Sera's POV

Even though I'm shining brightly in the courtyard, I have no idea what's going on with me.

I feel uneasy in my wolf form. Too large. Too intelligent. Too *strong*. Wolves shouldn't look like this.

Even Caelan, the Alpha King, who appears to be fearless, is on his knees, as are all the wolves in my immediate vicinity.

Marcus looks at me as if I were a monster.

Perhaps I am.

"What did you do to me?" I attempt to speak, but my voice sounds layered—half wolf, half human—in a way that makes everyone cringe.

Slowly, Caelan stands with his ice-blue eyes fixed on mine. "Little wolf, I did nothing. You've always been like this."

"Liar!" The word explodes out of me, and the ground actually shakes. "I am an omega! I'm a wimp! I am—"

"A Moon Priestess," Caelan interrupts coolly. "The strongest female werewolf lineage in the world."

"No." My new body doesn't move properly when I try to back away. I falter and almost trip.

In a flash, Caelan is there, catching me despite the fact that he is human and I am in wolf form. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, his hands sunk into my glowing fur.

"Breathe," he orders. "For ten years, your wolf has lain dormant. She is still learning how to control this form.

My wolf. She's conscious. She's awake and screaming after ten years of silence, and I'm powerless to stop her.

She howls, "MATE," *"POWER. OURS. OURS AT LAST."*

"Sera." Marcus's voice cuts through my panic. Now he stands with his hands up as if he were approaching a savage. "Hear me out. Your mom—"

"You dare not mention my mother!" A surge of energy erupts from my body as the words tear from my lips.

Marcus is thrown fifteen feet backward into a tree after it strikes him.

God, oh God. I just attacked an Alpha, oh god.

Caelan says, "Good," and I notice that he's grinning. Grinning, in fact. "He deserves worse."

"I didn't mean to—"

"You did," I said. Right between my ears, Caelan's hand moves to my enormous head. My whole body trembles at the touch. "You secretly wished to harm him because of what he did to you. That's typical. That's good for you.

"Healthy?" I almost chuckle, but it sounds more like a bark. "I just threw a grown Alpha like a toy!"

"Because you're more powerful than him. More powerful than all of them. Caelan becomes quieter. "Why do you think you were retained as an omega? You would have killed them all if you had realized your true power.

That statement's veracity strikes me like a blow.

They were aware. They knew I was dangerous, even if they didn't know exactly what I was. They broke me down, reduced me to nothing, and made me believe I was nothing.

However, I am not nothing.

I'm as radiant as the moon itself.

"I want to shift back," I say. "I dislike this."

"Then change." Caelan moves aside to make room for me. "Your wolf is adept at it. You simply must have faith in her.

Have faith in the wolf that left me ten years ago? The wolf who silently allowed me to suffer?

My wolf then murmurs: *"I never left." I was keeping us safe. awaiting the time when we would be sufficiently resilient to endure."

I don't have time to prepare because the shift goes by so quickly. I'm a huge glowing wolf one moment. The next, I'm kneeling in the dirt, nude, and human again.

Before I even realize I'm cold, someone—Damien—throws a blanket over me.

"Well," grins Damien, "that was dramatic."

I'm trembling too much to yell at him. I feel as though I just finished a marathon. Twice.

I can't see anyone else because Caelan kneels in front of me. "Are you hurt?"

"No. Perhaps. I'm not sure." I grip the blanket more tightly. "Everything hurts."

"For a first shift following dormancy, that is typical." Despite his strength, his hand gently cups my face. "You performed well."

"I attacked Marcus."

"As I mentioned. You performed admirably.

I almost smile in spite of everything. Nearly.

Then I hear them approaching.

Steps. Many of them. from several angles.

Caelan's whole body stiffens. "Take her inside."

"What's happening?" I know already, but I ask. Now I can smell them, dozens of distinct wolf scents coming together here.

Damien murmurs, "Word travels fast," as he assists me in standing. "When you shifted, they felt the surge in power."

"Who sensed it?"

"Everyone." Caelan puts himself between the forest and me. "A Moon Priestess just woke up in every Alpha within a hundred miles."

Oh no.

I mumble, "They're coming for me."

"Yes."

"To kill me?"

"A few of them." The calmness in Caelan's voice is deadly. "People wish to dominate you. Make use of your influence for their benefit.

