Page 12 of Simon

She was close; so close, I could nearly smell her breath.

How could I think about mounting her?

I was not an animal.

But I was.

Partly.

The animal part of me wanted it, demanded it. My human side held me back.

No, what would Calliope think of me if I ever did such a thing to another female like her? I couldn’t– wouldn’t– let the animal in me do that. Never.

But if she were willing?

I held in the whimper that lingered in the back of my throat.

“Look at this!” I heard her whisper-yell across the campsite.

I froze in fear, thinking she'd caught me, but her smile widened and her eyes twinkled at the blue light buzzing between us.

“Is this a whisp?” she asked breathlessly and held out her finger to touch it.

Elmira lowered herself to a crouching position, and her eyes darted between the whisp and the female.

“Yeah. It’s a whisp. They are pretty important in this realm. Do you know what they are, Lucy?”

Lucy. The name rung in my ears when the other female called the human by her name. Now that I had her name, I tried to whisper it to myself but still was not used to moving my lips and tongue to form the word.

“I was told about them briefly,” she said. “There was a lot to learn in just a month.” Her finger grazed the light, and it made a whirling sound.

I watched in awe until it jumped into the foliage where I hid, and I reared back.

I shook my head and wanted to crawl away. It danced around atop of my horns and shot right back out of the bush toward Lucy. I quietly got back into position, and looked through the bush again, to see the whisp was keeping Lucy entertained again.

“Are they an insect?” she asked, looking even more enthralled. “Or some type of pixie?” She held her finger out, and the whisp touched it, then danced up her wrist, along her arm, and whirled around her hair. More whisps appeared and dove into her hair, and before long, it looked like an enormous ball of mess until they exploded into thin air.

“What just happened?” Lucy asked, smiling as she pushed her tangled hair back down.

Elmira lay down in the grass, pulled a long wheat blade, and stuck it into her mouth. “Whisps lead you to your fate.” She chewed. “And they are also big troublemakers. Males don’t like them much because, well, they cause more trouble for them. The females, it just gets them what they need.”

Lucy tilted her head and stared at the ground. “Do whisps lead humans to their fate, or just the supernaturals?”

Elmira smiled mischievously. “Aye, they do. Ellie, who is mated to Sugha’s brother, Thorn, was brought to him by the whisps. It wasn't a fairytale meeting, but whisps led her to her fate and ultimately, her mate. Thorn knew before Ellie. Supernaturals; it hits different. Smell, possessiveness, we just know.”

My heart thundered in my chest, and my smile widened. Then, I must not be imagining things. Lucy, this female, was my mate. I had been gifted a mate, a companion. Someone to love.

This was why my body reacted to her. Her scent, her voice, her beauty, it was because fate had gifted her to me. This Moon Goddess I had heard Calliope speak about all the time, she had given me a mate!

I could barely keep the vibrations of excitement from leaving my body.

I had a female.

Mine.

Night fell, and the embers of the fire smoldered beneath the stars. Snores came from the tents, and even the largest orc was asleep, who’d said he would remain awake through the night. His heavy breathing and his body releasing an awful smell from a relaxed backside, were signs that he was in a deep sleep. Sugha was patrolling, but he had taken off into the Wood. If I had the timing correct, he wouldn’t be back for a while.

My body throbbed with exhaustion from remaining crouched in my concealed spot for what felt like an eternity. The longing to catch sight of Lucy grew overwhelming. Slowly, I rose to my full height, feeling the strain in my muscles as I stretched. The sound of my spine cracking echoed through the stillness. As I inhaled deeply, her scent filled me with determination. Cautiously, I crouched, determined to remain hidden, even if the likelihood of being spotted was slim.

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