Chapter 2

Abby

Hello, Abby.

I sat upright so quickly the blankets fell into my lap. My room was empty, but the voice had been unmistakable.

Don’t be scared.

You’re my wolf. Warm amusement moved through me.

My name is Diana.

I pressed both hands over my mouth to keep from laughing.

For years, I had tried to imagine what this would feel like. Strange, probably. Maybe even frightening.

Instead, Diana felt familiar. As though she had always been there, waiting for me to hear her.

I’ve been waiting for you, I told her.

And I have been waiting for you.

There were a hundred things I wanted to ask her. Naturally, I started with the most important one.

Do you know who our mate is?

Not yet.

My excitement dipped.

I thought wolves knew.

We will recognize him when we meet him now that I am awake.

My thoughts went immediately to Noah. When I was fourteen and he sixteen, we had promised that if neither of us found a mate, we would choose each other someday. The plan had also involved a cabin in the woods and chocolate for dinner, so neither of us had exactly been thinking like adults.

But Noah had shifted two years ago. Until Diana awakened, we could never know for certain. Now we could.

I lay back against my pillows.

You hear everything I think, don’t you?

Yes.

I groaned.

Diana laughed inside my head.

Sleep never stood a chance. By morning, my eyes burned, but I still couldn’t stop talking with her.

Liam knocked once before opening my bedroom door. “Happy birthday, little one.”

I threw the blanket aside and launched myself at him. “I can hear her.”

He laughed as he caught me. “I know. Jasper felt her wake up at midnight.”

Tell him hello.

“She says hello.”

Liam’s smile softened. “Jasper says it took her long enough.”

Tell him he is rude.

I laughed against Liam’s shoulder. He leaned back and studied my face.

“You didn’t sleep.”

“I met my wolf.”

He shook his head. “Come downstairs before you collapse.”

The kitchen smelled like coffee and pancakes. Some things never changed.

Birthdays had always belonged to Liam and me—pancakes, too much food, old movies, and one day when he pretended pack work didn’t exist unless someone was actively bleeding.

For one day, we were simply brother and sister.

Halfway through breakfast, he disappeared upstairs. When he returned, he was carrying a small wooden box.

The smile left my face before he even opened it. Inside lay a thin white-gold chain with a small crescent moon pendant.

Mom’s necklace.

I touched it carefully. “Where did you find it?”

“With Dad’s things,” he said. “I thought you should wear it today.”

My eyes filled with tears before I could stop them. I remembered playing with that little crescent while sitting in Mom’s lap, turning it between my fingers while she brushed my hair.

“Hey.” Liam cupped my face and brushed a tear away with his thumb. “No crying before breakfast is over.”

I turned around so he could fasten the necklace around my throat. The crescent settled against my skin.

The day passed too quickly. Chloe sent enough messages to make it impossible to forget she was coming that night.

Noah sent only one.

Noah: [Happy birthday. Try not to run into a tree.]

I smiled.

He seems irritating, Diana observed.

You’ll like him.

That remains to be seen.

As dusk settled over Moonhaven, Liam and I left for the clearing. The forest smelled of damp leaves and cold earth. Autumn had stripped some of the branches bare, allowing pieces of moonlight to reach the trail ahead of us.

Liam glanced at me. “You’re shaking.”

“It’s cold.”

He took my hand. “It’s going to hurt.”

“Very reassuring.”

“I’m serious. Don’t fight Diana.”

My stomach tightened. “What if I do something wrong?”

“You won’t. Trust me.”

The clearing appeared between the trees. Chloe, Noah, and Luna Cassandra were already waiting.

Cassandra reached me first and wrapped me in a hug. “Happy birthday, sweetheart.”

“Thank you.”

Her gaze dropped to the crescent moon at my throat. Her expression changed. “Your mother wore that the night she met your father.”

I looked down at it. “She did?”

Cassandra nodded. “She always said it brought her luck.”

My pulse skipped.

Behind her, Chloe was practically bouncing.

Noah stood with his hands in his jacket pockets, watching me. For one moment, our eyes met. Neither of us said anything. We both knew that after tonight, one old question would finally have an answer.

Liam looked toward the moon. “It’s time.”

My heart started pounding.

Everyone turned away while I stepped behind a tree and undressed. I placed Mom’s necklace carefully on top of my clothes before walking barefoot into the clearing.

Cold grass pressed against my feet.

I swallowed.

Ready? Diana asked.

No.

We can do it. Just let go. I will take care of the rest.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and surrendered control.

Pain tore through me. My knees hit the ground as bones shifted beneath my skin and heat burned through every muscle.

“Let her guide you, Abby,” Liam called.

