Chapter 1
On the day of the Blood Oath, the entire pack gathered at Moonstone Hall for a portrait.
My name wasn't on the fitting list for the ceremonial robes.
Isolde Vance smiled and explained, "Luna can't shift, so she'd stick out way too much in the wolf lineup."
Alpha Dorian Kade grunted in agreement.
Later that afternoon, Isolde came to me again. She said the ceremony was missing a key ingredient, wolfsbane, which only grew high up on the snowline.
"Only if Luna picks it herself will the Moon Goddess accept it," she said.
I trudged for most of the night, snow soaking right through my boots.
My wolf was sleeping, so I couldn't get a scrap of warmth from her.
I called out to Dorian over the mind-link.
There was no answer the first time.
The same was true of the second.
And the third time, the connection was abruptly severed from the other side.
By the time I made it back to Moonstone Hall, clutching a handful of frozen wolfsbane, the portrait was already done.
The whole pack was there, dressed in silver-gray ceremonial robes, and crowded close together.
Dorian stood right in the center.
Isolde was at his right side. That was Luna's place, the spot that should've been mine.
The portrait was soon posted on the Pack Bulletin Board.
The caption read: [Tonight's moonlight belongs to the one most worthy.]
Someone commented: [Where's Luna?]
Isolde replied: [Luna's not great with the cold. She's better off staying inside.]
I stood in the snow, the wolfsbane in my hand still dripping.
The wind carried the scent to me.
It was Dorian's scent—cedar, rust, and fire.
But this time, there was someone else's sweet scent mixed in.
It was so thick that it felt like it had been blended right into his.
I lowered my head.
Two sets of footprints stretched across the snow, running side by side, all the way to the back door of the main house.
One set belonged to Dorian.
The owner of the other set stood front and center in the council hall the next morning.
It was Isolde standing there, dressed in a silver-gray ceremonial robe.
It was made to fit Luna perfectly.
I recognized the silver thread at the collar. I spent three years sewing the robe stitch by stitch.
The whole pack was gathered in the council hall.
Dorian raised his hand for silence.
He announced, "From now on, Isolde will be leading the Full Moon Ritual.
"She spent five years in the south. She's been to more ceremonies than the rest of us put together."
The crowd broke out in an uproar.
Someone clapped their hands, someone whistled, and a few called out, teasing that Alpha had finally got her back.
Beta Rowan Frey flipped to the next page of the roster, rattling off names quickly and steadily, like it was all set in stone, waiting to be made official.
Only Gamma Thea Blackwood looked up.
"What about Luna?" she asked.
The council hall went quiet for a second.
Dorian didn't look at me. "Wren is still Luna.
"The east wing of Moonstone Hall will be cleared out for Isolde to move in. The apothecary will be moved to the north wing."
My fingers curled up inside my sleeve.
The north wing didn't have a fireplace.
It was where the pack kept the hay.
Isolde turned around and flashed me a sweet smile.
"Luna, when can I get those keys from you?
"The window in the east wing faces south. I've been feeling pretty weak these past few years, and without some sunlight, I can't get any sleep at all," she said.
Every pair of eyes in the hall was fixed on me.
I unhooked the keys from my belt and placed them in her palm.
The moment my fingertips brushed her palm, that sweet scent hit me all over again.
It was the same scent from the snowy night.
After the meeting, I caught up with Dorian in the corridor.
"The east wing is the apothecary," I said. "When a pup's got a fever, we need to make the medicine close by. It's an eight-minute walk to the north wing.
"Eight minutes are long enough for a three-year-old to have a seizure."
Dorian stopped in his tracks.
He still smelled like cedar and rust, but as soon as I got close, that sweet scent washed over me again.
"Since when did you start counting minutes?" he said.
"I'm talking about the pups," I replied.
"Isolde's only staying for a bit. She was on her own in the south for five years."
"I've been here for five years, too."
He finally lowered his eyes to meet my gaze.
I knew that look way too well.
For three years, that was always how he looked at me. In his eyes, there was impatience, pity, and that tiredness from being weighed down by me.
"Wren," he said, "your wolf hasn't stirred in five years.
"On Blood Oath day, everyone else lined up, but you couldn't stand with us.
"What's the point if you cling to the Luna title?"
I didn't say a word.
I dug my nails into my palms and took a breath.
Thea came running up from behind, calling out, "Alpha!" But Rowan caught her and held her back.
Dorian walked away.
The sweet scent drifted away with him.
That night, I went to Silver Spring alone.
The water was covered in a thin layer of ice, and the woman staring back at me was gaunt, with dark circles under her eyes.
Five years ago, I wasn't like this.
Back then, I was the youngest Healer in Crescent Hollow. Every pup in the pack would run straight to my apothecary, and even the warriors on the border would bow their heads when they saw me.
Later, someone pinned me against a tree by this very spring, bit into my neck, and swore I was the only one he'd want.
Now, he'd grown tired of my wolf never waking up.
I plunged my hand into the icy water, letting the cold bite until it hurt.
Then I pulled out my rune stone and sent a message to Healer Mistress Ivette Frost at the Temple of the Moon in the north.
[Ivette, I'm claiming the three-year Initiate slot,] I told her.
The Moon Goddess never asked before giving anything, and never said a word when she took it all back.
Since it was gone, I guessed I should let it go.
After sending the message, I pressed my hand to my chest.
For the first time in five years, Nyx rolled over in my mind.