Willow Finds Her Mate

Chapter 5

I woke up to someone pounding on my bedroom door.

"Willow!"

I groaned and pulled the blanket over my head.

"Go away."

"It's me."

I recognized Parker's voice.

"That doesn't make it better."

"Your mom said you had to get up."

I opened one eye.

"Why?"

"Because the Alpha called a meeting."

That got my attention.

I sat up.

"A meeting?"

"Yeah."

"About me?"

"Probably."

"That's reassuring."

Parker laughed from the other side of the door.

"Hurry up."

I dragged myself out of bed.

My body still felt strange.

Everything was more intense than it had been before my shift.

I could hear birds outside.

Not just hear them—I could distinguish every individual call.

I could smell the pine trees surrounding our house.

I could smell breakfast downstairs.

I could even smell Parker through the closed door.

He smelled like soap, cedar, and the faintest trace of wolf.

I opened the door.

Parker looked me up and down.

"You look exhausted."

"I feel exhausted."

"You also look..."

He paused.

"What?"

"Different."

I frowned.

"How?"

"I don't know."

He scratched the back of his neck.

"It's like there's something about you."

"That's helpful."

"I know."

He grinned.

I shoved him lightly.

"Come on."

We headed downstairs.

My parents were waiting.

Mom smiled when she saw me.

"Good morning."

"Morning."

Dad looked at me carefully.

"How did you sleep?"

"Not much."

He nodded.

"Nyra?"

I froze.

"How did you know?"

Dad smiled.

"New wolves don't exactly sleep peacefully their first night."

I sat down.

Mom placed breakfast in front of me.

I stared at it.

"I'm not hungry."

She frowned.

"You're always hungry."

"I know."

I pushed the plate away.

Then I smelled something.

Blood.

My head snapped toward the window.

Dad noticed.

"What?"

"Someone's hurt."

He stood immediately.

"What?"

"I can smell blood."

Parker sniffed.

"I don't smell anything."

I stared at him.

"It's outside."

Dad went to the door.

Before he could open it, a warrior appeared on the porch.

"Jason."

Dad opened the door.

The warrior's face was grim.

"Alpha wants everyone at the meeting hall."

Dad nodded.

"Is someone injured?"

The warrior glanced at me.

"One of the northern patrol wolves."

My stomach twisted.

"How bad?"

"Alive."

I stood.

"Let's go."

Mom immediately grabbed my arm.

"Willow—"

"I'm coming."

Dad looked at me.

For a moment, I thought he was going to argue.

Then he nodded.

"Stay close."

---

The pack meeting hall was already crowded when we arrived.

Whispers followed me as I walked through the doors.

I hated it.

Yesterday, people had known me as Willow.

Today, they looked at me like I was something they'd never seen before.

I could feel their emotions.

Fear.

Curiosity.

Excitement.

Suspicion.

It was overwhelming.

I stopped walking.

Parker noticed.

"What's wrong?"

"Everyone."

"What about them?"

"I can feel them."

He looked confused.

"Their emotions."

His expression softened.

"Can you turn it off?"

"I don't know."

I closed my eyes.

The emotions became louder.

Someone was nervous.

Someone was angry.

Someone was excited.

Someone was terrified.

Then I felt one emotion that didn't belong in the room.

Hatred.

Pure hatred.

My eyes snapped open.

I looked across the hall.

A young warrior stood near the back.

He was staring directly at me.

His emotions were so strong they almost knocked the breath from my lungs.

But beneath the hatred was something else.

Pain.

I took a step toward him.

He immediately stepped backward.

"Don't."

His voice shook.

I stopped.

"I wasn't going to hurt you."

"You don't know what you are."

Neither do I, I wanted to say.

Instead, I whispered,

"You're hurting."

His expression changed.

Everyone nearby went silent.

The warrior stared at me.

"How do you know?"

I didn't answer.

Because I didn't know how.

I just did.

I could feel his grief.

His anger.

His fear.

All tangled together.

Without thinking, I reached toward him.

Not physically.

Something deeper.

I imagined pulling the anger away.

The warrior's shoulders relaxed.

His breathing slowed.

His eyes widened.

"What did you do?"

"I don't know."

He looked at me like I'd just performed a miracle.

Then he whispered,

"I can't feel the anger anymore."

The entire room erupted in whispers.

Alpha Jackson stood.

"Enough."

Silence fell.

He looked at me.

"Willow, come here."

I walked toward him.

He studied me for several seconds.

Then he turned toward the pack.

"Yesterday, Willow shifted for the first time."

Everyone listened.

"Her wolf is unlike anything we've seen in Nero."

A murmur moved through the crowd.

"She is Lycan."

The room went completely silent.

Even though I already knew, hearing the Alpha say it aloud made my stomach twist.

Alpha Jackson continued.

"That alone would make her unusual. But there is more."

His eyes met mine.

"She possesses an ability that very few wolves have ever demonstrated."

I swallowed.

"Empathy."

Someone whispered the word.

Alpha Jackson nodded.

"She can sense the emotions of other wolves."

He paused.

"And she can calm them."

The room erupted again.

A voice from the back called out.

"Can she control them?"

Alpha Jackson's expression hardened.

"No."

He looked at me.

"Willow doesn't control anyone."

I appreciated that.

"She feels what they're feeling."

Another wolf asked, "Can she read minds?"

"No."

"Can she force emotions onto someone?"

"No."

The Alpha's voice became firm.

"This ability is not a weapon."

I looked around the room.

For the first time since last night, some of the fear began to fade.

Maybe they were starting to understand.

I wasn't dangerous.

I was just different.

---

The doors opened.

Everyone turned.

A group of unfamiliar wolves entered.

I recognized two of them immediately.

The Lycan royal guards.

They had been present during my first shift.

The man in front walked directly toward Alpha Jackson.

"Alpha."

"Commander Rowan."

Rowan's eyes moved toward me.

He stopped.

His expression changed.

Not fear.

Recognition.

But recognition of what?

He didn't say.

Instead, he bowed his head slightly.

"Willow."

I nodded.

"Commander."

He turned back toward the Alpha.

"We need to speak privately."

Alpha Jackson looked at me.

"Willow, wait outside."

I sighed.

Of course.

Another secret conversation.

Parker leaned toward me.

"I swear adults think teenagers don't have ears."

I almost laughed.

We stepped outside.

The door closed behind us.

I crossed my arms.

"How long do you think they'll talk?"

Parker shrugged.

"Ten minutes."

"Twenty."

"Fifteen."

"Deal."

We waited.

Five minutes passed.

Then ten.

Then fifteen.

At exactly eighteen minutes, the door opened.

Alpha Jackson stepped outside.

He looked tired.

"Willow."

"Yes?"

"There is something we need to discuss."

I stared at him.

"About my wolf?"

"Yes."

"What?"

He hesitated.

"We believe Nyra may have been seen before."

My heart stopped.

"What do you mean?"

"Not here."

"Where?"

He looked toward the mountains.

"That's what we're trying to find out."

Nyra stirred inside me.

*I remember something.*

I closed my eyes.

"What?"

*Snow.*

"Anything else?"

*Cold.*

I waited.

Then she whispered:

*And a voice calling my name.*

My eyes opened.

"Whose voice?"

Nyra went silent.

I felt her fear.

For the first time since meeting her, she didn't want to answer.

That scared me more than anything.

Because whatever she remembered...

She was afraid of it.

And I had a feeling the answer was buried somewhere in my family's past.