Coughs erupt from my throat as I crawl out of the water and up the pebbled beach. My nails dig into the rocks as I heave out one last croak and collapse onto my back. The night has consumed the light of day, but the cover of dark won't hide me from him. He's coming for me, and my baby isn't safe.

My chest rises and falls rhythmically as my eyes study the night sky. His voice sounds in my head, toying with me. I manage to climb further up the beach until the waves can't reach me. I don't know how far I am from Waindale, or how close I am to the mountains. The forest stands like I wall, masking the lay of the land.

My growing baby eats up a majority of my father's power, but I use the rest to replenish my tired limbs. However, the longer I rest to heal myself, the more my father's looming presence devours me, stealing all forms of rational thought.

Pebbles shift from behind me, giving way under his steps. My fists ball at my sides. Defeat holds me down. A cry of frustration leaves me as my eyes squeeze shut. "Please!" I shout, "Go away! Just—just go away!"

A soft touch brushes my arm. I jolt and my eyes shoot open. A woman's face peers down at me, making me question just how reliable my own mind is. My lips part as she brushes the wet hairs from my pale face, her movements gentle and loving. She rests beside me, like a mother nursing her sick child.

"W-Who—"

"He will not hurt you," she tells me, her voice soft. "He is not here anymore."

Her skin is nearly luminescent, glowing under the moon's lustrous rays. My eyes are lost on her face, but I feel safe by her side. "I know you," I murmur.

"I cannot stay here for long, Wrenley. This is not my realm to wander. I do not belong here, but I have come for you, for your father."

"H-He's gone?"

Her ghostly hand caresses my cheek. "His links to this world will be no more. Whatever the sun fails to shine upon is mine to look after, but your father wanted to take it all for himself. I am not supposed to be here in this form, but there was no other way for me to send him home, no other way to break his links."

"His links?" I ask, limp in her arms.

She nods. "Yes, Wrenley. He has been linked to this planet for far too long."

"What were the links?"

"His children," she says, again petting my hair.

My head tilts away from her. "There are more?"

"He had many children. All a part of his plans."

My hand shakily lifts from the pebbles to my stomach. "Do I have to die?"

Her beautiful face falls. "I am hoping you will take my offer as your brothers and sisters did."

"What is it?"

"I will make you like my children. You will no longer be human, no longer have your father's abilities. His power will no longer be inside of you, destroying the link he has to this world."

My eyes fill with tears, glistening under her gaze. "I will be like Adam?"

"Yes. You will."

"M-My baby? He will be too?"

The back of her hand brushes the tears from my cheeks. "No, Wrenley. I cannot save him."

My lips, salted and dry, quiver as a breath floods my lungs.

"Your child will not survive in a shifter's body. He has your father's blood. You and your baby are the last links."

"And if I don't take your offer?"

"Your father cannot continue to visit this world," she says, refraining from speaking the blunt truth.

"I will die," I say. "Either my baby dies and I live, or we both die."

"Your baby will live on in spirit. I will look after him for you."

I shake my head. "I-I can't. Please don't make me decide."

"Adam is looking for you. He is desperate for his mate to come home to him. Please, Wrenley, go home to him. I do not like to see my children in pain. I do not want to take you from him, from your home."

"But m-my—my baby—"

"He will be with me. Forever. He will be returned to you when it is your time."

Sobs clog up my throat. I cry in her arms until she pulls away and tells me, "I cannot stay here. I must return. Please, let me change you."

"I-I will see him? He will be waiting for me? Promise that he will be waiting for me."

"I promise. Your baby will be with you again one day."

I clench my jaw as my body seems to squeeze into itself. Finally I muster the word, "Okay."

"Thank you," she whispers and places her hand on my chest. "Close your eyes. It will be over soon."

I peer down at her hand over my heart, nervous and frantic. The last thing I feel is my body setting on fire, every inch of my being burning away as anew rises from the ashes. Her face blurs and my head concaves.

The world shatters to nothingness, and the life within me wanes.

My skinny legs race out the back door and across the backyard. A lawn chair drags across the grass behind me, and I hold on tight as it jumps and bumps along. My eyes fixate on the retired clothesline rooted in a bed of gravel, the cords drooped and weathered, the painted metal flaking away. I set the chair against the pole and step up onto it. I heave my small body and kick my legs around until I manage to sit on the horizontal piece which the cords are secured to. From my watch post, I survey the tree line, enjoying the pacific breeze as it blows through the leaves and through my dark hair.

Between the grand trunks, I see something move. My eyes squint and my body leans forward.

My tiny hands grip the metal, and the thing comes forward, but it isn't a thing, it's a man. It's a man I've never seen before—a stranger in grandma's backyard—and my stomach twists as he steps out of the trees. His gaze fails to leave me, fails to falter for one second. Frightened, I climb down as quickly as possible, but my apprehension gets the best of me, and I slip, drop, and smack against the ground. My knee pulsates and stings. My mouth opens and a scream ruptures into the open air.

The man disappears. When I look back, he's gone.

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