Slaved By The Moon God

16

But the knot of anxiety in my stomach didn’t ease. This next ritual was the one that would determine my fate.

I dressed slowly, trying to regain my breath. The two forced shifts had really taken it out of me, and after my hike, my body was ready to call it a day. Something felt different, underneath the bone-deep exhaustion. I flexed my fingers, testing the strength inside me. I’d have to try to pick something up or go for a run to be sure, but I was almost positive that I was stronger.

As my gaze traveled up my arm, I realized something else—my bruises were rapidly fading. Where they’d been vividly angry before, now they were hardly smudges. I tilted my arm so the light would catch it better just to be sure. Yep. As I watched, they faded away completely. The remaining aches and pains from the beating I’d received yesterday from Brad and his friends were also gone. I stretched, reveling in the way my body felt. Now I felt like I belonged, and even Dad’s cruel words couldn’t convince me otherwise. I was a shifter, and I had my wolf to prove it. “Ayla!” Mira was beside me again, bouncing up and down. She’d also dressed, and had the same gleam in her eye as her wolf had. “Can you believe it? We shifted!” She launched into a detailed retelling of what happened, and I huffed out a breath. Typical Mira.

“I almost didn’t even need to be there,” I said to her as she wound down, ending with us shifting back. I made sure to keep my tone light. Mira rolled her eyes at me.

Wesley trotted up to us, grinning like a loon. “Mira giving you the replay?” he asked, and I didn’t miss the way Mira blushed. He gave me a sympathetic smirk before his face softened and he grabbed me in a tight hug. “Your wolf is beautiful, Ayla.”

“Thank you.” I let out a relieved laugh as some of the tension left me. “I didn’t expect it to be white.”

“A rare color, but one considered lucky by the Cancer pack,” Wesley said.

“I could use all the luck I can get for this next part.” I glanced back at Dad and Jackie, but their faces were hard, and they didn’t even give me a small nod. My heart sank at their lack of acknowledgment. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, but couldn’t they have been the tiniest bit proud of me? And how could it still hurt so bad when my parents showed me for the hundredth time they didn't care?

Wesley put a hand on my shoulder. “No matter what happens with the mating ritual, you’ll always be my sister, Ayla. I’ll always love you.”

I blinked back tears and punched him in the arm. “I love you too. But you can’t be getting all sappy on me right now. Do you want me to cry in front of everyone?” My emotions were still running high, and it took me a few breaths to avoid falling apart in front of everyone.

Wesley looked ready to respond, but before he could, Evanora’s voice rang out again. “All unmated shifters, please come to the circle for the mating ritual.” I stepped away from the rest of the Cancer pack, and Mira and Wesley followed me, along with all the other shifters who hadn’t found their mates yet. Most were young like us, but there were a few that were much older.

We’d doubled in ranks with the unmated shifters in the circle now too. A blond head caught my eye and I balked. Jordan, the Leo alpha’s son, was among the unmated. It was unlikely that fate would gift me a powerful mate like that, especially since he was from a rival pack, but I sent another prayer up to the moon goddess anyway. Not him, anyone but him.

My mind turned back to the alpha from the lost pack and the way my body had responded to him. No. That was even more impossible than Jordan.

Wesley parted ways with us to join the other males, after giving me one more squeeze to the shoulder and a tight smile. We stood, males and females facing each other, and Mira gripped my hand tight, before letting it go and stepping away. I wondered if her heart was racing as fast as mine.

I glanced over at her, and she smiled at me as well. It looked almost as strained as Wesley’s had been. Fingers crossed, she mouthed, looking so innocent at that moment that my heart went out to her.

Fingers crossed, indeed. I straightened my back and prepared to meet my mate.

Chapter Seven

Evanora called out the name of a female shifter to come forward, and I watched with bated breath as the Sun Witches cast the mating spell. The other witches stood around the female shifter, chanting words I didn't recognize. Something like gold dust seemed to float from the sky down onto the shifter, and then the Sun Witches stepped back and quieted. At first, nothing happened, but then the female shifter locked eyes with a male from a different pack. I watched as both stepped toward each other, their movements jerky as if they weren’t fully in control of their bodies. They met halfway, staring intently at the other, their expressions hungry. No one dared to try to distract them, and I doubted they’d be able to anyway. They only had eyes for each other.Two alphas stepped into the circle to join the pair of shifters. The Capricorn alpha put his hand on the female shifter’s shoulder with a nod, while the Aquarius alpha joined the male.The two alphas exchanged a few words, too quiet for anyone outside of the small group of people to hear, and then both alphas stepped back to allow Evanora to tie a ribbon around the two mated shifters’ hands. The Sun Witches raised their arms and began chanting again.