Give me the power to release their hold.
She had to feel the Lycans when they came near. They were pack hunters and gave off little or no energy. They were somehow able to contain it, so that even the Carpathians couldn't feel their presence before an attack. She would need to know where every single wolf was, why they were there and what their plan of action would be.
Mother Earth had seen it all played out on her surface. Centuries had gone by and the Lycan species had taken on the mantle of civilization, but like the Carpathians, they were predators first. They were wolves. They hunted in packs, rather than as single hunters like the Carpathians. Packs generally had an alpha pair and they used the tried and true attacks that had worked for centuries.
They had evolved, strong, fast, very lethal, and they were smart. They had integrated into human society, looking civilized, but deep under their skin, they were always Lycan. They still hunted the same way they had been successful so long ago.
Skyler absorbed the information stamped into the very ground by the Lycans who had used this forest for so many years. She took her time, grateful to be a daughter of the earth, grateful the offering was so detailed. It was important to learn about Lycans as pack hunters in order to figure out the best way to elude—or defeat them.
When she was certain she knew how the inner workings of the pack were managed, she gave thanks and then asked for help with Dimitri. His weakness beat at her. His hunger. He was starved, and no Carpathian could go days or weeks without going to ground.
Great Mother, my beloved is of your making,
He is your own son, a son of Mother Earth.
You have judged him, you know him. You know his worth.
Spare him, Mother,
Bring forth your healing power,
Aid me in his healing,
Use me, bring forth your power through me.
Skyler hadn't realized how truly shaken she was after connecting so often with Dimitri and seeing, no matter what she'd done to help him, that his suffering continued. There was little she could do about the silver chains binding him so tightly from neck to ankle, not from so great a distance. She had barely allowed herself to acknowledge those evil chains.
She knew it was the thin loops wrapped so tightly around his body, a mummy suit of silver, that kept Dimitri contained. He couldn't reach out to his kind for aid. He couldn't free himself, or fight his enemies. She had to find the best way to remove the silver and make certain she could heal the burns in his body at least enough to allow him to travel fast.