The following week was a lot better than the previous. I talked to Skylar more over the weekend and even got to meet Beau. It wasn't as personal as in person, but a video call would do for now. He was cute, I supposed. Totally Sky's type with skin as dark as her own and short cropped hair that was obviously curly should he ever grow it out. His eyes were blue, though, and that was striking against his complexion. His lips were full, and his ears sort of stuck out, but it suited him to an extent and I was probably just trying to point out his flaws for my own sake of losing Sky to him.

When I wasn't calling her, we were updating each other about our lives over text, and anytime Scarlet confronted me, I repeated the jeer to Skylar, who then mocked it and pointed out its weakness to make me feel better. By Thursday, Sky said my eyes were literal jewels again and my happiness had brought my powerful glow back, and she could tell even over a video chat.

Friday, I noticed she was right, because the guys were tripping all over themselves trying to talk to me again. Each time, I shooed them away, telling them to go bother Scarlet. It felt nice for things to be back to normal, even if it was just a little.

Two Monday's later, though, Scarlet was out for me. She came up from behind me and slammed my locker closed. "You're such a slut, you know that?"

I choked on my breath. "Excuse me?"

"All those guys have been after you all month, and rumor has it, you're not turning them down anymore."

"Scarlet, you're being ridiculous." I didn't have energy for her today.

"I don't blame you." She sneered, "I mean, look at them! Look at you! No one's really to blame, except maybe the goddess. But—"

I cut her off by slamming my elbow into her windpipe and pinning her against the lockers. The hall cleared of students in fear of what might happen between myself and my nemesis. "What did you say?" I heard her say goddess, but I had only heard wolves speak of Her, not humans. But I didn't want to expose myself by asking her that specifically.

Her breath came out strangled and I loosened the pressure a little. She coughed once and her eyes went wide as if just realizing what she had said. "I. . . Say. . . Thing." She managed to gasp out.

I relaxed my arm a little more. "You said something. I heard you. What do you know?"

Finally she smirked. "More than you'd ever guess." She wriggled out from my arm and disappeared around the corner to her class.

With a shaky breath, I whipped my phone out and hurriedly texted Skylar what had happened.

Her reply was instant. Does she know about us?

I don't know. I answered.

Do you think she's a wolf?

That had never occurred to me before. She was pretty enough to be a wolf, but so many humans were naturally pretty that it couldn't be the only factor put into consideration.

Wouldn't we be able to smell it?

Hmm. Maybe she's part of some cult that worships a different goddess?

Maybe. I wasn't convinced. But I was shaken enough to avoid Scarlet the rest of the day. I didn't see her until Wednesday, when she slipped her foot into the aisle between desks and I caught it at the last second, falling into my seat and smacking someone with my backpack.

"Hey!"

Scarlet snickered from her seat. "Goodness, Emerald. I thought you grew out of your clumsiness!"

I ignored her, pressing on my hip where I had hit the side of a chair on my way down. I willed my wolf to subside the pain as quickly as possible so I wouldn't cry and give Scarlet yet another victory.

Apparently my wolf was useless because I was still hurting by the time I got home. And that night at dinner, I bumped the spot again, just slightly against the counter when I was grabbing a plate. I yelped a little and instantly Mom was at my side.

"What happened?"

"I'm fine, Mom," I promised. "I just have a bruise on my hip. She shuddered, but I couldn't be sure why. "Mom, really. It'll heal. I'm just clumsy."

"That's what I used to tell myself."

I almost dropped my plate. "What?"

She shook herself out of whatever seemed to plague her. "Never mind. Here," she pressed her thin fingers against my hip bone, rubbing a small circle where the bruise was. "This will help it heal faster."

I watched her hand incredulously. "My wolf will heal it. It's not that bad."

She took her hand away as if she were burning me. "Right. Sorry. Just trying to help." Now she looked me in the eye, searching my gaze for something I'd probably never know what. "You're sure it was just a chair?"

I kept my voice soft, unsure what had gotten into her. "Yes. I'm sure. I promise."

"Okay." She nodded. "You'd tell me if it was something else, right?"

I blinked at her. "Yes. Mom you're acting strange, are you sure you're okay?"

Her shoulder straightened. "Yes, of course. I'm fine. Let's eat." Then she grabbed a plate for herself and piled the pasta on it and whisked herself into the dining room. More slowly, I followed her.

What in the world had that been about? I bumped myself all the time! Was today the first time she had ever noticed a bruise on me? It was so weird.

I watched her while I ate. We were the only three in the dining room, though, so it was hard to watch her without getting caught. Anything any of us said carried across the room in the quiet.

The pack rarely used the dining room except for business, other pack visits, or events such as holidays. Sometimes a family would be eating at the same time as us and they would take their spots but we hardly interacted. Usually, though, the betas and gammas would join us and we'd have group family dinners, but the other seats at the head table were empty tonight.

