The Moonlight Spring That Would Never Boil for Me
My fated mate, Warren, heir to the Alpha of the Moonwatch Pack, was struck by a curse that left his wolf spirit broken.
At the price of burning away my own wolf spirit, I earned an ancient pack prophecies.
To lift his curse, I had to dance at the edge of the Moonlight Spring on every full moon, until the water of the spring came to a boil.
So month after month, I sacrificed up my wolf spirit and danced the Moon Goddess's sacred rite.
All I wanted was for the spring to boil, so he could take his place as Alpha and never be looked down on again.
But I danced fifty-nine times, until my wolf spirit was nearly in pieces, and the water never so much as simmered.
The night before the sixtieth full moon, I caught him drinking a potion Maya had slipped into his hand.
Maya was my aunt's daughter. She was also Warren's first love.
Right then, she was curled sweetly against his chest.
"Warren, you know there's nothing wrong with your wolf spirit. The prophecy Ella bled for was never going to work. But you keep faking it with the dark-magic potion I make for you. Are you doing all this to get even for me?"
Warren's voice was flat. "She took your place. She deserves to pay for it."
"Once the pack sees how useless your fated mate really is, I can marry you and no one will say a word against it."
Five years and fifty-nine dances of sacrifice, and all of it, from beginning to end, had been a lie.
The Moonlight Spring of the Moonwatch Pack was never going to boil for me.
I was done clinging to him.
My mother was gravely ill, and her one regret was that she'd never see me settle down.
If his heart already belonged to someone else, then I would just have to find myself a new mate.