Page 1 of Wishes in the Moonlight (Rocky Mountain Wolves #4)

~Seven years ago~

~Amanda~

The light of the full moon shone down on the small gathering on the beach, shadows playing around the edges of all the guests as if the darkness were a living thing. Inside my head, my wolf howled.

Finally, a rich, sultry voice practically purred in satisfaction as we both gazed out over the assembled crowd through my eyes. I’ve been waiting for this.

‘This’ was my 18th birthday, the day every werewolf met their wolf for the first time and made their first shift.

I’m Amanda, I introduced myself as my mother had instructed me to do. What’s your name?

Cinder.

I considered the name, turning it over to see whether it suited my other half. It reminded me of Cinderella, but I’d never particularly related to the story of the servant girl, not when in my pack, I’d always been the princess.

What about its actual meaning, though? Cinders were burnt pieces of coal. The flames appeared to have died out, but with enough of a spark, they could come back to life again. It sounded resilient, with a hidden strength, just right for the kind of werewolf and leader I wanted to be.

We’re going to be a great team, Cinder. Now, do you see anyone special?

The day a wolf first appeared also marked the first chance for a werewolf to recognize their mate, if that person happened to be present.

My parents had told me not to worry about a fated mate, that an advantageous match would be arranged for me, but deep in my heart where I kept the thoughts I didn’t dare to voice aloud, I wanted to feel the sparks I’d heard so much about.

When it came to my mate, I wanted the fairy tale.

Slowly, I let my gaze wander over the assembled crowd of ranked wolves from our pack and visiting dignitaries from neighbouring packs.

All the closest packs sent their eligible young men to the celebration in case they ended up being mated to the daughter and only child of the Ravenstone Alpha.

That way, they could begin negotiations with my father immediately. No need to wait.

With no brother in line before me, everyone assumed that my mate, fated or chosen, would become the Alpha’s heir.

If I were mated to an Alpha from another, bigger pack and moved to be with him, an alternate chain of succession would be activated but that would be a last resort.

Each single man in the crowd watched me eagerly, hoping that he would be my fated mate and have the chance to claim this pack as his own.

Nothing , Cinder confirmed when I’d examined the whole group. Our mate isn’t here.

A strange mix of disappointment and relief filled my stomach. Yes, I wanted a fated mate, but I didn’t want one who would care about my position more than me. That didn’t sound romantic at all.

I could wait a little longer.

Taking a step forward, I bowed to my parents who sat on the only chairs on the beach, placed atop a wooden platform like thrones on a dais. “My wolf has revealed herself to me but she has not seen our mate. I’m ready to shift.”

Murmurs of disappointment swept through the crowd but my father looked pleased as he nodded. “Go ahead.”

Taking a deep breath to brace against the coming chill, I removed the warm robe I’d worn over a plain black bodysuit. My clothes would be destroyed when I shifted, and although tradition would have had me naked for this moment, that idea didn’t appeal to me at all.

“I didn’t wear anything at my celebration,” my father grumbled when I suggested the bodysuit.

My mother backed me up. “Times have changed, and it’s different for a woman. Leave her be, Warren.”

As usual when it came to private matters, my father conceded the point to his mate, and I was grateful for the small layer of fabric over my torso as the night air nipped at my newly-exposed skin. It might have only been September, but nights were still cold in the Canadian Rockies.

My mother promised my body would know what to do when it came to my first shift and, as in so many other things, she was exactly right.

Electricity rippled beneath my skin as Cinder took control of our body and began the process that would transform us from a human woman to a female wolf.

Bones slid smoothly into a new place, rearranging to form the new skeleton we’d need for our animal form.

Fur sprouted across my skin, a dark, charcoal grey that seemed fitting for my wolf’s name, and my nails sharpened into claws.

My body twisted and dropped until I stood on all fours, fully canine.

Immediately, everything seemed amplified: the hoots of owls in the trees, the shine of the rippled moonlight on the water, the fresh fir scent of the forest. I saw the world through a wolf’s eyes for the first time and its beauty stunned me even more than before.

