Page 78 of Awakened Light

She laughed and tossed an arm around my shoulder. “We’ll figure it out. But first, we have to convince Mother to even let us do this.”

“You just let me handle her.” I slid my arm around her waist, and we started down the beach toward the ceremony site that awaited me... and my mother.

Alpia and I rounded the corner of the beach, and I saw all several hundred members of our tribe gathered around the fire crackling in the sand. They formed a half-circle around it and the wedding arch towering above it.

The wedding arch Uradech stood under.

My mother stood at his side, and when she saw us coming, she quieted the chattering crowd by raising her staff. Alpia and I shared a worried look again, but I squeezed her hand tighter and walked with purpose toward my mother.

She started the traditional chant to announce the bride, so I hurried my steps and dragged Alpia along with me.

“Mother, we need to talk,” I said as I approached her.

The wrinkles on her face deepened as she scowled at me, no doubt upset I’d already broken the tradition of not speaking during the ceremony.

“Silence,” she said, then went back to the ceremony.

“Mother,” I said more firmly. “I need to talk to you.”

She spun around and impaled me with a look. But this time, instead of slinking beneath it, I straightened my shoulders and held her condemnatory stare.

“Now.”

Her eyebrows rose to her hairline as we stared at each other while the tribe murmured their confusion. I glanced at Uradech and noticed his gaze wasn’t fixated on me at all. He stared at my sister with the same love in his eyes I saw when Thorne looked at me.

How had I not seen it before? Now that I knew about their affection, it seemed as clear as the Hawaiian waters that they loved one another.

“You dishonor the ceremony,” my mother started, but I stopped her by lifting my hand.

“Please. Walk with me.”

Alpia’s grip on my hand tightened, and her quick breathing stalled out as she held her breath.

My mother and I stood locked in a staring match for several long moments before she lifted her chin and stepped to my side.

I tried to comfort Alpia with a quick smile, then let go of her hand and stepped away from the crowd with my mother.

“I know it is tradition for the eldest child to ascend the throne,” I said as I started walking at her side, “but I have something to tell you.”

We had only made it several paces away when I heard a voice I would recognize anywhere calling my name through the mist.

Thorne.

My mother’s eyes widened as she and I spun to stare into the fog. Thorne paddled his boat toward us, calling my name as he called into the abyss.

“What is he doing here?” she snarled. “He is not allowed.”

What was he doing here? We’d agreed he wouldn’t return. Yet there he was calling my name as he searched the fog. Even though the timing couldn’t have been worse, I didn’t want to be without him any longer.

“Mother, please. Let me grant him entrance.”

She spun and grabbed me by the shoulders, her eyes narrowing with the intensity of her demands.

“If he comes, he dies.” She pointed to the full moon hovering above us, and I knew what she meant.

The werewolves could shift into wolf form at any time, but their powers grew with the moon. The fuller the moon, the stronger they were. Under a full moon, a werewolf was much more powerful than a vampire... even an original one. Even a single wolf could take down Thorne. Uradech and his three younger brothers combined would lay waste to Thorne at my mother’s command.

“Mother, please,” I begged. “I know you don’t approve, but I have a plan. Just let me give Thorne entrance, and I’ll explain the whole thing to you.”