[1st draft] Bora's near-death experience caused a brief separation from Gemma, but to live in peace, he must end the Seven Shadows.
Bora Hawk, the polar wolf, has an unexplained target on his back. His enemies want him dead, caged, or becoming the...
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Bora tangled our fingers as he guided me into the forest. Parts of me can not believe this is him. That deflated skin and black vein images of him keep resurfacing like an obsessive abuser who wants to remind me what could happen if I am not careful. I try to block it out of my mind, but my knees fall numb from it, treading on air. So lost in the before and trying to catch up to the now. Every part of him is real. Or is it a sick dream that I will soon wake up from? I stare at him, so alive and well. I can't stop staring.
Are you him? What if — I took the tips of my fingernails, placed them on his shoulders, clutched and dug into his skin down his arm, doing as hard as I could to feel the realness of his flesh as my heart feels like it's surviving on the Speed drug. My stomach is in knots, shoulder tension in my neck, and no toes. He did not flinch. I watched it heal from scratch and looked up at him as he gazed lovingly at me with a smile. "Trust me, I am real, Gemma."
"Just checking." We awkwardly stared at each other as I saw the distance and hesitation between us. A gap that I should close with immediate attention. A sense of excitement I couldn't bear to hold any longer as I leaped into his arms like a baby monkey. He caught me squeezing tightly as I buried into his neck with tears yet so many doubts, but he felt very much alive. A little bulkier than what I remember, but it must be him. It has to be. "Okay, I think I will behave." I tried to get down, but he pushed me back up, holding me up by my buns.
I eyed him with surprise, trying to suppress my tiny smirk. "Nonsense. You never have to behave with me," with his, how dare you say that look, followed by a soothing gaze with those thick eyebrows, putting more emphasis on all his expressional feelings. I felt the urge to apologize for how I made him feel, but I thought if I did, it might offend him.
"Okay," was all I could mention as I wrapped around his neck comfortably in this position, withholding my inner excitement.
"You also don't have to hide from me." He squeezed it a little as my smashed lips hardened my cheeks, trying not to blush. Jeez, I forgot he can sense my emotions like second nature. What a nosy ass man. Yeah, it's him alright, his nose is always seeking inside my body. I love it. It makes communication easier and I never have to guess with him. I could regularly grasp it even the day he left. I knew he didn't want to, but yet, I let him. That's over now. There is no need to dwell on the past. We are okay now.
I understood his reasoning, but it was the hardest thing I ever had to face. I hope we never go back there.
"Stop worrying, Gemma."
"I'm trying." I softly whispered, confiding the rest of my emotions into him.
Deep into the evening, where the hearing is a replacement for the eyes to locate the next meal. And the animals that try to survive through the night, taken from your homes while resting. Bora leads me further in, wondering where we are going as it eerily gets silent with wrestling leaves dropping small hard things from its branches as I flinch to see where it landed.
