Page 28

LIVIA

“Dad… I… I can explain,” I said, my heart racing inside my chest.

When we finally returned home from the cabin a second time, Dad stared between Caelan and me with wide eyes, totally ignoring the blood covering our bodies and fixating on the marks on each of our necks.

There was no more hiding. No more pretending.

I opened and closed my mouth a handful of times, trying to explain. Trying to figure out what to say in order for him to accept it. But I didn’t know… What could I say to him? We had both been hiding this for so long.

Murmurs erupted between our pack members, and I suddenly wanted to crawl up into my bed like the first time I had come here, pretending like Mom was still alive. I hated the drama, and me being the first luna who couldn’t shift?! Of course that’d cause problems.

What was I thinking?! Why’d I think this would be easy? That this would work at all?!

After another tense moment, Dad finally pulled me toward him, enveloping me in a tight hug. My eyes widened, my entire body stiffening for a moment before I finally found myself hugging him back and relaxing.

Dad never hugged, but I… I needed this right now.

“You’re… not mad?” I whispered.

“No. I thank Lycos that you’re safe,” he said into my ear, tugging me closer.

“But…”

“I don’t care about who you’re mated to. I just want you to be safe. I know I don’t show it that often. I know it sometimes feels like I want you to leave—that I don’t love you—but I do. I just want you to be happy.”

“Dad…”

“Ever since your mother died…” His voice cracked, and he pulled back just enough for me to see the tears in his eyes. “I know we weren’t together, but you remind me so much of her. I always wanted her to be happy. That’s why I had to let her go.”

My eyes burned, and I shook my head to try to shove my tears back. Mom had talked about Dad all the time with happiness in her eyes, and he hadn’t mentioned her once since she passed, so I had always thought that he hated her.

To hear this…

Chest tightening, I drew the pad of my thumb across my cheek and wiped away the tears. “Are you sure you’re not mad?” I whispered, brows drawn together and heart pounding inside my chest. I needed someone to tell me that this was okay.

“No, I’m not mad.” He pulled away and nodded, a smile slowly dancing across his lips. He reached into his jean pocket and pulled out a folded letter. “I actually have something for you. It was your mother’s.”

“Mom’s?” I asked, the warmth building inside me.

He handed it to me. “I wish I could open it, but I can’t.”

The tethered letter was locked with a crimson red seal that had the same geometric pattern as my pendant and that letter. I didn’t know why, but I found myself grabbing Caelan’s hand, my fingers wrapping around his pointer.

“Please, cut my palm,” I said.

“I’m not gonna cut your palm, Livia. Are you crazy?”

“Please,” I pleaded. “I promise. I need you to.”

Caelan looked at Dad. Once Dad nodded, Caelan extended his nail into a sharp claw, sighed as if he couldn’t believe he was doing this, and cut through the thin skin on my palm. Blood pooled inside it.

I balled my hand into a fist and hovered it over the seal. Drops of blood fell from my fist onto the seal, and it started to glow a crimson red. Suddenly, the seal came undone, and the letter finally had room to breathe, unraveling itself in my grasp.

Mom’s handwriting graced the paper.

My dearest Livia,

I know that this may be hard to believe, because our kind has been long forgotten, but there’s something important that I must tell you.

Nobody can ever know—not even you—until it’s time.

But you are the princess of the Blood Throne.

My sweetheart, I can just imagine your surprise right now. But yes, you are a princess.

We have been long forgotten because of Whispering Pines Pack. They killed the majority of our kind over the past few decades. And if you’re reading this letter, it’s because they have finally killed me too and you’ve found your way back to your father.

When you get this letter, when you understand, when you finally have access to your powers, you need to find the others. They’re still out there, bound in blood underground to protect them. If you search through the forest, you’ll find more of us.

Please, make it your mission to find your family. It is my only wish, my only hope.

I couldn’t tell you because I would’ve put you in too much danger. But you’re strong. Stronger than me. Stronger than anyone you will ever know.

And I will always love you.

Love you forever, even when I’m gone,

Mom

Tears fell from my cheeks onto the paper, staining the ink, and I handed the letter to Dad with trembling hands. I stared at the ground for a long time before I had the strength to meet his gaze. “Did you know anything about this?”

“No,” he said after reading it over. “I swear, I didn’t. Your mother… she didn’t tell me much. I always thought that she was a wolf like me, but she could never shift either. She never showed me any such power.”

I swallowed hard and looked at my mate, my chest tightening so desperately, wanting to meet the others like me, understand this power, reclaim our throne now that the Whispering Pines Pack was eliminated.

But I finally had a mark; I finally had a mate.

Could I do that to him after everything? Could I just leave him to fulfill Mom’s wishes?

“You’re a princess,” he hummed after reading over the letter, a small smirk traveling across his face. “A princess, a luna, and my mate.” He curled his arm around my waist and pulled me closer. “I like the sound of that.”

“Do you?” I asked playfully. “Then you’ll definitely like the sound of me sneaking out again to find all of my kind?”

“You’re not sneaking out anywhere,” he said, his lips on my mark. He sucked in a long breath, as if his wolf was memorizing every bit of my scent. “I’ll go with you. We’ll all go with you. You’re not alone. You belong to this pack. And now we belong to you.”