CHAPTER 3

Amelia

Today is the day of my mother’s funeral. 

Mother has always been kind to others, despite the distance she kept with me, so almost the entire pack, aside from a couple of patrol wolves, have gathered to pay their respects at the end of her journey. Plus, my father, as the head warrior, is also deeply respected so it’s pretty logical that many came to support him. 

As Luna of the Ravencrest Pack, I’m supposed to be strong enough to stand with Logan and lead the funeral later. But, as I sit in the dressing room, tugging at my dress, I feel like my heart is being ripped out of my chest. Nobody cares. Everyone’s too focused on their own grief to notice that I’m hurting too.

On top of that, Katherine’s return haunts me. No one tells me when she’s coming back, all I got was a warning from father to stay out of her way. 

Taking a deep breath, I lift the Moonraven necklace, which marks my position as Luna, and fasten it around my neck. As I steel myself toward the door, it bursts open before I reach it and a startled scream escapes me. 

My heart stops in my chest, then starts beating dangerously fast as Katherine steps into the dressing room and closes the door behind her. 

She looks more beautiful than she was the last time I saw her. Her blonde hair is styled in perfect waves, her long legs seem endless in the tight, short skirt she’s wearing and her body has curves that would drive any man wild with desire.  

“Hello, Amelia,” Katherine greets me but there’s no warmth to her words. 

I straighten my back, despite the cold shivers running down my spine and clear my throat. “Hello, Katherine,” I greet her, hoping my voice sounds stronger than I feel. 

Katherine smirks at me and starts circling me like a predator. “You’ve changed,” she declares and every click of her feels against the wooden floor adds to the sense of dread surging through me. 

“Have I?” I decide to ask even though I don’t want to hear the answer she might give. 

“We’ll see about that,” Katherine hisses and stops in front of me. “Take off the dress now!” 

“What? You can’t be serious, mother’s funeral is about to begin! I need to be there.” I try to reason with her. 

Suddenly, she shoves my shoulder so hard I stagger. “No—you don’t,” she snarls. “Guess how I found you? Logan told me. He wants me to lead the funeral, not you. Take off the dress, Amelia. You’ve done enough pretending to be me. Besides, mother wouldn’t have wanted you to lead her funeral anyway!” 

Her words twist something inside my chest so painfully, I gasp for breath. “Logan sent you?” I ask, only to make sure I heard her right. 

Katherine flashes me a smile and crosses her arms. “He did.” 

Of course, he wants Katherine. He’s been waiting for her and now that she’s back, Logan can’t wait to make her his Luna. 

Crushed by the realization, I bite the inside of my cheek to keep in the sob that threatens to escape me as I take off the ceremonial dress and hand it to Katherine. 

While she changes into it, I slip on a simple black dress. Her hand shoots out in my direction and she makes a grabbing motion with it, which only crushes me even more. 

I swallow the lump in my throat as I remove the Moonraven necklace and hold it out for her. 

“Put it on for me,” Katherine orders in a sickening tone. 

I swallow my pride for my mother’s sake and follow the outrageous command, gently placing the necklace around Katherine’s neck. 

She reaches her hand to grab my shoulder, nails biting into my skin. As our eyes meet in the mirror and she snarls, “Your time is up, Amelia, you can’t play the Luna game anymore. Now that I’m back, you need to remember your place—Logan and the rank belong to me.”  

And just like that, as soon as the words leave her, I’m demoted back to nobody all over again. 

Before we leave the dressing room, Katherine snaps at me to remove the contacts. I attempt to leave alone, but she grabs me, and drags me along with her. 

When we arrive at the border, Logan, his mother Jane and our father look startled when they see us both approaching at first. Then, all of their faces light up as they pull Kathrine into tight hugs. 

“Finally, you’re back,” Logan’s mother sobs as she holds Katherine tightly. 

Our father is next to pull her into a hug, looking relieved and truly happy for the first time since she left. He’s muttering something in her ear, I can’t hear anything, but the words make her smile brighter than ever. 

And then, it’s Logan’s turn. His strong arms wrap around Katherine and she melts against him like she’s finally truly home. “I missed you so much,” Logan whispers before he kisses the top of her head. 

My wolf stirs up, “Amelia, do something, she’s taking our mate from us!”

It hurts to hear her whines and feel her thrash against me, but I push her down and block her out while I force myself to think staying back is the right thing to do. 

When they pull apart, Katherine wipes tears that aren’t there from her cheeks and smiles up at Logan like he hung the moon for her. 

Katherine and Logan look like a match made in heaven and I hate it. 

Then she stands near the coffin, tall and proud, acting like Luna while she gives a speech about how important and special our mother was to her. “I have never experienced greater support and love than the one my mother gave me. She was kind, thoughtful and understanding. She was the light of everyone’s life and even in times when her life wasn’t easy at all, she still never refused to lend a helping hand to those in need…” 

I wonder where all that energy was while she was gone and mother suffered. It’s such a typical Katherine thing to do - run from responsibilities because of a temper tantrum, then return and play the victim. 

Sensing my eyes on her, Katherine glares at me and adds. “My mother was a saint. She gave to everyone, I will forever remember her as the woman who was so kind that she gave far too many chances to the undeserving, filthy, useless and rotten.” 

Every word is aimed at me. 

I lower my head and focus on the speech so much that I don’t notice the disaster heading our way until it’s too late. Three crazy rogues leap out of the forest and the funeral turns into absolute chaos.

I look up and just then, two of the rogues lunge at Katherine and me, their teeth bared and claws flashing. My heart freezes in my chest.

Logan moves first. He throws himself in front of Katherine, body coiled, claws out, ready to kill for her. And me? I’m left exposed, completely alone.

The next moment, one of the attacking rogues reaches me and razor sharp teeth clamp down on my arm, sinking deep into the flesh. 

A loud scream echoes around me, the next thing I see is the world tilt around me and then... darkness.