Chapter 8- Before The Ball.

Morgan’s POV:

I woke to warm rays of sunlight spilling through my bedroom window.

For a few seconds, I didn't move.

I simply stared at the ceiling.

My ceiling.

My room.

My bed.

Home.

Goddess, it felt strange.

Not bad.

Just... different.

I hadn't slept in this bed in almost four years, and waking up here brought memories rushing back so quickly that my chest tightened.

I remembered Mom sitting on the edge of this very mattress every night, tucking the blankets around me as though I were incapable of doing it myself.

Then Dad would appear with one of his ridiculous bedtime stories.

They were supposed to help me fall asleep.

They never fucking did.

His stories were so stupidly funny that I usually ended up laughing instead.

Mom would scold him.

Dad would defend his storytelling abilities.

And I'd beg for another one.

Eventually, somewhere between their bickering and my laughter, I'd fall asleep knowing the two people I loved most in the world were only a few steps away.

Back then, I thought it would always be that way.

Funny how children believe the people they love are immortal. Nobody tells you that one day you might wake up and discover they're gone.

I turned onto my side and stared at the empty doorway.

Mornings had been just as chaotic back then.

Mom woke me with soft kisses against my forehead.

Dad preferred violence. The tickle monster, he called himself.

He always gave me two warnings, and by the third time he walked into my room, the crazy man showed no mercy.

I smiled despite the ache in my chest.

I'd always been a ridiculously heavy sleeper, so Dad claimed extreme measures were necessary.

Maybe they were.

I'd give anything for one of those mornings now.

Anything.

The last few times I'd visited Crescent Moon, I'd avoided sleeping here altogether. I'd stayed with Allison at the Pack House or with Lily at her farmhouse.

Alex never complained.

He was usually working border patrol at night anyway, and he hated the idea of me being here alone.

Truthfully, I hadn't argued.

This house had once been filled with so much laughter.

After Mom and Dad died, the silence became fucking deafening.

A gentle knock pulled me from my thoughts.

"Come in."

The door opened.

"Good morning, Princess."

Alex.

My smile came automatically.

"Morning."

He leaned against the doorway. "Sleep well?"

"Like the dead."

His eyebrows rose.

"Terrible choice of words."

I cringed.

"Yeah. Let's pretend I said something else."

"Gladly."

I stretched my arms over my head and yawned.

"I swear I hadn't slept properly in days."

And that wasn't much of an exaggeration.

Between packing, traveling, coming home, the dinner, and Kira behaving like she'd consumed six energy drinks, my body was running on fumes.

She'd been restless since yesterday.

Strangely restless.

I kept blaming it on being home.

Maybe she was excited about running through Crescent Moon territory again.

Maybe she missed Kornell.

Maybe it was the Ball.

Whatever it was, my wolf refused to settle the fuck down.

Alex sat beside me and pulled me against him.

I immediately melted into my brother.

"I have to meet Gwen, Usher, and Ryan," he said. "We're going over security one more time before guests start arriving."

"Sounds exciting."

"It's fucking miserable."

I laughed.

"We'll have wolves coming in throughout the morning. Several Alphas and Lunas before noon."

He hesitated.

"The King and Queen should arrive sometime after lunch."

"Oh."

I yawned.

Royalty arriving at Crescent Moon apparently wasn't exciting enough to overcome my exhaustion.

Alex chuckled. "Try to contain yourself."

"I'm overwhelmed with enthusiasm."

"Clearly."

He squeezed me.

"You okay staying here alone for a few hours?"

"I'm not going to be alone for long. Allison is picking me up in about an hour."

His expression immediately changed.

Sympathy.

I narrowed my eyes.

"Don't."

"My mouth hasn't opened."

"You were thinking it."

"Good luck."

"Asshole."

He laughed and kissed my forehead.

"I'll see you tonight."

"I guess you will."

I wasn't getting out of this Ball if my life depended on it.

A voice floated up from downstairs.

"Hello?"

Ryan.

"We're up here!" Alex shouted.

A second later, he stood.

"I'll make some coffee before we leave."

"Don't worry about me. Allison and I are grabbing something on our way to the salon."

He headed toward the door before turning around.

"I love you, Princess."

"I love you too."

Another kiss landed on my head before he disappeared.

I smiled.

Having my brother nearby again felt ridiculously good.

I climbed out of bed and shuffled toward the bathroom.

"Beautiful?"

Ryan's voice sounded much closer now.

