8. Lumi
Chapter 8
Lumi
“ I t’s almost time,” a woman to my left says with long, golden blonde hair. I jump at the sound of her voice, and she chuckles at my response.
“Don’t pay any mind to Kaida. She was just being dramatic. Most don’t die at the offering.”
“So they find mates?” I ask.
Her laugh deepens. “No, none have since the curse began. Only those foolish enough to think they can actually find their mates die.” She looks me up and down. “But you’re not going to be foolish, so you have nothing to worry about. You won’t die tonight.” She pauses. “I’m Rowena.”
“Lumi,” I say, sucking in a deep breath, trying to believe this kind stranger.
Rowena is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. She’s tall—at least half a foot taller than me with piercing yellow eyes and thick, peachy lips. There’s almost an unnatural glow about her that none of the others here possess.
“I’m Moonlight pack—that’s what the glow is about,” she states matter of factly, like she’s explained a hundred times. For her, it’s completely normal. Then she raises her eyebrows, waiting for me to respond with my own pack.
“I’m the Bloodmoon offering,” I reply.
Her eyes widen for only a millisecond, as the shock spreads through her body. She blinks it away a second later.
She takes my hand and squeezes it hard, in what I assume she thinks is a reassuring gesture. Instead, it feels like she’s cracking every bone in my hand as her strength far outweighs mine.
I swallow back my wince.
“All you have to do is say none of them is your mate. That’s how you survive. You say you don’t feel a bond with any of them, no matter what happens. They won’t force you to mate with anyone if you say you don’t feel a bond. Stay alive; I like you,” she winks at me.
I smile softly back as she shoves something into my hands. My stomach does somersaults despite her intended calming words.
“Change into this. Nothing but this,” Rowena says firmly.
I stare at the thin white fabric in my hand. Before I can ask Rowena what it is, she’s already walked away. I unravel it to discover a sheer white gown.
This can’t be what I’m expected to wear. But as I look all around me, the rest of the women are already changing into similar gowns.
“Hurry, she’s coming,” a woman with dark ringlets and brown skin to my left says.
I strip out of my clothes and into the white gown, moving as quickly as I can. The others finish dressing almost instantly, the speed of a wolf shifter on their side.
Somehow, I manage to get the gown on quick enough. My hand runs over the thin fabric on my body, my eyesight seeing straight through it to my darkened nipples pebbling in the cold. I might as well be naked.
I scan the shadows of the cave, looking at the other women. None of them try to cover their bodies or fidget with embarrassment. As wolf shifters, this doesn’t feel strange to them.
“Line up single file, starting with the Moonlight pack and ending with Bloodmoon,” a woman from outside of the cave says.
I jump as her voice somehow carries throughout the cave, as loud as if she were standing right next to me.
“That’s Isolde—a witch from the Moonfire coven,” Rowena says before she walks to the entrance of the cave. Women start lining up behind her before I can question what a witch is doing getting involved in wolf shifter business.
I don’t know much beyond my own pack’s lifestyle, but I do know that witches are our enemies and not to be trusted. Or was that a lie my father told me to not seek their help in unlocking my wolf?
Isolde chants something in an ancient language as she waves her hand in front of the cave, lifting the spell that keeps us caged inside here. A tightness I didn’t realize was pressing against my chest lifts, and I take a deep breath.
Chills race up my spine, as our line of women in white gowns starts walking out of the cave. Rowena said there was nothing to be worried about. Emeric said the same. But why else would they have a witch cast a spell keeping us trapped in a cave if there’s nothing to worry about? Why are we called offerings?
On a narrow trail, we walk single file through a dense green forest with nothing but moonlight guiding our path. My shoulders brush against the branches of the trees next to me as I lift my feet high to avoid tripping over a tree root, rock, or fallen branch.
I stop for a second, looking up at the full moon almost at its peak. Despite never having turned, I feel a pull to it.
Everything I’m feeling is heightened—my fear, my excitement, my anticipation. All of it beckons me forward. And the growing thrill of the group sweeps through me.
