Page 180 of Moon Claimed

“No. His words played in my mind often as you can imagine.This is because your mate bit me. This is what he did to me and Ragna.For a long time, I assumed he meant that Ragna had to leave the valley for him. But they always shared a bond unlike any other I’d seen, even while he was human. How did Murphy know what a mate was?”

“They mated,” I said.

“You know this for sure?”

“I think his death broke her. His absence broke her to a degree that I can now see was unnatural. When he died, she stopped doing mostly everything and started gambling. She always tried her best but could never quite manage it. I guess that makes sense now.” Tears burned behind my eyes. This was the truth. I felt it. This was why my mother did those things. To herself and me.

Pascal rested a hand on my shoulder, and it felt strange coming from the composed woman. “It’s a good thing when the world makes sense. Often, it doesn’t.”

We sat for a time.

“Why did you tell me all this?” I asked.

She looked at me. “When I turned Daniil down, he was never the same, but his change in behaviour not long after you entered the valley was startling. I believe when he learned of the connection between you and the pack leader, the information changed him.”

“What happened that day in Water?”

“I found an empty boat waiting at the bottom. There was no one in sight, so I took it, believing a steward left it for my use. Daniil met me later after confirming some of the underwater points. I didn’t think anything of it.”

He’d come to meet her and then jumped overboard.Clever bastard.

“But then Rhona forced you to bring the theory of Sascha Greyson’s obsession to the head team. I knew what that meant. You were going through a mating call together. At that point, I wondered if that explained Daniil’s sudden change. But rather than come clean, I decided to monitor the situation and swallowed my concerns.”

I’d never told the head team about the black wolf’s other attacks. She wouldn’t have known about anything other than what happened in Water. “It’s not your fault. He chose to act that way.”

Pascal dipped her head. “He did.”

I inhaled her pain. “You’re mourning him.”

“Strange thing that mating call,” she said quietly. “It never quite leaves you. I wasn’t able to complete one of the meets—the scenting meet. Daniil believes this might have disrupted the process for us and left us in limbo.”

Standing, she dipped her head and turned away.

“Pascal?” I called.

She peered back.

“If you could go back to that moment with Daniil. Would you change your mind?” I didn’t bother specifying which moment.

The older woman regarded me. “It was harder to choose him than not. I found out later that the hardest path is usually the one worth taking. A few decades bring clarity that youth doesn’t have.”

Nature was so very cold. Really, we had no choice in the mating call at all.

To create a Daniil.

To become a Pascal.

To end as Murphy.

To exist like Ragna.

I searched her face. “Daniil attacked Rhona to force me to shift. Other times, I was sure he wanted me dead.”

“I’m not sure Daniil knew what he wanted. Did he want to force you and Sascha together or tear you apart? I’m undecided.”

Daniil turned me into a Luther. That would only help us to progress through the mating call.

But he took Wade to lure me out alone.