Howl: I Met My Mate

CHAPTER 2 THE CONTRACT IS OFF

The packhouse dining room had never felt smaller.

My father, Alpha Edward of White Moon, sat at the head of the long oak table, looking ten years younger than the dying man I remembered. His hair was still mostly black, not grey. His shoulders were still broad. He hadn't started coughing blood yet.

That alone almost made me break.

Cade Wilder sat to his right. Of course.

In my first life, the sight of him in that chair would have made my heart flutter like a stupid little bird. Black hair, sharp jaw, those impossible golden eyes that made every she-wolf in the territory stare. He wore a simple black Henley that stretched over his Alpha build, sleeves pushed up to show his forearms. He smelled like pine and snow and Alpha power.

He smelled like home. And like my murder.

He smiled when he saw me come down the stairs. That soft, private smile he only gave me.

"Elara," he stood up. "Gods, you look—"

"Like I told you the contract is off?"

Silence fell over the room.

My father's Beta, old Thomas, choked on his water. My father slowly set down his fork.

Cade's smile froze, then faded. His eyes flickered gold. His wolf didn't like being challenged. Especially not by his mate. Especially not in front of another Alpha.

"Elara," my father warned, his voice low. "We talked about this. This is not how a future Luna behaves."

Future Luna. Those words used to make me glow. Now they made my skin crawl.

I didn't sit. I stood at the end of the table, my hands flat on the wood to stop them from shaking. I was still wearing the oversized t-shirt and shorts. I had refused to put on the pretty sundress Cade liked.

"There will be no future Luna," I said clearly. "Not me. Not for Blackstone."

Cade took a step toward me. I stepped back. That small movement made his eyes go dark.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice dangerously soft. "An hour ago you were excited. Did someone say something to you?"

No, I wanted to scream. You just let me bleed out on our floor and believed her over me. But I couldn't say that. Who would believe I died and came back?

So I said the other truth.

"I'm wolfless, Cade. I've been wolfless for twenty-two years. The Moon Goddess hasn't given me my wolf. How can I be Luna of the strongest pack in the North when I can't even shift? The other packs will tear us apart. They already laugh at White Moon."

My father slammed his hand on the table. "Enough! Edward, your daughter—"

"Is right."

The voice came from the doorway.

Selene.

Of course she was here. In my first life, she hadn't come to this dinner. Had Cade already been seeing her then? Had my whole first life been a lie even earlier than I thought?

She was beautiful. Long legs, perfect hair, and the faint, sweet scent of a Luna. Her wolf, I knew, was a rare silver.

She smiled at me, all fake sympathy. "Elara, honey, I know you're nervous. Every girl gets pre-wedding jitters. But Cade chose you. For a reason."

The reason being my father's silver mine.

Cade's head snapped to her. "What are you doing here?"

"I was in the area," she said lightly, touching his arm. He didn't pull away. In my first life, I never noticed that. Now I saw everything. "I heard Edward was ill and wanted to pay my respects. As Cade's... friend."

Friend. The word dripped with poison.

I looked at Cade. He was looking at me, but his body was angled toward her. His fated mate. The pull was invisible, but it was there. A thread of moonlight between them I had been too blind to see.

Something inside me — that low, sleepy growl from earlier — snapped awake and snarled.

My head jerked back. A sharp pain shot behind my eyes. For a second, my vision went white.

Mine, a voice whispered in my head. Not my voice. Deeper. Older. Furious. He is MINE. She touched what is MINE.

My wolf. My wolf had spoken for the first time in my life.

My knees buckled. Cade was there in an instant, his hands on my elbows, steadying me. His scent flooded me, and my wolf howled louder, both possessive and in pain.

"Elara? Elara, look at me," Cade's voice was raw panic now.

I shoved him off with a strength I didn't know I had. He stumbled back a full step, shock written all over his face. No one had ever pushed Alpha Cade Wilder.

"Don't touch me," I spat.

Selene's eyes narrowed. She saw it too. The change in me.

My father stood up, furious. "Elara Quinn! You will apologize to Alpha Wilder right now and—"

"No."

Everyone froze.

I had never said no to my father in my life.

"I will not apologize. And I will not marry a man who brings his fated mate to my contract dinner."

The color drained from Cade's face. Selene's hand dropped from his arm like it burned.

"What did you say?" Cade whispered.

I smiled. It felt like bleeding.

"You heard me, Alpha. I know she is your fated. I know you rejected her. And I know why you are marrying me. So let's save us both the time. The contract is off. White Moon will find another way to survive."

I turned and walked out. My legs felt like water, but I didn't fall. Not until I reached my room and slammed the door.

I slid to the floor, my whole body shaking.

My wolf was pacing inside me now, restless, growling.

He will come, she whispered. He will come for us.

And as if on cue, there was a knock on my door. Hard. Alpha-hard. The wood rattled.

"Elara. Open this door. Right now."

Cade.

He had never sounded that angry. Or that scared.

In my first life, I would have opened it instantly and begged for forgiveness.

In this life, I pressed my back against it and whispered to the new, terrifying thing inside me,

"What do we do now?"

And my wolf, my dormant wolf who had been silent for twenty-two years, finally answered, clear as a bell:

Now we make him kneel.