Page 204 of Star Claimed Omega
Her hair was loose, still short but now forming into a short bob of dark brown tinged with red, catching shards of sunlight.
Santi’s lycan spirit had done much of her healing.
His touch, his presence, the way their spirits intertwined together helped to pull her out of her inner wreckage.
What also aided was that with Miral’s assistance, Soleil placed all the schills in theRed Skulls’bank account into a trust to help victims of the pirates’ past violence.
A big chunk went toward the survivors of Vael’Na’ra and the families affected by Vern and Varnok’s rampage.
As for the rest of theSkulls, they scattered, and theShrikestation was apparently now deserted, according to Miral.
However, these sessions with Zev for Soleil focused on learning how to live again and move forward.
Zev didn’t push her, nor did he offer long-winded lectures.
He just sauntered beside her in companionable silence.
Letting the lake breeze do the coaxing, allowing her to come to her truths on her own and ask the questions her soul needed answers to.
‘How do I exist without shame? How will I face the knowledge that I once wore the title ofTheRedQueenand used my lycan form to maim and destroy?’
Zev ambled with the ease of a man who’d conquered his inner stillness.
The sleeves of his black tee sat rolled up to his elbows, exposing lean arms inked in spectral glyphs that pulsed now and then with silver light.
His skin glowed under the dappled sun, deep brown and smooth, his features symmetrical and arresting.
His high cheekbones and defined jaw made many women swoon, and his slow, teasing grin hinted at mischief.
However, his timbre when he finally spoke was calm and grounding.
‘You’re stronger than you realize,’ he said. ‘Most don’t get up after what you’ve lived through, let alone walk in a straight line. But here you are.’
Soleil gave a short, uneasy laugh, eyes drifting toward the lake. ‘Here I am,’ she murmured. ‘Still trying to convince myself I deserve to be.’
They kept walking, gravel crunching beneath their boots.
‘I hurt people, Zev. I used my lycan wolf to destroy lives, to maim and kill. Yes, I was being controlled by my uncle. But it was also fueled by my rage, grief, and self-hatred at my circumstances.’
She faltered. ‘I don’t know how to live with that.’
He was silent for a beat, and then he stopped, hands in his pockets as he glanced out over the lake.
‘I’m not going to hand you some fluffy redemption line,’ he rasped. ‘You’re right to grieve. But you’re wrong to assume you’re stuck in your past sins.’
She turned to him.
‘Our shift transformations aren’t immoral in and of themselves, Soleil. They’re instincts, amplified for survival. You were forced to survive in the worst way. That’s not on you. That’s on the people who transformed you into a weapon.’
A tightness released in her chest. ‘Santi has helped. More than he knows. It’s like his lycan spirit wrapped around mine and rescued my soul.’
Zev’s mouth quirked. ‘That sounds about right. His wolf’s the binding kind, he doesn’t let go without a fight.’
They walked on.
‘I still don’t know what to do with it,’ she murmured. ‘I don’t want to shift. I feel sick when I think about it.’
Zev glanced at her sidelong. ‘Then don’t. You don’t have to, ever.’
