u

after I saved Elder Emma-soft sounds like wind through leaves, but with meaning just beyond my grasp. I'd blamed ex

it

ast, their eyes hard with judgment. I recognized Katie among them-the same Katie who'd

when she's angry," one whispere

u see what she did to Elder Emma?

ed. But my hands shook as I reached for the lavender, and suddenly the ent

whispered. *You

rt pounding. The lavender

r us, litt

I muttered, pressing m

a bad sign," Mae's voice came from behind m

pearing without warning. Ever since the rejection, she'd taken an intense interest in my li

pped. How could I explain what wa

y garden bench, her expression unreadable

her

. "Before the packs turned to modern medicine, before they forgot the old ways. T

r a moment I glimpsed something ancient in her

ng me?" I asked su

you. Perhaps I have my own reasons for wanting to preserve the old

ere was always something else beneath her g

ression. "As well it should be. But if you want to

me deeper than I'd ever gone, to where the trees grew so ancient their trunks we

ing filled with moonflowers. "Not with your

t first, there was

daughter o

shoots. I opened my eyes to find the clearing transformed. Figures moved between the

o long for one wh

you?" I

earth, the song of growing things. We remember when wol

ke

its swirled closer. *You

ming

leaving only whispers: *Time w

we. "Do you understand now what you

ace. Not just hunger now-there was triumph there,

asked ca

e of words. Come, you should rest. We'

ngs I couldn't quite understand. My wolf pace

issed Selene's scent until she

le was pure poison. "These woods are dangerous, you know. Anything

e said, her voice car

Mae? And once I'm Luna..." She let the threat hang in the air before tu

ar. But it was Mae's expression that chilled me most-the calcu

, almost to herself

what?"

As we walked, the forest spirits whispered again, their words just beyon

g day, I was changing. Becoming s

e if that was a g

I wasn't sure I wanted answered. Mae moved silently beside me, and I caught her wa

she said finally, b

I'm 'becoming'?" I as

gmatic. "What do yo

house caught our attention. A crowd had gathered,

what she did

oving on

we can't trust th

crowd, I spotted Elder Thomas gesturing anima

der," he was saying. "First the

ey don't understand." Her hand settled on my shoulder, her grip just sligh

us stirred restlessly, and the forest spirits' whispers g

mean?" I as

nd hungry. "Power demands respect, little w

m n

spirits have chosen you. The old magic rises in your blood. You could make t

nearby plants writhed, torn between reaching for me and recoi

as one of her rare specimens.

finally clear enough to understand.

y. "I want to heal. That

pointment? Anger? But then her usual mask

k, the gesture somehow both affectionate and

a? Do be careful with those new abilities of y

s before letting out a shaky breath. The plants around

the spirits murmured. *O

hispered to the empty air. "

d the distant sound of my pack-my people, though they didn't want me-p

g to some

ng-not just power, but purpose. Mae might have her own agenda, the pack might fear me, b

had to d

forest whispered.

oomed in my path. Its petals glowed softly in the gathering

red. "Help me become wh

moment, I thought I saw figures dancing in its light-anci

onger quite the sanctuary it had been. And somewhere in the darkness, Mae pl

me since the rejecti

beco