The Rising of the Moonbrone

's point o

with electric tension, eyes turned toward the dais just ahead, where the Ceremony of Fates would take its claim in moments. My heart raced in my chest loudly enough to d

heir steady, somber voices chanted the ancient words that will forever bind us with our

as hard and unmoving as th

solid ground rose beneath me, a brittle counterpoint to the turbulence swirling in my body. My gaze hit Kael, the future alpha, as his was proud on the dais. A

me. It shimmered, alive and prescient, drawing close around us like an invisible thread. Cramps of hope filled my chest

ace before it hardened. He fetched the golden-thread, which he

s tone cold enough to free

light wavered, then vanished. My legs were trembling, but I resisted the urge to sag. I searched Kael'

if my words would reach

t it was gone as fast as it came. He turned his back on me j

ntoned, his tone heavy with gr

the wall, the crowd parted, their faces a mask of judgment and pity. Shame burned o

d my subconscious went from mess inescapable. Why had Kael done this? What had I done to des

y breath caught. They pack Why will not allow me to get ou

ht sounds-the swish of leaves, the hoot of an owl. But underneath it all, I think there was

around. From the shadows sprang three wolves, eyes aglow with any kind's

alive," he said derisively. "They said

dy to stand tall. "Don't come closer," I said,

. "Are you able to take on us? Yo

moving with desperation. I raked my claws along one wolf's face, and blood pooled there,

r hissed, teeth shining. But then a blur of

new figure had come between me and the wolves, dangerous in

rowled, dangerously low, "you'

a reply from the rogue. His movements were deadly; strikes were quick and unrelenting.

as penetrating and evaluating, but it was no generous gaze. "Get up," he ordered. "The

I had no idea who he was or why he'd saved me, but one th