Chapter 3

I woke to sunlight streaming through unfamiliar windows and Luna's giggles coming from somewhere nearby. For a moment, I forgot where I was. Then yesterday's events crashed back—Holden's betrayal, my mother's secret, Dimitri's rescue.

"Mommy! Come see!" Luna burst through the door, her face bright with excitement. "There's a huge garden and horses and other kids!"

"Other kids?" I sat up, taking in the elegant bedroom we were in. Soft gray walls, a massive bed with silk sheets, and a view of mountains I didn't recognize.

"Three of them! And they can all turn into wolves like me!" She bounced on the bed. "The lady with pretty eyes said I can play with them after breakfast."

A knock interrupted us. A woman entered carrying a tray of food—tall, elegant, with striking violet eyes I'd never seen on a wolf before.

"Good morning, Luna Camille." Her voice was melodic. "I'm Thea, Beta of Shadow Moon Pack. Alpha Stone requested I help you settle in."

"Thank you." I accepted the tray gratefully. "Where exactly are we?"

"Colorado. About eight hundred miles from Silver Creek." She smiled at Luna. "Would you like to go play with the other pups while your mother and I talk?"

Luna looked at me hopefully. I nodded, and she raced off with the energy only a six-year-old could have after everything we'd been through.

Once alone, Thea's demeanor shifted. "We need to discuss your situation."

"Which part? The fact that I'm apparently part witch, my ex-husband wants me dead, or that your Alpha claims he knew my mother?"

"All of it." She sat gracefully in a chair. "But first, you need to understand what accepting sanctuary here means."

"I'm listening."

"Dimitri has claimed you under ancient law, but there are conditions. You must contribute to the pack. You must train to control your abilities. And..." she hesitated, "you must participate in the Lunar Ceremony next month."

"What's the Lunar Ceremony?"

"It's when unmated wolves can form new bonds. Dimitri will be expected to take Luna." Her violet eyes studied me carefully. "Many believe he intends to claim you."

I nearly choked on my coffee. "What? But I just rejected my mate yesterday!"

"A forced rejection. The Moon Goddess sometimes provides second chances quickly to those wrongly rejected." She stood. "I'm not saying this will happen. I'm saying be prepared for the possibility."

Before I could respond, an alarm pierced the air. Thea's eyes went wide.

"Stay here," she commanded, already shifting into a massive gray wolf as she ran from the room.

I ran to the window. Below, wolves were racing toward the pack borders. My heart stopped when I recognized some of them—Silver Creek wolves. Holden had come for us.

"Luna!" I ran from the room, following her scent down unfamiliar hallways.

I found her in a playroom with three other children and an elderly woman who was hustling them toward a hidden door.

"Mommy!" Luna ran to me.

"It's okay, baby." I held her close, but my hands shook.

"This way," the elderly woman said urgently. "The safe room—"

The wall exploded inward. Through the debris stepped Marcus, Holden's Beta, in wolf form. His teeth bared as he advanced on us.

"Run!" I pushed Luna toward the old woman. "Get the children out!"

Marcus lunged. I threw myself between him and the children, expecting to feel teeth tear into me. Instead, that burning sensation from before erupted through my body. My hands burst into crimson flames.

Marcus yelped, scrambling backward as fire licked at his fur. I stared at my burning hands in shock—they didn't hurt. The flames felt like an extension of myself.

"Impossible," Marcus shifted back, his eyes wide. "The suppressants should have lasted—"

"What suppressants?" I advanced on him, flames dancing up my arms.

He backed away. "The ones Holden put in your food. Every day for seven years. To keep the witch dormant."

Rage flooded through me. "He drugged me?"

"To protect the pack! You're dangerous—"

I didn't let him finish. The fire leaped from my hands, forming a wall between him and us. He tried to run, but the flames moved like living things, herding him toward the window.

"Camille, stop!" Dimitri's voice cut through my rage.

He stood in the doorway, eyes glowing alpha red. "Let him go. We need him alive."

The flames died instantly at his command. How did he do that?

Marcus collapsed, fur singed but alive. Dimitri grabbed him by the throat.

"Tell Holden what you saw here," he growled. "Tell him Camille Bell is under my protection. Tell him if he comes for her again, I'll personally rip his throat out."

He threw Marcus out the broken window. We were three stories up, but I heard him hit the ground running.

"The children—" I started.

"Are safe. Thea got them to the bunker." He studied me with those intense amber eyes. "You manifested fire. That's rare, even for witches."

"I could have killed him."

"But you didn't. You controlled it." He stepped closer. "How do you feel?"

"Terrified. Angry. Powerful." I looked at my hands, now normal again. "Holden drugged me for seven years."

"I suspected as much. Your power is too strong to have been completely dormant naturally." His jaw clenched. "He'll pay for that."

"Why do you care? You don't even know me."

