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Silence.

“And she said the potion would illuminate my path and I would have control of my life again and Selena would be happy and that the half moon was a symbol of hope, but I owed her payment, I just had to get her amulet back from Nathaniel–” The words tumbled out of my mouth.

At the sound of his father’s name, Orion’s head snapped up. He shifted his body, put his hands up to stop my insane ramblings, and cocked his head before murmuring, “What?”

I swallowed loudly. “I agreed to get her amulet back from–”

Equal measures of shock and disbelief erupted from the crack in his face. “Diana, what the hell are you talking about?”

Tears spilled from my eyes and slid down my cheeks. My chest cleaved open, pulsing fresh pain with every rapid heartbeat. “I am so sorry, Orion.”

“You knew about the amulet? What else do you know about this? What has Cersey done? What is she planning to do?” He raged.

I shrank away, “I don’t know! I don’t know anything more than that.”

He regarded me, and his expression transformed from red hot anger to icy cold disgust. “How could you, Diana?”

I had never intended to get the amulet for her. The potion didn’t even work… but then again, maybe it had worked just as Cersey intended. I stepped forward and reached for his hands, begging to explain further.

Orion pulled into himself and jerked back like I was a venomous snake about to strike.

“No.” He had a look on his face I’d never seen before. It was final.

I stood, tears streaming down my face, dumb and numb and resigned to his fair conclusion.

“It’s over,” he croaked in barely a whisper.

I turned around with that final judgment, shaking inside my own worst nightmare. And then I ran. I ran away from my house, from my future, from the love of my life.

DIANA

Iwould never escape that last flash of betrayal crossing his face. But fear and self-loathing swiftly carried my feet away. And I did not stop running. Not for a long while.

I scaled the cliff Cara and I climbed on my first day back at training. It was a familiar sight in the gulch. Dad used to bring me here when I was little. He’d tell me stories about the pack guard, teach me special tracking skills, and share secret mantras with me that I took for a game. Clever. I thought we were having fun, and all the while, he was instilling in me a foundation of discipline, teaching me how to focus, how to control myself.

When I was older, we’d climb together, run the trails, and he even taught me some combat skills. All very handy when I’d made it into the guard. I’d catch Dad watching me during sparring sessions sometimes, beaming at me when I’d taken down one of the guys.

Then I remembered his mini lectures on family, duty, and honor. I could recite them in my sleep, and when he’d start on one of them, I’d roll my eyes and repeat the words along with him. He would always chuckle at that. I was such a brat. I’d do anything to have him next to me, reciting those words again.

Then again, maybe not. He would be so disappointed in me right now.

As I sat on one of the rocky bluffs, the site of the valley below provided little relief. What was I thinking? Company with my own spiraling thoughts was not the salve I’d hoped. When my go-to mantra failed me, I stood and paced around the outcropping, futilely trying to scrub my mind of the source of my shame and its consequences—Dad, Selena, the witch, Orion.

Thiswassome kind of curse. I didn’t understand it, but I needed to fix it.

But how? If only I understood magic better.

Just then, the answer bloomed before me. Selena understood magic.

I’d gone with her on several of her silly human-scouting escapades to college campuses many moons ago–long before I could have imagined her ever leaving home and going to UC Berkeley for any length of time. The night she left, I’d gone through Mom’s maps and re-oriented myself. I wouldn’t have let my sister wander off into the world if I didn’t know where she was.

I knew the path to Berkeley. Fifty miles or so. I crouched to the ground, shifting onto all fours. My wolf could get me there in less than two hours.

My muscles screamed, but I ignored the sharp spasms in my lungs and ran without pause. I needed to do something before Orion was anointed as alpha. Jessewasright about that–the pack was at its most vulnerable right now. Could that have something to do with why Cersey took Nathaniel?

Dawn streaked the sky with orange and gray, fighting gathering storm clouds as the sun peered over the horizon. The human campus felt too open, I was too exposed here. I quickly shifted back into human form, clinging to the shadows of some of the trees, and scanned my surroundings. The trees were unnatural. They were small, perfect.Groomed. The grass too. And where were the insects? I sniffed at the idea of human hands planting trees and wondered at the purpose.

Early morning runners in fresh, bright attire barely glimpsed me as they passed by. That suited me, but I also realized that I was a mess. I hadn’t thought about how I’d look after I shifted back and donned the ragged tank top and leggings that I’d dragged along.