"Your.. your mother?" I ask, drifting my gaze to the woman who was only a bit taller than me, her period-style clothes a dead giveaway to her origin. "Why would your mother want to follow me around?"

 I suppose that was where my reservations about her had come from, I thought I'd known her though only in description. She looked much too young to be his mother but I remember that she had died young, he had only been five when he lost her.

Verando drifts backward, pressing his back against the wall and I quickly make the ice sculpture disappear, hoping to soothe the ache. My mother was also dead, I don't even allow myself to imagine what seeing her again might feel like. 

The look of near terror on his face has me concerned, was it possible to send him into shock? To push him too far? How many could return from the dead? 

Though, admittedly, she was still dead. "Gods.. how long has she-" His face pales and I quickly read his expression, putting up my hands in her defense. 

"She didn't see anything," I reassure him. 

The woman looks as if she wanted to reach for him; like she'd give anything to speak to him. Her pained expression bore into my heart and I wished for the same, I wished he could see her, too. She retracts, holding her hands close to her chest as her body flickers as if she were the flame of a candle. 

His shivers, unwillingly reacting to the presence. "Randy, I know this must be painful for you." My voice drifts, what can I say? Is there anything to say?

Finally, he stiffens though it's impossible to wipe the shock off of his face, much as he wished to hide his feelings from me I've truly caught him off guard. "I-" forming a thought wasn't coming easily to him, his fingers trail through his hair and he shakes his head. "It's fine. I hardly knew her. Just see what she wants, I think I've had enough for one evening. If you'll excuse me." 

I want to stop him. The moment I took a step her hand reached to me to stop my pursuit, he wanted to be alone. I knew this, I could see it in the rigidity of his body.

"Let him go." She mouths. It was me she wanted to speak to. Suddenly she points to him then herself and I realize I don't know her name. I'd been so taken aback that I'd nearly forgotten. 

"Randy?" I whisper, knowing he could hear me, knowing I couldn't manage any more sound in an almost silent prayer that he would just keep walking, it felt selfish to ask for anything more of him.

 His hands spread to catch himself in the door frame, not turning to look at me. It's as if the walls are the only thing holding him up. I stare at his marred back, much as she does the same, her already fair skin seemed even more pale at the sight. 

"What's her name?" It comes out as more of a sigh.

"Envari." Verando closes the door behind him and I whisper the name as her form becomes more solid. While she still seems to be made of mist, her body had more weight to it, I could see to her feet instead of envisioning her as a mere passage in time. 

Slowly, I lower myself to sit on the tub's edge, taking this woman in. I could see him in her, her high cheekbones and the shape of her eyes. Her thick curls were muted by whatever his father threw into the mix but the feral way her hair tangled reminded me of his. She was a stunning woman, suddenly her free-running style made sense to me as I'd seen my husband do the same.

 "You're an adventurer..." My voice is hardly above a murmur, not wanting him to hear, not wanting to wake up Xavier. 

Envari nods, "Not so bad for a prince." The stark old-style English accent with a hint of cockney, I can't help but weakly smile. It's strange to speak to someone with no shadow, with no reflection, in the mirror it's as if I'm speaking to myself. Suddenly self-conscious, I snag my clothes off the floor and quickly step back into them. 

"I'm glad we can finally speak, we are running out of time. Whitewind sent me a long time ago but I've not been able to get through."

Whitewind? 

"No offense but why would he send you?" I pull my shirt over my head at the same time as I fumble with the button on my jeans. The pain in my chest told me my husband needed me just as badly as our country and I was desperate to get to him.

But she did take offense if only to mimic the expression I'd come to love so much on my warlord. I slump, limply, back into my seat on the edge of the tub to just gape at her. 

"I'm a lot more than just an adventurer." That she was correct in, she was my husband's mother. This was not how I planned to meet her. I dust off my hands as if I could shake hers and as if I'd been covered in some imaginary lint. 

Quickly, I arranged my hair and sat up straighter, almost daring to hold my breath so that I didn't look quite so bewildered. It makes her raise a perfectly arched brow. 

