After several long agonizing minutes, Ambrose pulls his power out of me. I feel lighter than I ever have before. When I open my eyes, I see him staring at me with an intense gaze, and then he drops my eyes to look at my chest and arms that used to be covered in Moonlight markings and runes—now they’re gone. I’m wearing a thin spaghetti-strapped shirt that makes them easy to see. All gone except one. The newest one on the back of my hand. The one that Brax says looks like a snowflake.
I frown, unsure what that means.
“Are you okay?”Ambrose asks in my mind.
“I feel like I’ve just had my insides pulled out of me through my skin, but yes, I’m okay. Embarrassed that I screamed out in pain, though.”
He frowns.“You didn’t scream. You were silent. Was it really that painful? I’m so sorry.”
I shake my head.“Don’t be. It really wasn’t.”And yet, it was.
Kael looks at me next. “Rejoin the Wintermoon pack.”
I frown. Unsure of what to do. I watched what Kael did, and it didn’t seem to work. Or if it did, he’s not sure it did.
I close my eyes once again, concentrating on my past. The trauma and pain I’ve endured while I was part of the Wintermoon pack, I ignore, not ready to face those moments yet. But I remember the good times, the reasons that I would want to belong to the Wintermoon pack again.
I’m a snow wolf. It’s where I belong. Every trait about me screams winter and snow, from my white hair to my blue eyes and fair skin. I’m made for the cold. Even my wolf is mostly white to blend in with the snow.
My family has belonged to the Wintermoon pack for generations. My father, despite being strict, was an alpha. I’m destined to join his pack. Destined to continue his legacy.
I never knew my mother, other than that she was fearless and a snow wolf herself.
Kael belongs. His family belongs. It’s where I belong, with my best friend.
And no matter which man I spend the rest of my life with, I want something of my own. I don’t want to belong to either of their packs. I don’t want to be powerless in the face of their alpha commands. I don’t want to serve them as their betas or alpha females. I realize in this moment that I want more than just to rejoin the Wintermoon pack. I want to be an alpha. I want my own power. I want some slight control of my own destiny, even if I can’t control who my mate is.
Power floods me again; this time, it’s very different from Ambrose pulling power from me. Or even when I was initiated into the Moonlight pack. This power is like a gentle wave, washing over my body. It starts off slow, then builds and builds each time I’m able to accept more power. It builds and builds until I’m not sure I can handle any more pushing its way into me. And then suddenly stops, going quiet before asking me a single question, like it’s sentient or something.
“Do you accept?”
I know what it’s asking.Do you accept joining the Wintermoon pack? Do you accept becoming alpha? Do you accept the pain of your past?
“Yes.”
And then with a zap, the remaining floods in. It overwhelms me, and I fall backward onto my ass, hitting the hard ground.
Slowly, I open my eyes and see everyone watching me intently with a look of awe on their faces.
“I don’t think we have to ask to know that you are now Wintermoon,” Kael says.
I frown. “How do you know?”
“Because you have the aura of an alpha. Everyone knows exactly what kind of power you have, my queen. We can all sense the change in you,” Ambrose says, holding out his hand to help me to my feet.
“But am I an alpha who can’t shift?” I ask.
Ambrose’s face narrows. “Why don’t you shift and figure that out for yourself?”
Fear takes hold of me. My skin prickles as my hands draw clammy once again. It sinks its claws into me so hard that I can’t breathe. As nice as it is to be back in my own pack and to have the power of an alpha, it means nothing if I can’t shift.
“You have the power, my queen. You can do this.”His words are gentle and yet firm in my mind. Encouraging me to shift.
I nod.
Once again, I close my eyes and focus, and then I let go. The power that just flooded my body before now explodes out of me like a shockwave. One second I’m human, the next I’m a wolf. It’s as easy as one thought, and I shifted.
I suck in a sharp breath as I shift on my new paws. Because this wolf feels like my wolf, and yet different.