Page 37 of Moonmarked

“Well, I mean I wasn’t going to just let those guys kill you,” I muttered, my cheeks heating up again.

“I know. I saw. Ifeltyou, and that became my catalyst. It’s why my wolf finally allowed me to come forth.”

There went my mind, all nice and black again. “Yeah, you lost me again. I have no clue what that means.”

Her smile was bigger this time, and the more she looked at me, the more I thought she might be…in awe.Like I surprised her as much as she surprised me.

“A werewolf is born Verenthian and shifts with the first full moon after the age of sixteen,” she told me, her voice low and quiet, so damn soothing to my ears. I could listen to her speak for hours. “Once the wolf takes over, he becomes our protector, our better half, our guardian.”

I shook my head. “You’re talking aboutthe wolfas if she were a separate being from you.” At least that’s what it sounded like to me.

“She is,” Maera said. “She is very much her own being. We exist in the same body simultaneously. Right now, she’s much more powerful than me, and that is why she didn’t allow me to take over until now. Until she felt I would be safe. Until she felt she could trust me to handle myself.” Her hand reached up and I was too stunned to move away, but all she did was press the tips of her fingers to the middle of my forehead ever so gently. “Because of you.”

I shook my head, suddenly so fucking aware of myself, my ownboringness. I was so very ordinary in this world it wasn’t even funny.

“I didn’t even do anything,” I muttered.

She took my hand between hers and squeezed tightly. “You stood for me. Accepted death for me. That iseverything.”

Goose bumps all over my arms. “I didn’t really plan to do any of it, though.”

“And that is why your faith was so powerful. It waspure,” she said and let go. Leaned back and closed her eyes. “All is well now.”

Just as she said that, we heard movement.

The wolves were already back.

Those gigantic wolves that seemed to just pop out of thin air between the trees, watching us, massive and alert and ready to tear me apart limb by limb…

I was on my feet before I knew it—which made Maera laugh. Even her laughter wasquietsomehow. So calm.

“Don’t fear, Nilah. They will not hurt you. They will protect you with their lives.”

“Right, right—but if they could juststay far away, that would be great. Just don’t come close to me—at all—and we’re all good.”

More laughter. “As you wish,” she told me, and she didn’t even have to look back at the wolves—they began to walk backward to where they came from all on their own.

Fucking hell, what kind of a dream is this?

“So, what now?” I asked. “What happens to you now?”

“Now, I go back to The Vale, to my pack. I take back my leadership from those who’ve forced their way onto my father’s throne.”

“Yes, buthow? Aren’t they going to just sell you to the sorcerers again? Don’t you think it’s best if you just stayed away from The Vale altogether?” Because that’s exactly whatIwould have done. It was common sense.

But Maera shook her head, and the wind picked up her blonde hair and pushed it to the side like it was caressing her. “The Vale is where my people are. That’s where I belong. That’s where the trouble, the lies, everything that is wrong is. That is where I need to be,” she said. My stomach fell. “But I will be all right. I can command what is minenow. Thanks to your bond, I can command my birthright. I can make things right again.”

I nodded, and I was happy for her, I really was.

But her words…there was something about them. Something I heard. Something that was just between the lines that my instincts responded to.

Where everything is wrong. Where I need to be.

“I’m glad you believe it, Maera. And if you do, you’ll get there. I have no doubt,” I said, half my attention on the wolves that I could barely see now between the trees. “It was very nice to meet you.”

“It was nice to meet you, too,” she said with a deep nod. “The stars sent you for me, I know it. I am forever grateful.”

And I was, too. I was glad for her, except now it was time to go, and to be on my own, and I wasnot gladfor that part at all. But even so, I smiled. Held my chin up. Breathed in deeply.

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