Letting out a joyful howl that the rest of the attendees echoed, Cinder took off along the beach for her first run.

With her in control, I became a passenger in my own mind, but surprisingly, it didn’t scare me. It almost felt freeing to let someone else take charge and simply experience it.

Instinctively, Cinder knew our land’s borders, feeling the pack’s authority through the bond that tied us to the Alpha and to the earth beneath our feet.

We ran along the lakeshore until we reached the boundary of our territory, and she pivoted into the trees, racing with sure, steady strides beneath the canopy of evergreen branches.

As we neared an outcropping of rocks that marked another corner of our land, we caught sight of a lone wolf standing atop the tallest rock.

Moonlight gilded its light-grey fur and when it turned its head at the sound of our approaching footsteps and our eyes connected across the distance, a strange energy snaked its way through my body.

Did you feel that? I asked my wolf, but Cinder didn’t answer. Her pace slackened, lightening to a trot that brought us to the base of the stone outlook. The grey wolf bounded down as we approached, reaching the bottom at the same time we did.

Sea salt drifted through the air, a scent that had no natural place in our mountain home.

Cinder? What’s happening?

Again, she remained silent, but when the wolf in front of us bowed its head in instinctive recognition of our Alpha blood, she stepped forward and rubbed her chin against the top of its head.

Sparks cascaded along our fur-covered skin, lighting up our body like a firework.

Mate , Cinder declared just as I put the pieces together for myself.

Shift, I ordered almost without thinking and she obeyed, relinquishing control over our body as my limbs returned to their previous length, the fur disappearing back into my skin and my long, wavy brown hair growing back out.

It covered my chest as I knelt on the forest floor and the darkness hid the rest.

“Shift,” I repeated out loud, that time addressing the wolf in front of me.

He bowed his head and a moment later, the wolf morphed into a well-formed man.

Short, light-brown hair glinted in the moonlight just as his fur had, and muscles rippled in his shoulders as he bowed even lower, keeping his face hidden.

“Lota Amanda.”

Disbelief laced his words as he addressed me by the title my father insisted the pack use. It marked me as different from the other wolves in the pack, and I always disliked it for that reason.

“Just Amanda,” I corrected him, dipping my head to try to see his face better. His gaze remained fixed on the ground. “Who are you? Let me see you.”

Not willing to disobey a direct order, the man lifted his face until his eyes met mine. They were a pale brown, unusual and rather enticing. “My name is Troy. I’m one of the border guards, part of the pack’s defense units.”

“And my mate,” I pointed out, since he didn’t state the obvious.

His jaw ticked, restraint evident in his eyes. “And your mate,” he agreed softly. “If you accept me.”

Ah. That explained his reticence and the tension in his bowed body.

He anticipated a rejection, was already bracing for it.

Our pack didn’t put a lot of stock in fated mates, especially among the ranked wolves. Rejections were common, or bonds were simply ignored while chosen matings were arranged instead.

Clearly, Troy expected that scenario to play out for us.

“Do you want me to accept you?”

Something primal flared in those pale brown eyes. “Nothing would make me happier. The Goddess chose you for me, blessing me above every other wolf in this pack, and if you gave yourself to me, if you let me give myself to you, I would make sure you never regretted it, not for a single day.”

His impassioned response squeezed something in my chest, making it difficult to breathe. It also sent a flare of desire through me, something I’d never truly experienced before. Not like I felt it looking into the possessive, hungry stare of my would-be mate.

This was what had been missing from the introductions to all those other wolves earlier that night.

It would be missing from any arranged mating too.

This indescribable, unexplainable bond that already twined the two of us together in ways it would take a lifetime to fully discover.

This need to be together that already tugged at us both.

I didn’t know a single thing about him other than his name but I believed every word he just said. He’d been chosen for me.

“Come to the pack house in the morning. I’ll introduce you to my father and ask for his blessing.”

Surprise and tentative hope brightened his expression. “Seriously?”

“Seriously. We’re fated. That might not mean much to some people but it means something to me.”

He reached out his hand, as if he couldn’t help himself, and brushed a piece of hair away from my face. Warmth and pleasure sparked where his fingers skimmed my skin. “It means something to me too.”

