Page 83 of Marked By Moonlight
“I’m sorry, too,” I sputter out, partly because I am truly sorry and partly because I can’t stand to hear him apologize. I can barely process what happened. I can’t cope with the words I should use to describe what almost happened to me, to all of us. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to heal from what could have happened.
He frowns. “What do you have to be sorry for?”
“I’m sorry I didn’t break free of the spell faster to avoid putting us all through that.”
“I’ve never seen someone break free of a spell so quickly.”
My eyebrows furrow. “What do you mean?”
“It’s how our initiation works. It always involves a witch casting a spell and having to break free of it. The spell Isolde cast was stronger than any I’ve ever felt before.” Emeric pauses, looking at me in awe. “You’re incredible.”
I shake my head. “I’m not.”
Emeric sighs but turns his attention to Ambrose. “You okay?”
Ambrose nods, his throat bobbing.
I look from Ambrose to Emeric and then back to Emeric before remembering that Emeric feels Ambrose’s pain. “What did Isolde do to you?”
Emeric starts to open his mouth to speak, but Ambrose silences him with one look.
“I’m going to kill Isolde,” I say.
Ambrose smiles at me gently. “As much as I’d love to see that, we need to finish the initiation.”
My eyes widen in fear.
He leans down and kisses my jawline softly. “No more tests. Just magic to officially make you part of the Moonlight pack.”
I relax into his side as he wraps his arms around me. “I don’t like her.”
“She’s harmless. Her coven has been working with the Moonlight pack for decades. She plays her part well. We are all trained to hate the witches, but Isolde and her coven are set on helping to break the curse. They are on our side.”
He kisses my hair and any ill will I feel toward her melts away. I feel so safe in his arms, so loved.
My heart flutters at that thought.Is this love? Are we falling in love?
Those thoughts immediately disappear when I see Isolde approaching us. The others begin circling around us, and despite Ambrose’s arms and reassurance that there are no more tests, the fear flutters back into my chest.
Isolde and I stare each other down, much in the same way we did when she had cast a spell over me.
“I wasn’t sure if you were strong enough. I’m glad to be proven wrong,” Isolde says to me.
I growl. “Don’t ever hurt my pack again. Not even for some test.”
Isolde raises her eyebrows and smirks as she looks from me to Ambrose. “You found yourself a feisty one. You still sure about her?”
I move to pummel her, but Ambrose holds me tight in his arms, as cool and calm as ever. “More than sure.”
Isolde addresses the circle of Moonlight pack members. “Do you find Lumi worthy of joining the Moonlight pack?”
An overwhelming sound of yeses and howling fills the air. And when I look into each of their eyes I see the joy, the hope. They all have hope that I’ll be the one to lift the curse.
I will be. I know it.
Isolde just nods, then turns to Ambrose. “And do you, Ambrose, as alpha of the Moonlight pack, accept Lumi into the pack?”
“Yes, she’s always been a Moonlight pack member.”
