the grief creeping over her heart.

If she gave into the heartache, the elements would drown her once more. That could not happen again and gaining control of all of them was her next goal. The more she worked on it, the more puzzling it became because it seemed there was a fifth element. This other unknown force she encountered was an invisible link that bound them all together. Whenever she raced along that connection, she hit a wall that had no substance. It was fluid as water. If she held onto it long enough, it burned her the way fire did. It was also interesting because it resided above her. When she coasted along this element, she was hit with visions and pictures of things that she could not truly understand. Ranolo told her that she was seeing the expanse of time—past, present, future. If she could make sense of the images she could read the time. All that came in clearly were her dreams. And sometimes those dreams were filled with a song she did not understand. Whatever that was, she had to put it out of her mind and make her mother comprehend that she was no longer a little girl and this was her home. She had changed in the past year they had been away.

Illiana had found love and her sense of self. The tribe had given her a place to belong in the world. Learning that Coret had been killed was a devastating blow. Her aunt was more of a mother to her than Lelana had been. If it had not been for her aunt, then she never would have learned how to tap into her wolf side. Coret had been the spiritual leader to the flock, looked akin to her mother except for her blue eyes because she had given herself to the priesthood. There were so many things Illiana had hoped to tell her aunt. She had wanted her to meet Ohanzee, and to tell her that she had found her father.

She walked back up the hill, following the stream to her house. A small tremor vibrated through her feet and rocked a few pebbles down the hill that her father’s house was built into. When she reached out with her senses, the stubbornness of the earth hit her. It tried to push her away, but she felt a deep anger igniting along the veins of the earth. However, she could not quite figure out what caused it. When Illiana tried to delve further, she was knocked out of the earth’s consciousness with another violent quake, causing her to stumble to the ground. Her fingers touched the surface of the stream and pure panic from the water element filled her mind with shrill screams. Illiana yanked her hand from the water and the shrieks ceased.

Ohanzee and Belik rushed out of the hut toward her. Cries and screams from the villagers below erupted into the night as another small tremble shook the land. She got up slowly and saw the masses heading toward her father’s house. Whatever phenomena that upset the elements, it was not a good thing. It disturbed the core of her very being, and the animal sides of her balked at the feeling that something was very wrong. She wiped off the dirt from her dress.

“Are you hurt?” Belik asked.

“No. Are you?” she asked.

“No, only a little shaken up,” Ohanzee answered. He hugged her hard and his closeness comforted her.

She pulled away and saw her parents approaching them. Ranolo had a stern expression on his face and her mother seemed completely lost. Illiana wanted to say something, but Ranolo went first.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Fine. Are you?”

“Yes. I’ve spoken to Lelana. I don’t think I did any good. She’s changed a lot since the last time I saw her.”

Illiana glanced at her mother. “That’s an understatement.” Many other things went through her mind about what her parents had talked about, but she turned her attention back to the tremors. “Do you know why the earth’s shaking?”

There was more uproar behind her. Glancing back, half of the village had arrived.

“Yes. What does it mean?” someone shouted.

“Why is there dark smoke rising in the west? I don’t see a fire,” another man yelled.

Ranolo put up his hands, but Illiana sensed the current of fear rolling through the villagers. She understood everyone’s trepidation. It was not every day that the earth shook. Changes were occurring for everyone. With all the modifications that she had gone through, she wondered what her mother would say when she finally spoke her mind. What had her father told Lelana?

“Everyone! Please. I know you’re all worried about the tremors and about the black smoke near the western border of our territory. We’re okay for now. Let me and Illiana consult with the spirits,” Ranolo announced to the people.

“How do you know she’s not the cause of this? These things didn’t happen before she arrived in the village,” Tormec, Ohanzee’s brother-in-law, said.

Several men nodded in agreement.

“Enough! Illiana isn’t the cause of this. Those of you who can commune with the earth have felt the unrest in the element. You’ve come to me before and asked about it. These disturbances weren’t as strong before. Please, everyone go back to your homes. I’ll ask the spirits about what we need to do. When I have an answer, I’ll tell you.”

