Page 51 of In the Light of the Moon

Maybe it was too soon—it’d only been a month and a half of dating. Perhaps it was an inappropriate time. One where I should have constructed a private, intimate moment to share my feelings towards her. But being around Sylvie helped me feel free of second-guessing my lack of social graces. She understood.

I kissed her one more time, and when our lips pulled back, I couldn’t hold the words to myself any longer. Telling her that she was my mate would come later. This, though, I could do. It felt as natural as shifting to tell her, “I love you.”

She gave a little gasp, a sharp inhale of air, but I didn’t have time to grow worried because the deepest, sweetest aroma flooded my senses. Sylvie brought both of her hands to my face, and she passed her nose over mine back and forth. If I hadn’t been in my human form, my tail would have been wagging ferociously.

“I love you too, Orion.” When she pulled back, her smile was brighter than any sun or moon rise. “Thank you for being so amazing. I’m so happy with you,” and then she laughed merrily, like being mine was as much a gift as being hers was to me.

I kissed the round tip of her nose and tucked a stray lock of her hair behind her ear, “I’m ridiculously happy with you, too. Happier than I’ve ever been.”

And when we exited my car and entered the building for the day, I remarked on how that night we met now felt like such a blessing. Even with the troubles I still faced, having Sylvie in my life made it feel brighter, worth living.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Jasper

The knot in my stomach didn’t seem to loosen anymore these days. Not when I was running, not when I was working, and I just ended up tossing and turning when I was trying to sleep.

Our Pack Leader’s pacing was not helping. He got on edge between every solstice and equinox, but this was the worst I’d seen him since we started all of this. The relief after the last one was short-lived, and I knew that my hours of scouting the witches was for nothing at this point.

“What do we do now? They’re mated.” I complained and picked under my fingernails. The four of us were gathered at his house, trying to think through our options and coming up with too many that weren’t as attractive as the one we’d been working toward for a while.

He grunted and continued to pace. I was his best scout and still hadn’t come up with someone that was a good enough replacement.Hewanted her specifically. The winter solstice was the most important one, he said, and we’d all been feeling thepressure to get this right. Snow still hadn’t fallen this year, but I could feel it coming. The weeks were ticking by, and while I worked long hours at Dad’s store, my mind just kept running around and around with nothing to show for it.

I went to the kitchen and grabbed two beers, knowing that he would want one, too. Just like I thought, he reached for the proffered bottle immediately. When he thanked me with a tight nod, I felt my chest puff up with pride. I was the Leader’s right hand, even rising further than Dad who’d been a member of the pack since he moved to town in his early twenties.

Graham muttered something under his breath before taking a long gulp from the bottle. I took a sip myself before daring to ask him to repeat what he just said.

“Not claimed,” he muttered again, eyes gazing forward but not focused on his audience. After Graham challenged our old Leader and took over, he’d changed his inner circle to us. No one left the pack, but there was a definite divide between all of us. But they just didn’t understand. We were moving the pack forward, cementing our ownership of the territory and us as the guardians of Antler Pointe Forest.

It took me a few minutes to digest what Graham was saying, but while I was blinking at him, trying to understand those two words, Ana uncrossed her legs and leaned forward beside me. “She’s his mate but isn’t claimed?” Her face was twisted in the same confusion that I felt, but the knot in my gut was moving and flexing. Growing.

When he refocused on the three of us on the sunken leather couch, he still looked half a world away. “He says that she’s his mate, but there’s no true claiming bite. Can’t you smell it?” His lips started curling up, and he took another sip from his bottle, nodding to himself.

Graham began spouting off more explanation, but I still couldn’t move past the first thing. The most important detail.“But—” I interrupted “—she’s not shifter. Not Wolf. Shecan’tbe bitten unless he wants to risk turning her. So…” I opened my free hand in a helpless gesture. Two of us here had parents in the same boat. Mom wasn’t a shifter, and neither was Declan’s dad. Though some shifters didn’t fully recognize it, they were still our parents’ mates, claiming bite or not.

Instead of pausing, seeing my reasoning, and turning to other options, Graham stopped before me, looming and narrowing his eyes. Mine automatically dropped to the beaten wood floor, and my cheeks blazed with what was to come.

“Are you questioning my leadership, Jasper?” His Leader scent was raining down on me, hot and suffocating, and I swallowed back the whine that tried to erupt from my throat. This was the third time since the coffee shop that he’d accused me of doing such, but this was the first time that… I realized I actually was.

But Graham was a good Pack Leader, bringing in more members, strengthening our foothold on the land, and aligning us with beings more powerful than we’d ever imagined. We were stronger and more connected to the forest. If—if this was the way to do it, I could understand. I had to.

“No, Leader. I’m behind you. We are behind you.” I spoke to the floor, and the others muttered their agreement. We bowed to and would follow our Pack Leader to the end. We were the most loyal, and if taking her was what needed to be done—whathewould want—then we would do it.

There was a tense moment where I wondered if he’d try to make an example of me, but eventually, the onslaught of the dominant scent receded, and so did the sight of his pristine Air Force One’s. I let out a large, silent exhale.

Graham and the others began discussing plans, solstice and otherwise, and I nodded along, trying to ignore the knot that hadjust doubled in size instead of shrinking. We were still moving forward with our original solstice plan.

Another hunt, another kill, another blessing. Because wewereblessed. And she would be the most important one yet. My mouth watered, remembering how the surge of power felt. Whenhewould bless us and further our connection to the land.

Memories of hanging out with her and my old crew from middle school flitted through my mind, but I shoved them back. Just like I had to do for Kara, Wes, and River.

Not claimed, the glint in Graham’s eye when he came to that conclusion stayed stamped behind my eyes long after I left his place and drove home. Orion wasn’t pack but he was Wolf, and he’d marked her as his mate. Just like Dad had done Mom. Would we admit this to the others? Though they all consented to Graham’s ruling that all Other Wolves were forbidden to run on our land, I could tell that most didn’t harbor any ill will toward Orion. In fact, some spoke of him and his family fondly when they thought the four of us weren’t listening.

But surely Graham had already thought of that, because he thought of everything. I just couldn’t remember. I’d been too preoccupied—all of this was stressful, but once this was over, we’d be able to relax.

Unless it was gonna start back the next equinox. When… when were we blessed enough?

I shook that thought away while I climbed out of the car and headed up the stairs to my apartment. Graham solved our problem, and I was grateful. Scouting was what I was best at, and I would continue to do it so that we could plan the right time. And we would feelhispower and all its healing, and all of this would be worth it.

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