Another wolf howled in the distance and Troy glanced up at the rock where he’d previously been stationed, seeming to remember himself.

“I have to get back to my post.”

Every part of me wanted him to stay, but as the daughter of the Alpha, I understood duty better than most. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He bowed his head and shifted back to his wolf form and Cinder hummed her approval. Close up, I could see how strong and agile he was in that form too, though personally, I found the man more attractive.

He scrambled back up the rocks until he sat atop them again, eyes scanning the horizon for any sign of trouble. Wolves like him guarded the border all night while the rest of the pack slept securely in their beds, safe in the knowledge that we were watched over.

Would he make me feel that safe in every way?

In the night sky above him, a star broke loose and streaked across the sky. A shooting star seemed like the perfect omen for this night, and I whispered a wish beneath the moonlight.

Please let me and Troy get our happy ending.

The star blazed even brighter for just a second before winking out.

My heart racing with the weight of what just happened, I shifted again and ran back to the pack house, testing my new mind-link abilities to reach my mother.

I’m exhausted after the shift. Can I go to bed without coming back to the party?

Sure, sweetheart. I’ll make an excuse for you. We’re so proud of you, me and your dad.

Her approval warmed me as I shifted back outside the house and threw on some of the communal spare clothes we kept by the back door before heading inside to my room. When I fell asleep that night, thoughts of Troy filled almost every dream-soaked moment.

The shift really must have taken a lot out of me because I didn’t wake up until almost ten the next morning. My heart racing, I skipped half my morning routine and raced down the stairs as soon as I’d made myself presentable.

“Has anyone come to see me?” I asked the young man working the front door.

“One of the border guards stopped by, Lota,” he confirmed, his head bowed politely. “He’s with your father now.”

Shit. I wanted to have a chance to lay some groundwork with my dad before he met Troy, but apparently, that was no longer an option.

It only took another minute for me to reach the Alpha’s office, but before I could even raise my hand to knock, the door flew open and I found myself face-to-face with my mate.

His sea-salt scent washed over me, and in the daylight, cleaned up and dressed in what must have been his best clothes, he looked even better than he had the night before.

Except for the fact that his face had turned an ashen shade of grey.

“Excuse me, Lota,” he mumbled, bowing his head before striding past me and down the hall, turning towards the front door without a backward glance.

What the hell?

“Dad? What happened?”

Behind the large oak desk that exuded power and control, my father wore a stony expression, one that I knew all too well. Anger simmered beneath the surface and if I didn’t tread carefully, I would cause an eruption.

“That… boy … informed me that he is your fated mate. He tried to tell me that you would be willing to accept him if I agreed. I assured him he was mistaken.”

“You… what?”

Dread flooded my veins, thinning my blood until my skin must have been the same pale pallor Troy’s had been.

“I assured him my daughter, my only heir, would know her place and her value to this pack better than to ever entertain the idea of mating an unranked wolf. That she would never be so selfish.”

Each word pierced my heart, his ice-cold stare freezing the wounds before they could bleed out.

“Eventually, he saw reason. He won’t bother you again.”

My throat closed up until it almost felt like I would choke, but somehow, I forced out a few words. “But we’re fated.”

“An inconvenience,” he stated so firmly that I knew it was an order. “He’ll stay out of your way and we’ll arrange a proper match for you. All will be as it should be.”

“And Troy…” His name tasted bitter in my mouth. “He agreed to that?”

“He did. He surrendered his claim to you.”

Just like that? After his passionate words the night before, he gave up after one conversation with my father. He wasn’t even going to try?

He betrayed me.

The realization slammed into my chest with a force so strong I had to take a step back. Pain and hurt swirled in my stomach, threatening to drown me until another emotion came along, bigger and louder, and pushed everything else out.

Anger.

How dare he? How dare he decide I wasn’t worth the trouble and run away without even bothering to tell me so to my face? Fuck him, and fuck the goddess too while we were at it.

Troy was dead to me, and though I had no idea who I might end up mated to, it sure as hell wouldn’t be him.