"You okay, Em?" Dad asked me quietly.

"I'm fine."

"Okay. If you're sure."

What was with the two of them tonight?

"Kota." Mom addressed him, so I shoveled another bite into my mouth. "You were telling me about the email you received."

"Oh, yes. That's right." He put down his fork, earning both our attention. "I've been invited to visit with a couple packs down in Virginia. I was wondering if you wanted to join me this time. We're overdue for pack visits, and they're asking if we could come Memorial Day weekend."

Mom's eyes widened. "Kota, that's like next week!"

I hadn't realized how fast the month of May had flown by. Finals around the corner should have alerted me, but I admitted I hadn't been paying close attention to school lately.

"Would it be just the two of us?" She asked him. I scooped another mouthful in.

"Well, the alpha of the Rising Moon Pack just requested me and my luna, while the Crescent Moon Pack didn't specify. So whichever is more comfortable for you, Eirenae."

She contemplated. I cut in. "Can I come?"

Both of them stared at me.

"What? I'm going to be alpha of this pack someday. Shouldn't I start learning how to connect with neighboring packs? Shouldn't I learn more of the business leader end of things?"

They stared at me until Dad finally broke the stretching silence. "I just fear that you're still so young. You're not even seventeen yet for a few months!"

Crossing my arms, I leaned back in my seat. "And by the rules, I can technically be alpha come my eighteenth birthday. I'm not so little anymore, Dad."

He let out a clipped growl. "I promise you, I won't make you take my place at only eighteen."

I arched an eyebrow. "What if I want to?"

"I won't let you."

"What!" I sat upright in my seat, anger surging through my chest. "Dad, I've been learning, I've been preparing, I'll be ready when I'm eighteen. I want to be alpha."

"I don't want that burden on you when you're still a teenager! I don't understand why the royals wrote it in that way. It should be later." He shook his head as Mom gave him a pointed look I didn't understand.

I ground my teeth, not wanting to be mad at my father, but oh, how I was mad at my father! It felt like he was keeping me from claiming the title. "You took over the pack when you were sixteen!"

"That's how I know!" He bellowed and it shut me up. Even Mom shrunk back a little. "Sorry." He glanced at her, his eyes softening again. "Emerald, I took over the pack not by choice. And I was far too young. I wish my father had been alive to pass it on to me himself, when I was actually ready. I probably wouldn't have been ready until I was even twenty-five."

My anger faded. I knew Dad took over when he was younger, but I didn't know it was because his father died. I supposed that would make sense. I didn't want Dad to die for me to have the title, but I didn't get why he thought eighteen was too young.

He sighed, "You think you know everything when you're eighteen, but it becomes clear in your twenties that you really don't know anything. I want you to enjoy being free, being a kid, living your life before your stuck behind a desk avoiding wars, keeping track of your pack, and hiding out from humans and hunters. Being alpha isn't all glory and fame, you know."

I swallowed. He'd never talked to me about becoming alpha like this before. "But you did it."

"Because I had to. My mother was in no place to lead the pack by herself. She was grieving the loss of her mate—which I've heard comes in waves of extraordinary pain by the way—while also caring for three year old twins. I had to."

My eyes widened and my mouth formed an O. "How did you do it?" I finally asked him.

"Well I had my friends; when they all turned eighteen they were given the option to step up and become my new team of leaders. And then I met your mother and she helped shoulder the responsibility a lot as well." Mom reached across the table to squeeze his hand. "Even though it terrified her." He winked.

I was confused. All my life, I had pictured being alpha and leading my pack to greatness. And when I had to start thinking of a mate, I felt like being luna would somehow lessen me in a pack hierarchy. Did Mom do more than I ever credited her for? To me, she was still in a shadow of my dad, helping when asked but not really doing any heavy lifting when it came to the business side, and the disguising ourselves from humans was part of that.

I'd have to watch more closely from now on. I was still afraid of committing to a mate, in fear of him taking over what I had worked so hard for. But maybe I didn't know everything.

"I think she should come." Mom said suddenly. "Let her see the trade and the alliance building, and let her get out of her territory a little and see how other packs are run too. Some of them, are very different." The last sentence she trained her ocean blue eyes on me.

Dad nodded slowly after a moment of hesitation. "Okay," he said. "Okay, I can see how this could benefit her." He trained his own green eyes on me, too. "But don't get any hopes up that I'll be stepping down come your eighteenth birthday."

"I won't." I promised. "I understand your hesitation a little more now. Sort of, I think, anyway."

They both chuckled. "Think about it some more. When you have a child of your own begging for you to step down, you'll see."

I huffed, "I'm not begging you to step down!"

"Whatever you say." Mom chuckled. But as they stood up and left the room, I barely was able to catch her whisper to Dad, "should we tell her-"

I would never know what she was trying to tell him, because a howl rang out across the territory and when I turned to see out the window, chaos erupted in the backyard.