Chapter Twenty-Three +25 BONUS

“Amy.” Cass’s voice jolted me from my own thoughts. I got up from my mother’s desk and walked to the door, opening it.

“Hey.” I looked her over, and she had tears drying on her face. “What’s wrong?” I stepped out.

“Nothing, everything. I had a question.”

“Anything. What’s going on with you?”

“It’s Lily.” Cass grabbed my hand, and I stepped out of the office and closed the door.

“What do you think you’re doing in the luna’s office?” Aurora’s voice was overly loud, and it grated on my nerves.

I turned to her, pulling Cass behind me. “Who are you to question me about my mother’s office?” I lifted my lip. “The real question is, why have you been in the luna’s office?” Aurora stumbled. “Did you think I wouldn’t smell you all over the office? You are not permitted in the office. It’s not yours to use, sit in, or dream about.” I was becoming more and more agitated the closer I stepped toward her. “I don’t know how many times I have to say this to you, Aurora, but you are not the luna. You will never be the luna. My father won’t ever fall for you, even with whatever magic you are using on him.”

She sputtered. “I’m not using magic. Who would ever use magic on an alpha?”

Cass leaned in behind me. “Magic is real?” Her soft question caught me off guard.

“How is it, Aurora, that you aren’t surprised like Cassie, because I used the word magic? Something our world has never heard of or considered real? She leaned in to question it, but you glazed right over it, accepting the term and moving past it.” I stepped closer, and a hint of panic hit my nose.

“Everyone has heard of magic, Amy. Whether or not it’s real is another story, and everyone knows it’s not.” She tossed back, but the panic in the air grew thicker. So, magic was being used. I had to figure this out quick, before she sunk her claws deeper into my father.

I pointed my finger in her face, pressing it against her cheek. “You stink of your lies, Aurora. And I won’t stop until I figure out exactly what the fuck you’re doing to my father.” I snarled in her face, and she whimpered.

“Amy!” My father’s voice boomed, and I stumbled back a step.

“Dad?” I looked up at him. His eyes were clouded and unfocused, but his face was dark with anger. “What’s wrong?”

“How fucking dare you ask what’s wrong? Like you weren’t just getting into Aurora’s face? How could you? You know how much I care about her.” He came forward, and she slid her hand into his, the fingers of her other hand tapping the back of his.

“What?” I shook my head and looked back at Cass, but she just shook her head in disbelief. “Dad? What the hell did you just say?”

“What? I love her, Amy, and you will just have to get over it.” My dad smiled down at Aurora, who snuggled into his side.

“See. I told you I would be the next luna of this pack.”

My eyes shot between their faces, looking for any hint of recognition on my father’s face for what he was saying. Anything that would snap him back to the here and now. “Dad?”

Chapter Twenty-Three-And-A-Half +25 BONUS

I watched as his eyes shifted from his normal blue to the gold of Loki and then back. Like his two sides were fighting until he screamed and partially shifted. Aurora screamed and backed away from my partially shifted father, with his claws and fur rippling down his arms. “What is going on?” Loki’s voice ripped through our minds and the hallway, making all of us wince.

“Alpha?” Aurora’s timid voice rang out, but Loki just turned and growled at her.

“I would leave. Quickly.” I called out to her while I slowly started toward my father’s side. Aurora tried to sidle back up to his side, but Loki and Nix both growled loudly, and she turned with a shriek and was running down the stairs. “Dad, calm yourself.” I leaned closer and rubbed his arm.

“Do you know what she is doing to us yet, pup?” Loki finally turned and focused on me, but I could only shake my head.

“I’m new to this stuff. I haven’t even figured out how to connect to nature yet.” I softly admitted, and Loki just snorted.

“What do you mean you do not know how to connect to nature? You are a wolf, born of nature, raised in nature. Our very fiber is nature. You just have to open yourself up to your animal to see that.”

“I am open with my animal.”

“Obviously not, if you can’t feel nature. Nature should have come easily to you if you were.”