If there was ever a time I wish I could shift, this would be it. But I feel nothing more than the usual tingle and joy that comes with existing under a full moon.
I count the heads in front of me—fifteen of us in total, and I am the last. There are no guards keeping us in line. Isolde could be using magic to ensure that we follow her, but I don’t feel any coercion.
This might be my last opportunity to escape. I should run into the forest, find Kael, and do what my father said—live my life as a human and give up hope of ever shifting into a wolf.
But now that Kael has shifted—has felt his full power, felt what it’s like to run through the forest in his beast form—he won’t want the life of a human. He won’t be able to resist this life or hide who he is.
And I don’t want to run away. I don’t know why my fear has been dampened as I walk behind the other women, the other offerings. I don’t know if my confidence is too high or if it’s the pull of the moon giving me the courage to keep walking. Despite Rowena’s warning, maybe I’ll find my mate tonight and be the one to break the curse.
Whatever the reason, I don’t try to escape. I don’t run; I follow.
Isolde leads us down a path from the cave to the top of a hillside.
I gasp at the sight in front of me. From the top, there is a panoramic view of the forest that stretches for miles and miles.
My heart soars at the picture in front of me. Hundreds and hundreds of our kind are gathered, sitting on a massive sloped hill as if in rows of an amphitheater. Conversations and laughter fill the air in excited anticipation. It’s amazing to see so many of us here.
My eyes focus on the bottom of the hill. I’m a mile up, but I can clearly count the massive male figures standing in a group below, waiting for us—the alphas.
Time slows as a yearning I’ve never felt before slams into me. I need to go down there. Someone is waiting for me. My mate is waiting for me.
I swallow hard, focusing on the women in front of me as we begin climbing down the sloped hillside to the males waiting below.
Silence falls across the crowd as we walk. All eyes of the hundreds here are on me and the other women—the other offerings. With a thrumming pulse, I keep my head level and force myself to remain calm, to keep a blush from striking over my cheek.
The closer we get to the waiting males, the more my yearning for them intensifies. I try to look past the woman in front of me to once again look at the males below, but even from the higher ground I stand on, I’m too short to see over her.
I make the mistake of looking to the left, to get a better look at the ones gathered. Male eyes look at me with lust and a soft howl of appreciation finally forces a blush to my cheeks.
I glance down, and the moonlight shines through the material of the gown, giving them all an unobstructed view of my body.
I fold my arms over my chest, trying to hide out of instinct. Distracted, I don’t pay attention to where my feet are, and I trip on a rock, falling forward into the back of the woman in front of me.
She turns swiftly and manages to catch me before I slam into her back—her wolf instincts kicking in. Her hands grip my biceps as she stares at me curiously.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
Her hazel eyes stare into me, as if she’s trying to read my mind. She turns back around without a word.
Well, okay then.
I focus on my feet to ensure I don’t fall again, while butterflies flutter in my belly.
I’ll survive it, whatever it is. I have to. It’s my destiny. I can feel it in my bones.
I’m so focused on my feet that it takes a minute to realize we’ve made it to the bottom of the hill.
Isolde walks over to me, and with a wave of her hand, my head lifts. Her power pulses through me, and her voice rings in my head, “Sit.”
I’ve never felt such power before, never experienced a witch using their magic to control another. Mindlessly, I walk to the rows of chairs where the other women are already sitting and take the last seat.
Once seated, I feel the power lift and my self-control return.
I take a deep breath, afraid it will be my last. Looking up, the stare of fifteen handsome alphas devour us like dinner. If Isolde’s power scared me, the power they wield is absolutely terrifying.
Say you don’t feel a bond with any of them, Rowena’s words pop into my head.
I don’t know how I could deny any of them. A warm tingling spreads through my core, my lips part, and my body aches as if I need one of these males to live. My mind spins with desire, and I can barely think through the flaming heat beating in my body.
“Welcome,” Isolde says, her voice carrying through the crowd. “Welcome wolves, witches, and vampires to this month’s offering.”