CASSANDRA

The first thing I noticed when my eyes snapped open was the heavy silence. No howling wind. No voices or pain, or ice in my lungs. The bed beneath me was soft, unlike everything else around me. The stone walls, sparse furniture and a glowing fireplace in the corner which threw warm light on the plain furs that covered my body dominated the space. It wasn't the grand golden chambers I'd imagined the Lycan King would live in. 

My body still ached, but I wasn't freezing anymore and my head was clearer. I sat up slowly, swinging my legs over the bed and that's when I noticed my clothes had been changed into a soft tunic, long enough to cover my knees. The faint smell of cedar from the tunic reminded me of the Lycan King, and then the memories came rushing back- memories I've buried for so long.

I was sixteen the first time I saw him. I was lost in the woods, running from my bullies who'd shifted into their wolves, tormenting me by hunting me down, releasing me and asking me to hide again. They laughed as I cried, and on that day, I ran deeper into the woods than I ever had before. That was where I found him.

Wounded. Bleeding. Half-shifted. His wolf was as beautiful as it was scary, but something told me not to run. I tore off a part of my dress and cautiously approached, before wrapping his wound. I stayed with him, even after he shifted into his naked human form, until some strange men came and quickly carried him away without a "thank you". But in their haste, they'd left behind a bloodied pendant and an enamored sixteen year old. Back then, I dreamt of him with a primal longing that made my heart race. He had been my wildest sex fantasies, but those dreams crumbled to dust and died when my wolf wouldn't come the next year and the year after. I was left with no option than to listlessly resign myself to a life of mediocrity, clinging to the hope that Aiden would give me the belonging I craved.

And now he was dying. The thought hit me like a rock in the chest. I had no idea how long I'd been unconscious. Shoving off the covers, I rose to shaky legs because I had to find Killian, and the antidote. Now.

I padded barefoot across the cold stone into the empty hallway. There were no guards or servants around, just quiet, endless corridors. Where was he? It was after I'd heard the sound of water that I turned a couple corners and found him in a steam-packed pool carved into the center of the room. His back was to me, silver wet hair draped over the broadest, most powerful shoulders I've ever seen. Every sinew of muscle rippled as he moved. The sight sent a rush of heat to my belly, threatening to make my knees buckle. 

Snap out it, Cassandra!

I couldn't look away, but not until he turned, saw me and slowly rose from the water, sending the flames to my cheeks. The water streamed down his body, catching on the ridges of his abdomen and his huge member beyond. 

The blood beat in my brain when I noticed my nipples were jutting out, and the air was heavy with the smell of my arousal as the wetness pooled beneath me.

Damn it!

His body was... perfect. And I couldn't do anything to keep the dirty thoughts that invaded my head at bay. He moved to the edge of the pool and draped a robe over his nakedness, yet it did little to mute the power coiled beneath his skin.

"You're awake." his deep baritone sent a tiny shiver through me. "Still worried about your boyfriend?"

I nodded. "I didn't mean to intrude. I needed to speak with you."

A brief, but weighty pause followed during which his eyes landed and lingered on my nipples. He finally looked up, wetting his full, blood-red lips."I know. You should eat something."

"I'm sorry, but I must decline on that because I need to return to the Pack immediately, of course... with the antidote."

"I am not asking, Cassandra. You're not leaving here hungry, unless you don't want to return to your Pack alive. You're shaking." His voice was calm, almost gentle, but threaded with a quiet authority that made disobedience feel like a foreign concept. "Your bag is ready with the supplies you need, and my men will see you home." 

He raised a hand and a middle-aged bald man who looked every inch a healer, walked into the room wearing a hooded cloak. He handed the Lycan King a small vial filled with a glowing, pale liquid, then wordlessly, in the same fashion, he bowed and left.

"This will save him," he said, flooding my chest with so much hope and relief.

I bowed gratefully, unable to hold back the face-splitting smile. "I-I can't thank you enough-"

"There is a condition attached. You must come back here as soon as he's healed." 

My smile vanished.

I stared at him, unblinking. "What? That isn't possible. I'll become the Pack's Luna once Aiden is back on his feet. Leaving the Pack would be impossible."

His demeanour thawed, taking a soft, sullen dive. "It is for your own good. Do you think a Pack would ever accept a Luna without a wolf? Having had my eyes on you these years, I think you've spent too long letting others decide who you are. You have more heart than anyone I've ever known. If you return, I may help you find your wolf."

I blinked, stunned. But every trace of hope vanished as quickly as it'd stirred. "I don't have a wolf. And I'll never have one." It was impossible to find your wolf after 20.

"You don't know that." He didn't blink.

"It's been nine years. I know." For a moment I thought he was being sarcastic, but the seriousness on his face said otherwise. 

He said nothing. Instead, he dropped the vial, stepped back and then closed his eyes. In an instant, he was gone, and in his place stood the largest wolf I'd ever seen. Silver and storm-cloud grey. His eyes were the same molten gold. 

My breath caught again. His wolf was the most beautiful creature I'd ever laid my eyes on. Then, he approached slowly, stopping a few inches away before pressing his snout to the center of my brow.

A strange warmth I'd never felt before suddenly bloomed across my skin and then took root inside me, like sunlight slipping through frost. My breath caught as I staggered back a few steps, hyperventilating when I heard a heartbeat and purr inside my head.

"What...was that?" I whispered, voice shaking, eyes wide with disbelief. 

Killian shifted back in a blink, not winded, watching. "Your wolf has been asleep, Cassandra. She was always there with you." He broke the spell when he threw the robe over his body and handed me the vial. "Hurry along. You might want to get back before the blizzard starts." Then he walked past me, leaving the gears turning in my head and my cheeks aflame.

Gratitude. Confusion. Awe. Joy. They were all cramped inside me.

After helping myself to a generous heap of pottage and venison in the dining room, I left with the two guards that stopped me at the gates the day before, feeling the best I had in almost a decade. By the time I returned to the Crescent Moon Pack, the night had fallen.

But the Pack wasn't quiet. There were lights. Music. Laughter. That was the only cue I needed to know there was a celebration, and with the discovery came questions. Thousands of them.

"What was happening? Had they saved Aiden? Or," I didn't dare to think it ",was this a funeral?"

I stepped past the clearing and into the front of the Packhouse castle. The decorations were the same as they were on the night Aiden almost named me his Luna. I moved closer through the tightly packed crowd, my heart thudding so hard I feared it would blow to bits. 

Then, I heard it.

"She's truly blessed by the Moon Goddess." A happy teenage girl giggled past, with her friends. "She healed the Alpha, can you believe it?"

No. No. It couldn't be. I pushed through the crowd, moving towards the ceremonial circle at blazing speed, as snippets from the crowd continued to buzz all around me.

"She's the chosen one." 

"Such a miracle."

When my eyes finally landed on the balcony above, my heart stopped beating. 

Aiden stood there. Awake. Alive.

And... oh, goddess, No! I hoped I was hallucinating, that I was having a nightmare. My body was shaking so heavily and my brain struggled to process what I was seeing.

Because standing next to him with a face-splitting grin, dressed in pure white and holding his hand... Was Skylar.