Nyx answers firmly. "You're progressing, Sadie. You're letting your walls fall, brick

by brick. That is strength, not weakness. You've always been powerful, but power without trust? That only cages you. Last night proved you can open the cage."

Her words warm something deep in me, something that's been cold for far too long. Still, the unease lingers.

"There's more," I admit softly. "When Piper walked in, I felt it; I knew before she did. I knew she was carrying life inside her. How, Nyx? How is that even possible? No one can sense something like that. It doesn't make sense."

For a long moment, Nyx is silent. Then her voice rises again, steady, patient. "You're right. What you felt is not something most can do. But you are not 'most.' You are a vessel of life, a bridge between new life and the existing world. You carry a bond with any form of new life. Where others see only flesh, you feel the thread of existence itself."

Her words send a shiver through me. "You're saying we can... sense life. Before it's even fully formed?"

"Yes," she confirms. "That spark, faint as it may be, burns bright to us. You felt Piper's child because the essence of life called to you."

I thought it was just a fluke in my powers, but now Nyx is saying that it's a part of who we are. Part of the powers we possess.

It's amazing and scary at the same time, because it's too much power handed over to just one, she-wolf.

Honestly, it's starting to feel like there is more to this. These aren't just gifts from the goddess, like how witches and warlocks get magic as gifts from their goddess; this feels like something more.

"We are extraordinary Sadie, and it's time you started believing that," she says, reading my thoughts.

I swallow hard, my throat thick. "Extraordinary feels a lot like terrifying."

"That's because the two are often the same," Nyx says gently. "But you are not alone in it. I'm here and you have so many people around you who love you. Don't let fear stop you from achieving your full potential."

Her certainty steadies me, even as my doubts continue to gnaw at the edges of my mind. The forest is still around me, silent except for the distant rustle of leaves and the echo of my own breathing.

She continues, "Don't let fear stop you from enjoying this new power. Think about it, if we remove the fear from the equation, what else did you feel?

I take a while to answer her. "Happiness, joy and love"

"Exactly, because new life is supposed to bring all three of those. If you only focus on the fear, then you miss out on the joy new life brings."

I start walking again, each step sinking into the damp earth, her words circling through me like a tide.

She's right. I was so focused on the new power and how terrifying it is that I failed

to appreciate the beauty that comes from new life.

"When you say we can sense life, does that only apply to wolves?" I ask.

"No," she replies. "Our powers are tethered to any new life. Whether wolf, vampire, witches and warlocks, animals, or plants. Anything that has breath. You were able to sense Piper's child because you and Piper had a connection before, but as our powers grow, you'll be able to sense any new life."

I've never been left speechless... or maybe I have, but this just hits differently. There is so much to that. So much to process. It's terrifying like I said, but slowly a different kind of feeling is starting to bloom inside me. Excitement.

I've always loved children, always loved animals, and always loved nature. Maybe

that's why I always felt so connected to them.

"It is," Nyx cuts through my

thoughts. It was your soul

responding to them and vice versa.

That why you always felt drawn to

them. You were drawn to the life

budding inside them."

I take a deep breath before asking, “Is Xena like us too?"

Nyx is quiet before sighing. "She is the opposite."

"You mean..."

"While you can sense life, Xena can sense death,” she finishes for me.