I smirked and turned to leave. There was no way in hell I could focus on car shopping when he was in the vicinity, within reach.
“See you in a week, stud. Let’s see what you’re made of.”
***
CELESTE’S POV
Emma wouldn’t stop checking the mirror in her compact. I didn’t blame her.
I’d told her to go with soft curls and a peachy-nude lip, something pretty and approachable
-not desperate.
She looked perfect. All we needed was for Ethan to show up and notice it.
I’d planned it perfectly.
I’d asked Ethan to pick me up from the mall. Meeting Emma here would be a ‘happy coincidence, followed by a casual movie invite. At that point, I would suddenly feel sick and take an Uber home to get some rest.
Emma had carried a torch for Ethan for years, and it shouldn’t have to take much to create a spark between them.
Except he was almost an hour late, and Abby and I were running out of things to say that would keep Emma’s nerves from unraveling.
“He’s coming,” I repeated, more for myself than her. “He probably got caught up at the car dealership. You know how he is when he starts talking about cars.”
Emma gave me a tight nod, but her eyes kept darting toward the boutique’s glass doors- the same ones Sera and her little bodyguard had walked through earlier.
The entire interaction still left a bad taste in my mouth and simmering anger in my chest. I didn’t know what I hated more: Sera pretending she belonged in a place like this, or that smug little curl on her friend’s lips as she defended the cunning snake.
I shoved all thoughts of them to the back of my mind, ignoring my cheek stinging with the memory of Sera’s slap. Everything concerning my older sister filled me with a bitterness that eclipsed all else, and I couldn’t afford a distraction.
Today was about Emma. About putting the right people in the right place-starting with making sure Ethan finally saw what was right in front of him.
I spotted him just as Emma stood to smooth her dress. He came from across the mall, weaving through the late-afternoon crowd. The moment I saw his face, something shifted in my gut.
He looked… off.
His eyes were unfocused. His movements sharp, tense.
Like his whole body was vibrating with something he hadn’t figured out how to process yet. There was this strange energy rolling off him-almost like he was holding back a Shift.
“Hey!” I waved lightly. “Over here.”
“Ethan,” Emma said as he approached, giving him her best sweet smile. “It’s good to see you; it’s been a while.”
For a moment, he didn’t respond. His jaw flexed, and he looked past us-like his mind was somewhere else entirely.
Then, finally, he blinked and looked at Emma. Then at me.
He reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me away from
“Ethan,” I hissed. “You just ignored Emma. You’re being rude.”
“I found her,” he said, a tremor in his voice.
I frowned. “What?”
“My mate,” he clarified, a tinge of awe in his voice. “My Luna.”
My eyes widened. “What?! Who?” my friends.
But he didn’t elaborate. He wasn’t smiling, wasn’t bragging. He looked… stunned. Wrecked.
Disoriented. Like the ground had shifted under him, and he hadn’t quite caught his balance.
I stepped closer. “Are you sure?”
His eyes finally focused on me, and I saw it. That flicker of knowing. Of instinct.
“As sure as the blood pumping in my veins,” he answered, his voice low. “Logan sensed her instantly.”
His wolf aura glowed in his eyes as if Logan himself was trying to confirm Ethan’s declaration. There was no denying it.
Ethan turned, and I reached out, grabbing his hand. “Wait, I said. “Emma wanted to know if you wanted to watch a movie with her.”
He looked at me like I’d suggested he strip and run naked through the mall.
He gently but firmly pulled his arm out of my grasp. “I have no time for that. I need to find out who she is.”
His eyes glazed over, and I knew he was thinking about her-his mate.
Fuck.
He was already halfway across the tiled floor by the time I processed what had just happened.
I turned to Emma, and she blinked at me curiously. I didn’t know what to say to her.
Not because I was heartbroken for her, but because I was already calculating what this meant.
If Ethan had truly found his mate, then everything I’d been quietly orchestrating- positioning Emma at his side, guiding the narrative-would unravel in a blink. And more importantly?
I’d lose influence.
Emma would have been the perfect Luna-not too ambitious, not too clever. Loyal to me.
Malleable.
I could’ve whispered in her ear and held the reins without anyone noticing. I would’ve remained important. Visible. The sister who built the Luna.
But now?
Now, Ethan was tethered to someone I didn’t know. Someone I hadn’t chosen. Someone I couldn’t control.
And that? That was the real danger.
Because if his mate had a mind of her own, if she didn’t need help, or worse, didn’t want mine, then where did that leave me?
Invisible.
I had to find her and somehow steer my brother away from her.
Before it was too late.
SERAPHINA’S POV
I woke up before dawn, unwilling to lie in bed and let my thoughts spiral any further like they’d been doing lately. The quiet house made for too much noise in my head.
I had a yoga session scheduled at the Moon Hall today. I’d done a few over the last couple of weeks, and I found that it helped with my healing and also settled my mind.
I changed into my yoga attire-soft grey leggings and a worn sports bra that smelled faintly of my usual lavender oil.
I hadn’t used it in a while because the scent brought back… memories.
Warm, firm hands pressing me to a rigid body. Soft lips. Searing heat.
I shook my head. This was exactly the kind of noise I needed yoga to quiet.
I had just stepped out of the locker room when Maya intercepted me, her hair back in its usual cornrows, two cups of coffee in her hands.
“Morning, sunshine,” she said, stretching out a cup to me.
I was still trying to reconcile the idea of my ruthless trainer, Maya, as my new friend. As strange as it was, it made me deliriously happy that someone like her had me in mind to the point of getting me a cup of coffee.
Pathetic, I know. But I’d been shown so little kindness in my life, so seemingly inconsequential gestures meant the world.
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