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6
Ace Grant, Tyler’s dad, and our pack’s alpha, was standing outside the barn with a small group of other shifters when we arrived. I quickly found Tyler, Julian, and Marion Reed, my classmate who shared the same birth month. In addition to them, I recognized Marion’s parents and the other shifters present. It was a small town after all, and even if I was an outcast, I still knew everyone’s name.
Jenny Ortega, the high priestess, was the only person in the gathered group smiling at me. She’d always been pleasant with me, but never kind. Of all the adults in town, she was the only one who might have been able to speak up on my behalf and go against the alpha. She never did. To make matters worse, everything I knew about the moon goddess and general shifter religion came from what I read in books. I wasn’t allowed to attend other ceremonies since I wasn’t considered a full wolf. Not that I fought hard against that. Most of my classmates complained about how boring they were. But, it was another one of those things that showed how I didn’t belong.
“Why are you here?” Ace asked as he walked toward me. “I thought you’d be long gone.”
I cocked an eyebrow and turned my gaze to Tyler. “Why am I here, Tyler?”
“She’s a broken wolf, but she’s still pack. She needs to be here for the ceremony,” Tyler said.
“She doesn’t belong here,” Ace said.
“I’m happy to leave right now,” I said.
“What if the curse breaks? What if she shifts? We should know if there’s another shifter out there from our pack,” Tyler said.
Ace narrowed his eyes and seemed to study me for a minute before looking back to his son. “You suspect the spell wore off?”
Tyler shrugged. “You want to risk losing a wolf when we’re on the decline?”
That was news to me. I knew lots of younger wolves chose to leave, but I didn’t know they cared. “You don’t want me and honestly, I’ve never once felt the wolf stir. The curse is solid and I’m an embarrassment. Just let me go.”
“You are mighty anxious to leave, little one,” Ace said.
“Gee, I wonder why? Everyone here has treated me like dirt since birth. You think I want to stick around?”
I ignored the gasps from the onlookers. Sure, I was risking pissing off the strongest wolf here but I was done. And honestly, it wasn’t like he could do much worse to me than his asshole kid had been doing for the last decade.
“You stay. If you don’t shift, you leave and never return.” Ace glared at me as if this was some kind of dark punishment.
“You got it, boss,” I said, with far too much sarcasm in my tone.
Ace’s upper lip twitched, but he turned away from me. I wondered if he figured I wasn’t worth the effort.
It was better that way for all of us. He didn’t want me here and I didn’t want to be here. Tyler was delusional. I peered over at him and caught him looking at me. He turned away quickly and pretended he hadn’t been watching me.
I rolled my eyes and bit back the huff of frustration. Whatever he was playing at, it was successful at pissing me off. That was probably his end game. Beating me up and letting me leave wasn’t enough. He wanted to really torture me. Which meant, make me sit through the dumb ceremony. I supposed he thought I’d be all weepy watching everyone shift when I couldn’t. He didn’t know how glad I was to be getting away from all this. I wanted nothing more than to live a normal, boring, human life.
Standing off to the side, I waited as everyone made small talk and avoided the spot of grass where I was standing. The sun was low in the horizon, painting the sky a gorgeous orange and blue. It was a stunning sunset but I was far too impatient to appreciate it.Come on, moon, rise.
Finally, the sky was dark enough and even I could feel the pull of the moon. It was tiny, but it was there, calling to the wolf buried and bound deep within me. I couldn’t feel the wolf, but I could feel the moon. It was a strange sensation and it made me a little sad. Fighting back, I send the feeling away, sending it deep down inside me. Fuck that. I was about to embark on my journey to be a full human. All of this would be behind me.
“It is time to welcome a new full wolf to our pack. Tonight, we embrace our twin soul, our wolf, and run with our new sister as she begins the bonding process.” Ace was in the middle of the group of shifters. They seemed to gravitate toward him as he spoke about the first shift and its significance.
I wanted nothing to do with any of it. Keeping my distance, I ignored the pretty speeches and applause. Instead, I focused my attention on the moon. Had the magic worked to break me free of this place? In theory, it should, even without a shift. I just wouldn’t know until I crossed out of pack lands.
Someone grabbed my arm and I jumped, returning my attention to the present. Tyler’s large hand gripped my upper arm. I tugged my arm away, trying to free myself from his grip. “Let me go.”
“So you can bolt the moment the spell breaks? I don’t think so.” He pulled me toward the group. “You wait here until everyone has shifted. You don’t leave a moment sooner.”
I knew there was a good chance his wolf would force the shift as soon as he reacted to the others. He was new to this and while he was strong enough to resist the moon, he probably wasn’t strong enough to resist seeing his alpha shift.
Jenny lifted her hands into the air, sending dozens of gold bangles sliding down her wrists and pooling near her elbows. They made a melodic sound as they shifted and moved with her motions. The others were silent, staring at her. Even I found myself more focused on her than Tyler’s grip on my arm.
“The goddess shows us favor this night,” Jenny said. “The wolf born of tonight’s moon will be a powerful force in the universe.”
Marian looked smug and she batted her lashes in Tyler’s direction. I resisted the urge to hurl. Every woman around our age wanted to be the next mate to the alpha. It was enough to make me lose my lunch. Wait. I didn’t eat lunch today. But I still felt sick at the thought of anyone being permanently stuck with Tyler. Nobody deserved that kind of eternal punishment.
