Free Hyacinth by Abigail Owen

developed new gifts. Eventually she had taken the
risk of trying it during an attack, hiding a child whose powers were obviously
fairly new and saving its life. It was a small personal victory, but it was
something… her way of defying her brother and fighting against the horror that
her pack had become.
    Shortly after
developing this skill, Selene had come into her two other powers, which she
also kept secret. The first was the ability to appear to people in dreams. She
wasn’t able to manipulate them or force them to dream something specific. But
she could speak to them and walk with them.
    The other gift
she inherited was the ability to strengthen other people’s powers. Selene had
lived in terror that her brother would figure it out and find some way to use
it against others. If Gideon had the ability to enhance their pack’s most
dangerous powers, he would be unstoppable.
    Her most
impactful moment of rebellion against her brother and their life had started
the night she’d first seen Griffin and Ellie. Selene had been watching over a
battle raging in a gypsy encampment. Vyusher wolves moved through the Svatura ,
attacking where needed, ripping them to shreds. Selene’s job was to turn off
specific powers on Gideon’s command. She’d made him believe that she could only
affect powers she actually saw in action. The first Svatura she’d
disabled was a magnificent golden dragon. She’d focused on him and he’d
instantly shifted back to human. He hadn’t lasted long after that with the
Vyusher wolves surrounding him.
    Ellie’s gripped
Selene’s hand tightly. “Grandfather,” she whispered, a hitch in her voice.
    Regret and
loathing for her role in his death slammed into Selene. She glanced at the
twins. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I don’t have to keep going with the rest of
that—”
    “No. I want to
see it,” Ellie insisted.
    “Okay.” Selene
closed her eyes and began picturing the rest of that night.
    Toward the end
of the attack, after most everyone was dead, a boy and a girl a little younger
than Selene ran smack into her brother. Gideon, in the form of a huge black
wolf, circled them menacingly. The two kept their backs to each other as more
wolves surrounded them. Suddenly, Gideon lunged for the girl. She’d held up her
hands in defense, and the instant she touched him, she morphed into a small
black wolf herself. Gideon stumbled back in bewilderment. But he recovered
quickly and tried to use the linked pack mind, which Selene could hear.
    “Join us,” he
growled at the girl.
    The small female
wolf shook her head as though she was confused. Or fighting something.
Suddenly, the connection Selene felt to the wolf-girl ceased, like a switch had
been flipped. The boy jumped forward and touched the girl’s arm. She morphed
back to human form and looked at him. And then, just as suddenly, both the boy
and the girl turned into falcons, one jet black and one golden, and they flew
away.

Chapter
14
     
    Selene hadn’t
realize she was shaking until she felt Griffin’s hand tighten on hers, giving a
little tug. She opened her eyes and found his gaze trained on her. For once,
hostility had been replaced by a gentler, kinder emotion.
    “If you need a
break, we can stop for a little bit,” he whispered.
    Selene searched
his eyes for a moment, waiting for the antagonism to return. But he just
watched her calmly.
    She took a deep
breath and shook her head. “No, I’d rather just get this over with,” she
replied in a soft voice. “There’s not much more.”
    Closing her eyes
again, she heard Griffin mutter, “I don’t think I can take much more.”
    Selene concentrated
on telling the rest of her story and ran through the next scenes quickly. This part
she’d already shared with Ellie. She showed them Gideon’s ensuing obsession
with bringing Ellie into the pack and how she’d hidden them from Sheila’s
searching. She briefly covered how she’d tried to reach them through