"Are you okay?" The tone is almost accusing. "Why do you look like that?"

Her judgment causes me to deflate and I sigh. "I'm married to your son? I just learned your identity. It's a bit overwhelming, ma'am. Er- Envari. Why me? Why not Randy? I'm sure he'd love to see you." 

Anyone but me would love to see her, not that I wasn't honored but I felt as though she picked the least important person to gift with her presence. 

"I like that. Randy." She muses before slowly lowering herself into a sitting position, testing the floor to see if she'd fall through. "I chose you because you are the only one capable of getting things done. I tried to attach to Helen in the void but I can no longer connect to her wolf. For you see, Malka is my wolf." 

My jaw drops and I blink rapidly, "Wait. Wait. You are human." I point out firmly.

She shakes her head. "I never learned to control Malka, I was never able to shift because Malka refused to share her form with a 'werewolf'. It is only now, thanks to your curse, that she can be revealed. Malka is a splinter of Whitewind, just like Alpha is. She is the purity that the gene is lacking, that has been lost to our kind. Your father's 'curse' is the cure to the curse the gods put on us in the beginning, when we were banished to the moon and the monster." 

Until now. Until my father returned them to their natural form. 

"Then why does everyone think you're human?" It made no sense. Why would Whitewind lie? Why would Verando tell me she was human unless he didn't know?

Her lip turns down at the corner as her eyes glimpse the ground, searching for answers. 

"I made a deal with Whitewind that I would continue my life as a human if he would take Malka back. This was after Kavanza, Verando's father, picked me for himself. I didn't want him to have any chance of passing her on and risk him destroying the cycle forever. Malka needed to be protected in a way that she refused to allow me to do, without her help, I was as defenseless as any other mortal. 

Unfortunately, he destroyed much of the teachings though it would appear that Kestrel has been able to dig up a lot of that information. Kavanza erased my history as punishment for surrendering her."

I listen with bated breath, absorbing every drop of information. This is why she'd chosen me, besides her lack of ability to bond with Helen. I understood what it meant to preserve life and history, I would not use her gifted knowledge for foul play. 

"That's why Kestrel wants to kill Helen."

She makes a face, slightly amused, slightly disgusted. "Kestrel doesn't want to kill Helen, much as he might think that now. Kestrel and Helen's wolves were a mated pair in their original bodies. Without that attachment, without something to dissuade the greed and power lust, there would be nothing to stop Fenrir from jumping vessels and consuming the earth. 

That is why I'm here, to tell you that Malka must be protected until Caspian is dead and to offer some insight into the sad life I've cursed this poor woman with. For you see... I should have been paired with Shadowcast. The slivers of those bonds remain in Alpha and Caspian's wolves, but obviously, Verando has been able to work around it and find himself a new mate. Helen will not be so lucky. Wolves, Nicolas, mate for life."

That seemed simple enough, much as I knew the task was daunting, protecting Helen was something we'd gotten pretty good at not to mention her skills were coming along nicely. Taking long, slow breaths, I committed every sentence to memory and replayed them over and over in my head. "So. Helen's disconnect from Tyler is because of Kestrel. But.. wait, if Helen dies..."

"When Caspian is killed, Fenrir will jump to the next body in the cycle. If Kestrel is consumed by greed and hate, then Fenrir will have all the power he needs to destroy the planet. The gods have already foreseen this day." Her voice trails, she'd been in Valhalla, she'd walked with Whitewind. She knew the history and the future. 

I swallow.

"We don't make it, do we?" It's hardly a question. Whitewind had told me as much, he had warned me that we had a very small window, a singular moment in time when we did not fail. I had chosen to forget that fact in my desire to be a parent instead of a savior.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she seems determined. She holds a perfect Alpha face, stern and without yield. "I'm here to prevent the prediction from occurring. We aren't supposed to cheat but if they can use the unicorn then we can surely give you some guidance. I'm not helping my kind, it's not technically breaking the rules. Helen must ascend to becoming an Alpha or she will not be strong enough. She must beat Verando, the ranking ceremony has not yet occurred."