Something flickered in his eyes. "Don't I?"

Before I could ask what he meant, Luna peeked out from behind the doorway where she'd been hiding.

"Mommy? Are you a superhero now?"

I laughed despite everything, opening my arms for her. "No, baby. I'm just... different."

"Like how I can turn into a wolf?"

"Similar."

She considered this seriously. "Cool. Can you teach me how to make fire?"

"That's not how it works—" I started, but Dimitri interrupted.

"Actually, it might be exactly how it works." He crouched to Luna's level. "Your mother is very special. And you might be too."

"Holden said he had her tested. Said she was a pure wolf."

"Holden's tests only check for active magic. If Luna inherited your abilities, they won't manifest until puberty. Or..." he looked thoughtful, "unless triggered by extreme emotion."

A commotion outside drew our attention. Through the broken wall, I could see wolves gathering—but not in attack formation. They were celebrating?

Thea appeared, back in human form. "Alpha, we've captured two Silver Creek wolves. They want to defect."

"Defect?" I asked.

"Join our pack," Dimitri explained. "Apparently, your friend Maya's video has caused quite a stir. Several wolves are disgusted by what Holden did to you."

Two wolves were brought forward, shifting to human form. I recognized them—James and Cecelia, a mated couple I'd known for years.

"Luna Camille," James said, using my former title with respect I'd never received in Silver Creek. "We're sorry. We should have seen what was happening."

"Why now?" I had to ask.

Cecelia answered, tears in her eyes. "My daughter is half-human. We've hidden it for years, terrified of what Holden would do. When we heard what he did to you, drugging you, controlling you... we couldn't stay."

More howls echoed from the border. "There are others," James added. "At least six more families want to leave Silver Creek."

Dimitri looked at me. "It's your choice. They wronged you by their silence."

I thought of all the years of isolation, the whispered conversations that stopped when I walked by, the pack members who'd watched Holden humiliate me and said nothing. But I also thought of their children, of other wolves who might be hiding their true selves like I had.

"Let them come," I decided. "Everyone deserves a second chance."

Dimitri nodded approvingly. "Thea, process the defectors. Double our border patrols." He turned to me. "You need training. Your power is growing stronger."

"How do you know so much about witches? Werewolves and witches are supposed to be enemies."

"Not all of us believed in the old prejudices." He pulled something from his pocket—a photograph, yellowed with age. "Your mother gave me this before she died."

I took it with trembling hands. It showed my mother, young and radiant, standing beside a teenage boy with familiar amber eyes. They were both smiling, and her hand rested on his shoulder like they were family.

"That's you?" I stared at the boy who'd grown into the powerful Alpha before me. "You look the same age. This must be twenty-five years old."

"Twenty-seven." His voice was soft. "I age slower than most wolves."

"Why?"

"Because your mother saved my life with her magic. The spell had... side effects." He took the photo back carefully. "I promised her I'd protect you when you came into your power."

"She knew this would happen?"

"She was a powerful seer. She saw many possible futures." His expression darkened. "In most of them, Holden killed you before your powers manifested."

A chill ran down my spine. "Would he have?"

"The suppressants were killing you slowly. Another year, maybe two, and your wolf would have died. Then the witch side would have consumed you." He met my eyes. "Your mother saw that future. It's why she bound your powers so tightly—to give you time to get strong enough to survive them."

"But the binding is breaking now."

"Because you rejected Holden. The emotional trauma shattered your mother's spell." He stepped closer. "Your power will keep growing. You need to learn control, or it will consume you."

"Will you teach me?"

"I'll try. But you need a witch's training too." He hesitated. "There's someone who might help, but she's... complicated."

"Who?"

"Your aunt. Your mother's sister."

I stared at him. "I have an aunt? A witch aunt?"

"Morgana Bell. She lives in New Orleans. She's... not fond of wolves."

"But she'll help me?"

"Maybe. If we can convince her you're worth the risk."

Luna tugged on my shirt. "Mommy, are we going on another adventure?"

I looked at my daughter, at Dimitri, at the broken room where I'd just discovered I could create fire with my bare hands. My old life was gone. Holden had made sure of that.

But maybe that wasn't a bad thing.

"Yes, baby," I said, making a decision that would change everything. "We're going to meet a family we didn't know we had."

Dimitri's phone buzzed. His face went pale as he read the message.

"What is it?"

"Holden's made an announcement. He's telling all the packs that you're a dangerous hybrid who killed your own mother."

My blood ran cold. "What?"

"There's more. He's put a bounty on your head. Five million dollars to whoever brings you back to Silver Creek." He looked at me grimly. "Every rogue, bounty hunter, and greedy wolf in the country will be coming for you."

Through the broken wall, I could see storm clouds gathering on the horizon. But for the first time in my life, I wasn't afraid of the storm.

I was becoming one.