Chapter 132

The final stitch fell into place with a whisper of thread through fabric. I sat back and looked at my work. The garment for Reona was complete.

The skirt flowed in pale cream folds, the natural color of the cloudbloom fibers I had gathered and spun. The top had delicate embroidery along the edges, tiny stitches forming patterns of leaves and vines using the same undyed thread, subtle and elegant in their simplicity. Small pockets lined the inside. It was my best work.

Pride filled my chest. I wanted to see Reona’s face when she saw it.

"Levy," I called. "Want to visit Grandmother Reona?"

Levy looked up from where she had been batting at smooth stones with one paw. She was in her lion form, her golden coat dappled by the morning light. She had been unusually quiet all morning, subdued in a way that worried me. Now she made a small mewing sound, a cub’s agreement, and rose unsteadily on four legs. I took her small paw in my hand. Her fur was warm. Almost too warm.

I wrapped the clothes in soft cloth. We walked through the village, Levy padding beside me on silent paws. People nodded as we passed. Everyone knew I had been making something for the chief’s mate.

Reona’s house was larger than ours. I knocked. Reona opened the door with Aro on her hip and Aria sleeping against her chest. Her eyes went right to the bundle I carried.

"I have finished," I said.

Reona smiled wide and stepped aside. "Come in. Let me see."

I entered. Levy followed slowly behind me. I should have noticed her breathing was labored. But I was distracted by my work.

I unwrapped the garment piece by piece. When the full skirt and top were revealed, Reona gasped. Her hands went to her mouth. Her eyes widened.

"Oh my," she said. "It is so beautiful."

She touched the fabric with trembling fingers. "Krys, it is perfect. It is magnificent."

I felt my cheeks get hot. "You truly like it?"

"Like it? I love it." Reona laughed. She held the skirt against her body and twirled. "The other females will be jealous. I will wear it proudly. My daughter made it for me."

She pulled me into a hug. "You have a true gift. Never doubt it."

I held her and felt tears in my eyes. "Thank you. For everything."

She pulled back and looked at me. "Thank you for making this with love. Now go home to your clutch. Rest. You earned it."

I nodded and took the wrapped clothes in my arms, calling Levy to follow. But when I turned, I saw her collapsed on the floor. My heart stopped.

She was lying on her side, her golden fur dull and matted. Her golden eyes had dimmed, losing their usual luster. Her small body trembled.

"Levy?" I crouched down. I touched her fur and felt heat radiating from her skin. She was burning with fever. "What is wrong? Are you ill?"

She looked at me with frightened eyes. She made a small whimpering sound, a cub’s distress call. Her body seemed to contract, her form shifting smaller, becoming more fragile.

I picked her up. She felt heavier than she should. Reona watched us with concern.

"We must go," I said. "Thank you again."

Reona nodded. "Go. Take care of your cub."

I ran home with Levy clutched to my chest. She was shaking now. Her breathing more labored.

When we reached home, I burst through the door calling for Soryn. He came out of the nest chamber immediately. His eyes went wide at the sight of us.

"What is wrong?" he asked.

"I do not know," I said. My voice broke. "She is hot. She is shaking. Something is happening."

I laid Levy on the furs. Then I saw it. The change.

Her body was shifting. Her fur receded, her limbs lengthened, her form becoming human where she had been lion. In moments she was no longer a golden cub. She was a small human girl, naked and trembling on the furs, her golden eyes wide with fear.

"Levy," I breathed. "No. Not again."

Soryn was beside me. His hand found my shoulder. "What is happening?" he whispered.

"It happened before remember? I think it’s happening again," I said, my voice raw with panic. "It seems that she shifts when she is unwell. She cannot control it. She is too young."

Levy looked up at me with eyes too human for her comfort with the form. Her small body was fragile, exposed. "Mama," she whimpered. She had shifted before, and now it was happening again, her body betraying her, revealing a power that can ultimately harm her if someone beside us find out.

I gathered her close and rocked her. My mind raced. Will this continue? Every time she’s sick and not feeling well. This is dangerous, terrifyingly so. If anyone found out...

I looked at Soryn and saw the same understanding in his eyes. If anyone learned Levy had the Azure Sovereign bloodline, that she could shift at an age unheard of among the beast folks, she would be in danger. Most children took their first shift at six months, when their bodies were strong enough to endure the change. But Levy had shifted at one month old. She was too young, too precious, too powerful for her own good.

People would covet her. They would see her not as a child but as a weapon to be claimed, a tool to be used, a power to be controlled. They might try to take her from us, to hurt her, to use her gifts for their own selfish ends. They would not care that she was small, that she was frightened, that she had no control over what she was.

