Chapter One
The forest always feels different on ceremony nights.
Maybe it’s because the entire pack gathers in one place, filling the clearing with low conversations and quiet anticipation, or maybe it’s because everyone knows that tonight someone’s future is about to change.
Either way, the air feels heavier than usual as I stand at the edge of the crowd, watching the elders prepare the platform under the bright silver light of the full moon.
Tonight that someone is me.
“You’ve been staring at the ground for ten minutes,” Kara says beside me, nudging my shoulder. “If you keep looking that serious people are going to think you already hate your future mate.”
“I don’t even know who he is yet,” I reply, crossing my arms as I glance toward the center of the clearing.
“That’s the exci
