"Listen," he murmured. Dustin cupped her face gently and raised his eyebrows. "Listen. We always knew the animal would be able to hear. Your human hearing will be improved, but it might not be like this. We won't know until you Change back."
Emma pranced from foot to foot. How do I Change back?
"Wait." When Dustin chuckled, his smile was stunning.
Home is where you rest your bones. No. Home was in Dustin's smile. The real ones he made for her.
Dustin stood, his muscles flexing with the movement. His eyes were so pretty right now in the dark, glowing blue and seafoam green. "Before you Change back, and before we find out either way how your hearing will be in your human body, I want to show you something. Okay?"
She yipped excitedly a few times. There was too much pent-up energy in her body. She could hear Winter purring now. Emma wanted to tackle her with wolf hugs and bite her. Not to make her bleed, just to tell her she loved her. A love bite. She would bite Logan and Beast, too, and if they tried to kill her, she would just run away. She would be fast in this body. Show me!
She bolted unsteadily to the tree line, then back for Dustin. She was starting to get the hang of this body. Come on! I want to see and hear everything!
Dustin grunted and Changed into his beautiful black wolf with the eyes she adored. She didn't like the pained sound in her mate's throat, though, so she licked his face, because instinct said face licks would make anything better. She could lick him all night. She was going to do that. Lick him until he was happy, but wait! Dustin let off a warning growl and clamped his teeth onto her neck. Whoo, he was serious. And sexy. She liked his teeth. He gave good love bites. Emma barked excitedly about a dozen times in a row until Dustin let off a strange, long yip and trotted off toward the D-Team. He stopped at the tree line and waited, eyes locked on hers, face somber.
He was stunning in this form. There was no color variation in his fur, and he wasn't mottled like Axton had been. She could see him so much better in this body. He was pure black with a thick barrel chest and long, powerful legs, giant paws, and a thick tail that swished languidly as she approached. He probably had fifty pounds on her wolf. Mine, mine, mine. Dark Wolf, bright soul. My Dustin. Emma was a greedy wolf. She would bite anyone who looked at him. Hi Dustin! She rubbed up his body like a prancing cat, and he huffed a wolfish laugh, then trotted off into the woods, careful to step around the scorch marks. Careful to avoid the last remaining evidence his psychotic brother had existed on this earth. Emma sniffed it. Bad. Smelled like evil. Dustin wasn't like him. She'd gotten the good one, not the cull pup. She'd gotten the one who grew up to be a dependable, protective man.
The rain sounded beautiful. Her ears twitched in every direction with the rain pattering against fern leaves. Dustin had warned her not to get her hopes up in her human body. It wouldn't be like this. She still had missing parts in that body. She would still have impairment, but at least the tradeoff was this. At least her wolf could hear. She wanted to cry again. Why were her emotions so up and down right now?
Winter hissed as she trotted by.
I love you, too. Emma veered off and chased her for a love bite, but Winter bolted up a tree. Tricky kitty. Emma pranced back and forth on her front two paws and barked, but Winter sat on a branch out of reach, her long, black tail curved down gracefully, her eyes glowing gold in the dim light.
Dustin circled around her, herding her. He wasn't as tricky as Winter. She could see exactly what he was doing. He wanted to show her something, so she gave in. Bye Winter! Oh! The sleek cat jumped in front of Emma and startled her.
Winter was big, and her claws were out as she slunk into step beside her. Hi. She ran her whiskered cheek against Emma's muzzle once.
Emma tried to lick her, but Winter ducked out of the way and swatted her with a massive paw. Didn't hurt. Logan was here now, an enormous dark-furred grizzly, striding in the woods parallel to them. He smelled like blood and brokenness. Emma loved him, too.
Beast was human, but Emma wanted to sniff him, so she bounded up to him and barked a bunch so he would memorize what she sounded like. You're welcome.
Beast narrowed his eyes down at her. His face looked painful, all scarred up on one side and perfect on the other. He lunged like he would attack her, but he didn't smell mad, not really, so Emma held her ground and wagged her tail. He was all cut up, and the rain that splattered on his skin made red rivers down his torso. You're my friend. You helped me save the one I love.
Beast snarled, but there was no venom behind it. With an annoyed glance at the group behind them, he sighed and brushed his fingertips over the fur on her head once. "Now shove off," he muttered.
But she didn't miss it. He'd smiled. Only for a moment, but it was there, and it counted. Tonight was the best. Except … she really wasn't going to be a vampire now, and maybe she would never sing … A wave of memories hit her at once. The longing to be in choir with her school friends, playing guitar to her lyrics and barely being able to hear the music. Her voice, always off-key and out of her control. Always slurred, no matter how hard she worked on it. All of the times she cried on her bed and wished she could sing like the people she wrote songs for.
Her emotions were so overwhelming in this body. A soft whine left her as she really thought about the blow she'd been dealt. She'd gotten the wolf, but it had come with a price. What if her hearing was just the same when she Changed back to a human?
And then Dustin was there, right beside her, big and strong and steady. He drew in front of her and blocked her path. Was this what he wanted to show her? Emma looked around, but there was nothing special about this clearing. It was circular and surrounded by towering trees that had vines dangling from their branches. Despite the October chill, everything was still lush and green, and the moon had peeked out from the clouds just enough to douse the forest in hues of blue. It was beautiful-breathtaking really-but it was just like the other woods they'd been walking through.
And then everything changed in an instant.
Beside her, Dustin arched his neck back slowly, a howl lifting from him as he closed his eyes. Emma stood there utterly shocked at the sound. So pure. So perfect. Her fur stood up all over her body. When Dustin's note tapered, he lowered his muzzle to hers and opened his eyes. He said so much with that look.
I love you. This is the gift that comes with the wolf. Are you ready to sing?
Buried in emotion, Emma lowered her head.
Dustin lifted a howl again, but this one was different. It was lower, louder. It called to her in ways she didn't understand. It drew her wolf up and made her want to … sing.
Emma blinked rapidly as she looked at the D-Team. The dragons moved in the woods, their backs high above the trees. It wasn't just the D-Team here anymore. This was the Blackwing Crew, here to listen to her first song.
Dustin was holding his note, head back, calling her.
With a deep inhale, Emma made an unsteady yipping sound and let it taper into a deep howl her wolf just knew how to make. She held the note. Perfect tone. Emotion clogged her throat, so she cut it off. Dustin took a breath and sang again. Feeling like this moment was everything, Emma threw her head back and joined him, lifting a note of her own slowly to match his. All was quiet except for their duet. The others watched and waited and listened, and Emma was lost on the drifting notes she and Dustin sang together. It was the most beautiful song she'd ever heard, and she was a part of it.
With the wave of raw emotion that washed over her, something happened to her body. It buckled and Changed. It hurt, but it was fast. And within moments, she was on her knees in the grass, human, naked, sobbing. And then Dustin was there, holding her, cupping her head gently, rocking them back and forth. He was murmuring something, but her hearing wasn't as good in this body. She could hear better than she used to, but it was comparable to having her hearing aids in.
This had been her nightmare growing up. All this time, this had been her biggest fear, that she would have to accept the impairment. But maybe it was time to do just that. It was time to stop looking toward some perfect future where she would be able to hear like everyone else. It was time to accept herself just as she was. At least she had the wolf. Emma rested her cheek against Dustin's chest and cried, hugging him tightly. Her loss warred with her joy.
Hands touched her back, rested there, and the murmurs of her friends filled her heart with belonging. She looked up, and they were there, the crew. All of them.
Winter was crying. "You sounded beautiful."