Chapter 35 DANE

"Nothing. Sacrifice? No! Of course not." My grandfather said. "That was nothing. Just… just a dream. I’m fine, Dane. I’ll go back to sleep."

He pulled his covers up and turned over with his back to me.

Frowning and far more uneasy than I expected to be, I pulled away and went back to bed.

The next night was the ceremony, and I wanted to be rested. Aurora would be there, and my sister, Piper. She was bringing me something I was very, very interested in getting my hands on.

AURORA

Trajan acted as go-between with Dane and me, taking my translations to Blue Ridge every day and making sure things were ready.

The day of the ceremony, I arrived at the Blue Ridge pack house. I could tell Dane had done everything I'd asked and more.

Of course, he had. Dane wasn’t the kind of man who accepted less than perfection.

I walked onto the lawn. A large circle with several lines, intersecting triangles, and smaller circles had been carved into the grass at precise angles.

Torches were placed at every intersection, ready to light when the sun went down and the moon was at its highest point in the sky.

Dane stood at the far end of the circle. Evelyn was at his side with her arm through his, glaring at me like I was going to walk up and snatch him away from her right then and there. Dane’s beta, Archer, hovered off to the side.

Evander and Trajan flanked me as I walked over to them. Piper, Dane’s younger sister, had come as well.

I was glad to have her. So many of the other wolves still looked at me like trash, like an interloper. She was always kind.

I walked to where Dane and Evelyn stood on the stairs like a king and queen ready to receive their subjects.

"Alpha Montague," I said, keeping my voice polite and professional. "Everything looks perfect."

Dane nodded. "What should we expect tonight?"

I explained the ceremony to him. The female wolves participating in the ceremony would stand inside the circle, while the others would stand outside at intervals, guarding them.

Words would be said to the goddess, and she’d reveal her chosen with a waterfall of silver light.

Her chosen would then manifest magic like most wolves hadn’t seen in a thousand years.

As certain as my grandmother still was that the chosen would be me, I wasn’t. After all, I didn’t have a wolf. Without a wolf, I had no way to channel magic.

How could I be what she needed? Do what she needed?

But my grandmother reassured me that the goddess would find a way.

Part of me—a very tiny part I refused to acknowledge—even hoped the ceremony tonight might bring my wolf back. Even the thought of it made my eyes burn with tears.

I would give so much to have her again.

Maybe tonight, my hopes wouldn’t be crushed.

For once.

EVELYN

I wanted to stay outside and keep my eye on Aurora. After what she’d pulled with Dane last week, I wouldn’t trust her if she were the last person on earth.

Maybe my relationship with Dane wasn’t straightforward. Maybe wealth, sex, and security played into it more than traditional relationships. That was allowed. If anything, it made me more possessive and protective over him, not less.

I did care about him, and what Aurora had done to him—revealing how vulnerable he was just to get her revenge—I’d kill her for it if he’d let me.

But no. For some reason, we were coddling the useless, wolfless woman just because—if I was understanding Dane right—she was the only one who could read a book full of old secrets.

I looked out over the wolves arranged for the ceremony, making sure they were in the right places. Sometimes some of the more powerful wolves in the pack tried to take spots from the younger wolves, or the ones who weren’t quite as strong.

Strength was important, but it wasn’t everything. When I was Luna of this pack, my main priority would be to make sure everyone had enough, and that no one got greedy.

With Dane as their Alpha, the wolves of Blue Ridge would always have enough.

My phone rang, interrupting my thoughts. I let go of Dane’s arm to look down at it. My smile froze on my face, and I pressed my phone screen against my chest as I turned to Dane. "I have to take this. I’ll be back before the ceremony."

Dane nodded, and I hurried into the house, my heels clicking as I jogged. I went into a small, out-of-the-way room and closed the door before I answered.

"Mom," I said. "What? How much do you want this time?"

"Evie!" she drawled in the fake voice I hated. "Don’t be like that. Your brother and I just got a little silly in Vegas. I only need a little bit."

"How much?" I repeated, biting off the words.

"Two hundred thousand," she said. Then she laughed. "That’s pocket change for a woman with a billionaire fiancé."

"Did you call Aunt Fiona?"

"My sister?" Mom’s voice turned sour. "She’s such a stingy bitch. I know my daughter will be more generous with me. I’d hate for word of my… debts… to be leaked to the press. I’m sure your fiancé wouldn’t like it, either."