D O M E S T I C A T I O N
"Yield to me.
I am the answer to your savagery."
[ Approximately one month after Changing Fate: Adjustments... ]
"Like a weed growing out of a crack in the duracrete, your nature will find a way, given time," he says evenly, his arms crossed, "You can let me remove it, or we can do this the hard way." And she would lose that fight.
In response, the small she-wolf eased towards the wall like an animal cornered, fear and wildness in her eyes, sizing him up like prey measuring their chances of survival. She growled low between clenched teeth, the threat that rumbled in her throat apparent, pinning him with a glare that could burn a thousand men. The fall of her breath was tight, but even, directed in silent breaths. "You wouldn't dare."
He stared on with a level gaze, noting that she was gauging the distance between himself and the door. How many steps would it take, was it worth the risk? "I know the pain you fear, and the panic of being unable to change despite every fibre in my body burning in the attempt to shift," he informs, in the same low, even voice, a clear edge to his words... his patience was starting to fray at her obstinance, "only one of these is torture."
The woman went entirely still, studying his face; perhaps seeing something she recognized, her hackles lowered, albeit marginally. "Here..." she urged, extending out a trembling arm that exposed her wrist, the silver bracelet that had kept her change from happening while she healed, gleaming. "When do we start?" She asked, her voice quiet.
Letting a slow breath out of his nose, his jaw working loose, he gingerly took her thin wrist with one large hand, freed the key from his pocket with the other, and pressed it to the bracelet. "On the next full moon," which was impending in coming days; the bracelet fell away into his hand, after which he released her wrist from his grasp, "or when you feel the change coming on, whichever happens first," and slipped both the bracelet and the key into his pocket, "keep in mind that fighting the pain only magnifies it."
"So I should follow the path of my pain?" Aelin frowned, the wolf's presence was slowly shaking free, revealing its presence with a golden flash behind her amber eyes. "I'm afraid I'll have to defer to your experience."
He nods, slowly, "Allowing your wolf to exist is the first step. She cannot learn to respect your will, if you do not respect her need to exist."
A pause.
"And how did you learn? To respect your wolf? To accept this… side of yourself that possesses all of these different needs, desires, and cravings?"
Having shifted away from the unyielding will he could project, he now watched her in a way that was giving his undivided attention as she began to ask her questions, "We're raised with the knowledge of what we are, and what to expect," he answers, returning his arms to being folded over his broad chest, "then when the time comes, we're guided through the first changes and taught how to listen to and interpret those cravings, desires, and needs."
"No one was there for my first change," she explained, her voice carrying a sombre note, "and it felt like stepping into an inferno when it happened. It took hours, and once it was done, I didn't know how to go back. I think I stayed in the forest for a full week. It's all a bit of a blur, between hunting and killing. The only thing that mattered were those primal drives. It felt like I lost who I was."
His eyes flicked away for a moment or two, thinking, before flicking back to her face, "I'll have Bjørn make space for you in his schedule to talk through your experiences," he stated; it appeared they were all going to be involved in her full recovery, "and I'll be your guide."
