Kiera stood in the main entrance of the packhouse, wondering how she’d made it through the last few hours. So much and yet nothing changed. The pack was still there, as, was she? Dean still tried to keep the investigators from questioning her, which she felt thankful for because she wasn’t sure how to explain what had happened. They’d given help with the blood thieving and selling while trying to find out why their father did what he did. That still bothered Dean. He didn’t want to hear the information secondhand; he wanted to hear whatever the druid had to say directly. Kiera could understand how he felt, but unlike him her experience told her his mental and emotional state was better off than this why. When she confronted the mind behind the evil that was done to her, it may have answered her questions, but it also enjoyed messing with her mind. It took her months of work to understand her issues weren’t hers, but others trying to excuse what they

“Fine, I’ll email the Oracle. But I still want you as my Luna and mate.” Dean didn’t seem to see this as a problem that was barring them from doing anything.Kiera’s mind reeled from the very idea that everything in her life was predestined, and she had no control over it. “Dean, if the Moon Goddess or someone pretending to be the Moon Goddess are gathering an army, that means we’re slaves again and been lied to this entire time. Geez, can’t you see it?” Her hand came to her face and her thumb and forefinger pinched the bridge of her nose because she felt this conversation would give her a headache before the end of it. “Yes, Kiera, I see it. Here’s the thing you’re missing. Who are these devout wolves we’ve been talking about? Worshiping the Moon Goddess isn’t like that anymore for the majority of shifter society. Wolves and other shifters will say no. I highly doubt whoever I saw understood that. Whatever is coming won’t have us fighting for the Moon Goddess, but f

Dean sat at his desk as he sent off an email. “Okay, there we go. The email’s off to the oracle. You’d think that an oracle would see into the future and know someone needs to talk to them before they reach out.” “What a pedestrian thing to say. Honestly, oracles see things all the time. It’s all extra information they have to process and sort out besides what we all see. Could you imagine all that extra information the oracles would need to process? It would be easy to see them become overloaded by it all. I don’t think knowing things like who needs to talk to you before they contact you would be part of the list of information that’s too much for someone’s insanity. Could you imagine calling someone you don’t know and telling them out of the blue about something that will happen to them? Who would trust anything or anyone like that?” “I was joking, Kiera. I won’t argue with you about that.” Dean wondered if the humans damaged her sense of humour, alo

“Very good.” Dean’s face went from a tentative smile to a beaming grin. He wrapped his arm around her back and guided her toward the common grounds the pack used. This was where the cabins and cottages were, and the pack used the centre as a common meeting area to live, work, and socialize. It was where pups played, and people worked. The people met there, many worked there as well. Dusk slowly descended around them, but that didn’t slow down the pack. The common ground didn’t fall silent as dusk fell. Life flourished even more now. Pups, elders, and everyone appeared to have turned up in the common grounds this night. “Wait, it’s not normally this crowded. You planned this, didn’t you?” Kiera turned to Dean and accused him. “I had to do something, Kiera. If I didn’t, you’d never believe me about any of this. Will you at least listen to some of our pack who want to speak with you?” “Speak with me? Why hasn’t anyone said anything ab

Dean didn’t let go of Kiera once he had his arms around her. He could feel her vulnerability, and he didn’t like it at all. He felt like he could look in at all the things she’d experienced, but he could never fully understand it all. Dean hated the fact he couldn’t take away her suffering or her hesitation. But he understood why she didn’t want to turn him. The difference between them appeared to be how they saw the future. The facts were the same for them. The way they looked at the list of potential outcomes was different. A fear Dean now found himself saddled made him question whether he’d successfully kept Kiera away from the drama unfolding within the pack too well. As he watched her during the walk and listened to each conversation. A theme or subject kept repeating. Each person who once was close to her felt the need to catch her up on what she’d missed in their lives. It did his heart good to hear a few admit they regretted she’d not been there for some of t