Chapter 2 THE ALPHA'S CLAIM

~Verila Crawford~

For a few seconds after Marcus said that one word, nobody in the Great Hall made a sound.

Four hundred wolves stared at me as if I had grown a second head. I stood there in my borrowed grey tunic, my hair still sticky with wine, while the most powerful man in the pack looked at me like I was the only person in the room.

"Say it," Marcus said quietly, so that only I could hear. "Tell me you feel it too."

"I feel it," I whispered. My voice was shaking. "I feel it, Alpha."

His face softened. He lifted my hand slowly and pressed it against his chest, and I could feel his heart pounding as hard as mine. A warm light seemed to fill me from the inside, and I knew the mate bond had snapped into place.

Then he turned to face the whole pack, still holding my hand.

"This is Verila Crawford," he said, and his voice rang through the hall. "The Moon Goddess has chosen her as my mate. From tonight, she is the Luna of Ironclaw."

The room erupted.

People gasped and whispered. A woman near the back fainted, and a servant dropped a tray of silver plates that crashed across the marble.

"The wolfless girl?" a man hissed.

"It must be a mistake."

"The Goddess wouldn't do that."

I kept my face calm, the way I always did. But inside, something small and bright was breaking open. For twenty years, they had called me useless. Now the Alpha himself had called me his Luna.

My father reached us first.

Beta Richard Crawford, who had spent his whole life looking straight through me, was smiling the widest smile I had ever seen on his face.

"Alpha Marcus, this is a great honor," he said, bowing deeply. Then he squeezed my shoulder and said loudly, "My daughter. My Luna. I always knew she was special."

*You always knew?* I almost laughed. An hour ago, he had told me I was embarrassing the family and threatened to throw me out.

Damien came next. He bowed stiffly and muttered, "Congratulations, sister," through clenched teeth, he couldn't look me in the eye. Behind him, the same wolves who had laughed at me when the wine hit my head were now lowering their heads one by one.

It was dizzying. Only an hour earlier I had been the pack's favorite joke, and now they had to bow to me.

"I know this is sudden," Marcus said, drawing me a little closer. "But I want you to know that I have waited my whole life for you."

I looked up at him. He was a stranger, and yet I could feel his heartbeat in my own chest. I could feel through the bond that he wasn't lying.

*He sees me,* I thought, and my eyes began to sting. *He really sees me.*

"I'll try to be worthy of you," I said.

"You already are," he answered.

That was when Selene stepped forward.

She had changed her face completely. The cold hatred I had seen a minute ago was gone. Now she looked sweet and gentle, with tears shining in her green eyes, like a loving little sister who couldn't be happier.

"Oh, Verila, I'm so happy for you!" She threw her arms around me. "I truly am."

She smelled of jasmine and expensive perfume. Her cheek pressed against mine, and her lips came close to my ear.

"Enjoy it while it lasts, sister," she whispered. "He was supposed to be mine."

I pulled back and stared at her. She smiled at me with wide, innocent eyes.

" I'm so proud of you," she said sweetly, and squeezed my hands. "Isn't that right, Alpha?"

"Of course," Marcus said politely. "You must be very proud of your sister."

"So proud," Selene breathed.

I knew exactly what I had heard. My sister wanted Marcus, she wasn't going to give up, and she had just told me so to my face.

My stomach turned cold. But I had no proof, and nobody would believe me over her.

The rest of the night passed in a blur.

The elders shook my hand and welcomed me as Luna, though some of them looked sour about it. Wolves who had never spoken to me came to offer clumsy congratulations. An old maid I had known since childhood actually cried and kissed my cheek.

Marcus stayed at my side through all of it, with his warm hand on the small of my back, as though he was afraid I would disappear.

"Tomorrow, you will move into the Alpha's wing," he told me near the end of the night. "I'll have your things brought over. Tonight, rest. You've had a big shock."

"Thank you, Alpha."

"Marcus," he corrected gently. "To you, always Marcus."

My heart fluttered like a fool. He lifted my hand and kissed my knuckles, and then he let me go.

I was walking down the east corridor toward my old room, still dazed and happy, when a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me into a dark alcove.

"Mother?" I gasped.

Lady Evelyn stood in front of me, and I barely recognized her. Her face was white as bone, and her fingers dug hard into my arm.

"Listen to me," she whispered. "Listen very carefully, Verila."

"You're hurting me."

"There is a mark behind your left ear. The crescent." Her eyes darted down the corridor. "Never let anyone see it. Not the Alpha, not your father, not Selene. Keep your hair over it every day. Do you understand?"

"Why?" I asked. "What does a birthmark have to do with anything?"

"Promise me!"

Her voice cracked on the last word, and that frightened me more than anything else she had said. In twenty years, I had never once seen my mother afraid.

"I promise," I whispered.

She let go, smoothed her gown with trembling hands, and hurried away before I could ask another question.

My old room was small and cold, at the end of the servants' wing where my family had put me years ago. I locked the door and stood in front of the mirror, trying to understand everything that had happened tonight.

In one night, I had gained a mate and a title. I had also made an enemy of my own sister, and learned that my mother was afraid of my birthmark.

Slowly, I lifted my hair and looked at the crescent behind my ear. It looked the same as always, small and pale and ordinary.

"It's just a birthmark," I told myself. "It's nothing."

Then it started to burn.

A thin silver light spread out from under my skin and glowed through my fingers. I stumbled back, and in the mirror I saw my own eyes staring at me. They were no longer grey. They were glowing a bright, pure white.

*Hide it,* my wolf said in my head, her voice low and urgent. *Cover it now. If anyone sees this, they will come for you.*

My hands shook as I pulled my hair over my ear, and the light faded. My eyes slowly turned grey again.

I was breathing hard, and my heart was racing. I had just heard my wolf speak twice in one night, and I still didn't know what she was or what the mark meant.

Then, behind me, something moved in the dark window.

I turned around slowly. A face was pressed against the glass, watching me.