Chapter 112

“Little Dove,” Ethan warns with a tiny smirk on his lips as if he’s seconds away from unleashing himself. “Do you want to see him?” he asks, his hand cupping the back of my neck and pulling me in so our foreheads rest together. 
Ethan has a thing for touching or holding my face, and every time, I want to melt because it makes me feel like a treasure. I know it’s so little, but it means so much to me. 
Then, like an idiot—*because let’s face it, I am*—I answer him, “Yes.”
At the next moment, Ethan moves away from me, and I don’t get why until I recall that he needs space to be able to do that thing. Relief shines in his eyes before he tells me, “Kral told me to tell you that he loves you more than the Moon itself and that he’ll protect you with every breath he has until his very last.” 
Before I can respond, even from afar, I feel the heat radiates from his body intensifying. The warmth seeps into my skin, wrapping around me like a rising flame.
And then, just like in that captivity room, Ethan’s body transforms before my eyes.
I step back as his canines elongate into sharp fangs, and in one fluid motion, Ethan vanishes, replaced by a massive wolf. Its sleek black coat shimmers under the sunlight, rippling like liquid shadow as the wind sweeps through its fur. 
I look up at the marvelous wolf. There they are. Those eerie, unearthly eyes glow at me, a chilling red that borders on feral. I wonder if I’ll ever get used to them. If one year from now, after he marks me, I’ll still think his reddish wolf eyes are oddly lovely.  
The giant black wolf, taller than me, tilts his head back, sniffing the air—or my scent, who’s to say. 
My heart responds to that, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Kral could hear it. It makes sense how Ethan knows when I’m not being genuine if he can hear and smell the things I can’t exactly control. 
The rustling leaves and softly humming animals of the adjacent forest can’t dispel the unnervingly still, heavy silence that envelops me. I’m fairly sure that more than a few minutes have passed since he shifted. 
I still can’t believe Ethan’s a wolf.
A huge black wolf. 
A freaking gigantic black wolf. 
“Ethan? I mean, Kral?” I whisper. “Is that you?” 
The wolf blinks at me. 
I blink back. 
He trots to me, and I scurry back in a blast of panic. 
Oh, God! He’s just so much larger than the other wolves. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to forget his sharp fangs. But then something soft and damp pokes me in the hip. I crack one eyelid open, and there is a muzzle pressing against my skin. Trying to calm me down. Like he can sense my panic. 
“You... You’re not mad at me?”
The wolf tilts his huge furry head, seeming confused.
Head down, I say, “Well... You know... You didn’t want us to be together, and—” I look up at him. “I’m human... Aren’t you upset that you’re bound to me?”
The wolf lets out a soft whine, sinking into the grass. He rests his head heavily on his paws, his eyes locked on mine, filled with a deep, aching regret that makes my chest tighten.
Why can I almost sense his emotions? 
I stare at him for a long moment, then I feel my chin trembling, and then I promptly burst out crying, kneeling on the ground. Kral is instantly closer to me, rubbing his head against my chest to get me to stop. 
Reaching out, I stroke the wolf’s fur. Sobbing, I ask, “Are-are you really okay with this?”
I haven’t realized how much what Ethan told me that Kral said to him has been hurting me until now. Fat tears fall from my eyes and wet Kral’s soft fur.
His black furry paw rests on my thigh. “But-But are you okay that-that we’re never going to go for a run in wolf form together? Like you could if I was a she-wolf?”  
His tongue darts out and licks at my neck. 
Although I’m crying, I can’t stop my giggle. “You... You really love me?” Kral nods. “Is what Ethan said before shifting… true?” I stroke his paw. “Did you really say that?”
He doesn’t reply, but his tongue licks me again. And when I smile, he radiates satisfaction because I understand him.
Relief washes over me, and I let out a chuckle when Kral starts rubbing himself on me all over in a way that seems a little compulsive. 
I’m enough! I’m enough for him!
Kral nudges my fingers with his wet nose to pet him, and I bite my bottom lip to keep from smiling a little too wide. I scratch him behind the ears, luxuriating in the beautiful, comforting feeling of his fur beneath my hand.
“You were really a big bad wolf,” I say playfully, remembering when I called Ethan that months ago when he knocked on my bedroom door. 
Kral rubs himself compulsively against my clothes and my exposed skin. 
“Are you trying to leave your scent on me, Kral?” I ask curiously, and he lets out a growl. Somehow, I can tell that it’s not a growl of anger but of his satisfaction with himself.
