Chapter 2

The Sacred Cavern lies in the deepest part of the pack territory.

Moonstone torches lined both sides of the stone path, their flames casting dancing shadows on the ground when the wind blew.

I walked slowly. Not because I was reluctant.

My mind was just chaotic, and I needed to sort through everything before moving forward.

I was thinking about what happened five years ago. That year I was seventeen, Soren came to our valley as an emissary from the Citadel.

He sat on the stone steps reading, the setting sun painting his profile in gold.

I had never seen anyone like him before. Clean, graceful, like he came from another world entirely.

Later he asked me where the road outside the pack territory led.

I said it led down the mountain to a town, and beyond the town was a city, and beyond that city were even greater cities.

He asked what I wanted to see in the future. I said I wanted to see everything.

He smiled and said, then see it all. I believed him right then.

After he left, we began mind link, and it went on for five years.

He said when I turned twenty-two, he would come to claim me as his mate and take me away.

I asked him how he knew I would be willing to accept him by then. He said I would be willing, because I cared for him.

I called him shameless at the time. But I truly did care for him.

Five years, and I never fall in love for anyone else.

When I reached the entrance to the Sacred Cavern, Elder Torin sat on the steps smoking his pipe. When he saw me, he narrowed his eyes.

"You came," he said. "I thought you would not come tonight."

I crouched down across from him. "Elder, I want to ask you something."

"Please."

"The Lunar Seer's duty, does she truly have to remain within pack territory?"

Elder Torin drew on his pipe. "The ancient law states the Lunar Seer guards the pack and protects the wolves. She never leaves pack territory, never takes a mate, devoted until death."

I nodded. "If the Lunar Seer left the territory, what would happen?"

He paused and turned his head to look at me. "Which Lunar Seer would dare leave?"

"I am just asking."

He drew on his pipe again, exhaling slowly. The smoke dispersed in the torchlight.

"Have you decided?" he said. "Will you accept the consecration?"

"I have not decided yet," I said. "I just want to understand the rules clearly."

He watched me for a long time, then said something that surprised me.

"Tamsin, do you know that your generation is the first time I have ever misjudged?"

I froze. "What do you mean?"

"You two sisters," he paused. "I always thought the one who would stay would be your older sister."

"But that child, I watched her grow up. Her eyes have never truly fallen on this pack territory."

The wind blew past, and the torch flames flickered.

"But you," he said, "every time you come down from the mountain, you always look back."

I said nothing.

"Truly look, not out of reluctance, but to remember," he said. "Remember the paths, the mountains, every blade of grass and tree here."

"People who love a place and people who want to escape a place have different eyes."

I lowered my head. Something caught in my throat.

"But I am not someone who should stay here," I said, my voice slightly hoarse. "I have my own path to walk."

"You walk your path," Elder Torin tapped out his pipe and stood. "But Elodie cannot walk that path. You need to understand that."

With that, he pushed open the door to the Sacred Cavern and walked inside.

I remained crouched on the steps, watching his back disappear into the candlelight.

Of course I understood.

Elodie could never become the Lunar Seer. Not because she was inadequate, but because she could not hide that restless heart that wanted to leave.

And according to the ancient law, the Lunar Seer must guard not only the pack, but also her own heart.

If she could not guard her own heart, she could not guard the pack.

I stood up and brushed the dust off my knees. The night wind lifted my hair.

Footsteps sounded behind me. I did not turn around, but I knew who it was.

"Are you really going through with the consecration?" Soren's voice.

I said, "I have not decided yet."

"Then why did you come to the Sacred Cavern?"

"To understand the rules clearly."

He walked up and stood beside me. After a moment of silence, he said, "Tamsin, if you accept consecration as the Lunar Seer, you will never be able to leave for the rest of your life."

"I know."

"You earned your place at the Citadel. You have so many paths you could take—"

"Soren," I interrupted him and turned to look at him. "Did you come here today to claim me as your mate, or to claim her?"

He didn't say a word.

I said, "Then there is nothing more to discuss."