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

“I don’t know,” he confessed, pressing his talons to face to examine his beak and beard. His jackal ears and lion tail twitched synchronously. “I’m sore, but I—now I’m finally whole. It’s finally happened.”


“I shouldn’t be this happy when my best friend is hurting so much,.” He sighed, running his talons through his emerald green feather beard. He stroked the fur and feather patches on his arms and chest.


“I know. But we’re helping him together. We’re going to be there for him through this nightmare.”


“He seems to like you. A lot,” he noted, twitching his taloned feet.


Em nodded. “We are united in grief.”


He strained in a twist to examine his backside, looking at where his lionlike tail had sprouted from the base of his spine. Finally finished cataloging the changes to his body, he looked into her eyes and observed, “You are good for him. You pull him out of himself. He’s not so lost when he’s with you.”


“We connect on a very strange level,” she agreed.


Chapter 13