Awakening the Wolf by Crymsyn Hart Page A

my aunt because I have a calling for the priesthood.” Illiana lifted the limb and ran her palm over the flame eating it up. Heat singed her flesh, but she did not feel the pain at first. Instead, she focused on the heat and tried to get it to respond to her command. It flared a little bit, and she could almost grasp it. When it died down, she threw it into the fire pit and tried to keep calm. She gritted her teeth and tried to wrangle with her emotions, but it was difficult.
    “So far the cover story has worked. Even with the priests coming here. They think you are learning from me. It would be the most logical course for you since you are more of a loner among the flock. They would expect it, and I am your aunt, so you are getting a great teacher.”
    “Yeah, and my mother hates the idea of you instructing me. You know she went to the council to try and have another priest take me under their wing?”
    Coret nodded. “I know. But it has nothing to do with how the priests take on students. Your mother knows that.”
    Illiana smiled. “Exactly. She wanted to make sure you never got around to informing me about my past. I’m sure she thinks you’re imparting all of your past knowledge to me.”
    Coret shrugged. “Even if that’s it, she hasn’t come to me and asked me about it.”
    “Good, because I’m not telling her about it. So to answer your earlier question, yes, I’m still having trouble with the fire. It doesn’t want to talk to me. It’s too independent.”
    “It sounds like you’re trying to control it.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Of course I’m trying to control it. I have been ever since we agreed to do this. Wasn’t that the whole point of us meeting? Learn to control the fire and bring out the wolf.”
    “Yeah, that was the point, and so far you’ve done nothing except face-off with it, try to force the fire to do what you want, and mope. It’s about time you get serious about this.”
    “I am being serious about this. It’s so hard and . . . ”
    Her aunt paced the clearing. “You knew this wasn’t going to be easy. I’ve been lenient up until this point. I’m the only one who can help you with this, and I’m getting tired of us getting nothing! If you don’t show anything, then I’m done, Illiana.”
    Illiana tried to take control of the rage bubbling inside of her, topping it off with her frustration that had been building. She curled her fingers into her fists and stood up. The darkness within her mind seemed all consuming and threatened to take over her vision. “Don’t you think I’m trying,” she snapped.
    Coret stood next to her until her nose was almost touching hers. “Maybe you can tell Christopher that when he gets mated.”
    Mated? No. He wouldn’t without telling me. She staggered backward and hit a tree. The shock brought up all her buried emotions. It brought back everything he had said to her and the need to escape. The darkness inside of her began to swallow her whole. The wolf stepped from the shadows. Its silver eyes glinted in the moonlight, and the wolf bared its teeth. Illiana thought of Christopher kissing that bitch Jalisa, and it made her sick. Her stomach turned. She yearned to sink her teeth into the other woman. That wrath crept up the back of her throat and tasted acrid. The more she thought of Jalisa, the one who had made her life with Christopher a living hell, the angrier she became. As a teenager, Jalisa had taunted her for being heavier than others in the pack and those in the flock. Illiana could never help that. She had always wanted to show the bitch how much it hurt. She licked her lips, imagined what it would be to wrap her teeth around that slender neck, and feel her teeth slice into the skin. The tang of that salty, copper liquid slipped down her throat. The wolf agreed with her, and at that exact moment, they wanted the same thing: to see Jalisa ended.
    Illiana felt her body changing in a different way than what she was used to. The