Chapter 9

THE WOLF WITHIN

Celine froze.

The growl came again.

Low.

Deep.

Not from the forest.

Not from Damon.

From her.

She pressed a trembling hand against her chest, her eyes widening as another strange sensation spread through her body.

For eighteen years, she had waited for the moment every wolfborn dreamed of.

Her first shift.

Her wolf.

She had spent years being told it would never happen.

That she was defective.

Weak.

Wolfless.

But the sound inside her chest didn't feel weak.

It sounded angry.

Ancient.

Awake.

"Celine."

Damon's voice pulled her attention toward him.

He was staring at her with an expression she couldn't understand.

"What?" she whispered.

His eyes moved to the silver crescent pendant hanging against her chest.

"It is happening."

"What is happening?"

"Your wolf."

Celine swallowed.

"I don't have one."

Damon shook his head slowly.

"That's what everyone wanted you to believe."

Before she could answer, another howl tore through the forest.

The Blackfang warriors were closing in.

Damon stepped in front of Celine.

"Stay behind me."

The Blackfang leader laughed.

"You still don't understand, Blackwood."

Damon's shoulders stiffened.

The leader raised his weapon toward Celine.

"She isn't awakening because of you."

Celine felt the growl inside her become louder.

The pendant suddenly grew warm.

Then hot.

She gasped and grabbed it.

The silver crescent was glowing.

"What did you do to her?" Damon demanded.

The Blackfang leader smiled.

"We did nothing."

His eyes remained fixed on Celine.

"Her blood did this."

Celine's heart hammered.

"What do you mean?"

The leader took one step forward.

"Ask your father."

"My father doesn't know anything."

"He knows more than he told you."

Celine remembered the leather pouch.

Her mother's note.

Trust the wolf who carries the mark of the black moon.

Her gaze moved to Damon.

He was already watching the Blackfang leader.

"What does my father know?" she asked.

The leader laughed softly.

"Your mother told him the truth."

Celine's breath caught.

"About what?"

"About you."

The words struck harder than any blow.

Damon's expression darkened.

"Enough."

He lunged forward.

The Blackfang warriors charged at the same time.

Everything happened at once.

Damon collided with the first attacker, sending him stumbling backward. Another rushed from the side, but Damon turned and blocked the strike.

Celine stepped back.

She wanted to help.

She wanted to run.

Instead, the strange heat inside her spread through her arms.

Her fingers tingled.

Her vision blurred.

"Celine!"

Damon's shout snapped her back.

An attacker was coming straight toward her.

She tried to move.

Her feet wouldn't cooperate.

The warrior raised his weapon.

Then something inside Celine snapped.

A burst of silver light exploded from her body.

The attacker was thrown backward.

He crashed into a tree several feet away.

Silence fell.

Even the Blackfang warriors stopped.

Celine stared at her hands.

Silver light flickered around her fingers before disappearing.

"I..."

Her voice failed.

Damon slowly turned toward her.

His face had gone completely still.

The Blackfang leader looked delighted.

"There she is."

Celine looked at him.

"Who am I?"

He smiled.

"You really want to know?"

"Yes."

"Then stop running from the truth."

Celine took a step forward.

Damon caught her arm.

"Don't."

She looked at him.

"I need answers."

"And they will give you lies."

The Blackfang leader laughed.

"Interesting."

His gaze shifted between them.

"The rogue who knows the truth and the girl who doesn't even know what she carries."

Damon's jaw tightened.

"Tell her nothing."

"Why?" the leader asked. "Because you are afraid she will remember?"

Celine looked sharply at Damon.

"Remember what?"

He didn't answer.

"Damon."

Still nothing.

Her frustration rose.

"You said my mother saved your life."

"She did."

"You said you knew her."

"I did."

"And now you're telling me not to listen to the people who might know why she disappeared."

Damon looked away.

Celine's voice softened.

"What aren't you telling me?"

His eyes returned to hers.

Before he could answer, the forest shook with another roar.

