Chapter 1
I stood before my room window, staring at the full moon. It's been forty nine moons. I've stopped counting, though. Only Lucian helps me with the counting, and that's the reason I'm waiting for him even though I could hear the drums of the full moon festival beating. My brother would be anticipating my arrival also.
My brother.
My heart skipped. He isn't aware of my relationship with Lucian yet. He only knows that Lucian and I formed a bond since we were children. He isn't aware that five years ago, when Lucian had his first shift, I fell in love with him. We both fell in love with each other. And we've kept our relationship hidden, orchestrating the opportune time to announce it.
Since Lucian was the leader of the werewolf warriors, solely because of my brother, Adrian, who'd assigned him to that position, he trained relentlessly, aided Adrian during wars, and both men have grown incredibly close over the years.
So close that even though Adrian is oblivious to our relationship, he'd shipped Lucian to marry the daughter of the pack's Beta, Esme. Due to the predicament, Lucian and I decided to divulge our relationship tonight.
Taking a long, deep breath, I pressed the pendant necklace, a half moon, against my forehead, closing my eyes in silent prayer. As I began to open my eyes, I felt a familiar presence fill the space behind me. He curled his hand around my waist, drawing his body close to mine, and I smiled softly.
"I've missed you." He buried his face in my hair, inhaling my scent.
My nostrils filled with his familiar scent.
"Lucian?" I whispered, feeling my stomach somersault with thousands of butterflies dancing inside it.
"Why didn't you show up earlier as you promised?" I couldn't conceal the hint of hurt and anger in my voice. He's the only person truly close to me, since Adrian rarely lets me out of these castle walls.
"I was training with the warriors, and also preparing for tonight." He kissed the top of my head.
Slowly turning to him, I cradled his face in my hands. Dark circles rimmed his eyes, and I longed to smooth them away.
"Lucian?" I called. "Are you still certain about what we discussed?"
"What?" He asked, rubbing the small of my back.
"That we planned to announce our relationship to everyone tonight?" I asked.
For a moment, I caught a fleeting frown wash across his face before he replaced it with a smile. Leaning closer, he kissed my cheek.
"I have a surprise for you tonight."
"What surprise?" I was eager to know it now. Even a hint would do. "You know how much I hate surprises. They make me nervous."
Lucian said nothing. Instead, he leaned closer, capturing my lips with his. My fingers curled into his shirt as I hungrily pulled him close, a helpless sound escaping my mouth. His tongue swept inside, swirling against mine.
When his hands began to move lower, gently grazing my body, I moaned at the pleasure that surged through me. Every nerve came alive as he continued stroking, licking and tasting.
Just when he started to explore further, a knock at the door pulled him away. A frown formed on my face as my hands clenched in frustration at whoever had interrupted us. Striding toward the door, I opened it and found Norris, one of my brother's guards, standing stoic at the threshold.
"Princess," he said. "Alpha Adrian wants you at the festival immediately."
"I'll be down shortly," I assured him. I shut the door, turned around, and froze when I found no trace of Lucian.
"Lucian?" I called, my eyes sweeping the room, half expecting him to surface from wherever he was hiding. But why would he hide? Everyone knew Lucian and I as childhood friends, and he'd visited me here countless times. The other half of me, the part that accepted he was truly gone, moved toward the open shutters. My gaze dropped as I realised he might have leapt down. But why? Why would he simply leave without a word? I had expected us to attend the full moon festival together.
Glancing around my room one last time, I headed out.
The festival grounds were alive when I stepped out, crowded with people dressed in white. White was the colour of purity, of surrender to the moon goddess. Torches lined the stone pathway leading to the clearing. The clearing opened up before me and my pace slowed as I made out the enormous tree standing at the centre. Its trunk was wider than three men standing side by side. Its leaves were pale and silver-white with red veins decorating them. It was alive in a way that declared the moon goddess had not yet deserted us. The moon goddess, Selene did not speak in words. She spoke through this moon tree, and only the priestess could interpret it. Every movement and sway of the tree carried meaning. When the leaves fell in great numbers at once, it signified calamity. And when the tree began to bleed, it meant something far worse had occurred or was impending.
The entire pack was gathered around the tree in silence, eyes lifted upward in reverence. I scanned the crowd for Lucian but couldn't find him anywhere.
"Leia," Adrian whispered. I looked toward him where he stood beside Priestess Dahlia.
Clutching the woven basket close to me, I breezed toward him. Every full moon, it was mandatory that pack members present offerings to Selene, the moon goddess. It didn't matter how little you offered.
After the moment of reverence and worship to Selene, the baskets were set down at the roots. When my turn came, I stepped closer, pressed a hand to the trunk, and silently closed my eyes.
I've waited for forty moons. Don't keep me waiting, Selene.
"Children of the moon," Priestess Dahlia spoke in a high tone. Everyone had drawn away from the tree, and she alone abode near. "We gather tonight as we have every other time. To give. To receive. And to be acknowledged by She who made us."
I took a deep breath, my eyes roving through the crowd until I found Esme. When our eyes met, her brows furrowed, her lips twisting silently. I was about to look away when I noticed someone standing close to her. Lucian.
He stood with his hand around her waist, as he had the past two moons. He was courting her on my brother Adrian's orders. But I didn't like the way they looked at each other. My lips pressed into a firm line, and without warning I looked away, meeting Adrian's gaze. He stared at me with a knowing look that conveyed he presumed something was brewing between us, and intended to deal with it later.
"Those unshifted wolves amongst us, please step forward."
My stomach tightened.
I was not alone. Two young wolves, barely fourteen, stepped out as well. As I moved forward, my head lowered with shame. I did not look at the faces watching me.
Priestess Dahlia regarded each of us, raising her hand as she began to chant in a language only she understood.
At first, I felt nothing.
Then a searing heat rose within me, spreading across my chest, and it felt as though I were being burned alive. I groaned, gritting my teeth as I tried to make sense of what was happening. Beads of sweat trickled down my face. My clothes were drenched. The burn was more intense than anything I'd ever felt, and I moved uncomfortably, desperate to rid myself of the heat. Another step forward, and I suddenly collapsed when my knee twisted into an unnatural position.
My wolf was here.