There was no time for all of that and frankly, I'd hoped we could skip that whole part. "Kestrel thinks she will have to kill him." My voice is small, I think back to my talk with the man and shudder to think that his obsession with Helen was anything other than disturbing. 

We'd thought of the 'brothers' as siblings for so long. I didn't like the thought any more than Envari did, not to mention Tyler could easily throw a wrench in this plan considering that Helen was married. Oh, Tyler. How could we explain this to them?

I wait for her expression to change, I wait for her to laugh at me and tell me I'm crazy but she never does. Her face is solemn, full of understanding. "Alpha's fight to the death because rank can only be earned through submission. A wolf must entirely submit and so we wrote our laws to fight to the death, as it's the ultimate shame for any leader. But, Verando and Helen seem to be quite close. Maybe it will work?" 

I wanted there to be another way. Any other way. We still needed him as an Alpha, didn't we? Allowing him to step down was almost as terrifying as Helen facing off with him. Try as I might, my mind never went to Helen's safety for I always feared what would happen to Verando in either outcome. 

I note the amber eyes watching me with interest and shudder out of my musings. "How were the first Alpha's made? Helen has her pack, her own life, why does she need Verando's blessing?"

"The cycle must end with these three, this is the only time in history when it will be presented this way. With light in the place of light and dark in the place of dark, complimented by a true neutral in Echo. The line ends with her, she never reproduces, so after this... Well, she may never reproduce because you fail." 

Her casual nature causes me to shudder, wrapping my arms around myself. Her body begins to shimmer and I know I'm running out of time, it didn't seem like she was ever able to stay with me long. There has to be another way.

Unwilling to allow that, I climb to my feet. I have to move, I have to do something other than sit here. "I'll arrange for Helen and Verando to start the process of transitioning her to Alpha. We don't have enough time to do anything other than set it up and let what happens happen."

Envari frowns, twisting one curl around her finger as she stands as well. Her lips purse, and she flinches away from the thought as her eyes track her fading hands. "It has to be natural. If they prepare, then Alpha will be on guard and he will never willingly hand himself over. They are cut from the same soul, Malka is strong enough but it's up to Helen to use it." 

"Will I see you again?" I frown, uncertain of what I want. 

The woman smiles, dimpling one of her cheeks. "There's an event coming up. A deciding factor. If the trend is right, if we're on the path of salvation, yes you will see me again. As long as I continue to return to you, there is still hope." 

I nod and shut off the bathroom light as she vanishes much like dust. I shove out of my clothes and climb into bed. His body is tense, and rigid, as I hug him as tightly as I can from behind. I say nothing, I don't have to. I can feel it in his pounding heart, his tension, that he's awake and that seeing her here had shaken him. 

"Is she disappointed?" He asks, his voice hardly audible, it was almost a sigh. 

My lips brush his shoulder blade, tempted to toy with him, tempted to lighten the situation but I decide against it. "We didn't speak about you in that sense, I think you were both a bit overwhelmed. "

"Oh." 

My fingers clutch him, I kiss his shoulders, his neck, everything my mouth can reach as I try and extract the concern from his body. "We have a lot to talk about in the morning. I think we both need rest." He seems to agree as he rolls in my arms to wrap his arms around me. His nose is buried in my hair, taking in my scent as he holds me impossibly tight to his chest. 

Despite the vice-like grip, I surrender, being whatever he needs. "Thank you, Nic." The gentle hum of his voice encourages me to nestle my head against his neck as I focus on his pounding heartbeat. His warmth consumed every inch of my chilled form, warming me to near human levels. 

I didn't have to respond, I just had to be there for him and he seemed to happily accept that. Patiently, I wait until I feel the steady rise and fall of his chest before I allow myself to drift off into my fitful rest, chased by god-like wolves and the massive black beast, Fenrir. 

I was grateful for him holding me, it would be a long night.