Holding his ribs where he struck the tree, Marcus staggers over. "If the Council finds out—" said Caelan.

A fresh voice says, "The Council already knows."

An elderly man emerges from the woods. Power emanates from him in waves, and he is ancient—somehow even older than Caelan. Six more old wolves come out of the trees behind him.

I can hear the tension in Caelan's voice as he says, "Alpha Gregor." "You're ahead of schedule."

"We sensed her waking up." I resist the impulse to duck behind Caelan as Gregor's gaze focuses on me. "The lineage of the Moon Priestess. We believed it to be extinct.

Caelan says bluntly, "You thought wrong."

"This is a problem." Another elderly Alpha comes forward. "There was a good reason why the Priestesses were exterminated. They pose too much of a risk. Too strong.

"Too female," I correct myself before I can stop myself. "You killed them because you were unable to control stronger women."

The silence that follows is deafening.

Then Gregor gives a chilly, ruthless laugh. "Bold words for someone who doesn't even know how to shift properly."

"She's learning," snarls Caelan.

"She poses a danger." A third Alpha gestures toward me. "Her powers must be bound. Before—" Place her under the Council's supervision."

"Before what?" Caelan cuts in. "Before she realizes that a single thought could destroy all of you?"

No one protests, but the Alphas get irritated. since it is accurate. When I shifted, I could feel the strength in my veins. Marcus could have been killed by me. might have killed them all.

I should be afraid of that thought.

Rather, it enrages me.

Gregor declares, "I vote we take her into custody." "Until we find out if she's stable."

"Denied," Caelan responds right away.

"That authority is not yours. This is a matter for the Council.

"She is my partner." Caelan lets out a growl. "I have all the authority I require because of that.”

The Alphas exchange glances. Then Gregor smiles, and it's a predatory smile that has just discovered a vulnerability.

"Your partner? How practical. His eyes sparkle. "Alpha King, tell me, did you claim her before or after you found out who she was?"

Caelan doesn't respond.

"He knew," Marcus says abruptly. "He's been well-known for a decade. I can smell the recognition on him. He has been observing her.

Betrayal hits me hard. "What?"

Caelan tightens his jaw. "Sera—"

"You knew?" I raise my voice. "You were aware of who I was? You did nothing while you saw me suffer for ten years."

"I couldn't take you before you were ready—"

"Ready?" It sounds broken when I laugh. "I was prepared to pass away! I fled to perish.

"They would have killed you if I had taken you sooner!" Caelan points to the Council. "You had to awaken first using your power. You had to have the strength to protect yourself.

"So you allowed me to go hungry. Allow them to torment me. My eyes are burning from tears. "You knew—you KNEW—that the bond I felt with Marcus was phony, but you let me think I was crazy for it!"

Caelan murmurs, "It wasn't entirely fake." "Your mother and his father struck a deal. The blood magic that bound you two together. It wasn't a mate bond, though. Yes, I am.

"How do I know that's true?" I'm trembling once more. "How can I be certain that you're not just another Alpha attempting to take advantage of me?"

Gold flashes in Caelan's eyes. "Because I would have taken you ten years ago when you were broken and weak if I had wanted to use you. Rather, I bided my time until you could join me on an equal footing.

"An equal?" Gregor laughs. "She is a woman. The Alpha King will always be superior to her.

"Watch me," I yell.

I don't resist when the power surges through me once more. I allowed it to spill out, to splinter the earth beneath us, to make all the wolves feel exactly who I am.

A priestess of the moon. The last of her kind. powerful enough to eliminate them all.

The Council Alphas take a step back, their eyes finally displaying fear.

Gregor, however, does not back down. He takes something out of his coat instead.

A blade. A strange blue sheen on a silver blade.

When Caelan says, "Moonstone," I hear fear in his voice for the first time since I've known him. "Where did you get that?"

"Insurance," says Gregor. "Just in case a Priestess came back."

Moonstone. Something in my memory is triggered by the word. * "Moonstone is the only thing that can kill us, baby," my mother said. Keep it away from them at all costs.

"The Council has decided," declares Gregor. "The Priestess will be restrained and bound. She will be eliminated if she doesn't comply.

"Over my dead body," growls Caelan.

"That can be set up."

Gregor moves more quickly than a person his age ought to be capable of. His moonstone knife is shining as he aims for me.

Caelan jumps and moves between us.

Instead of piercing my heart, the knife pierces his chest.