A Silvermoon warrior burst through the trees.

"Beta Wolverine!"

Celine turned.

Her father emerged behind the warrior, breathing heavily, his clothes torn from the fight.

His eyes immediately found Celine.

Then he saw the silver light fading from her hands.

He stopped.

For the first time Celine could remember, her father looked frightened.

Not angry.

Not disappointed.

Frightened.

"Dad?"

He stared at her pendant.

"No."

Celine frowned.

"What?"

He shook his head.

"They found you too soon."

Her stomach tightened.

"Who found me?"

Beta Wolverine looked toward the Blackfang leader.

The two men stared at each other.

There was history between them.

Celine could feel it.

"You knew," she whispered.

Her father didn't answer.

"You knew my mother was alive."

His eyes closed briefly.

Damon looked at him.

"Tell her."

Wolverine opened his eyes.

"I thought keeping you ignorant would keep you safe."

Celine felt tears burn behind her eyes.

"You lied to me."

"I protected you."

"You let me believe my mother was dead."

"I had no choice."

"You always had a choice!"

Her voice broke through the forest.

Everyone became silent.

Celine stepped closer to her father.

"Every birthday, I waited for you to tell me something about her. Every year, you gave me the same answer."

Wolverine looked down.

"I was afraid."

"Afraid of what?"

"That if you knew the truth, you'd go looking for her."

Celine stared at him.

"I already did."

Her father looked toward Damon.

"And now you have found the one person who can lead you to her."

Celine's heart stopped.

"She's alive?"

Wolverine hesitated.

That hesitation was enough.

Celine's knees nearly weakened.

"My mother is alive."

Damon's expression changed.

The Blackfang leader smiled.

"Now we're getting somewhere."

Wolverine drew his weapon.

"You won't touch her."

The leader laughed.

"You couldn't protect her mother either."

Celine turned sharply.

"What happened to my mother?"

The leader's smile disappeared.

"She ran."

"From what?"

"From us."

"Why?"

"Because she discovered what you were."

Celine felt the strange presence inside her stir again.

"What am I?"

The Blackfang leader looked directly into her eyes.

"You are the last Moonborn."

The words seemed to echo through the forest.

Celine shook her head.

"That doesn't mean anything."

"It will."

Damon stepped beside her.

"The Moonborn were believed to be extinct."

"Believed," the leader repeated.

Celine looked at Damon.

"You knew?"

"I suspected."

"Suspected what?"

"That your delayed shift wasn't a weakness."

He looked at her pendant.

"It was a seal."

Celine touched the silver crescent.

"A seal?"

Damon nodded.

"Something was suppressing your wolf."

Her eyes widened.

"Who?"

No one answered.

Then a soft sound came from the forest behind them.

A branch breaking.

Everyone turned.

Another figure stood between the trees.

A woman.

She wore a dark cloak, and her silver hair fell over her shoulders.

Celine couldn't see her face clearly.

But the moment she saw the pendant around Celine's neck, she stopped.

Her hand flew to her mouth.

"No..."

Celine stared at her.

Something about the woman's voice felt strangely familiar.

The woman took one trembling step forward.

"Celine?"

Celine's breath caught.

Nobody had spoken her name like that.

Not since she was a child.

The woman's eyes filled with tears.

"You grew up."

Celine couldn't move.

Her heart seemed to recognize something her mind couldn't.

"Who are you?"

The woman lowered her hood.

Celine stared at her face.

The shape of her eyes.

The curve of her mouth.

The small silver scar above her eyebrow.

Memories flashed through Celine's mind.

A warm embrace.

A gentle voice.

A silver crescent pendant placed around a little girl's neck.

Be brave, little moon.

Celine's lips parted.

"Mom?"

The woman covered her mouth as tears slipped down her cheeks.

But before she could answer, the Blackfang leader raised his weapon.

"Kill her."

The woman suddenly looked terrified.

"Run, Celine!"

The forest erupted again.

And this time, the wolf inside Celine didn't growl.

It answered.