"We must let the other knows it’s happening again so that you all can protect her," I whispered, my voice shaking with the weight of what we faced. "No one can know outside our family. Not about the bloodline. Not about how early she shifted. Promise me, Soryn. Promise me we will protect her no matter what."

He nodded, his expression grim and fierce. "I promise," he vowed. "She is ours. We protect her. Always. No one will take her. No one will hurt her. I would die before I let that happen."

I held him with my eyes, held the truth of his words, and prayed it would be enough. Because the world was full of those who would see our daughter as a prize, and we were all that stood between her and them.

That night, when all the cubs were asleep and the house was quiet, I gathered my mates and spoke the words I didn’t think I had to say again.

"Levy shifted again," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "She was in her lion form, and then she was human. She could not control it. She is too young, and it is happening more again."

Leon went pale. He was her father, her protector, and I saw the fear in his eyes, the terror of a male who could not keep his cub safe from her own body. "Isn’t there anything we can do?" he asked, his voice rough.

"We have to protect her," I said. "If anyone learns she has the Azure Sovereign bloodline, that she can shift at an age unheard of, they will come for her. They will try to take her, to use her, to hurt her. We cannot let that happen."

The men moved as one. They did not question. They did not hesitate. They simply acted.

Ravin took the first watch, his eyes scanning the darkness beyond our walls, his senses alert for any who might approach. Caelion secured every entrance, every window, every weakness in our defenses. Veylan walked the perimeter in silence, a shadow with blades ready. Leon stayed inside, never more than a few feet from Levy, his presence a constant guard.

Aureon went to his parents. He told them I had taken ill, that Levy was sick as well, that we could not receive visitors, that the risk of spreading illness was too great. His mother wanted to come, to bring remedies and comfort, but he refused her gently and firmly. No one could enter. No one could see.

I held Levy through the night while my mates stood watch. Slowly she changed back, her human form giving way to golden fur and small paws. By morning she was her lion self again, tired and confused but whole.

The men did not rest. They patrolled throughout the next day, taking shifts, ensuring that no stranger approached, that no curious eye fell upon our daughter. They understood what was at stake. They understood that we were not just protecting a secret but protecting Levy herself.

And I knew then that we would survive this. Not because I was strong enough alone, but because we were strong together. My mates. My family. We would keep her safe. No matter what.

I had stopped my meditation since getting pregnant. Now with Levy’s secret hanging over us, I could wait no longer.

I sat cross legged near the nest. Soryn watched over our clutch. I closed my eyes and breathed deep. I let my mind sink inward, seeking the magic that lived within me.

I reached for the Blooming Blessing, the warmth of growth and renewal. For a long moment there was nothing. Then I felt it. A tingle in my fingertips, warm and alive, spreading through my hands like sunlight.

I opened my eyes. Near the window was a plant I had neglected. Its leaves were yellow. Its stem drooped toward death. I went to it and placed my hands on either side of it, letting the warmth build, letting the magic gather.

I poured it into the plant. I willed it to live.

The change was immediate. Color returned to the leaves. Yellow became green. The stem straightened. The plant was not just healthy but flourishing. Fuller than before.

I stared at it. My hands shook. It had worked.

Then the voice came, pulling me deep into my subconscious, surrounding me with its vast presence.

Congratulations, it said. You have honed the Blooming Blessing. Truly and completely. You have earned it.

"Thank you," I breathed.

But there is more, the voice continued. The third blessing awaits. The Bonded Ascension. The Black Bind.

I knew of it. It allowed me to share my strength. To push those connected to me beyond their limits. To enhance their speed, endurance, senses, magical abilities.

"I want to learn it," I said. "I need to learn it. If Levy is in danger, I must give everything to those who defend her."

Then reach for it, the voice instructed.

I tried. I reached for the bonds with my mates, the threads of connection that tied us together. But when I tried to activate the Black Bind, to pour power into those bonds, nothing happened. The magic would not come.

"I cannot," I gasped. "It will not work."

You are not ready, the voice said gently. You have honed the second blessing, but the third requires more. You must practice more. Continue to nurture your bonds. Continue to love with your whole heart. When the time comes, you will know.

I wanted to argue. To insist. But I felt the truth in the words.

"I will keep trying," I promised. "I will not give up."

I know, the voice said. I heard pride in its tone. Rest now, Krys. Your daughter needs you whole. Your family needs you present. The magic will wait. It always waits for those who are worthy.

I opened my eyes. Soryn watched me with concern. Levy slept nearby in her lion form, her breathing peaceful, her small body curled tight.

I went to her and gathered her close. I had honed the Blooming Blessing. I was stronger than before. But I still had far to go to become what my daughter needed me to be.

I would practice more. I would love deeper. I would be ready when the time came.

I was ready to begin.