The townspeople dispersed, but the discontent lingered. Ohanzee had his fists clenched. His sister, Asha, and Illiana got along well, but her husband was another matter. Tormec did not accept her mate because of his status in the tribe for so long. It had brought shame on the family because Ohanzee could not find his other half. Now he was healed and the other villagers accepted him. Tormec had not forgiven him yet for the stigma he brought on his sister and himself. But that was the past.

“I see your reputation hasn’t changed even after you’ve left the flock. You come here and bad things follow you.” Lelana glared at her.

Illiana felt her anger creep up on her. “You have no right to say those things to me. I came here and found a place among the tribe. You wouldn’t accept me when I was in the flock, but this is
not
your place. And I didn’t cause the devastation that befell you and the forest. I might have written that letter, but my mates and my father are right. I didn’t know what would happen with the cougar clan or with the vultures.”

“You have no idea what happened to me. Do you know what it does to see all the people that you love dying around you? Ravens falling out of the sky or the wolves howling as they caught fire? The entire village was taken by those vultures, and I was forced to leave my home!”

Illiana grabbed her mother’s arms. “No. I can’t imagine it and I know you’ve suffered horribly for it. You devoted your life to the flock. You and I are the Corvi people and we are a great flock.”

“What do you care about the Corvi people? You’ve always hated that no one among the flock interacted with you and shunned you. You always wanted to be wolf and nothing else.”

“Mother, I might not have been happy with the other members of the flock, but I didn’t want to see them dead. And just because I have wolf in me didn’t mean I wanted to exclusively join the wolf pack. I wanted to be with Christopher. The only way that I could be with him was to become part of the pack and make it so I was part of both worlds. I left because both sides didn’t want me anymore. Christopher had to lead the pack the way that he was supposed to and couldn’t with me there. I did what I had to do.”

“So did I. I abandoned my people and left them to die,” her mother whispered the last part and collapsed into her arms.

Illiana caught her, sinking down to the ground with her. Lelana held her tightly and sobbed into her shoulder. Her mother hugged her harder than she ever had in the past. Illiana held her while she cried. This woman was more broken than she had ever imagined, but Illiana understood.

She patted her back and tried to soothe her. “It’s going to be okay.”

Her mother shook her head. “No. It’s not going to be okay. I gave up on them the way I gave up on you. Illiana, you were right about all those things I said to you and how I treated you. I’ve always put the flock first and never thought about what was good for you. All of it is gone. Even you.”

The hurt in her mother’s eyes was evident. Hearing what Lelana had said was tough to believe because she had never really seen eye to eye with her mother. Could she absolve her for all of the things that had occurred? There were so many years of harsh words and her mother not living up to the expectations she had. “Mom, I—”

“I know it’s asking a lot, but please forgive me. There’s still time. I can make it up to you. I can change. We can go back together and reclaim our land, stronger and wiser. Together. What do you say?” Lelana wiped the tears from her eyes, but Illiana saw the hope that lingered in them.

Hearing her ask for forgiveness was something she never thought would come from her mother’s lips. And having Lelana ask her to go back to the flock to reclaim their lands was definitely something she was going to discuss with her mates, but she did not expect her mother to beg her to do so. If only the answers in her heart would roll off her tongue, she would give her mother the reply that she expected. Illiana glanced at her and back at Ranolo. Her father was waiting for her. Her mates remained silent. Panic crept through her and seized her heart. She needed time. Her mother looked at Illiana with expectant eyes, but she got up and backed away.

“I’m sorry. I can’t answer that right now. I have to help Ranolo. The village is looking for answers. Excuse me.” Illiana walked away and joined her father. Belik helped Lelana up and headed back toward their house. She shook her head.

“It seems like she’s adrift.” Ranolo went into his hut and shut the door.

“Well, she is. She’s lost everything and came here to find me. I don’t know what I’m going to say to her. I’m hesitant to believe her. I mean…she’s always put the flock before me. I don’t want to think about it at all.” She took a deep breath to center herself. “All I want to do right now is figure out the earthquake and the smoke in the west. The villagers are scared. We should focus on why the earth is trembling.”