Willow Finds Her Mate

Chapter 4

The first wolf appeared between the trees.

Then another.

Then five more.

They didn't look like wolves from Nero.

Their coats were dark.

Their eyes were hard.

They moved like wolves who had spent years fighting.

At the front was a massive black wolf with a white scar across his muzzle.

He shifted.

A tall man stood where the wolf had been.

"Jackson Pines."

Alpha Jackson stepped forward.

"Leave my territory."

The man smiled.

"Still protective of your little mountain."

"You crossed my border."

"I did."

"Then leave."

The man laughed.

"I'm here because I felt something."

His eyes moved across the pack.

Then stopped on me.

Everything inside me went cold.

"There."

The man pointed.

"That's what I felt."

Alpha Jackson moved in front of me.

"You will not touch her."

The man's smile widened.

"I don't intend to."

He stared at me.

"But I want to know what she is."

I didn't like the way he said it.

Like I wasn't a person.

Like I was an object.

Nyra growled.

The Black Water Alpha's expression changed.

His eyes narrowed.

"That wolf."

My heart pounded.

"What about her?"

He stared at me.

Then whispered,

"Impossible."

Alpha Jackson growled.

"You have five seconds."

The man looked between us.

Then he smiled again.

"Tell the Lycan court the Black Water Pack sends its regards."

He shifted.

The other wolves shifted with him.

Then they disappeared into the forest.

No attack.

No fight.

Just a message.

I looked at Alpha Jackson.

"What did that mean?"

He didn't answer.

"Alpha?"

He turned toward me.

His expression was serious.

"Your first shift was supposed to be a celebration."

I nodded.

"I know."

"Instead, we've just been reminded that there are wolves in this world who know more about your wolf than we do."

My stomach twisted.

"What am I?"

He looked at Nyra.

Then at me.

"I don't know."

It was the first honest answer anyone had given me all night.

And somehow, that scared me the most.

That night, I lay awake staring at the ceiling.

My body was exhausted.

My mind wasn't.

Nyra was awake too.

"Can you remember anything?"

*No.*

"Do you know why they recognized you?"

A long silence followed.

*I don't know.*

"Do you know why everyone keeps talking about Lycans?"

Another silence.

"Nyra?"

This time, she answered.

*I know what I am.*

My heart jumped.

"What?"

Her voice was quiet.

*I am a Lycan wolf.*

I stopped breathing.

"What?"

*And so are you.*

I sat upright.

The room suddenly felt too small.

"How?"

*I don't know.*

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

*Because I didn't remember until tonight.*

I stared into the darkness.

For sixteen years, I'd believed I was an ordinary Omega.

Now I knew that wasn't true.

But that only left me with more questions.

Why was my wolf the size of a Lycan royal?

Why could I feel other wolves' emotions?

Why could I calm them?

Why had the Black Water Alpha recognized something about Nyra?

And why had an old wolf in the pack looked terrified when he'd seen my eyes?

There were too many questions.

Not nearly enough answers.

I pulled the blankets around myself.

Tomorrow, I would start looking for them.

I didn't know where that journey would take me.

I didn't know what secrets my family was keeping.

And I certainly didn't know that somewhere beyond the mountains, people were already beginning to wonder about the strange silver wolf who had awakened in Nero.

For now, I was still Willow Cole.

An Omega.

A newly awakened Lycan.

And a girl who had no idea what she was becoming.