My steps slowed.

Why was he upstairs?

"I'm in the bathroom. Give me a minute."

I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and ran my fingers through my hair before stepping back into my bedroom.

Ryan was waiting.

Inside my room.

Something about that bothered me.

It shouldn't have.

I'd known this man for years.

He'd been in this house countless times.

But this was my bedroom.

And after everything yesterday...

He had implied that we needed to talk to the Elders about accepting each other as mates.

I would've preferred that he'd waited downstairs.

"Good morning, beautiful."

"Morning."

"Sweet dreams?"

I smiled faintly.

Ryan opened his arms and I stepped into them.

Except he didn't hug me.

His mouth came down on mine.

Hard.

My entire body stiffened.

There it was again.

That intensity.

His hands tightened around me as the kiss deepened, and instead of relaxing against him, I found myself pressing my palms against his chest.

Too much.

Kira stirred immediately.

"Morgan."

"I know."

I pulled my mouth away.

Ryan followed.

His lips found mine again before I had fully caught my breath.

What the fuck?

I turned my face slightly.

That finally stopped him.

"Ryan."

He stared at me.

"What?"

I didn't know why that simple question irritated me.

As though he genuinely couldn't understand why I'd pulled away.

"I just woke up."

He smiled.

"I missed you."

"You saw me last night."

"Exactly. An entire night."

He leaned in again.

I stepped backward.

Ryan stopped.

For several seconds, neither of us said anything.

Something uncomfortable crawled beneath my skin.

I'd agreed to date Ryan because I trusted him.

Because he was familiar.

Safe.

At least...

I'd thought he was.

Why did everything suddenly feel so different now that I was home?

"Beautiful, I don't want to wait anymore."

My stomach tightened.

"Wait for what?"

"I want us to request a meeting with the Elders."

I stared at him.

"Ryan—"

"I want their approval."

"For?"

His expression changed as though the answer should've been obvious.

"To mark you."

A cold shiver traveled down my spine.

Not the good kind.

Kira immediately pushed forward.

"No. Kira."

I swallowed.

"Ryan, we talked about taking things slowly."

"We've taken things slowly."

"I got home yesterday."

"We've been together longer than a day, Morgan."

"I know that."

"Then what's the problem?"

The question caught me off guard.

"The problem is that I'm not ready," I sighed heavily. "We dated through long distance," Then I paused. "In reality, we've only been together for less than twenty-four hours."

His jaw tightened.

Only slightly.

But I saw it.

Then the expression disappeared.

"You're nervous."

"No. I'm telling you I'm not ready."

He stepped toward me.

I stepped backward.

His eyes dropped briefly to the distance I'd deliberately created between us.

"Once the Elders approve us, everything will be easier."

"That's not the point."

"We belong together."

My stomach twisted.

"Ryan—"

He reached for me and pulled me against him.

Too quickly.

Too tightly.

His mouth covered mine again.

I pushed against his chest.

This time there was nothing hesitant about it.

"Ryan."

He moved his mouth toward my neck.

And then he stopped directly over the place where a mate's mark belonged.

Kira exploded.

A growl ripped through my chest before I could stop it.

Ryan froze.

So did I.

Holy shit.

Kira had never reacted to him like that before.

I pushed him away.

Harder this time.

He took a step backward.

"What the hell?"

"I told you to slow down."

My heart was hammering.

Not because I was excited.

Not because I wanted him.

Because I wanted space.

And that realization scared the shit out of me.

Ryan stared at me for several seconds.

"You're my girlfriend."

My eyebrows pulled together.

"And?"

His expression hardened again.

It was there for only a heartbeat.

Then came the smile.

The Ryan smile.

The handsome, charming smile I'd known for years.

But somehow...

It didn't reassure me anymore.

"I love you, Morgan."

My stomach dropped.

I couldn't say it back.

Not right then.

Maybe Ryan noticed.

Maybe that was why his hands tightened around my waist.

"I've waited a long time for you."

"I know."

"I don't want to wait anymore."

"Ryan, I do."

Silence.

Kira paced inside me.

"Make him leave."

I swallowed.

"Look, we'll talk about this later. You need to go, and Allison will be here soon."

He didn't move.

"Ryan."

Still nothing.

Then—

"Ryan! Where the fuck are you?! We are going to be late," Alex shouted from downstairs.

Relief hit me so quickly that it almost embarrassed me.

Ryan glanced toward the door.

Then back at me.