The massive wolf steps back, shifting his body until he’s stretched out in front of me. I wipe my tears away, a little bit confused. Then, with a slow, deliberate motion, he lowers himself to the ground, glancing over his thick-furred shoulder like he’s waiting for something.  
“God, I wish I could do that mindlink thing with you right now!” I mutter. “Uh… do you want more pets?”  
He flicks his ears back in clear, adorable irritation and gives a sharp shake of his head before pointing his snout toward his back.  
“Oh,” I say, realization dawning. “You want me to—ride you?”  
A single, satisfied bark.  
I blink. “Okay, but just so we’re clear—if this goes badly, I’m haunting your furry ass for the rest of your life,” I say with a big smile.  
Then I push myself up, trying not to think too hard about how ridiculous this is. If it were dangerous, Kral wouldn’t be offering… right? At least, I don’t think he would. And honestly? I’m already falling for him and too invested to say no.  
I swing a leg over and settle onto his back, gripping the thick fur at his neck. But before he even moves, he nudges my arm with his nose and gives an impatient little wiggle.  
*Oh*. I get it.  
“Alright, alright,” I mumble, tightening my arms around him. “Jeez, bossy much?” I giggle. “Just so you know,” I go on as his powerful paws lift us off the ground. “You’re even more of a Bossy Alpha in this form!!” 
Kral rubs the side of his head against my arm around him, and I feel sparks all over my skin at the way the beast caresses me. I think my heart will explode with happiness.
Next time, I’ll run away just so he can chase me down. But right now? I want to savor my first encounter with the big, bad wolf.

🐺 🐺 🐺

“Care to explain why you were mad at me but didn’t say a word to Mom and Dad when they also lied to you?” Dressed in a sleek red dress—one I helped her pick out early for her dinner with Jordan at a fancy downtown Blackmoon restaurant later—Vi slumps into the armchair beside me, her tone tinged with frustration as she asks.
Beside me on the couch, Emma looks guilty but doesn’t say anything. Although Ethan is talking to his father at the window next to us, I notice that even they stop to listen to my answer.
“Well,” I glance at Emma and Arthur. Even though they’re not heading to a fancy restaurant, they both look so polished and put together that they could easily blend in with Vi. “Unlike your parents, I had a much stronger relationship with you,” I confess. Then my eyes find Emma’s, and I hold her hand. “It wasn’t easy to forgive you, but I got that.” I nod. “You didn’t know me, and everything you said to Ethan and me now makes perfect sense. Especially after I met Kral. You just wanted Ethan to be with his true mate, and today, I realize that even though your ways of showing it were a little harsh, I don’t know if I would do it differently if it were with Az. I would definitely try to convince him to wait for Lily. Just seeing the two of them together... Yes, I would do anything for my son to find his happiness.”
Emma wipes a tear with her other hand. “Oh, Allie!”
Earlier, I freaked out after realizing that I was going to be the Blackmoon’s Luna, and Emma told me that she would help me with anything I needed. She said it’d be hard, especially for me, who was used to living in a world that wasn’t mine, but she assured me that I was *home* now. My mother-in-law said I was the first human Luna they’ve ever had in the pack. Emma reminded me so much of my mother. Her warm hug was all I needed.
A proud smile lits up Ethan’s face as he glances at me before sharing a look with his father.
“Oh, please. Don’t be silly,” Vi snorts. “They should be shaking as they apologize to you!”
“Violet!” Arthur scolds his daughter.
“What?” She shrugs. “It’s unfair to Ethan and me, who had to grovel!” She says with a smile and I know she’s joking. Emma chuckles and squeezes my hand as Vi goes on, “It should have been an experience for the whole family!”
I shake my head, and then something prickles in my ear, a dark whisper that something—
“Allie?” I hear Vi’s voice ask me worriedly. “Are you okay?”
I look in her direction and notice that she has uncrossed her arms, her perfectly make-up face now showing concern instead of her previous sulk.
Before I can answer her, Lily and Az sprint to us, entering the living room in their wolf forms. Then, Az’s white wolf is immediately at my side, pressing his nose into my hand until I start stroking his head, which helps to calm me just slightly. 
“Um, yeah!” I let out a breath. “I just... had this feeling,” I begin, voice shaking a little bit as I watch Lily’s wolf fold her arms across her chest, sitting next to Az. “Sometimes I get this feeling, you know?” I look up at them. “It starts as unease, traveling up my spine until it settles like a dead weight on my shoulders, and once it is there, God!” I let out a nervous laugh. “It lingers! No matter how hard I try to push it off.” 
