Chapter 36 EVELYN

I gritted my teeth. Dane was generous, but I didn’t have access to his accounts. I made plenty of my own money by anyone’s standards, or I would, if my own mother wasn’t constantly begging me to cover her gambling debts.

But not this time. I’d been telling her for years I wasn’t going to do it anymore. This time, I was going to put my foot down.

“N–no, Mom,” I said. Damn the waver in my voice, but I wasn’t going to back down. Not this time. Not when Dane had really, truly promised we’d set a date. I’d be his wife, his mate, his Luna, and the mother of…well, my child.

My mother’s voice turned dangerous. “Evie, I know you aren’t refusing me. You know what happens when people refuse.”

“It’s not like it used to be,” I told her. “I’m with Dane now. I have the protection of the entire Blue Ridge Pack. I’m going to be their Luna, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

My mother laughed, low and dangerous. “Oh, darling, you’ve forgotten my power. But that’s all right. Have your tantrum. I’ll remind you not to cross me.”

Her words sent so much terror through me, I changed my mind. I opened my mouth to say I was joking; of course, I’d send her money.

But the line went dead. She’d hung up on me.

“Evelyn!” Dane called from somewhere outside the room. “It’s time.”

I straightened my dress, pasted a smile on my face, and went to find my fiancé.

As long as I could keep him away from Aurora, he would always keep me safe. She thought Esther Reed was bad? She had no idea.

PIPER

I waited for my brother just inside the door. He walked in just before dark, when Aurora was already calling people for the ceremony.

“Do you have them?” he asked.

I nodded and handed him two plastic sandwich bags. Each of them had hair taken from the twins’ hairbrushes.

He examined the bags, looking troubled. I thought I knew why.

You’re worried you’re going to have children with two women, I said into his mind. It was easier, better, more private. As the princess of Blue Ridge, I knew the value of privacy. That’s why it made me squirm to think how I’d violated Aurora’s.

Dane looked at me sharply. I saw them, Piper. She thinks in the midst of all this I forgot. I didn’t. There’s something she’s not telling me. If they’re mine…

I nodded, even though I wasn’t sure how he meant to end that sentence.

Aurora was the desire of my brother’s heart. If I believed her—and I wasn’t nearly as sure as he was that she was a liar—he was the desire of hers. Where did that leave the children, if they were his?

Where did it leave Evelyn and her baby?

Dane glanced over his shoulder. “It’s time to start. I want you in that circle. If anyone is going to gain this power that isn’t Aurora, I want it to be you.”

I blushed. My brother’s trust was high praise. He hardly trusted anyone.

I don’t want to believe she’d have your children and not tell you, but… I have heard them call her “Mommy,” I said.

Rage flashed in Dane’s eyes, because if they were Aurora’s, they were either his… or she’d slept with someone very, very close to the time she’d left. Whether it was before they’d severed their bond or after, I had no idea.

All I knew was that she and my brother had something about them…both of them, but they only seemed to hurt each other. That wasn’t healthy. It would be better if the kids weren’t his—better for him, and for Aurora.

“Let me know what you find out,” I said.

He tucked the baggies in his pocket. “I will. Now help me find Evelyn.”

AURORA

The moon was rising. I was surrounded by 100 wolves. I stood on the grass of the Blue Ridge pack house in my bare feet, my face upturned.

It was a warm summer night, not too hot or damp. The sky was clear—perfect for calling on the goddess.

Dane stood in a special place in the circle—a place where he could raise and concentrate the power the goddess had given him as an Alpha.

When the moon climbed to its highest point, I signaled the wolves. All around me, torches lit.

When every single one held a flame, I raised my arms and called on the goddess.

I wasn’t exactly sure of the language. It was so ancient, there wasn’t a scholar on earth who could understand it.

But I knew the words. I felt them in my heart.

As I chanted, I looked to Dane. From my place in the center of the circle, it looked like he stood right under the moon, as if the goddess was showing me he was chosen, too.

My voice rose with the chant. As I reached the last line, the torches around me flickered. Their light changed.

They turned from red and orange flame to ghostly blue and silver.

As my words faded into the night, the moon seemed to flash. Her light lit the sky. It dazzled my eyes and made it seem like the sky was full of glitter.

Then I realized there was glitter: motes of moonlight that flashed and gleamed. They gathered above the circle where 100 wolves waited.

This is it. This is the moment I’m not hated anymore.

Maybe it’s the moment I get my wolf back.

I closed my eyes and reached for the sky, as if the goddess might hand her to me.

Then I heard everyone gasp.

I opened my eyes and looked.

The motes had coalesced into something like a waterfall of light. It fell from the sky, lighting the chosen with power.

But the chosen…wasn’t me.

It was Evelyn.