Can you die of a broken heart? For a Wolf, the answer is yes. Can what's broken be mended? That depends.
It's been a year since his mate's betrayal, and Martin lives for one thing: his kids. As a single dad, he devotes himself to ensuring his child...
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Waves rush in, crashing upon the sand, and whisper secrets of the deep as they recede, pulled back, ever back into the sea.
The sand on which I lie is warm and smooth, and a soft, mist-laden breeze caresses my bare skin. I take a breath, filling my lungs with sweet, cool air, light and life-giving, and release it with a sigh. Above me, a blue sky, as clear and untroubled by clouds as my mind is by thought or memory, stretches from one edge of the world to the other.
It seems I have no self; no beginning or end; but breath by breath, relentless as the waves, memory comes back to me.
A deep well of unspeakable grief opens in my heart and a moan of wordless pain escapes my throat. How I'm alive and how I got here doesn't matter. All that matters is that the sea has taken my heart, and I will never be whole again.
I shut my eyes, willing myself back into the peace of oblivion. Maybe if I lie here long enough, the tide will come in, and take me with it.
A hand closes around mine; long, slender fingers with a gentle grasp; a cruel trick of the mind.
"Open your eyes, my love."
His voice, mellow and sweet, and so real that I can't help but obey. My breath hitches and tears blur my vision as a beautiful face looks down at me.
"Am I dead?"
"No, you aren't dead. And neither am I. We're alive, and we're safe, you and I."
I reach up, afraid that if I touch him he'll disappear, but my fingertips brush solid, sun-warmed skin. Daring to hope, I turn on my side and raise myself a little.
Sky lies beside me on the sand, naked as I am and human-formed. He rests on his elbow, head propped in his hand, and reaches his other hand to brush the tears from my face.
He smiles; I throw myself into his arms. For a long while afterwards, I do nothing more than hold on to him and cry.
〜〜〜
"How?" I ask, when I can finally speak. "I saw you lost to the deep."
"Shanti," he says simply. "And your wonderful Miguel."
"I don't understand."
He explains how the dream I'd had of my son had been real, how Miguel had sounded the alarm, and how Shanti had arrived just in time to rescue him from the depths.
"I did not escape uninjured, but the sea restored me."
"And your mother?"
"Awakened, thanks to you." He brushes the back of his hand against the side of my face and leans to kiss me.
"I remember drowning," I whisper, when he lets me up for air again. "How am I alive?"
"My mother preserved your life with magic, and once we revived you, your own Wolf's nature did the rest. Thankfully you heal quickly."
