Chapter 83

I nodded, forcing a shaky breath past my lips. I told her about the dream, more details about it becoming clearer. I had heard the rushing wind of the yacht and water rushing around me, but it had all gone quiet when we had been at the lake. When the wolf had turned into Dominic, bearing the mark on his chest.

Arielle went very still for a moment, her fingers pausing in my hair. But when she spoke, her voice was light, careful. “Have you had a dream like this before?"

I shook my head.

"And you're certain that he had the mark of the Goddess? Of justice?"

I nodded.

She narrowed her eyes. "How… interesting."

I narrowed my eyes back at her. "What's that mean?"

She grinned. "I suspect you'll find out soon enough."

I closed my eyes again, wanting to ask, but my mind was going back to the dream. I hadn't really seen anyone shift in person before.

Arielle’s fingers never stopped their slow movement through my hair as we drove. After a few minutes of silence, she asked softly, “Is there anything else you remember about it?”

I shook my head. "Not really."

Arielle let out a small hum, thoughtful. “You’re close.”

“Close to what?”

“Your first shift.”

I sat up a little, blinking at her. “What?”

She chuckled. "Contrary to Philip's idiocy, you are a werewolf. More importantly, you're a Mountainhowl wolf. You're nearing your first shift."

"But… aren't I a bit too old for that?"

She cocked an eyebrow at that. "Who told you there was a deadline?"

I blinked. "Well… everyone, really. I should have started shifting in my teens, right?"

"I can't think of a since Mountainhowl wolf who shifted in their teens," she said lightly. "Outside of incredibly strenuous circumstances…"

I bit my lip, glancing up at her. I decided not to ask.

"Yes, Renee," she said. "I did shift for the first time when I was young and it was a strenuous and extenuating circumstance. That is not normal, and I am not going to bite your head off for asking."

My grimaced. "Do you… want to talk about it?"

She chuckled. "We can swap horror stories later. For now, we're talking about and this dream, and your awakening. It's been coming on for a while, but it typically would have come by now. The fact that you're suffering through all the migraines and such is a bit concerning." She brushed my hair behind my ear. “Meeting your mate triggers the awakening for most of us.”

My face heated. Her words made my stomach tighten. Mate. My thoughts immediately jumped to Dominic, and then stumbled awkwardly to Neil. My heart raced for a whole different reason.

"Well… mates as the case may be for you."

I stammered. “Wait. You said mates… mates as in plural?”

Arielle’s eyes glinted with mischief, but her voice stayed calm. “Yes. Sometimes the Moon gives more than one. She's quite generous to those who need it. It's pretty common in the Mountainhowl line. You’ve already drawn two men to you, Renee. Don’t pretend you don’t at least suspect.”

The heat spread from my face and through the rest of me. I turned my head to look out the window.

“I—I’m not unhappy about it,” I mumbled, mortified by how small my voice sounded. "But… But I'm not--- I mean I don't think I'm---"

"You haven't really had much chance to find out, now have you?" Arielle chuckled softly. “And you don’t have to be embarrassed. It’s not scandalous as I've said before. But it is complicated. Especially when one of them is who he is.”

My throat tightened. “Dominic doesn’t care about me,” I whispered, surprising even myself with how much the words hurt. “He’s still protecting Vivian. He’ll always protect Vivian.”

"She's his daughter, and care is not the same as protection." Arielle flicked my nose. I hissed and batted at her hand. "Stop it."

I huffed and said nothing, biting down on the sharp ache in my chest as the car began winding up a narrow road. I sat up slowly, stretching and grateful for the nap. The landscape outside had changed drastically. It was like being in a totally different would. Tall pines swayed under the coastal breeze, bordered by palm trees. The scent of salt and wildflowers filled the air. And then, ahead of us, the Mountainhowl estate came into view—nestled high above the crashing waves, its stone terraces gleaming pale against the setting sun.

For the first time in weeks, something in me loosened. The constant weight pressing on my shoulders lifted just a little.

Maybe… maybe taking some time away wouldn’t be so bad after all.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I nodded. She took my hand and squeezed. "Welcome home, princess."

Dominic

The sea air woke me slowly. I hadn't thought I'd end up falling back asleep after the dream. Despite my greatest hopes, I didn't dream of her again. And I was no closer to figuring out who she was or who the other wolf in the woods had been either.

My driver pulled out to the front of the resort hotel but I had heard of so many times before, but I'd never been to. After Hazel's death, the thought of going to the sea, a boat, of rest and vacation had been haunted.

I supposed that would have to change completely now. I grimaced at that vicious thought and shook my head as I climbed out. I'd have to think about that, deal with all of that later. They greeted me kindly, sending me up to the room that had been reserved for me. I tipped the bellhop though I only had a single bag. The room was nice, beautiful. Several steps above the hotel rooms back in Brightclaw, but Brightclaw's tourism was an entirely different beast than Mountainhowl's. I wonder for a moment if people came to Mountainhowl just to catch a glimpse of Arielle the way people came to Brightclaw to catch a glimpse of me.

I stood for a moment on the balcony, looking out over the dark water as the waves crashed against the cliffs. The rhythm of it should have been soothing, and in a way it was. But beneath the surface, I was restless.

Mountainhowl's air was foreign to me, too warm, too balmy and humid. I was used to the mountain air, the scent of the forest. It had me on edge. Everything in me knew I was in a completely different territory, one that I couldn't be sure was entirely friendly or welcoming.

And there was something else. Something about the way the moon hit the waves, the strange undercurrent of power in the air. There was something more primal here than I had ever felt outside of my own coming of age ceremony. A closeness to the Goddess I couldn't explain. It was a faint pulse in the air, like a second heartbeat under my own.

I leaned my forearms against the balcony rail, trying to force my thoughts into order, but they scattered like leaves in the wind. Every time I tried to think of Hazel—her face, her voice, the way she used to look at me—I couldn’t hold onto the image, the anger and betrayal would burn through it, melt it into something unrecognizeable and soon enough my thoughts would turn away from the pain, the memories and settle on Renee.

Her eyes. Her strength. Even the way she would bite her lip when she was thinking. It was as though my mind refused to let me sort through my feelings about Hazel, refused to dwell on it though I knew it was dangerous to not deal with it. Renee's very presence, her likeness was twisting the truth about Hazel and our relationship into something softer that it should be, erasing or at least dulling the sharp edges of the truth.

It was my wolf, I knew that. Telling me to move on. Telling me that it was in the past, but it wasn't that simple. I cursed under my breath and pressed my hand to my chest, where the ache was surging again. The healer here would likely call it stress. Guilt. The price of too many years spent managing too many burdens. But they wouldn’t know about the hatred growing inside me for Hazel. For the betrayal. For the lies. For the way she’d fooled me all these years, and the monster I had helped create that was my daughter.

I hated her.

I clenched the railing, breathing through the surge of emotion at the thought. I hated her. I hated the idea of her. I hated what Vivian had become when she didn't have to, and I wondered if Hazel was alive would she still be the way she was. If it was all my fault that she had turned into such a horrible, ugly person.

More than that, I hated that trying to hold on to that anger, to remember it and cling to it, was proving useless because I couldn't keep it separate from my growing and undeniable attraction to Renee.

A knock interrupted my spiraling thoughts. I straightened as my driver’s voice came from the other side of the door.

“Sir. They’re ready for you. Your appointment is scheduled to begin shortly.”

I took a breath. My hands clenched and then relaxed at my sides.

“I’ll be right there.”