Chapter 15

Through Olivia’s Eyes

I was nervous.

No, scratch that, I was terrified.

It was all going to come down to this moment, and I silently prayed to the Goddess for everything to go perfectly. Everything depended on this first shift.

As I entered the hall, though, I couldn’t help but feel some satisfaction at the way people were gaping at me. I was proud of my design, and Jordan had elevated it to the next level. Based on their reactions, it was exactly as enthralling as I’d planned for it to be.

The bodice was simple, just a reconstructed sweetheart neckline, but the skirt was the star of the show. We had sewed hundreds of flower buds to the frame, and with each step I took toward the altar—and the glass wall that let in the Moon Goddess’s light—the further they gradually opened into a carpet of delicate white blooms.

By the time I reached Elroy, each bud had popped open under the Goddess’s light. He looked at me in amazement, and I tried not to shy away.

“Do you like my creation?” I asked him lowly.

“Olivia,” he said reverently, “you look ethereal.”

I felt my cheeks warm, but I embraced the satisfaction. I’d found these flowers in a corner of the manor gardens, and since they only bloomed under the full moon they were said to be blessed to the Moon Goddess. It had been insanely difficult weaving them together like this, but for the look on Elroy’s face, it was absolutely worth it.

Plus, it was a hell of a first impression for most of the people here. They would never forget me.

As I turned fully to the altar, I locked eyes with Louisa. The hatred in her eyes was molten. She mouthed one word at me daringly: Shift.

I took Elroy’s hand as we faced the officiant. All I could do was pray that I could.

The first part of the ritual was done in our human forms. As my hand sweated in Elroy’s I vowed myself to the Eclipse pack, to serve and protect it, and to support Elroy in every way as his Luna to keep the pack running smoothly. I swore to better the pack, no matter how difficult.

(They had no idea how true that last part was. There was so much this pack was still doing that our society had long outgrown, and I knew I was going to be public enemy #1 for pushing back against it.)

I was then instructed to turn to the audience and speak to my new pack. It was up to me to write this speech, but it flowed off of my tongue easily, because every word of it was true.

“Eclipse Pack,” I said, “I know I am not the Luna you had expected. I know there is a great deal of talk around me, having come from a different pack and with so much public drama recently. But I am grateful to you.

“I am grateful to be given a home. I am grateful to be given a Mate, a child, and a purpose. I am grateful to you for giving me the honorable opportunity to prove myself to you.”

I took a deep breath. “After the agony of my first pack bond severing, I was terrified that I would never feel any comfort again. By the grace of the Moon Goddess, I was mistaken.

“You have allowed me entry into your home, and now you allow me to claim it as my home too. For this kindness alone I will owe you for the rest of my days. And so I swear to devote myself to you, to work for the betterment of your lives, to guarantee your safety and security, until the breath leaves my lungs.”

I looked out over the crowd, then offered a smile. “Thank you, Eclipse, for letting me earn your trust. May the Moon Goddess bless our pack forevermore.”

And, thank the Goddess herself, the audience clapped.

I took Elroy’s hand once more and turned to the officiant, my stomach squirming with nerves. Elroy squeezed my hand as if to tell me I’d said the right things. The officiant spoke.

“As the midnight bell tolls, the Moon Goddess calls Alpha and Luna to the ancient rite. By Her light, become your wolves, that your souls may be laid bare before Her.”

I took a deep breath.

Please please please please—

The bell tolled. I reached for my other form.

Just like during the ritual with Apothecary Iris, the initial rush of pain was excruciating. I grit my teeth through it, knowing that it would ease momentarily as it always had, but this time it would be worse.

Everyone knew a first shift was painful. For one’s body to take on a form it was unfamiliar with, to rearranged muscle and bone and tendon, was an unpleasant experience at best. The older you were when it happened, the worse it would be.

I felt my spine curve, and heard my shoulders crack wetly. It sounded gruesome. It felt worse.

But it was working.

I pushed myself farther into it, knowing I could handle it. I glimpsed a light out of the corner of my eye—it was Elroy. No, it was Elroy’s Mark.

The moment he Marked me a matching Mark appeared on his own neck, and from this close I could see that it was dimly glowing. Apothecary Iris’s words flowed through my mind. Your Mate can help you bare the pain.

The reason the pain wasn’t as bad as I expected was because Elroy had been taking half of it. Why would he do that? Why wouldn’t he tell me?

How did he even find out?

I heard a light murmur behind us, and I realized my transformation had slowed when I lost focus. I had to toss my questions to the side—they weren’t important, not if I didn’t shift fully. I threw myself into it again.

There was silence. And then, a voice I could barely remember hearing once before, faint but familiar.

“Hello, Olivia,” my wolf said. “Long time no see.”

My eyes snapped open. The first thing I saw was my two furry front paws, proof of a full transformation. It had worked.

I had shifted into a silver wolf.