TA

in

me back to consciousness. I

the lilies on my windowsill hit me instant

my hands-smooth, unscarred, untouched by yea

the vanity mirror. The face staring b

e. Today was the day before the Festival of First Bloom-the exact d

s re

he betrayal, the bone-deep cold of the ocean, the venomous truth of the cont

e at the door. It was Flora, my maid, reminding me it was time to

I said, my

er's person, loyal to a fault. In my last life, she had been implic

rotect everyone who

ad chosen to please Jamel, the dress that had made me feel like a washed-out ver

said quietly. "T

d fetched the other gown. It was a simpler style, the deep

was a vision in a dazzling white g

ced. But her blue eyes held a flicker of sharp assessment, a pr

a hard thump a

ion I'd seen on her face countless times in my

ought struck me

e be reb

f my skirt between my fingers, a nervous habit I'd had back the

for a fraction of a second. A flash of jealousy and contem

I sa

s back, too. She carried the memor

," she said, her voice dripping with false sweetness. She lin

ut I didn't pull away. The game was j

ut the eligible young men from the various Packs, but her words kept circling

eement here and there, playing the part of the na

th a few of his elders, his expression stern. My mother, Evelyn, stood a short distance away

kened my pace, leaving Justine behind, and w

ftening into a gentle smile when she

her familiar, comforting scent. This was the warmth I had missed m

"Mother Evelyn," but my mother

she envied me. Her own mother had been nothing more than a mis

oung wolves gathered in the center of the lawn,

crowd. It didn't t

ud in his Faulkner Pack uniform, the

g with excitement beside me. She even smo

, no longing. This was the man I had loved enough t

en his eyes met mine, he gave a polite, distant

absolute certainty