For one strange second, I wished Alex would come upstairs and punch him.

That thought disturbed me more than anything else that had happened.

Why would I need my brother to protect me from Ryan?

Ryan finally stepped away.

He looked disappointed.

Almost hurt.

And immediately, that familiar guilt tried to creep in.

Maybe I was overreacting.

Maybe he really had missed me.

Maybe being separated for so long had made him impatient.

Maybe—

No.

I had told him to slow down.

That should've been enough.

"See you tonight, beautiful."

He kissed my forehead.

I didn't move.

Then he walked out and closed the bedroom door behind him.

I stood there staring at it.

My hands were trembling.

"I don't like him touching us," Kira said.

For once, there was no sarcasm in her voice.

No teasing.

No argument about our fated mate.

Just discomfort.

I sat on the edge of my bed.

"He wasn't like this before."

Kira remained silent.

That somehow made it worse.

Ryan knew my boundaries.

I'd told him more than once that I wasn't ready to have sex with him. For me, that kind of intimacy belonged after commitment—after I knew exactly where my life was going and who I was sharing it with.

He knew that.

So why the fuck was he suddenly behaving as though my boundaries had an expiration date?

I looked toward my bedroom door.

Yesterday, I'd been wondering whether I'd mistaken years of friendship and affection for something deeper.

This morning...

I wasn't wondering anymore.

Something between Ryan and me had changed.

And whatever it was, I didn't fucking like it.

I sat on the edge of my bed and took a deep breath.

Then another.

My heart was still beating faster than it should have been, and I couldn't quite figure out whether I was angry, nervous, or simply overwhelmed.

Probably all fucking three.

But I wasn't the only one who seemed off.

Kira was pacing.

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

I could feel her moving restlessly through the deepest corners of my mind like a caged animal searching for an exit.

She'd been strange for days.

Actually...

I frowned.

It had started before that.

Kira had become unusually restless almost from the moment I'd purchased my flight home. At first, I'd assumed she was excited. Crescent Moon was her home too. She'd missed Kornell, our forests, our territory, and everything familiar just as much as I had.

But this felt different.

She wasn't excited.

She was waiting.

For what, I had no fucking idea.

"Kira?"

Nothing.

"Kira."

Still nothing.

I could feel her, though.

She'd retreated into the back of my mind, but her presence remained unusually strong.

"Are you going to talk to me?"

Silence.

I rolled my eyes.

"Fine."

She sometimes did this after an interaction with Ryan. My wolf had never hidden her opinion of my relationship with him. She wanted our fated mate, and nothing I said would convince her that perhaps the bastard was never coming.

I glanced toward the closed bedroom door.

Although after what had just happened...

Maybe Ryan wasn't the only reason she was acting strange.

Maybe I was finally beginning to understand her.

I fell backward onto the mattress and covered my face with both hands.

"Fuck my life."

Six days.

I would turn twenty-one in six fucking days.

How much longer was I supposed to wait for this mysterious Goddess-given mate to show up?

Until thirty?

Forty?

Forty-five?

Would I be some gray-haired old she-wolf sitting on the front porch yelling, Where the fuck are you? at every male who walked past my house?

The ridiculous image made me laugh.

But the humor disappeared quickly.

Maybe I needed him to show up.

The thought came from nowhere.

My hands slowly dropped from my face.

What?

I stared at the ceiling.

Where the hell had that come from?

Yesterday, I would've happily argued that I didn't need a fated mate.

Now...

I wasn't so certain.

Maybe I needed him to appear just so I could finally stop wondering.

Maybe meeting him would answer all these questions twisting around inside my head.

Or maybe he'd be a complete asshole, I'd reject him, and then I'd finally know what the hell I wanted.

Anything sounded better than this uncertainty.

Who was he anyway?

I knew almost nothing about my own family lineage beyond the life I'd grown up with. Dad had been Beta. Mom had been a doctor. Neither of those things gave me much of a clue.

Was my mate another Beta?

A doctor?

A warrior?

A farmer?

Some obnoxious businessman living three Kingdoms away?

The Moon Goddess often paired wolves of similar strength, rank, or circumstances, although she certainly wasn't required to follow anyone's fucking expectations.

Henry and Dawn were living proof of that.

I snorted.

Poor Henry.

Or maybe poor Dawn.

That vixen had spent years treating him like he was beneath her, only for the Moon Goddess to turn around and say: Congratulations, bitch. Here's your soulmate.

Karma at its finest.

