Chapter 11

Three days later, the Luna sent for me again.She took my hand and said, calmly, "I've thought about you and Graham. And I asked him how he feels."My palms were damp. My heart was in my throat.She noticed how tense I was, patted my hand, and smiled."That Graham. He wrote back a single word. 'Understood.'"My heart plummeted. My breath caught.I forced a smile and pushed the words past the ache in my chest. "Thank you for going to such trouble for me, Luna."Then the Luna burst out laughing."All right, I'll stop teasing you." Her eyes were full of warmth. "Even I didn't expect it. The moment he got off the call, he started back. He reached the manor last night."I let out a long breath and laughed.The Luna said, with feeling, "You really are fated mates, then. Luna or not, even I can't go against the will of the Moon Goddess."She slipped the moonstone bracelet off her wrist and fastened it gently around mine."You won't be Luna now, but I still want you to have the bracelet."She

Chapter 12

The next full moon would be the night of Graham's and my marking ceremony.Damien and Heidi had chosen that same night.By rights, Damien's blood being what it was, we should have yielded to him.But Graham wouldn't have it. He said someone as perfect as me deserved a perfect moon.Over my objections, he insisted on going to talk to Damien.Knowing Heidi, she'd never back down.And Damien could never stand to let her feel slighted, so he'd never agree either.When Graham came back, he had an odd look on his face.I laughed. "I told you not to go. Now you've wasted the trip.""Damien agreed."Graham muttered, half to himself, "He agreed. Didn't even hesitate.""He also said—" Graham looked at me. "—that I'd better treat you well. Or he won't let it go."I went still."As if I need him to tell me that."Graham grumbled, then pulled me into his arms and kissed me, deep and tender.I kissed him back, weak all over, like I might melt into him.Three days later, Graham and I were invited to

Chapter 13

A few days after Graham's and my ceremony, urgent word came from the border.The Luna called the elders together."The Northern Alpha has launched a full invasion, while Graham's away."She looked around the room and said, gravely, "Let's hear your thoughts."Before she'd finished, Heidi raised a hand and cut in."I say we join forces with the vampires and crush the Northern Pack together."The room went dead silent. Someone couldn't help a scornful snort."The North's invasion is a war between wolves. Nothing more."I frowned and shook my head. "We can't ally with vampires, whatever happens. That turns this into a war between species."The Luna agreed completely.She rolled her eyes at Heidi and turned to me. "Tell me what you'd do.""Pull the lines in. Send someone to negotiate and buy time. Meanwhile, Graham and I leave for the border at once."I sketched it out as I talked, and the Luna nodded along.In the end, she decided to do it my way.After the meeting, I went out to the gard

Chapter 14

Three days later, everything was ready, and Graham and I prepared to head back to the border.The Luna threw us a farewell feast.Halfway through, she sighed. "That fool Heidi, lately."She shook her head, not bothering to go on, and turned to look at us fondly."Thank the Goddess for the two of you. Lucy, your blood is pure. I hope she blesses you both.""I hope your pup awakens the Lycan line."As she spoke, a handmaid hurried up."Luna, Damien and Heidi are asking to see you."The Luna's smile vanished, her eyes filling with distaste. "No.""He says—" the handmaid faltered, "—he'll force his way in if he has to."The Luna's eyes flashed, but she reined it in. "Fine. Let them in."Damien came in with Heidi and went straight to the Luna."Luna, Heidi knows she was wrong. Please, have mercy. Don't send her to the Temple to do penance."By now the whole pack knew what had happened.Sore that the Luna had listened to me, Heidi had secretly reached out to the vampires herself, hoping to b

Chapter 15

In the North, everything went as I'd foreseen.With my strategy and Graham's ferocity, we routed the enemy in no time.The Northern Alpha, robed in white, surrendered to Graham and me in person.From then on, the North was Silver Moon territory.News kept drifting in from the manor, too.After Heidi's last tantrum, Damien had come to loathe her completely.He broke the mate bond with her and delivered her to the Temple himself.As for him, he seemed to fall apart entirely, drowning his days in liquor and she-wolves.Under the excuse of choosing a new mate, he held one moonstone trial after another.He'd sit up on the dais, his eyes roving over the she-wolves below."This one, her fur's not pure. That one, look at her, dumb as a post."He went on picking and judging, out loud.Sometimes he'd snap, flip the table, and roar at all of them to get out.Other times he'd grab some pretty one at random, bed her a few nights, then turn cold like he'd never known her.He drank in great gulps, bu

Chapter 16

Sure enough, a shocking piece of news reached the North.That fool Heidi, unable to bear the hard life at the Temple, had run.No surprise there.What did surprise me a little was who'd helped her: the vampires.Damien, enraged, went after her himself without waiting for his guards to muster.And walked straight into a vampire ambush.He killed them all in the end, but took grave wounds doing it.By the time he made it back to our lands, he couldn't hold on any longer, and collapsed.Word was his wolf hung by a thread, and he might never wake.When we heard, Graham and I rushed back.Outside the critical ward at the healers', looking at Damien lying unconscious, my face hardened.Whatever else, Damien carried the Lycan line. He was meant to be our Alpha.The vampires had trampled Silver Moon's honor, and they would pay for it.And so would Heidi, who'd thrown in with them.I asked, cold, "Where's Heidi?""She's gone to ground back at Black Iron," the Luna said.She seemed to have aged