The Wolf's shoulders started shaking, and he looked as if he might start breaking things again.
“Is it safe to bring Lesya down?” Kirill called down to us from the top of his stairwell.
“Give us a minute,” I called back. Then to the Wolf, I said, “This is part of being a parent; you have to control yourself and put on a smile for your children even when you're falling apart. Can you do that?”
The Wolf nodded crisply. His shoulders relaxed with jerks of motion, his breathing evened, and he shifted back to human. I went to work with my territory magic; fixing the things he'd broken. The feathers were the hardest to deal with; I left most of them where they were. The men righted the furniture once it was repaired. Maybe Lesya wouldn't notice the feathers. We'd sweep them up later.
“We're good down here,” Azrael called to Kirill.
Kirill took a cautious look around as he came down the stairs with Lesya. His gaze settled on the Wolf's stiff back, and he kept walking past him; straight out of the room.
“Where are we going?” Lesya asked her father as she crawled over his shoulder to peer back at us. “Why are there feathers everywhere?”
“Uncle Trevor had a pillow fight vith Mama. Ve're having breakfast downstairs today so they can clean up,” Kirill said. “Zere is leftover steak.”
“Yay!” Lesya cried.
My daughter loved her meat.
“Can we have a pillow fight?” She asked.
“Do you vant to clean up feathers?”
Lesya went quiet.
She never mentioned the Wolf's nudity. Naked men were a common sight in our home, and if you don't make a big deal out of something, your children won't either. We'd already had the why boys are different from girls discussion. So, yeah; Lesya was fine with a naked wolf. It was the wolf I was worried about.
“You're not weak,” I said to Trevor as soon as they were gone. “This is because you gave me a part of your soul, and I didn't give you anything in return. You and I both know it; you left yourself vulnerable for me. That's called bravery, not weakness.”
The Wolf sighed and pulled me into his arms. “I must leave you, Mate.”
“What?” I gaped at him.
“Temporarily. I won't let him near you again,” the Wolf vowed. “Even if it means that I cannot be near you until I kill him.”
“You're not going anywhere,” I said firmly. “I have an idea. I came up with it at the cabin, and I should have said something last night, but I got distracted.”
The Wolf cocked his head.
“I need to give you a part of my soul,” I said.
The Wolf and Azrael both immediately protested; arguing that it wasn't possible. I wasn't a Froekn; I couldn't separate pieces of myself like that. I ignored them and looked at Odin.
“Can it be done?” I asked Odin.
“I believe so,” Odin murmured.
“What?” Both the Wolf and Azrael stared at Odin in shock.
“Vervain has more than enough souls to go around,” Odin pointed out. “Trevor gave her some of his wolf; that means that she has an excess of soul inside her. Hypothetically, she could take an equal piece of one of her other souls and give it to Trevor to replace his. Then the piece of his soul will settle into the opening in one of hers. Just as is done in a normal Froekn Binding ritual.”
“I could make him whole again?” I asked eagerly.
“Hold on.” The Wolf held up a hand. “We don't know what that would do to me. If she gave me a piece of lion or dragon, it might end up tearing me apart.”
“The lioness is her magic, not her soul. It's different from yours,” Odin said. “And the dragon is a faerie essence. Neither of them could bond with you. Vervain would need to take a piece of her goddess soul and place it inside you. When she does, she may be able to choose to send magic with it.”
“How?” I asked.
“No,” the Wolf said as he took my hand. “I won't weaken you just to make me stronger. I am not that prideful, Mate.”
I stared at him in awe; this beast who spoke like a man and loved like a god. I thought he was all the wild parts of Trevor, but it turned out that he was the noble parts as well.
“It won't weaken her,” Odin reassured him. “I wouldn't have suggested it if I thought it might.”
“'Thought' being the keyword,” the Wolf pointed out. “We don't know what it will do to Vervain. No non-Froekn has done it before. How can you be certain that it's even possible?”
Odin smiled.
“The book Mimir gave you,” I whispered.
“The book he traded to me,” Odin corrected. “I might as well get my eye's worth.”
“And it's about time that I committed completely to you,” I said to my Wolf. “You've suffered a half-mating for too long.”
“I thought I'd been cursed when the man in me bound us to you,” the Wolf rumbled as he laid his hand on my shoulder; the pad of his thumb rubbing across my neck.
He'd bitten me there—several times—but my accelerated healing had made short work of it. But the Wolf knew, and I knew, and it seemed that my body knew as well; it shuddered as if my flesh were still marked. I trembled; seeing him above me again and feeling his teeth in my throat.
“But now I see how wise he'd been,” the Wolf went on tenderly. “How lucky we were to have been sent to hunt you.”
“I love all of you; man and wolf,” I whispered before I kissed
