A traumatic event in his childhood keeps Tuxtax from being able to shift into his were-griffin form. Ashamed of his looks and terrified of rejection, he spends his life in seclusion, with his sister Eleuthereia and centaur friend Rixa as his only connections to the outside world. Even though Tuxtax yearns to be with the elfin soulmate he had met before the accident, the vanth’s insecurity and self-doubt keep him from reaching out.<br><br>But now Rixa needs his help. Tuxtax joins his friend on a desperate rescue mission to save the centaur’s pregnant soulmate, hoping that the quest will give him a chance to overcome his insecurities and prove himself. Their rescue mission leads him back into the land of the elves, where Tuxtax must confront his past and the fears that are holding him back.<br><br>The further Tuxtax travels, the louder he hears his soulmate’s call. Can Tuxtax find the courage he needs to return to his soulmate and reclaim the man of his dreams?

Cupid's Ax

Tuxtax admitted, “I’ve told you, I’m not complete. I cannot transform. Something is holding me from my adult form.”


“What does your adult form look like?” Em asked.


Tuxtax stood closer to the fire and lifted his battleax to his cheek. His reflection in the weapon’s steel revealed his true form: a snaky-haired, green-bearded griffin stared back at her. Unable to endure the sight of what he’d lost, Tuxtax pinched his golden eyes shut; twin tears fell down his face, but snaked down the sides of his beak in his reflection.


“Oh,” Em replied,. “So you’re a griffin? And your sister—does my mysterious soulmate have a beak, too?”


“No,” Tuxtax coughed, lowering his weapon. “Female vanths only shift into their were forms to defend themselves. Mature males only fade into their human forms to mate.”


“So your form—is immature? You feel you cannot mate because you’re…?” she struggled to find the right words.


Chapter 11