I hoped they came to the Wolf-Ball tonight.

Seeing them together might actually be entertaining.

I sat back up and exhaled.

Besides, what the hell was my hurry?

I wasn't ready to be mated.

I definitely wasn't ready to start popping out pups.

Alex was twenty-four and still hadn't found his mate. Dad had been almost twenty-five when he met Mom, and she had been twenty-one.

There wasn't a fucking expiration date on me.

So why was Ryan behaving like there was?

My amusement disappeared.

There it was again.

That question.

Why was he in such a hurry?

Was it because he wanted to fuck me?

He kept saying we'd known each other for years.

And he wasn't wrong.

But knowing someone as a friend wasn't necessarily the same thing as knowing him as the male you wanted beside you for the rest of your life.

I'd only started understanding that since coming home.

From thousands of miles away, everything had seemed so much simpler.

Now Ryan wanted the Elders involved.

He wanted permission.

He wanted to mark me.

He wanted...

Everything.

Immediately.

And I wanted him to slow the fuck down.

Was that really too much to ask?

"No."

I froze.

Kira.

Finally.

"Oh, so now you're speaking to me?"

Nothing.

I waited.

"Kira?"

She didn't answer again.

I groaned.

"You're impossible."

But something about that single word stayed with me.

No.

I didn't know whether she had been answering my question...

Or warning me.

Either way, I didn't have time to dissect it.

Not today.

I dragged myself off the bed and changed into black leggings and an oversized T-shirt. If Allison planned on torturing me for the next several hours, I was at least going to suffer comfortably.

Knowing her, she'd change my hairstyle ten times, wipe off perfectly good makeup because the shade wasn't quite right, and make me try three different lipsticks before deciding the first one had been perfect.

The woman loved playing dress-up.

Unfortunately, I was today's fucking Barbie.

A mind-link suddenly pushed through.

"Dimples, meet me at Angeline's salon."

I stopped.

"Excuse me?"

"Angeline's. As soon as you can."

"Allison, I thought you were coming to pick me up."

"Change of plans."

Of course.

"How the fuck am I supposed to get there? I don't have a car."

Alex had taken his vehicle to the border, and unless Allison expected me to shift into Kira and carry my dress between my teeth, transportation was going to be a slight problem.

"Relax. I sent someone for you."

A pause.

Then she practically screamed through the link.

"AND DON'T FORGET YOUR SHOES!"

I winced.

"Goddess, Allison. I hate you."

"No, you don't."

"Currently? Yes."

"You're just cranky because you haven't had coffee."

Bitch knew me too well.

"I'll see you soon, Dimples. Love you!"

And she disconnected.

I stared blankly ahead.

"What the fuck?"

Kira huffed.

At least we agreed on something.

I hurried downstairs and immediately smelled salvation.

Coffee.

"Oh, thank the Goddess."

Alex had left some behind.

That beautiful, magnificent giant of a brother deserved an award.

I poured myself a cup and took the first sip standing directly beside the machine.

Heaven.

Absolute fucking heaven.

For the first time that morning, something inside me relaxed.

Then my phone buzzed.

ALLISON:

Shoes.

Dress.

Jewelry.

Undergarments.

Makeup bag.

Perfume.

Hair accessories.

Emergency flats.

Another message arrived.

DO NOT FORGET THE SHOES.

I stared at my phone.

Was she expecting me to attend the Wolf-Ball or relocate permanently?

I grabbed one of Alex's gym bags and started stuffing everything inside.

Dress.

Shoes.

Jewelry.

Makeup.

Perfume.

Whatever other shit Allison had convinced me was absolutely necessary for survival.

By the time I zipped the bag shut, it looked like I was leaving for Europe again.

And I still wasn't entirely convinced I wanted to go to this damn Ball.

I took another sip of coffee.

"We're going," Kira said.

I nearly choked.

"Oh, so NOW you have an opinion?"

"We need to go."

Something about her tone made me stop.

Not I want to go.

Not It'll be fun.

We need to go.

I slowly lowered my mug.

"Why?"

Silence.

Of fucking course.

"Kira?"

Nothing.

I felt her retreat again.

But this time, the sensation crawling through my chest wasn't annoyance.

It was curiosity.

Because for the first time since I'd returned to Crescent Moon, I was beginning to wonder if Kira's restlessness had nothing to do with Ryan.

Maybe she wasn't trying to get away from something.

Maybe...

She was waiting for something to arrive.