Chapter 31: Chapter Thirty-One

F L O R E N C E

As soon as I hear the lock click, I quickly dive behind the couch close to the window, covering my mouth to stifle my breaths and steady myself.

Two sets of footsteps echo in the office, and I hear two familiar voices talking.

Alpha Isaac and my dad.

“. . . don’t know where she is?” Dad asks, and it surprises me how small he sounds. Like he’s intentionally not trying to make himself heard to come across a certain way. “But she did go here, did she? She had dinner with you?”

“Well, yes and no.” Alpha Isaac sighs, and he sounds completely different from the way he sounded during dinner. “She did sit with me, but she didn’t stick around to talk. She said she was going to the bathroom and the maid told me she did, but when we looked, she was no longer there.”

I peek under the couch and see their shoes. It’s easy to tell who is who, and I see that Dad stopped walking and stayed by the door like he was afraid to come in.

“But that can’t be,” he says in a whisper. “She couldn’t have gone.”

“You tell me.” Alpha Isaac continues to roam the room until he’s standing right in front of the couch and the conference table. “I do wish your daughter will cooperate with us. We have a very big mission ahead of us.”

Dad fidgets and I can almost see his face. “Well, Alpha, that I cannot promise. I didn’t expect her to come home to us marked and mated to the Alpha of the Ombra Nera Pack—”

“I know, I saw her mark,” Alpha Isaac interjects. “I would have to admit that I am not pleased with that. That makes her less likely to see our vision.”

“I agree,” Dad replies solemnly. “And she is bound by her duty to the Moon Goddess when they mated. She might not be able to perform... some duties that you may require from her. And as her father, I don’t think I can—”

“I’m not asking.” Alpha Isaac’s tone turns cold and cutting. But when he speaks again, he sounds like his normal self. “I just need her cooperation. I think that is fair to ask since it doesn’t demand much. I would appreciate your help too. After all, we have talked about this many times. I actually expected you to have a more active hand in this, but I suppose that is too much.”

Curiosity is burning in my head. What does he mean by that? Why is he seeking my cooperation? What vision does he want me to see? So what if I’m mated and marked?

And what does that have to do with Niccolo and his pack?

The questions shuffle in my head, then I remember what I saw on the map on the table: Ombra Nera being marked red like some sort of an open target.

My blood grows cold. Are they planning to do something to the pack? Is that what they have been planning?

I have the strong urge to leap out of my hiding place and start investigating, but I just sit still and keep quiet, wishing they would just go.

But Alpha Isaac seems to be thinking and Dad is waiting for his verdict.

“Hmm.” Alpha Isaac starts to pace again. “We really do need her. She’s been in there, lived with the people, and her knowledge is invaluable.”

“What are you thinking, Alpha?”

“I’m thinking you will help me.” Alpha Isaac sounds like he’s grinning widely. “I want you to convince her to work with us. Do whatever it takes, and you will be rewarded greatly.”

* * *

N I C C O L O

When my wolf takes over, usually I hear nothing and just feel the rush of a battle. But this time, I’m fully aware of what I am doing.

And what I’m doing is slashing at Hardy’s chest.

He steps back and rolls over to avoid my attack, also shifting into his wolf form and biting at me to prevent me from coming any closer. I see that his form is flickering a little, and I know that’s because he hasn’t rested and his energy levels will not sustain his form for very long.

“Stop this and I will stop too,” I say as a way to bargain. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You started this and you should finish it.”

With that, he leaps towards me and tries to pin me down, but I just push him off me effortlessly, letting him slam against the wall. He gets up immediately and tries to lunge at me, but his wolf form is now visibly weak, staggering and panting.

I know I should stop deep in my heart. Hardy is my best friend and I’ve known him since we were kids. He has been by my side through everything. But all the things that he said are still burning in my mind and I don’t think I can look at him the same ever again.

Anger is rolling through my body. I attack him again, trying to shove him to the ground and pin him, but he scratches me on the face and backs away. I make a wild swipe at him, hoping to just knock him out of balance, but my claws graze him.

Soon enough, his form collapses and he’s back to being human again.

And I see that on his stomach, a long gash is bleeding.

I wounded him.

Breathing hard, he puts a hand on his bleeding abdomen and looks at me. The pain and disappointment in his eyes seem to imprint themselves into my mind’s eye, and now every time I blink, that’s what I see.

“You don’t deserve the loyalty of all the people in that room,” he says, swallowing hard as he points at the closed door of the dorms. “They have been putting their faith in you, hoping every day that you will come to their aid as they have come for yours and give them the life they deserve. I counted on you.”

Counted. That means he’s done.

I want to shift back to my human form, but for some reason I feel like the pain will just be much greater if I do that. This is my defense for now. My hiding place.

“You should leave,” Hardy declares, and I see that he means it with all his heart. “You should go and leave everyone alone. Maybe then something good will happen.”

With that, he walks away, and the shame that fills me up right after rises in my throat like bile until I can’t take it anymore.

Maybe he’s right. Maybe I should just leave. Maybe that’s the best thing I can do for my own people. Save them from me.

I run out of the pack house, bursting through the wall and into the forest that we’re not supposed to go to. At this moment, I don’t care. I just want to put as much distance between me and the pack, me and all my sins against those people who didn’t deserve it.

As I rush through the trees and see the outline of the cliff, I remember the night that changed it all. The memories that haunt me in my nightmares. The reason why my pack and I got hit with an awful curse.

I run faster, thinking about the edge of the cliff and the freedom and the release that might be waiting for me in the void below it, but then someone stands in my way.

A beautiful regal woman with pure white hair and pale skin, with cold blue eyes and unsmiling dark blue lips. She glimmers in the dark, glowing like a beacon.

The Moon Goddess.