Chapter 304

Wendy’s mouth dropped open as she stared at me. “Are you serious?” I nodded as I met her gaze. I was planning on telling them this tonight, anyway. After graduation and the celebration, but things change, obviously.

“Why haven’t you told us?” Hanna stood from the table. She seemed hurt, but I had my reasons.

I winced at her tone, but I turned and met her glare head-on. “To be honest, this was just a working theory until about a month ago.” I looked at Wendy and Hanna. “When you both settled into your new rank, I wanted to see if this was an anomaly and that you weren’t going to revert back to being unranked. I was also thinking that I was reading you too deeply because we are connected. So, I talked it out with Toya, and we decided to wait to tell you.” I looked at Toya, and she jumped in.

Toya nodded. “We discussed it, the possibility of it. Amy asked me if I had noticed anything about you two first. But since we were together every day, I had to take a minute to figure out the change. Once I noticed the jump, we talked about what we should do. We didn’t want to give you hope only to have it taken away.”

Hanna slumped into her chair. “Are you sure that we won’t—!” She looked between the two of us, and I could see the hope and also the acceptance that this was all just a huge mistake.

I reached out my hand and grabbed hers, giving it a squeeze before dropping it. “After you both stayed gammas for over a month, I went looking.”

Micca traced the table with her finger absently. “Looking for what?”

“I went looking for more records. I spent nights in the stacks looking for any references for this ever happening before.” I yawned so wide I cracked my jaw.

“What did you find?” Wendy leaned in.

I wiped my eyes before I answered. “Nothing.” I watched her deflate. “So I started in my father’s old records, and when that didn’t pan out, I went to the source.”

“The goddess?” Hanna snapped her head in my direction.

I laughed. “No, sadly, she wasn’t interested in giving me a direct answer, but I asked. I asked my grandmother. She had been around for a very long time. Her family was close to the pack before that as well.” I leaned against the table. “She explained to me what I just did to you. That the goddess gives wolves the ability to get stronger. Obviously, there is a limit. I don’t know what it is. But there is always a limit on how much one person can do.”

Toya snorted. “Coming from you, that is funny.”

“What?” I reared back, but everyone else laughed. “Anyway. Let’s figure this out.” I looked around and waited for everyone else to agree. One by one, they all nodded. I jumped up and clapped. “Once we do this, we can catch a few hours of sleep. I’ll figure it out tomorrow in the morning.” My brain was pretty much mush at this point, and I knew I needed sleep. But this had to happen first.

I ran to the kitchen and grabbed five bowls. Might as well join them. I placed one in front of everyone, and then I pulled the rest of the stuff from the bag. I gave everyone a tea light, and then used the twine to create small bundles of herbs.

“What is this stuff?” Micca leaned over and sniffed the bundle I placed in front of her.

I picked up each bundle one by one. “Yarrow, mugwort, rose, rosemary, and ginkgo. Alone, they aren’t much, but together, with a little sacrifice and the right words, and we have a spell.” I handed the last bundle to Wendy. “I’ll go first.” I placed the candle in the center of the bowl and lit it. “Fuck.” I got up and went to the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and came back.

“A knife?” Hanna paled, but I just chuckled.

“You fought rogues tonight, and you’re afraid of a knife?” I sat back down and used the knife to prick my finger. I counted the drops. “Three drops.” I grabbed the bundle of herbs and twirled them over the flame until they caught. The smoke billowed, and I called out. “Ano septa clu dine.” The smoke darkened. And then, in the dark smoke, the moon goddess stood proudly.

“Holy shit,” Toya murmured. But it wasn’t until the moon goddess turned to look at us and murmured, “I, Selene, claim you.” Then she disappeared.

The triple-faced goddess appeared next. Her words were stronger. “I, Hekate, claim you.” Then the smoke cleared, and everyone was speechless.

“Holy shit, it worked,” Hanna whispered, and we all laughed.

“Did you doubt me?”