#Chapter 391 – Questions Answered
Cora
My eyes flash open as I gasp, fascinated and thrilled at the having finally, finally met my wolf – who has been here all along –
My mother smiles warmly at me, but when I turn to Roger I only see shock on his face as he stares at me with wide eyes.
“Can you – can you sense her?” I ask, thrilled and curious.
“Um, yeah, Cora,” he says, looking me up and down in fascinated shock. ” Can’t you feel mine?”
And I feel my wolf turn then, looking for him, and suddenly – frankly, like a slap in the face I feel Roger’s wolf standing right there on the other side of our bond, which snaps instantly into place –
I gasp, and my knees go literally weak at the sudden intensity of it –
Roger’s up in an instant, catching me in his arms before I can fall to the ground because… Because it feel like gravity shifts, suddenly, and what used to be down is now sideways, and at the center of everything now….
…is Roger.
“Hey,” Roger says, anxious, looking down at me as I stare up into his face, as my shy wolf comes forward to tap her nose hesitantly against his across our mating bond.
Roger’s wolf gives a great bay of joy and leaps forward, making my wolf skitter back a step. But he doesn’t stop, closing the distance instantly and nuzzling his body against her, nipping playfully at her shoulder, burying his nose deep in her fur –
My poor new wolf shies again for a moment – not from fear just…just because it’s all so new – and I feel Roger’s wolf respond, prancing around her with joy and letting her know with his body language that he’s thrilled she’s here –
And that he’s ready, whenever she is, to play. I can’t help the tears that pour from my eyes at this, as Roger laughs and hugs me close, as I…adjust myself, as best I can, to everything.
I give myself a few moments to cling to my mate my mate, my fated mate, because I know it to be true now in a deep, physical way – before I remember, of course, that my mother is here.
And that we’re being incredibly rude. Slowly, even though I don’t want to at all I push Roger away from me just slightly and turn back from her.
“I’m sorry,” I say, wiping the tears from my face with the back of my hand. “I’m just -”
“It’s all right, daughter,” she says, smiling up at me from her place in her chair. “It does me good to see you so happy.”
And then, holding Roger’s hand tightly as we move back to our chairs, I do my very best to pull myself together.
“So,” I say, hesitating, “um, does this mean that I’ll be able to take Roger’s mark?”
“Yes,” the Goddess says, nodding. “It may take your human body longer to heal from it,” she adds, giving a little shrug, “but your sister can help with that. And it will do you no harm.”
“Will other humans?” I ask curiously, thinking suddenly of the vision we had of little baby Rafe, all grown up and finding his true love in a human girl. ” Could they take a mark, if they wanted one?”
“They could,” my mother says with a smile, “though…they might not find the joy in it, as wolves do. Your wolf, though, Cora, will crave it. She probably already does.”
And inside me I feel the truth of it as wwolf steps closer to Roger’s tall my wolf’s side, pressing herself against him and looking up into his face. I grin, knowing that my mother is right, not needing to confirm.
Oh geeze, I think to myself, a little chagrined but unable to stop smiling. It is going to be…quite a struggle, trying to convince Roger not to give me his mark the moment we step out of this temple But, as much as I want it, I also want it to be special. Knowing my mate, he’ll want to sink his teeth into me in the back of that RV – if not before but…. no. I want something more than that.
Quite suddenly, though, another question crops up in my mind. “Does this mean…um,” I hesitate, also trying to find the words. “Will I be able to shift? Into my wolf?”
“I’m sorry, my darling,” my mother says quietly, shaking her head. “Your spirit is that of a wolf, but your body is still human. It is incapable of the shift.”
A little shudder of disappointment runs through me, but it’s short lived. I’ve already received so, so much more than I had hoped from this visit.
“What about the baby?” Roger asks, interrupting my train of thought with a very important question. I perk up, curious, and am tickled to find that my wolf perks up too, her emotions reflecting my own. “Will the baby be able to shift?”
Roger does his best to hide his anxiety on this point, but I can see it in him as I look at his tense face. Roger wants, very badly, to be able to bond with his child on this point – as he did with his own parents.
“As you are the father of Cora’s child, Roger,” my mother says, a phrasing which I’m thrilled actually also answers questions for me that this is my child, and that no dark god was involved in some kind of strange impregnation scenario, as I had once feared “the child’s body is not entirely human, as Cora’s is. Your children’s experiences with their bodies and their wolves may be unique, but yes,” she says, beginning to smile, they will be able to transform, as you can.”
A huge sigh – almost a groan – of relief falls from Roger’s mouth as he hangs his head, his shoulders shaking with the intensity of it. I smile widely at my mate as he looks down at the floor with his eyes squeezed shut, trying to pull himself together – I’m just so pleased that he’ll be able to have this connection with his children, a connection he so deeply wants.
He looks up at me then, apology all over his face – “Cora,” he whispers, and I can see that he feels guilty, “I know it seems – I mean, I will love our children no matter what – but I just – ”
“It’s all right,” I say, reaching for his hand, which he gives me. “I get it,” I say, nodding and smiling. My wolf nudges his with her nose playfully, happy. “I really do.”
My mate exhales a sigh of relief and then we turn our attention back to my mother, though…honestly, I’m so happy that I feel guilty asking her for more.
“You two have a beautiful future ahead of you,” she says quietly. “It will bring me much joy to see it unfold.” And then, to my great sadness, she stands up. “My time runs short. Is there anything else I can answer for you, before I go?”
“Please,” I say, leaning forward on my chair and hesitating because…well, because it feels selfish. She smiles at me, though, inviting me to ask.
Still, I bite my lip. “Ella’s gift,” I say, the words coming out in a rush. “It can …it can do such wonderful things in this world. I want to to do more of that, to heal people, as she does. I know that she’s passed the gift to me before but – could you possibly – could I…”
And then I run out of words because… it feels just so, so terrible to ask for such an incredible gift, which should be freely given. I hang my head, ashamed.
But to my shock, my mother laughs, and suddenly I feel her fingertips under my chin, turning my face up to hers.” You have your own gift, Cora,” she says quietly, “already within you.”
