Loving A Stranger

sha's

elf it was

eam brought on by too muc

the mirror the next morning, I couldn't sh

warm like an ember that hadn't fully cooled. My pulse thrummed i

f the sink. Get a grip

t a

y imagi

or, determined to ignore the

ough the day, the wo

n to before, the dampness of the grass, the faint perfume on my mother's clothe

d thing

d clearer than they should have been. A heartbeat, no, several heartbeats, thudded so

imagi

ad t

College prep, shopping lists, plans with Mina, normal t

creeping into my bones like

e lights

rhead bulbs dimmed, just for a second. The hum of the re

ckly, everything r

ceiling, my hea

that.

idiculous. A power

something whispere

na's

before Tasha e

made sarcastic jokes, rolled her eyes at my ridiculou

energy

istracted.

than once, as if trying to shake off

nally asked as we browsed th

apped her out of something.

ia

her. I knew it, but I als

f you turn into a zombie or someth

"You'd just st

viou

but it didn't

on with her, but one thing w

r it was, it

n Alpha

always did, flashes of a w

r w

skin, and fire in her eyes. A girl

as

t yet. Already, she was shifting the balance betwe

d, rippling like water, revealing glimpses of her life, her laughter with her best friend, the way she absently trace

as awa

eel me, even if she di

could f

ter how many times I tried to push it down, it remained, an ache in my

th the watchful gaze

he magic that ha

something. A remn

rough the barriers, reaching me across the veil. The air around me vibrated, and for a

een our worlds

the way her soul responded, hesitant but curious, like a

accept the truth yet.

uld not s

the faintest whisper throu

e corner of her vision. A voice, too soft for her t

as

hing, fingers tightening ar

ad hea

oul kn

ning as I gazed through the

ng for you

nothing will s

ains of t

nts had d

r essence beneath layers of human no

they were ke

were

ieve they could kee

ustration that burned in my chest. Onc

I had l

ild when my worl

ongest werewolf to

, a vampire queen whose bloodlin

been a crime. I

omination. A pro

ame for us, I should

She pulled me from the ruins, from the ashes of my family's sla

id not move as it did for others, where reality twist

he tra

would unite the supernatural world. Who

d it wou

I refused to

es not ask f

ift Betw

signs we

ions. The one meant

Lu

ft around me. The mist curled at my feet, str

alked through dimensions, slipped through tim

barrier wa

cient energy, warning

magic was stro

ched. They h

tolen her from me. Kep

already begu

s remem

agments. But i

f her senses, the whispers in the wind, the way her

e did, I wou

s world, or any other,

the gods t