I sat at the dining table messing about with the gemstone Tigra had given me. I quickly realised the gemstone would need a flat surface to be able to attach to my mask, so with the sharpness of water I cut through, slicing it in half, which made it perfect as I now had two to experiment with.

I held the first half suspended between my hands, Larana hovering opposite me, encircling her wind around it, quickly finding out it was harder than I thought to imbued something unfamiliar with her power, this was completely different than a sword as that was used more as a conduit.

Brendan passed, simply looking. “Trying something new?”

“Always,” I answered. “It’s my final touch for my mask.”

“That is tomorrow, isn’t it?” verified Brendan.

“Yep, can’t wait.” I smiled as the gemstone began to glow slightly, almost there. I infused a little more and it glowed even brighter, the process was complete. “Perfect.” Larana sat down on the table, letting out a sigh.

“A little harder than I thought,” she admitted.

I grabbed my mask which was placed just to the left of me. I placed the enhanced gemstone in the centre, contrasting nicely off the white, gold, and blue.

“Looks good,” commented Brendan about to head off.

“Wait,” I called after him. I felt I should give him the second half, not sure why, but maybe one day he would need it.

“What?”

“Give me a second.” I quickly picked up the second half, nodding to Larana, she took her previous stance, and we began to enhance this one to, getting the feel needed from the previous half, it took half the time and this one felt even better than the first.

“What is that stone for?” he asked curiously.

“To distort someone’s scent. Tigra brought it to me.” I finished with it. I took it in my hand and held it out to him.

“I don’t need it.” He looked at me puzzled.

“Just in case,” I smiled. “You never know one day you might need it to protect someone.” Brendan still hesitated. “Please.”

“Alright,” he sighed taking hold of it, placing it in his pouch. “I’ll carry it on me for you.”

“Thank you.” I stood up. “Have you seen mum?”

“Baking in the kitchen with Athena, again” answered Brendan.

“Great.” I began heading off. Mum and Athena seemed to bake a lot together, it was almost like a mother and daughter thing. “Mum.”

“Alex,” she smiled.

“What’s our clans betrothal gift?” I came out with my first question.

“What’s brought this on?” Mum was surprised by my question.

“I’ve decided Tigra will one day be mine,” I answered boldly.

“Are you sure?” asked mum. Athena was staring at me dumbfounded.

“Yes,” I nodded. “I know I am still young, but Tigra is on my mind the moment I wake, when I train and when I fall asleep.” I let my heart speak out. “I love her mum with all my heart.”

Mum gazed at me softly. “You’ll tell her then.”

“Not yet.” I shook my head. “I must first find out if she feels the same only then will I tell her about the true meaning behind the betrothal gift.”

“Not how I thought this would go, but you’ve given this some thought.” I noticed mum touched the pendent she carried around her neck. It was a brilliant white fang with an elegant F carved into it. “Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life,” I answered.

Mum removed the pendent, handing it to me, gently placing it in my hand, then closing my fingers around it, she held her hand there for a moment.

“This pendent is not our clans main betrothal gift, but the betrothal gift your father gave me, it is a sign of our clans protection, once you give this to her, you also give your life to protect her, no matter what, do you understand?”

“Yes.” I put my free hand on top of hers. “I do as Tigra’s future Guardian and mate I will protect her with my life.”

Mum smile. “You’ve grown up much more than I thought, your dad would be so proud of you.”

“I know.” I nodded. I wish I could have gone through all this with him too. I missed spending time with him, whether it was training or lunch in the city. “We’ll just have to tell him everything when we see him next.”

My eyes widened as I saw a glimpse of dad, sitting in a chair near a warm fire, Zekon placed within the ground. His clothes were torn, and he looked scruffier than usual, what was it he was facing?

“Alex.” I heard my name as I came back to my senses, slumping a little, panting.

“I saw him,” I said, catching my breath. “Dad.”

Mum held a gentle smile. “Your abilities have developed further than I thought.”

“But what was that?” I asked.

“Much like when you grasp the abilities to see what happened to Gual, this one is an image of the future. It may be something of tomorrow or years from now.”

“The future?” I repeated.

“When first unlocking this portion of your power, you may black out or feel weakened afterwards,” informed mum.

“Seriously,” I sighed.

“You’ll get the hang of it; it just means it is evolving.” Mum took her hands away from mine. “Now let’s do a last suit fitting and dance position.”

“Right,” I nodded excitedly. I felt butterflies in the pit of my stomach as I looked down at my hand, one day Tigra would know the feelings I harboured for her.