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Sunlight filteredthrough the trees and made glowing spots of red on my eyelids. It was quite chilly in the shade, and the sun was going down. I thought I could smell snow on the air—not here, but miles and miles north, the scent carried down through the wind and on the clouds. A part of me wished I could be away, off in thatsnow.

My handabsently went down to my thigh, where my birthmark was. Maybe I’d never meet that special someone. Maybe Father was correct—it was all just a bunch of dog shit. People weren’t destined or fated to one another. There wasn’t someone out there who matched the birthmark, and it was ridiculous of me to keep believing that. I was twenty-seven-years-old. Too old to still believe the stories of old fortunetellers.

In the end,I’d probably be matched up with someone of my parents’ choosing, someone right for thefamily.

But that was fine.It was just the way things had to be. Like I said, that was what I was destined for. I was okay withthat.

But was I really?

My phone buzzedin my pocket, and I sat up and pulled itout.

Shit,it wasMother.

“Hello?”

“Christophe,where are you? Guests are starting to arrive and they haven’t even finished putting up the banners yet. Whoever it is we’ve hired is not doing a very goodjob.”

“I’ll be right there,I’ve just gone out for someair…”

“Well, hurry, please.”The speaker crunched as she muffled it with her hand, and I heard her muted voice speaking frantically to someone. “Okay, okay. What? They are? Christophe, your cousins arehere.”

The call disconnected,and I stared blankly at the screen for a moment before slipping it into my pocket. I got up, and brushed some dirt off my trousers and shirt. I’d need to change when I gotback.

Normally,this hustle and bustle would’ve energized me. I would not even have thought of going out to take a break, let alone coming all the way out here to the edge of the property, but today I felt different. Maybe it was just because, in a rare occurrence, I’d allowed myself to get my hopes up abouttonight.

Idownedthe remainder of the whiskey, shifted into wolf form, and headed back to thehouse.