Page 28

My bare knees sink into soil that’s still damp from last night's rain.

The touch of the moon on my back is like a soft kiss. Cool, but welcome. And even though my wolf is strangely silent, I know the moon soothes her as much as it always has the human part of me.

I open my eyes and stare down at the space between my hands.

My shoulder-length hair forms a shield between me and the sharp gazes that surround me—surround us. My new mate. Dayne and I.

It's over now. Done.

Yet I don't move, and neither does he.

He curves the long line of his body over mine and slides his muscled arm between my bare breasts as he buries his face in the joint of my neck and shoulder. His hot breath makes my heart spike with anticipation.

But he doesn't do what I'm expecting. He doesn't bite me. Just holds me, as he works to steady his harsh breaths in the aftermath of our joining.

He's not alone in fighting for breath in this midnight darkness, as smoky-white tendrils of airy breath stir around us like spirits.

I can't quite believe this is real. Any of it.

My first time, with anyone, and it's at my moon-blessing ceremony in front of my pack, and with a stranger.

If Uncle had been kind, he'd have let Dayne and me meet before the ceremony so we could get to know each other a little beforehand. Then, I could've told him I'd only ever played with the boys in my pack. I'd certainly never gone any further than that.

But no one could ever accuse Uncle Glynn of being kind, least of all to me.

I shift restlessly, unable to silence the rising tension Dayne has awakened, a fierce need I'm desperate for him to satisfy. Only I can't speak, or rather, I don't dare to.

Making demands of anyone has only gotten me a slap, or worse. Usually, worse.

So, while Dayne found his release, I don't dare to ask for more.

I have a mate now. That should be enough, and I can finally leave. Wanting more is just being greedy.

Howls suddenly erupt around us.

Startled, I jerk my head up, taking a moment to process that the howling is for us, the newly mated couple. My hair shifts, and for the first time, my face is no longer obscured by layers of dark-brown hair.

Dayne takes it as a sign the ceremony is over and leaps to his feet so fast that I'm not expecting it, nor am I prepared for his sudden absence. Which is when I realize he was the only thing keeping me upright.

Without his arms supporting me, I slump to the ground and just stop myself from face planting.

Great, Talis. In front of the pack. In front of Dayne. Just fucking great.

But Dayne isn't paying me or my watching pack the least bit of attention. Out of the corner of my eye, I observe him stalking away, toward the heavily wooded forest, and the house a couple of minutes’ walk away. His head is proudly tossed back, completely uncaring of his nudity.

"Say your goodbyes. We leave tonight," Dayne announces in a low rumbling voice, just shy of a growl, before the thick forest swallows his tall, muscled figure and he disappears from view.

I struggle to my feet on shaking knees, conscious I'm still naked while all around me my pack has the benefit of wolf fur to preserve their modesty.

Not even a second goes by before a hot flush of embarrassment creeps up my cheeks.

We shifters aren't usually so embarrassed by sex or nudity since it's a part of who we are. Changing shape means there will always be a time before we shift, and just after, when others will see our naked form.

Except me.

I don't change shape anymore. It's not safe for anyone, but especially for me.

It takes everything I have in me to not rush over and snatch up my white silk robe from the ground. Instead, I force myself to appear nonchalant as I casually stride over to the material lying neglected between me and my pack, their eyes glittering silver in the night.

Former pack, I correct myself. After tonight, I won’t be a Merrick but a Blackshaw.

I’m bending down to retrieve my robe when a bare foot beats my fingers by a hairbreadth. I stare at it, disbelieving. I would recognize that foot anywhere.

Lifting my head, I meet my uncle's eyes. They flash with malice.

So, nothing new there, then.

"You'll have to do better than that," he says with a smirk, "if you want to keep hold of your new mate."

I flinch because he’s right. I can hardly ignore the fact that, seconds after our mating ceremony, my new mate just stalked away from me without a single backwards glance.

The barbs that hurt the most, the ones I can never shake free, are always the ones mired with truth.

"Yes, Uncle," I murmur.

" Alpha! " he snaps, inching forward.

I cross my arms over my chest and ease back a step as I lower my eyes to the ground.

The rest of the pack is watching me. They've mostly all changed back to their human forms now. All except the submissives and those lower down in the pack hierarchy, since it takes them much longer than the mere seconds it takes my uncle—an Alpha—to shift.

Predatory anticipation fills the air as they wait to see what my uncle will do to me this time. How will he punish me for whatever wrong thing he thinks I've done?

With Dayne's declaration that we're leaving tonight, he snatched any opportunity for my uncle to strike out at me one last time. If he wants to do anything to me, it has to be now.

"Yes, Alpha," I tell the foot he still has on my robe.

His hand comes from nowhere. Suddenly I'm choking, my fingers scrabbling at his tight grip around my neck.

I go from standing to balancing on the very tips of my toes in a heartbeat, as he forces my heels and eyes from the ground. "Is that mockery I hear?"

I'm struggling to breathe, so there's no way in hell I can answer him. All I can do is hope he either drops me soon, or my new mate comes back. What he'll do, I don't know. The idea of Dayne Blackshaw saving anyone, least of all me, is ludicrous.

"Answer me!" Uncle snaps, as if I'm able to speak a single word.

Desperately, I shake my head no.

The sound that emerges from my throat is barely a gasp, and the edge of my vision is darkening as I sink into unconsciousness. Since this isn't the first time it’s happened, I know how to read the signs better than anyone.

"Is there a problem?"