Everyone looks at me with a frown, as if I had said that I like to use lemons as eye drops. I must sound like a madwoman!
I go on because I can’t keep my mouth shut, “And now I’ve just felt it, you know? But this time... I don’t know.” I scratch the back of my neck. “There was just something so different about it this time...”
Emma and Arthur share a look for a second. I continue to pat Az’s wolf fur while Lily’s wolf snuggles closer to him.
“It was probably just a bad feeling. Don’t dwell on it too much, honey,” Emma says, brushing it off with a gentle smile. 
She turns, pulling a large, ornate chest closer. The thing looks ancient. It has dark wood and metal accents, the kind of box that might hold either priceless heirlooms or a really dramatic curse. 
“Anyway, I want you to see these jewels I’ve been saving for you since we found out I was expecting Ethan.”  
With a click, the chest unlocks, and when she lifts the lid—oh.
Well, damn.
A soft gasp escapes me. The interior gleams with a mesmerizing display—gems in every color, facets catching the light, throwing fractured rainbows onto the ceiling. My jaw drops. I slap a hand over my mouth before I embarrass myself further.
“I have more stored away, but these are the ones with the most sentimental value,” Emma explains like she hasn’t just casually flexed the family treasure hoard on me. Then, she slides open a hidden compartment. Rows of rings rest inside; their stones are large and elaborate. Ancient. Each one looks like they could buy a small country. “Some of these are ancient, passed down through generations,” she tells me. “That’s why they’re so—”
“Ridiculously extravagant?” I manage, still slightly frozen.
She laughs. “I was going to say pompous, but sure.”
Everything about this feels… heavy. Not just the absurd amount of wealth, but something else. A strange sensation hums in my fingertips, like a pull. I can’t help but reach for a particular stone—an irregular chunk of rose quartz, unpolished yet glowing softly. The moment my skin meets its surface, warmth spreads through me, a gentle wave that drowns out the remnants of my earlier anxiety as if my anxious thoughts have been quenched.
“Wow…” I murmur, my body instantly lighter as though someone just drained all the tension straight out of me. 
Silence.  
I glance up to find Az’s wolf staring at me. Across the room, Ethan and his father have fallen silent, their gazes locked on me like I just sprouted a second head. 
“What?” I ask.  
“Little Dove…” Ethan steps closer, studying me. “Your aura changed when you touched that crystal. It got a little brighter, like what happens when you are calmer.”   
“That’s exactly how I feel right now!” I exclaim, holding up the rose quartz. “It was like flipping a switch in my head. Touch this, too!”  
“Touch another one, love,” he urges, ignoring the crystal pointing at him in my hand.  
“Uh, okay.” I return the rose quartz and this time I touch a purple crystal that seems to beckon me to my fingertips. Almost pulsing. The moment my skin brushes against it, my breath hitches. A sharp, unsettling chill creeps up my arm.  
I yank my hand back.  
“What’s this one called?” I ask, my voice quieter now as I rub my fingertips, trying to shake the sensation off.
“Amethyst,” they all answer in unison.  
“What did you feel, Little Dove?” Ethan moves closer to me, his brows furrowed. “Your aura glowed again, but this time, it was the way it does when you’re scared.” He takes my hand, sitting on my other side. “Are you okay, baby?”
My throat tightens. “Yeah,” I say, squeezing his hand. “When I touched it, I felt a bit of the same feeling I had earlier... Like something bad was coming.” 
A shared look passes between Emma and Arthur. When I glance up, Arthur is suddenly beside her—I haven’t even noticed him move. “Allie,” Arthur says, his voice softer now. “Do you usually feel things when you touch crystals, sweetheart?”  
A breathy laugh escapes me. Because obviously, this is ridiculous. “That’s a good one!” I say, shaking my head. But when I meet Arthur’s serious expression, my smile falters. “Wait… you’re serious?” He nods. I clear my throat. “Uh. No? I’ve never touched crystals before. Or been surrounded by this much diamond, for that matter.”
I glance down at the chest again. The diamonds gleam back at me, practically winking like *Yeah, we know*.
Ethan’s parents’ expression softens into something dangerously close to pity. Emma says, “Well, now they’re all yours, honey.”  
Before I can process that, Vi stands up abruptly, walking over. “Are we seriously ignoring the fact that Allie *feels* something when she touches them?”