My Ottawa Lynx. Virginie T.

for my tribe anyway. On the other hand, my life has radically changed, for my greatest happiness.

      – You, you have not understood what the Great Manidou whispered to you? What are you hiding?

      My brother knows me too well and he’s stubborn. He won’t give up until I spill the beans. And after all I may need his help. He can help me learn more about my betrothed. And yet, I wish I could keep this information for myself a bit longer. I answer reluctantly.

      – She’s mine, I whisper.

      – Excuse me ? I guess I didn’t hear you.

      – Isabelle is mine, I answer louder.

      Tyee opens his eyes wide in surprise, then bursts out laughing.

      – The lovely little human is your half? That’s too funny.

      – I don’t see what you find so amusing. She’s my woman, she’s mine and I’m gonna claim her as such. Nothing funny there. It’s a very serious thing instead.

      He doesn’t stop anyway. He laughs  until he cries. He annoys me, like my lynx that yowls in my head.

      My brother gets hardly his breath back to explain me, between two coughing fits, his hilarity.

      – You forget one thing, Achak. She’s human, not shapeshifter. She doesn’t know our world, not even our existence, and so, even if she feels the bond between you, she doesn’t understand its meaning. For the first time in your life, a woman is not gonna fall into your arms because you have clicked your fingers. And I can tell you you’re gonna struggle. I’ ve seen the fear in her eyes earlier.

      I see he’s glad about this situation. Sure enough he didn’t have  this problem with his wife, who already belonged to our tribe. In addition to that, when I think of Isabelle’s fear, I get angry with myself. My partner clearly distrusts me.

      – Yes, I know, she freaked out when I stared at her like a psycho, but I didn’t expect that. Asagaya, the spirit of the thunder, struck me when I saw her beauty, I couldn’t help gazing at her silhouette. Maybe you have some advice for me?

      He finally gets serious to tell me what he thinks.

      – Give her some time and do things properly, or you’ll lose her even before you win her heart. And you know that spirits have created just one soulmate for each animorph. You won’t have a second chance. Don’t waste everything playing the conqueror.

      Tyee goes back home and lets me brood over his last words. I know he’s right, he’s not our boss for no reason. I have to give some space to Isabelle. My lynx doesn’t agree and it tears my guts. Like me, it knows that she’s our partner and subtlety is not part  of its  instincts. It wants to find her and  immediately mark her as ours. Unlike the animal, I know that jumping on a woman to bite her neck is not the best way to get into her good graces.

      Isabelle is different from the other women that I’ve lured into my bed so far. She won’t be interested in my place of shaman in the tribe.