Willow Finds Her Mate

Chapter 2 The awakening

I woke up before my alarm.

For several seconds, I just stared at the ceiling.

Then I remembered.

Today was my sixteenth birthday.

Today I would meet my wolf.

I threw the covers off and practically ran to the bathroom.

My reflection stared back at me.

Same brown hair.

Same hazel eyes.

Same slightly crooked nose my mother insisted made me look adorable.

Nothing looked different.

Yet somehow, everything felt different.

There was a strange warmth spreading through my chest.

Good morning.

I froze.

That wasn't my thought.

My heart started pounding.

"Hello?"

Silence.

I waited.

Finally.

I sat down on the edge of the bathtub.

"You're there."

I've always been here.

I stared at myself in the mirror.

"Can you hear me?"

Yes.

I swallowed.

"What's your name?"

A pause.

Nyra.

The name felt strangely familiar.

Like I'd heard it in a dream once.

"Nyra."

Yes.

"What are you like?"

I could practically feel her amusement.

You'll find out soon enough.

"You're not going to tell me anything?"

No.

"Why?"

Because I want you to see me.

I smiled.

"You sound stubborn."

And you sound nervous.

"I am nervous."

You don't need to be.

There was something comforting about her voice.

It wasn't just another voice in my head.

It felt like someone had been beside me my entire life.

Waiting.

"Are you going to hurt me when we shift?"

Never.

I breathed out slowly.

"Okay."

Willow?

"Yeah?"

I'm glad you're finally ready.

I smiled.

"Me too."

My mother nearly cried when she saw me at breakfast.

"Mom."

"What?"

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

She wiped beneath one eye.

"You're sixteen."

"I've been sixteen for approximately thirty seconds."

"I know."

She smiled.

"It just feels like yesterday you were a tiny pup running around the house."

Dad walked into the kitchen.

"She was never tiny."

I looked at him.

"Thanks, Dad."

"You know what I mean."

Mom laughed.

"Come here."

She pulled me into a hug.

I hugged her back.

For some reason, I suddenly felt emotional.

Maybe it was knowing that this was the last morning I'd wake up without my wolf.

After today, I would never truly be alone inside my own mind again.

"Your father and I will be with you tonight," Mom said.

"I know."

"And Alpha Jackson will be there."

I nodded.

"The whole pack?"

"Anyone who wants to attend."

My stomach twisted.

"That's a lot of people."

"It's tradition."

"Fantastic."

Dad smiled.

"You'll be fine."

"That's what Parker said."

"Then Parker is smarter than he looks."

I laughed.

By sunset, the entire pack had gathered in the clearing.

It was one of the oldest traditions in Nero.

When a wolf turned sixteen, they were brought into the forest beneath the moon.

The pack gathered around them.

And when the moon reached its highest point, the young wolf would shift.

I stood beside my parents.

Across the clearing, Alpha Jackson stood with Luna Marie.

The Alpha smiled at me.

"Ready?"

"No."

He laughed.

"Good answer."

Luna Marie walked over and hugged me.

"You'll do wonderfully."

I glanced around.

Parker was standing with his parents.

He gave me a thumbs-up.

I smiled.

Then I noticed someone else.

Ashley.

Of course she was here.

She stood beside her father, arms crossed.

Her expression was unreadable.

I looked away.

The moon climbed higher.

My heart beat faster.

Then the Alpha stepped forward.

"Willow Cole."

Every wolf became silent.

"You have reached your sixteenth year."

I swallowed.

"Tonight, you meet the other half of your soul."

The clearing seemed to grow colder.

I closed my eyes.

The warmth inside my chest returned.

Only this time, it wasn't warmth.

It was power.

Willow.

Nyra.

"I'm ready."

Then let me show you who we are.

Pain exploded through my body.

I fell to my knees.

Someone shouted my name.

My bones shifted.

My muscles stretched.

I screamed.

But underneath the pain was something else.

Strength.

So much strength.

The forest disappeared.

I was standing somewhere else.

A vast meadow stretched before me beneath a silver moon.

And standing in the middle of it was a wolf.

I stopped breathing.

She was enormous.

Not large.

Enormous.

Her shoulders came nearly to my chest.

Her body was powerful and graceful at the same time, built with the strength of an ancient predator.

Her coat was silver-white, almost glowing beneath the moon.

Her eyes were violet.

Not blue.

Not purple.

Violet.

She looked at me.

Hello, Willow.

I couldn't speak.

She walked toward me.

I reached out.

Her forehead touched my palm.

The moment I touched her, memories that weren't mine flashed through me.

Mountains.

Snow.

Moonlight.

A castle.

A thousand wolves howling.

Then darkness.

I jerked my hand back.

"What was that?"

Nyra's eyes darkened.

I don't know.

"You don't?"

No.

She looked almost frightened.

That scared me more than anything.

"You're hiding something."

I don't know what.

Before I could ask anything else, the meadow disappeared.

I was thrown back into my body.

My paws hit the ground.

Silence.

Complete silence.

I opened my eyes.

The entire clearing was staring at me.

I looked down.

Silver-white fur.

Massive paws.

Powerful legs.

I was huge.

Bigger than any female wolf I'd ever seen.

Bigger than most of the male wolves.

I turned my head toward my parents.

My mother had tears streaming down her face.

My father looked stunned.

Then I heard someone whisper.

"That's impossible."

Another voice answered.

"She's the size of a Lycan royal."

My ears perked.

A murmur spread through the clearing.

The Alpha stepped forward.

His wolf instincts immediately responded to mine.

He lowered his head.

Not in submission.

In recognition.

"What is her name?" he asked.

I heard Nyra answer inside my head.

Tell them.

I swallowed.

"Nyra."

The moment the name left my mouth, an older wolf near the back of the clearing gasped.

He stumbled backward.

"No."

Everyone turned toward him.

Alpha Jackson frowned.

"What is it?"

The old wolf stared at me.

His face had gone completely white.

"I've seen eyes like those before."

My heart began pounding.

"Where?"

He didn't answer.

Instead, he looked toward the mountains.

"Not here."

The Alpha stepped closer.

"What are you talking about?"

The old wolf shook his head.

"I don't know."

But I knew he was lying.

Nyra growled.

He knows something.

Before I could ask what, a howl erupted from somewhere deep in the forest.

Every wolf in the clearing turned toward the sound.

Another howl answered.

Then another.

A warning.

The pack shifted uneasily.

Alpha Jackson's expression hardened.

"Everyone stay where you are."

A warrior came running from the trees.

"Alpha!"

Jackson turned.

"What?"

The warrior was breathing heavily.

"We have wolves at the northern boundary."

"How many?"

"At least twenty."

The clearing erupted into whispers.

Alpha Jackson's eyes narrowed.

"Which pack?"

The warrior hesitated.

Then said the words that made every wolf go silent.

"Black Water."

Nyra went completely still.

I felt her fear for the first time.

Not anger.

Not aggression.

Fear.

Willow.

"What?"

Run.

My heart stopped.

"Why?"

Nyra's voice dropped to a whisper.

Because I remember that name