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She stood beside her mother, still arm in arm and tried to concentrate on the ceremony in the centre of the circle and the happiness of her friend.

She was so happy for Siobhan. She’d been so worried about her friend lately. Siobhan loved her soldier training, but she’d been unable to settle to anything else and had become a bit wild when she wasn’t training and taking a guard shift.

But now—she’d never seen her friend more settled. Maybe this was what she was waiting for, the final piece in the puzzle to make her life exactly how she needed it to be.

It was what every Were dreamed of—right?

She rubbed at her chest, the ache pulsing there now.

Her gaze slid across the pack circle again.

Paul was staring at her, a look of worry on his face.

But why was he looking at her like that? There was no reason to worry about her—other than the fact she seemed to have lost a bit of her memory. Had she been sick? But if so, then why was she here celebrating? It didn’t really make sense. Nobody else seemed concerned though. Maybe she really had drunk too much wine. Siobhan was likely to have been in celebration mode since mating and had undoubtedly dragged her along to celebrate with her and Chloe.

Yes, that’s what it must be. She was feeling rather tired all of a sudden. And her head really did ache. Now she was out of the limelight, she had to admit her head was beginning to thump rather nastily. And the ache in her chest she’d noted before was sharpening, not getting better.

Her gaze skittered to Paul Collins again. He was still looking at her with those piercing blue eyes of his. Blue eyes that reminded her of the electric blue colour of glacial lakes, a colour that had filled her heart with so much joy when she’d first seen it on a trip to visit a New Zealand pack her family had ties with ten years ago. She’d thought back then of Paul’s eyes.

If only they weren’t always filled with such arrogance and disdain when looking at her.

Her wolf whimpered in her mind, its claws scratching under her skin.

Shh, girl.She hated it when her wolf was unhappy.We’ll slip away as soon as the happy couple are gone.

Her wolf pushed at her, impatient.

She rubbed at the ache in her chest. She knew what her wolf wanted. I promise we’ll go for a run.After she’d taken something for this headache that was getting worse with every moment.

Her mother touched Ivy’s cheek. ‘Go take a moment, beautiful girl. I left some headache remedy sitting on the kitchen bench.’

She stared at her mother—how did she always know? But her embarrassment over her mother knowing she’d partied too hard the last few days didn’t stick. Her mother’s maternal empathy was just too all-encompassing.

Rose McVale, one of the strongest maternal wolves in the pack, took her daughter’s face in both her hands and kissed her nose. ‘Go, take care of that headache. You’ve done your duty. Siobhan knows you haven’t been well. She won’t mind if you slip away.’

Ah, so she had been ill, not partying. That did explain her fuzzy memory.

‘Besides,’ her mother continued. ‘They’re about to slip away too after the speeches by the look of things, so you definitely won’t be missed. So go. We don’t want you having another collapse.’ She smoothed her hand over Ivy’s wild curls. ‘You need to take better care of yourself. You’ve been working way too hard.’

‘I’ve got things to accomplish, Mama.’ She had to find some way to bring something special to the pack. She couldn’t continue to be average in every way.

‘I know, my driven girl. We’re all so proud. But working hard does no good if all you do is drive yourself into the ground. Okay?’ Another kiss, this time to one cheek then another. ‘Now go.’

Ivy almost melted under her mother’s caring, but her head was pounding and her chest was aching, and even though she would have lingered to hug her mother for longer, she gave Rose McVale a quick kiss and slipped away into the darkness towards the building that was her family’s private home.