Page 50 of Luna Ascending

Aurora will have turned eighteen by the time of the ceremony too. She might find her fated-mate when the packs gather... it would get her away from Lyell. I grin to myself. I didn't even truly believe in fated-mates until recently and here I playing matchmaker!

It's worrying me though, that she still doesn't have her wolf back. Shifters gain their wolf at sixteen, with some appearing a little earlier, to give us time to forge the bond between wolf and person. Then from eighteen we gain the ability to sense our mate, if we have one out there.

I don't really understand how it works to be fair, but part of being able to sense your mate involves your wolf. Without it, there's no guarantee she'll recognise him, although he might recognise her. My other gut-wrenching worry for her is, if she's still without her wolf, her mate might reject her. The prospect of a wolf-less shifter as a mate could easily be enough to sway a lesser man. I won't let that happen to my baby-sister.

I catch Morganna off guard one day. The pack grudgingly trust her enough to allow her to wander around on her own, and Angus has finally stopped trailing her like a puppy.

When she told me she had various memory blanks from her time as the Coven's hostage it was a gut-punch. I was hoping she'd know something about how the shifter's lost their wolves. I could sense it's been frustrating her deeply- it's fucking frustrating me. I know she's only done basic grounding majik with the bracelet off, but I need her to extend herself.

“Morganna, a word?” I ooze alpha, this isn't a request. She dips her head in acknowledgement “Are the pack making you feel more at home?”

“Yes, Alpha. They don't trust me, but ...” she trails off looking cross

“Hardly surprising Morganna” I snip. I need her a little rattled “Our experience of the Coven has taught us to distrust witches. And as soon as you had your power you nearly brought down my pack house.”

“I hate the Coven. Don't dare associate me with them” her voice rises in a challenge although she pokes the ground with a toe, refusing to meet my eye.

“Hm. Perhaps there is a way to prove that, and earn your place here”

Morganna's head snaps up and she looks directly at me. “Tell me...alpha”

Hmm. At least there's a nod to submission there, however weak, and I need her right now. “How are the Coven separating shifters from their animals? I need to know. I need my sister with a wolf and...” I pause unsure how much to tell this unstable witch.

“You want to reverse it” Morganna states matter of factly, shooting me a calculating glance “if you could reverse it, you would gain the loyalty of all those separated, and likely their packs' loyalty too”

“Very good. You think like a strategist, when you think” She inhales sharply at the barb.

“You... you have a point” She swallows “I don't remember. I already told you.”

“I took that on board Morganna. The hostages also can't remember what happened. You will use you majik to look into their memories. If you do that, you will have proved yourself.”

Her eyes glint “I can look, but what happens if I loose control?”

She's not dumb. She knows she's unstable and a risk – to us, herself and her tenuous position here. “I'll take responsibility Morganna. I am asking you to do this – if it goes wrong it's on my shoulders”

She regards me for a long moment, then gives a tense nod. She takes off her suppression charm and, to my surprise, hands it to me “get it back on if there's a problem.”

I noise up Carl, perhaps the toughest of the newly recruited shifters. He was a rogue wolf-shifter before being captured by the Coven and knows how to look after himself. He's young, angry and eager for revenge... but without his wolf he's got little chance against the Coven.

All of the recruits have a memory blank over what happened right before they lost their wolf, like it's been deliberately erased. I'm fucking sure it has – this stinks of the Coven's manipulation. When I offer him the chance to find out what happened to him, he jumps at it.

I know he thinks we'll definitely be able to reverse it once we know what happened, and I don't dissuade him of the idea. I've no fucking idea if we'll be able to... but I need someone to step up and let Morganna rifle through their memories. I'm potentially misleading him, but I won't allow it to bother me. I need this for Aurora. The pack needs this.

If the rumours are anything to go by then our new recruits are not the only shifters to be separated from their animals. If I can somehow reverse it, I have a way of growing this pack significantly – an alpha who returns stolen shifter animals is going to gain a shit load of loyalty. Goddess knows we need strengthandnumbers to fight the Coven.

I set Carl and Morganna up in a small cottage on the edge of the estate – far enough away from the pack-house that I hope any disturbance won't be felt. Tavey's pacing around anxiously.

“Aaron, I don't know this is a good idea... why don't you let me or Freya try?”

I roll my eyes “Morganna is far more experienced in witchcraft than either of you!” I know my beta is very wary of his mother and has struggled to forge a bond so I take a chance on mind-linking him “and she's more expendable than either of you...”

His eyes flick in my direction and widen slightly, but his face remains otherwise impassive in front of Morganna. He's good, my beta. He knows the implications of us being able to repair shifter-animal bonds. I'm almost salivating at the idea of having the chance to expand the pack with some new blood.

Morganna gives a little cough and she and Carl settle down to begin. They both shut their eyes, then she places a hand on either side of Carls head, leans in and presses her forehead to his. A light thrumming fills the air and I swear the room cools by a couple of degrees.

The humming intensifies, becoming louder, more insistent, almost buzzing. It's getting inside my fucking head nevermind Carl's.

I guess something is happening because Carl's eyes begin to flicker rapidly under his eyelids and his lips start to move. Morganna's getting more agitated too... the cottage gives a light tremor. Tavey and I look at each other before moving towards her. I'm holding the suppression bracelet in my hand, ready just in case.

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