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An image flickers through my head. Then another. My vision swims as the thing tapping at the back of my mind finally manages to let itself in.
People I've never met flash in front of my eyes. Men with my eyes. Women with my build. All of them with the same dagger in their hands. Jarreaus I've never seen before, but I recognize instantly. I recognize family. I can feel something long dormant in me awakening. Even my wolf stands at attention, acknowledging the generations of shifters that led us here.
The whole thing is downright spiritual. A passing of the torch, though in this case the torch is a dagger. One by one, my ancestors take turns laying their daggers over mine. And somehow, the weight is tangible in my hands. This isn't just a mirage.
The last of my ancestors pauses in front of me, her translucent form looking out of place in this library. She's a small woman, her wrinkles telling the tale of a life hard-lived. She reaches out to me, and I swear I can feel her fingertips brush my cheek.
Weirder things have happened these past few weeks.
"You will train, you will be strong, and together you will win," she tells me firmly, her words becoming the air caressing my face. It's like the feeling of a strong breeze—something undeniably unusual in a temperature-controlled room. I know without a doubt that this is not just my imagination running wild.
The same green glow from yesterday begins to wrap itself around my hands. Except this time, I can feel it. Feel my control of it. I will it to grow and watch as it does exactly what I wanted. I jerk my chin up to look at the woman again, but she's gone. I still feel the weight of her in my dagger. The weight of all of my ancestors watching on.
I take a calming breath and extinguish the glow like it's nothing.
Someone's coming, my wolf warns, paying more attention than I am. I hastily stick the dagger back into my waistband, not ready to reveal to anyone what's happened. I'm expecting Dominic, but the light footsteps I hear echoing in the hall clearly aren't him.
“It’s hard to believe it was only days ago that I was feeling sorry for you,” Eloise’s familiar voice cuts through the silence. I look up in time to see her slipping through the door and closing it firmly behind her. “Now, I think I want to kiss your feet.” She shakes her head with a wry smile.
“I’d rather you didn’t,” I tell her deadpan.
She lets out a bark of laughter that makes me eye the door uneasily. Even though I’m Luna now, I can’t shake the feeling that someone’s going to come storming in any minute demanding to know what I’m doing in here.
“I knew you’d come to your senses. Dominic deserves a little happiness after everything he’s done for the pack over the years. We grew up together, you know. Watching him have to sacrifice his own father for the good of the pack was heartbreaking.” It’s the first time I’ve heard someone really sympathize with Dimitri Parker.
I don't know Eloise all that well, but there's something inherently likable about her after everything. Though that's probably just my appreciation of her willingness to disobey Dominic that's talking. Hearing her speak wistfully of Dimitri makes me really think about him and his place in the pack.
When I think about how I want to mark my time as the Anchorage Lake Pack Luna, it's easy to put protecting the pack as my first duty. But I think now of a second one—the need to bring family back together. It might not happen overnight, but I think it could be possible.
After all, look what my own family has given me.
"Dominic is hard-headed," I comment because Eloise is waiting for me to say something. "He needs me around to knock him down a peg."
She laughs, and I'm pretty sure the two of us will wind up being good friends. "I think you're right about that. What would a strong Alpha be without an equally badass Luna by his side?" Eloise wanders farther into the room, looking around in awe. "Anyway, what are you doing up this late?"
"Just searching for something bigger than myself," I tell her honestly. "What about you?"
"My mate does overnight guard duty because her eyesight in the dark is killer. So I tend to wander at night myself. One of the guys on duty mentioned you came through this way, so I figured I would check on you."
"Thanks, but I'm okay. I did what I had to do; I would do anything to protect this pack."
She nods. "Trust me, no one on this land is ever going to question that. You were spectacular yesterday. I was close enough to see the whole thing. It's not every day a Luna goes head-to-head with another pack's Alpha."
I don't tell her the only reason I did was to make sure we had no responsibility to the pack he left behind. I'm not sure that explanation would be quite as flattering.
Behind her, something catches my eye. A glow almost exactly like the one from my hands, except white. It's coming from one of the higher up books. One that's sitting in an awfully familiar spot.
War and Warriors.The same book I asked Dominic to get for me the last time we were in here. I couldn’t read it before—it seems silly to think anything will be different now. But still, compulsion guides me.
“What are you doing?” Eloise asks as I walk away wordlessly. I grab the library ladder, pulling it over to where the glow has faded to almost nothing and start to climb the bottom rungs.
I glance over my shoulder at her. “I don’t know. I just…” I trail off because I truly have no explanation. I feel crazy. Like I’m turning myself in circles looking for answers. And still, there are only more and more questions.
“Hey, I’m not judging,” Eloise says, raising her hands in surrender. “I’m happy to just come along for the ride.” She moves toward me and gestures for me to leave the ladder. “Is it a particular book you’re looking for?” she asks, starting to climb the ladder in my place.
“Yeah… Uhm. That navy book there.” I only gesture vaguely, but she finds what I’m talking about instantly. The glow has disappeared now, making me wonder if I imagined it—or maybe even caused it—in the first place.
She climbs down with the book in hand and offers it to me. The second my hands touch the velvety smooth cover, I feel a jolt of something. It feels like a warning. I take the book to the study table and lay it flat, staring down at it as I try to decide what to do. I couldn't read it last time, but something tells me this time will be different.
