Page 48 of The Werewolf Cowboy
Marveling, she stretched out her hands. “I can’t feel it.”
“You will. I can teach you to harness it, use it now that you’ve fully matured.” He scratched the bristles on his chin. “’Course, it’ll take some training. And you’ll have to promise not to fry me once you’ve learned.”
A good-natured wink accompanied that last comment. It took a self-confident male, a male who wasn’t intimidated by females, to admit she was much stronger than him.
Katy glanced at her hands again, remembering how he’d taken out the older alpha. Such power and responsibility. She had barely mastered the art of shifting into wolf and controlling her beast. How could she control this magick?
“Will I have to stay here if I use this dark power?”
Grayson sighed. “You can’t belong to the Mitchell pack if you do, sweetheart. You have to choose. Dark magick means you stay in my pack.” His voice dropped a notch. “Or you can return to the Mitchell pack, but never use your dark magick.”
“That’s not fair.”
To finally find out her origins, and then discover she’d have to abandon the pack that had raised her? All her loyalties remained with Aiden and his people.
But there was sexy, handsome and strong Grayson who risked all to save her. The Lupine she loved more than anyone else. The wolf that made her blood sing and her desire rise. How could she live without him?
Grayson gestured to the nearby woods. “C’mon. Reckon you can’t make a decision until you find out exactly what you’ve got to lose.”
They walked into the forest until reaching a small clearing. The trees ringing the glen were scorched, as if a terrible fire had raged here.
“Our training ground. The fairies who care for the grounds understand the trees had to be sacrificed so more would live. But these trees are warded with special magick for our purposes,” Grayson said.
He clasped her hands and gently turned them over to reveal her opened palms. Shock filled her as she realized a soft purple light surrounded them.
In the center of each palm was a Celtic knot with elaborate swirls, glowing pink.
“This is the symbol of your power of dark light, Katy. You have tremendous magick. Use it wisely.” He lifted her hands and kissed her palms, one by one. “You can destroy someone from the inside out, causing them an agony of slow death as their internal organs burn up. Or you can heal someone, as you did to me. The choice is always up to you.”
Grayson’s gaze grew distant. “But know that if you choose to use, or abuse, your magick, you must remain here. You can’t use your dark powers in the Skin world.”
“Is that why you never shifted into wolf in front of my pack? Or me?”
Nodding, he dropped her hands. “I feared the beast would cause me to lose control.”
But she knew others, Fae like Jaeden, were able to manifest in the Skin world and use their dark magick. When she asked about that, Grayson rubbed the nape of his neck.
“I reckon Fae have a different set of rules because they don’t carry the beast inside them. Far as I know, only full breed, not half breed, shifters are banned from using their dark magick in the Skin world. Makes sense to me, if you think about how dangerous we are in our wolf form.”
Katy understood. The feral wildness tugging at her could easily be misdirected back on her ranch, her wolf instinct overriding all else to direct her to tear up prey, destroy not only her enemies, but everyone the wolf eyed as a possible threat.
“Let’s teach you to work your magick. Close your eyes.”
When she did, he told her to imagine a pure white light burning inside her. “Now think of a word that makes you feel good…”
“Sex,” she blurted out, and flushed as he laughed.
“Not that kind of word, darling. Something that connects you to your wolf, and your magick. Like you’re getting ready to shift and you focus all your thoughts on the change, all your magick. That kind of word. Cross your hands over your heart and focus.”
Not easy. She’d struggled with the shifting part of her Lupine nature for years, until Aiden himself taught her to release all the feral wildness inside her by surrounding herself with other pack members. That had worked.
Katy closed her eyes and thought of her wolf, and how wild and free shifting made her feel. She thought of Grayson, who made her feel safe and cherished and…loved.
Love. The word flickered in her mind like a blinking neon sign.
She crossed her palms over her heart and closed her eyes, pulling on all her magick.
“Now stretch out your arms, open your hands and your eyes,” he said softly.
