Angel

Gift

Noel's POV

The scene before me is terrifying. Dozens of spirits emerge from the forest calling out to me. Some of them are missing limbs, others are severely burnt, and others are so disfigured that it is difficult to tell that they were once human. There are children crying and women and men are screaming out to me. There's so much noise that I can't even make out a single word other than my name that the spirits keep calling.

Xavier sees the terror in my eyes and whips around to find the source of my fear, but of course his eyes will never see the terror that I see.

"Noel! What is it?" He asks while pulling me in to shield me from the danger that he can't detect.

I bury my face into his chest, as I can't bear to see any more of those spirits. However, although my eyes are closed and Xavier is blocking my view, I can still hear the deathly screaming and crying coming from the spirits. The spirits are making so much noise that I am surprised they haven't broken some invisible barrier that prevents Xavier from seeing or hearing them.

"Please make it stop!" I desperately cry out, even though I am well aware that Xavier has no control of the matter. My head starts to pound from the excessive noise.

"I- I don't know what to do..."Xavier replies sounding defeated, but quickly recovers when he thinks of a possible solution. "Focus on me, Noel. Focus on my words, my smell and the sound of my heartbeat. Don't think about anything else, but me."

I take his advice and bury myself deeper in his chest and holding onto him tightly. I listen to his heartbeat, that pounds by my ear. I focus on his encouraging words that he whispers to me. I focus on his smell that is so familiar to me now and always brings me comfort and most importantly, I focus on the sparks that ignite every fiber of my body from being so close to him.

Just as suddenly as the spirits appeared, they disappear without a trace. I slowly open my eyes and look over to where the spirits were just lingering and I find that not a single one is there anymore. Xavier immediately notices how relieved I am.

"Is it over?" Xavier asks when he notices that I'm not as tensed or frightened anymore.

"Yes." I reply as I still look into the empty forest, expecting the spirits to emerge again.

"What happened?" He asks.

"I-I don't even know exactly. There was just so many of them and they were calling out to me. It was so loud and they all looked like they were in pain. It was such a horrific sight. This has never happened before." I whisper back, afraid that they might come back with the sound of my voice.

This happened so suddenly that I didn't even process what was really going on. In fact, it's been a while since I've seen a spirit; I had thought that perhaps my gift had become non-existent after waking up from my coma. Immediately, dread comes over me at the realization that perhaps my gift of being able to see spirits is becoming more pronounced, instead of fading away.

"Xavier, what if- what if my ability to see spirits is getting stronger? I don't know how to handle it. What if I'm alone and this happens again?"

Xavier immediately senses my panic and grabs my hand in a gesture of comfort.

"I think I know how to help you. I've been reading up on your gift and well, I think I might have found someone that can help you control it. She claims to share the same gift as you and I think she will be a good person for you to have your questions answered. In fact, she might be visiting at the end of this week."

"You found someone with the same gift as me?" I ask surprised at this new information.

"Yes, I've only talked to her briefly, but she seems knowledgeable. Do you think you will benefit with her visit?" Xavier asks.

I don't even answer his question, as I immediately wrap my arms around him.

"Thank you" I simply say.

Without hesitation he wraps his arms around me and we stay in that position for a while. At the sound of my stomach growling, Xavier finally lets me go and grabs a hold of my hand as we make our way back to the mansion.

While walking back I ask him, "How did you know that focusing on you would make the spirits go away?"

He simply replies with a smirk, "I told you, I've been reading up on your gift."

*******

I sit down at the dinner table next to Xavier, as Talia takes her seat in front of me. Luke's seat is empty again. He hasn't sat down with us for meals in a long while. In fact, he is starting to spend more time outside of the pack, especially after our last talk. I would be lying if I said that I didn't miss having him around and it hurts me knowing that I am the cause of his absence. I want to make things right with him, but I am not sure how, without causing him more hurt.

"Noel, we have some shopping to do tomorrow!" Talia exclaims which pulls me out of my thought process.

"What shopping?" I ask confused.

"Dress shopping, of course! The Moonlit Festival is coming up and we need to get you a beautiful dress that will have Xavier, over here, drooling."

Xavier clears his throat as I quickly look down at my food to avoid Xavier or Talia seeing my crimson face.

"Uhh- what is the Moonlit festival anyway?" I remember her bringing it up before when I first got to the pack, but it has long been forgotten until now.

"It's a festival to honour the Moon Goddess. We usually celebrate with neighbouring packs" Xavier informs me.

"It's festival filled with dancing, food and love! Wolves usually tend to find their mates during the festival, and for those with mates, it's a time to celebrate their bond." Talia elaborates with a wink.

"Oh- sounds lovely. I've never been to a festival before." I say with a smile and ignoring her wink that was clearly directed to me and Xavier.

"I promise you'll love it and you'll have so much fun! Xavier rarely attends, but this year I have no doubt that he will join in the festivities. Isn't that right, brother?"

"If Noel plans to attend then I'll be there also." Xavier mutters out before digging into his stake.

"Perfect! So I was thinking that we go over to Alpha Carl's pack tomorrow and meet with a lady over there that makes the most gorgeous dresses. She-"

Before Talia could finish, Xavier interrupts, "Why do you have to go all the way over there? Can't you just get a dress from our pack?"

"Because brother, Lady Marie makes the best dresses in the world and Noel deserves to wear the most gorgeous dress at her first festival." Talia replies back.

"I'm okay with wearing any dress made in this pack." I shyly add in.

"Nonsense! We will go to that pack and you will pick out your favourite dress from Lady Marie's shop and Xavier will provide us with guards to accompany us, if it will ease his mind." Talia says with finality.

I look over at Xavier waiting for his response. He simply shakes his head, but I can tell that Talia will have her way and she knows it too, as she smiles big in my direction.

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