Through Time-Frankie by Claudy Conn

loved Darmon, but she had been wrong. It was Pestale, only Pestale…
    Her life had been sweetly pleasant and now it was filled with excitement. He thrilled her with his dynamic presence. He thrilled her with his wild love-making.
    Her peaceful life in Conglam had been changed.
    She didn’t see much of her friends anymore.
    Her days were filled with Pestale and always in secret.
    Standing at the large window of her pretty green and mauve room she stared at the reflection of the woman staring back at her. She was an oddity—a product of a forbidden love between her Blue Demon father, and her lovely Shapeshifter mother.
    There was no other like her, her mother was fond of pointing out. She was unique, but she hadn’t wanted to be. Now, she was pleased because Pestale was so charmed by all that she was and all that she could do.
    Her pale skin was tinged with blue, her eyes were bright aqua, her hair was long and white, her lips full and Pestale always called them luscious. She was exotic and it was the first thing he had told her when they met six months ago. How had they not met before, she would muse.
    He had wanted her just as she was, even though she possessed an unusual quality the other wolf shifters did not have. She could be anything she wanted, anyone she wanted, any time and without adverse affects. She preferred always to shift into a wolf, rather than any other form, but she could mimic any form she wanted.
    When her father and mother had fallen in love hundreds of years ago, their relatives had shunned them. Through the years, the match had been tolerated and then widely accepted by most of the members of both colonies. Her parents were invited to all the meetings and their council was even sought in many matters.
    Her parents were no longer outsiders, though they chose to live apart and private from both colonies.
    She was glad of it, for she didn’t want to choose the jungle of the Blue Demons with their underground habitat, or the vast forest and valley of the Shapeshifters.
    Her parents had carved out their own niche of beauty, their own land and she had grown accustomed to the privacy.
    Eslym had reached her majority and blossomed in the last year. She knew that one or two male members of the Blue Demons were more than a little interested in her, especially Sventer who had made no secret of his interest.
    Darmon was her only regret. In choosing Pestale, she had lost the life she had envisioned with Darmon.
    Darmon was a strong and handsome alpha wolf, and she had thought…but then, she saw Pestale and now Pestale was all she wanted.
    When Pestale looked at her the day they met, she felt the blush swim through her blood and burn her cheeks. His thoughts were written in his dark eyes and suddenly she found herself in his bed.
    When she confessed to Darmon, he had been devastated. He had accused Pestale of putting a spell on her, but she told him it wasn’t true although…sometimes, she wondered.
    She could feel her free will, her longing for him almost as a separate entity. Thus, this couldn’t be a spell. It was all too real. He wasn’t evil, simply misunderstood. She was sure of it.
    She knew her own mind, and she knew Pestale. Yes, he had told her that he had done some awful things, but his goal had been pure. He wanted to save the Human Realm from the constant destruction the humans were committing against the land and the creatures that inhabited it.
    He had told her to look for herself and she had. She saw the wars, the genocide, the blood, the hunting for sport. She saw the icebergs melt and fall away, the polar bears starving in their habitat.
    He was correct. Humans needed guiding.
    And she gave herself to him. She was immortal with eternity ahead, and she had decided to share it with the Dark Prince. Had that been only six months ago when they had met? It seemed like yesterday to her.
    Why did her mind always call for Darmon when she least expected it to? His name brought a smile to her lips.