Chapter 18

Tessa’s POV

Evander is saying something to me right now, but I can’t make out a single word he’s saying.

It can’t be good, though, because his eyes are blazing and his brow is set and even if I can’t hear anything his anger still has a way of ricocheting around the room. It must be about the Alpha Ball–he must still be mad about Gabriel.

And I can’t defend myself, can’t assure him it was nothing, can’t clear up anything about the situation…

I can’t say a thing.

It’s hopeless.

Evander pauses, then his expression softens ever so slightly as understanding seems to settle over him. He begins to slow down his words. I do my best to read his lips, but all I can catch are a few broken words.

“Mira… assets… separated…” He seems to be saying.

A lump forms in my throat.

So he’s telling me to prepare for the divorce.

I can feel panic beginning to set in again–not being able to hear always has me in a state of disarray, and combined with the stress from the pregnancy, from my inevitable divorce being so much closer than I thought it would be, meaning I’ll have to deal with it now instead of later on–

His delay in the divorce was only ever for financial reasons, it seems. Now that the asset transfer has been completed, I’ve lost what little value I ever held for him.

Evander doesn’t have any reason to be kind to me anymore.

But what can I do about any of it?

Evander stops talking, looking down at me expectantly.

But the sadness clouds my mind, overtaking me almost completely. I don’t even want to try and speak right now.

I simply nod, looking away from Evander and towards the floor.

Evander scowls again, seeming irritated by my response–or my lack thereof. He turns and leaves the room we used to share with little ceremony, leaving me alone in my misery.

I breathe out a heavy sigh and eventually manage to stand up. It’s getting late, and I should at least try to get ready for bed so I can get some sleep before tomorrow–it’s a big day for me and my students, after all. I grab my phone, fire off an emergency message to a courier to have a spare hearing aid shipped to me for tomorrow, and promptly collapse for the night.

The next morning, I’m relieved to find my new hearing aid resting on my nightstand, along with a note from a maid confirming it’s fully set up for use already. The early morning sun shines brightly through the window. I do my best to shake off all of last night’s agony as I put on my hearing aids, relieved to hear the sounds of the world filtering in once more.

Today is going to be a good day.

It’s the first day of the kindergarten’s summer camp, and I’m the main organizer.

I get dressed, grab breakfast, and drive to work quickly. The schoolbusses are waiting to depart in the parking lot. My students arrive promptly, and once everyone’s here, we all pile into the schoolbus.

“Alright, children!” I beam from the front of the bus. “Are we all excited for our day in the countryside?”

“Yes, Miss Everly!” Comes a chorus of enthused replies.

I chuckle fondly and look out the window as we roll past the city limits and into the countryside, a beautiful swath of land marked by rolling green pastures and beautiful meadows of wildflowers. Once we’ve arrived at our location for the day, the bus comes to a stop. Me, a couple other teachers, and all the students make our way off the bus.

After a lovely picnic in the lush fields, I gather all my students around. “Are we ready for today’s main event?” I ask with a grin.

“What is it?” One student asks, bright-eyed and enthused.

I lean in for dramatic effect. “We are going to be acting out… an ancient werewolf shifting ceremony!”

The kids all start cheering at once, much to my amusement.

The other teachers start to pass out costumes and props, which the students take reverently.

“Make a circle, everyone!” I begin.

They do, and I move to stand in the middle.

“Werewolves usually have their first shift between the ages of sixteen and eighteen,” I begin. “Which is quite a ways off for all of you. And shifting ceremonies are always held at night, beneath the full moon. Back in ancient werewolf times, this ceremony was used by werewolves whose eighteenth year was drawing to a close with no shift to be seen.”

I pause, looking up at the daytime-blue sky. A sliver of a crescent moon can be seen, though, oddly enough, just across the sky.

“Werewolves would wear the ceremonial items and gather around the unshifted young werewolf. The unshifted wolf would kneel before the full moon…”

I crouch to my knees, fixing my gaze on that sliver of crescent moon.

“Offer themselves to the Moon Goddess herself…”

I raise my palms up towards the sky.

“And speak the following words.”

I draw in a deep breath, preparing myself.

“Oh Moon Goddess, please see me now, please hear my words as they echo beneath a moonlit sky. I do not know how I may have sinned or how I may have erred but I beg of you: absolve me of it now, and let me take on the form I was always meant to have.”

A shiver runs through me, the faintest flicker of a feeling I haven’t felt since…

Since before I lost my wolf all those years ago.

No.

It can’t be.

And yet…

“My body is yours. My breath is yours. My soul is yours. Shape me now, that I may yet–”

Just as I’m about to speak the final words of the shifting ceremony, though, a familiar and jarring alarm suddenly cuts through the air.

Oh, no.

It’s the rogue alarm.

All at once, whatever strange sense of peace I was feeling vanishes, replaced by the sounds of chaos. Children begin to cry out in fear. I quickly lock eyes with my colleagues, and we all nod, preparing for evacuation.

“It’ll be okay!” I call out over and over again. “Just follow me, we’ll head to the bus, and–no, don’t bother with your things, we can replace them later on, right now we just need to–”

In the distance I can see groups of rogues appearing–some large slavering wolves, others strong and muscular men armed nearly to the teeth, all with murderous intent in their eyes. My heart hammers in my chest as we frantically escort the children onto the schoolbus.

“Jackie, Sam, Lucy, okay–” I stop my head count, suddenly freezing in horror as I realize one of my students–Thea, a smart, adventurous girl–is missing.

I turn to look at one of the other teachers. “Thea is missing,” I say frantically.

Their face falls in terror. “Moon Goddess help her.”

“I need to go get her,” I say, already turning and rushing towards the bus’s exit.

“You can’t!” Another gasps out.

I shake my head. “I have to.”

I sprint across the field and find Thea huddled in a pile of grass, shivering in fear. When she sees me, tears well up in the corners of my eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Miss Everly, I got lost–” she begins.

I smile shakily at her, scooping her up into my arms. “I know, sweetheart, I know. Let’s get going now–”

But as I start back towards the bus, Thea sturdily in my arms, a group of rogues stalks towards me.

“Now what do you think you’re doing out here?” A tall, scar-faced man asks me, brandishing a knife.

I do my best not to tremble. “Please, we don’t want any trouble,” I begin. “Just let us get back to the bus–”

“And why would we do that?” He sneers.

Adrenaline rushes through my veins. “She’s just a kid,” I plead. “Let us go!”

“Careful with the demands,” the scar-faced man warns, suddenly pressing the knife to my throat.

I freeze.

Moon Goddess above, I’m going to die here, and Thea–

No.

Not like this.

A strange warmth wells up in the pit of my stomach, a searing heat that makes its way up to my throat, then burns like my lips are on fire, then–

“You will let us pass, and we will make it to the schoolbus unharmed,”

My command echoes across the clearing like a deafening burst of thunder, and the world seems to stand still.

Even Thea looks up at me in shock.

I’ve never heard a voice that powerful before–it’s a stronger Alpha Voice than most would ever be capable of.

How…

How did I do that?

The rogues seem momentarily frozen, their pupils dilating, bodies tense.

As though under my control.

Before I can question it too closely, I rush towards the schoolbus, Thea still in my arms. Just as we’re about to pile into the vehicle, though, I catch a flicker of movement in the corner of my eye.

Whatever hold I had over the rogues, they’re out of it now.

“Go, go, go–” I say hurriedly, ushering Thea onto the bus.

And then the earthshattering sound of a gunshot rings out.

And everything goes completely still.