The Awakening

Zane's pack territory was nothing like Shadow Creek.

Where Ryker ruled from a modern mansion, Zane's stronghold was an ancient fortress built into a mountain. It screamed power, age, and danger. Wolves patrolled everywhere, all of them massive, all of them lethal.

They stared as Zane carried me through the gates. Whispers followed our path.

"Is that a woman on his back?"

"She smells like Shadow Creek."

"Why isn't she dead?"

Zane growled, and silence fell immediately.

He took me directly to a room in the east tower—spacious, warm, with a view of the entire valley below.

"This is the healer's quarters," he said after shifting and dressing. "It's protected, warded. No one can enter without your permission, not even me."

"That seems excessive."

"My last healer was killed in her sleep. I won't make that mistake again."

Before I could respond, the door burst open. A beautiful woman with red hair and green eyes stormed in, her face twisted with fury.

"You replaced me already?" she snarled at Zane. "I've been warming your bed for two years"

"And you've never been more than that, Vera," Zane said coldly. "We've discussed this."

Her eyes landed on me, narrowing. "Her? This small, weak thing? She smells like" Her expression changed. "She's pregnant. You brought a pregnant wolf here?"

"I brought a healer here," Zane corrected. "One skilled enough to save me from silver and wolfsbane poisoning. Unless you've suddenly developed healing abilities, your complaint is irrelevant."

Vera's face flushed. "The pack won't accept this. She's carrying another Alpha's child,"

"The pack will accept what I tell them to accept." His voice carried lethal warning. "Now leave. And Vera? If any harm comes to her, I'll assume you're responsible."

She fled, but not before shooting me a look that promised retribution.

"You've made me an enemy," I said.

"You already had enemies. Now you have protection from them." He moved to the door. "Rest. Tomorrow, you'll meet the pack properly."

That night, I woke to Maya stirring, really stirring, not the weak flutter she'd been for years.

"Something's happening," she whispered. "We're changing."

I felt it too. Power flowing through my veins, warm and golden. My hands glowed faintly in the darkness.

A crash from outside had me running to the window. Rogues, dozens of them, were attacking the fortress walls. The pack was fighting, but they kept coming.

I should have stayed in my warded room. Should have been smart.

Instead, I ran toward the battle.

The courtyard was chaos. Blood, snarls, the sound of bones breaking. I saw Zane in his wolf form, magnificent and terrible, but even he was being overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

A small wolf pup cowered near the wall, a rogue advancing on it.

"No!" I didn't think, just acted. Power exploded from me, pure, golden light that sent the rogue flying. But it didn't stop there. The light spread, touching every pack wolf, healing their wounds even as they fought. The rogues it touched screamed, fleeing from its burn.

I'd never felt anything like this. I was healing and harming simultaneously, protecting the pack with power I didn't know existed.

"Impossible," someone breathed.

The rogues fled, those that survived. The pack stood frozen, staring at me. I swayed, exhausted, and would have fallen if Zane hadn't caught me.

"What are you?" Vera whispered, fear replacing her earlier hostility.

"I don't know," I admitted.

But Zane was smiling, a real smile for the first time since I'd met him. "You're a Moon Healer. I thought they were myth."

"A what?"

"A healer blessed by the Moon Goddess herself. They appear once every few hundred years, usually in times of great need." He looked at the pack. "She just saved all of you. Anyone still have objections to her presence?"

Silence.

"Good. Someone find out how rogues got past our borders. Now."

He carried me back to my room, gentle despite his fearsome reputation.

"You knew," I accused. "You knew what I was."

"I suspected. Your healing was too powerful, too pure. But you were suppressed somehow."

"My stepsister. She was poisoning me with wolfsbane tea for two years."

His eyes flashed red , his wolf rising. "She's dead."

"No"

"She poisoned a Moon Healer. That's not just a crime against you, it's a crime against all wolves. The Council will demand her head."

"The Werewolf Council?"

"They govern all packs, even mine. A Moon Healer is sacred, you could demand anything, and they'd grant it. Including justice."

I thought of Selene, smug in her stolen crown. Of Ryker, who'd thrown me away like trash.

"I just want to raise my children in peace."

"Children?" His eyes sharpened. "Plural?"

I placed a hand on my stomach, feeling the two distinct life forces there, something I couldn't do before. "Twins."

Something flashed in his eyes, possession, protection, want.

"They'll be powerful," he said. "Moon Healer children always are."

"They're Ryker's"

"They're yours," he corrected firmly. "He gave up any claim when he rejected you."

A howl echoed from the valley, long, mournful, urgent.

Zane tensed. "That's the border patrol. We have visitors."

He strode to the window, then laughed—dark and amused. "Well, this should be interesting."

"What?"

"Ryker's here. With a full contingent. Seems he's heard about you being here."

My blood ran cold. "How?"

"Vera, probably. She has contacts everywhere." He turned to me, ice,blue eyes burning. "What do you want to do?"

"I can't face him. Not yet"

"You can. You're not the same wolf he rejected. You're a Moon Healer under my protection." He moved closer. "Unless you want to go back to him?"

"Never."

"Then let me handle this. Trust me."

I thought of how he'd protected me, housed me, believed in me when no one else had.

"I trust you," I whispered.

His smile was pure predator. "Good. Because I'm about to show your ex-mate exactly what he threw away. And Aria?"

"Yes?"

"Wear something stunning. You're about to make an entrance that will haunt him forever."