I clung to Diana.

I have you, she said.

My body stretched and changed, fur pushing through my skin. Then, almost as suddenly as it had begun, the pain stopped. I stayed crouched on four legs, breathing hard.

The world had changed.

I could hear every breath around me and smell wet leaves beyond the clearing, pine clinging to Liam’s coat, and the faint sweetness of Chloe’s shampoo.

I looked down. Pearl-gray fur covered my paws.

Slowly, I stepped forward. Moonlight touched my fur. A silver-white shimmer spread through it, as though light had caught in every strand.

Someone gasped, and I raised my head.

Cassandra raised one hand to her mouth. “Oh, Goddess.”

Liam’s eyes were wet. “She’s silver.”

Moonsilver, Diana corrected proudly.

The word settled through me with quiet certainty.

Chloe shifted first. Skye, her tawny wolf, rushed toward me and immediately began circling, sniffing my coat from every possible angle.

Stop inspecting me.

You’re shiny.

That is not an excuse.

Then Liam shifted. Jasper was enormous, dark brown and familiar even before his voice entered my mind.

Hello, little one.

Emotion caught unexpectedly in my chest.

Jasper.

He pressed his forehead gently against mine.

We have waited a long time for you.

Diana pushed forward.

So have I.

Noah shifted last. His black wolf, Kai, approached slowly.

My heartbeat quickened. For one long moment, I waited. For the pull. The certainty. Whatever people meant when they said they simply knew.

Nothing happened.

Diana understood before I did.

He isn’t ours.

Kai nudged his nose against mine—the gesture was so completely Noah that I almost laughed. He was still my best friend. Nothing important had changed.

Then Skye took off between the trees.

Catch me.

Diana surged forward before I could answer.

We ran.

My first few steps were a disaster. Four legs turned out to be considerably harder to coordinate than two, and I nearly crashed into a tree before Diana corrected us.

Kai’s laughter entered the pack link.

Very graceful.

Shut up.

Then instinct took over. Cold air rushed through my fur as the forest opened around us.

Diana was fast.

For the first time, I understood why wolves spoke about shifting as though half their lives happened beneath another skin.

We ran until my legs began to tremble. When we returned to the clearing, I could barely stand.

Shifting back hurt, but less. I dressed quickly and fastened Mom’s necklace around my neck again.

Cassandra studied me. “She’s beautiful, sweetheart.”

“Have you ever seen a wolf like Diana?” I asked.

“Not quite.”

“Diana calls it moonsilver.”

Something flickered across her face, gone before I could read it.

Liam wrapped my coat around my shoulders. “She can investigate mysterious fur tomorrow.”

Cassandra smiled. “Of course.”

For once, I was grateful for his overprotectiveness. I was too exhausted to argue.

Chloe and Noah walked home with us.

Noah fell into step beside me. “So. No cabin?”

I laughed softly. “Apparently not.”

He smiled. There was a hint of disappointment there, probably matching my own.

By the time we reached home, exhaustion had settled into every muscle. Chloe hugged me goodbye. Noah squeezed my shoulder before following her down the road.

Inside, Liam took my coat. “Movie?”

“I can barely feel my legs.”

“I’ll take that as a no.”

I leaned into him for a moment. “Thank you.”

He kissed my temple. “Mom and Dad would have loved Diana.”

The familiar ache returned. “I wish they were here.”

“So do I.”

I hugged him once, then turned toward the stairs.

I was halfway up the stairs when the front door flew open.

Kade strode inside. He was breathing hard, his hair disordered by the wind, tension running through every line of his body.

Liam turned sharply. “Kade? What happened?”

Kade barely seemed to hear him. His eyes swept the room.

“Where is she?”

Liam frowned. “Who?”

“Abby.”

My hand tightened around the banister. “Kade?”

Kade’s head turned toward the sound of my voice.

And then I smelled him.

Cedar. Cold night air.

I had known Kade all my life—hugged him, sat beside him, stolen food from his plate. He had never smelled like this. Now his scent wrapped around me and pulled at something deep inside my chest.

Diana went utterly still. Then joy exploded through her.

Mate.

My breath caught.

Kade?

He is ours.

I stepped down from the stairs.

Kade froze.

Our eyes met.

The bond struck so hard that I forgot how to breathe. Warmth rushed through me, and every sound in the room seemed to disappear.

My mate had been here all along.

Every part of me wanted to move toward him, to touch him, to hear him say he felt it too. Happiness rose so quickly that I smiled before I could stop myself.

Kade stared at me. Recognition flashed across his face.

But he didn’t smile.

The color drained from his skin.

He looked horrified.