During the hour run, I tried to convince myself.
Every one of the Lycans waited for me by the bonfire. “There are two traditions we have for every new member,” Ryker said, standing in front of the group and in front of me. The fire glowed off of his eyes, and I smiled. “They hunt to prove their abilities and then they get the Lycan symbol tattooed on themselves to commit to us.”
I bounced up and down on my toes. I never thought that I would be here. I never thought this opportunity would come to me so easily. Not after Roman.
“Are you ready?” Ryker asked me, his woodsy scent overwhelmingly strong.
After I nodded my head, Ryker told me to run to the east, where the rogues had been torturing some alphas by taking the pups in their packs. I had a goal. Kill one of them.
I placed my nose to the ground, picking up and tracking the scent of a rogue to a nearby pack. The Lycans followed me, their paws hitting the ground like a thunderous roar, purposefully making it more difficult for me.
At the edge of the property, a rogue stood and watched a couple guards who were oblivious to his scent. Then he leapt into the air, right under the moonlight, about to kill him. I sprinted forward, leapt up, and sunk my teeth right into the rogue’s neck before he could kill anyone.
We tumbled to the ground, somersaulting over and over until I landed on top of him. The rogue struggled under me, but I sunk my teeth deeper into his neck and ripped out his throat, letting the blood rain down on his hollow face and earning the respect of the Lycans behind me.
~~~
After we walked back to the Lycan’s property, Ryker gave me a spare change of clothes. I changed into them, without showering, and walked with him and the rest of the Lycans to their tattoo parlor.
My final task: to tattoo the Lycan symbol on my body. A permanent symbol of my allegiance to them.
I sat down in the chair, trying to still my trembling hands. I wasn’t nervous for the needle, but my wolf was whimpering, begging me to stop, forcing me to think about everyone’s reactions to this act of betrayal.
Ryker sat next to me as others chatted with each other, smiled at me, drank, and had a good time celebrating. He placed a hand on my hand, steadying it. “Are you sure about this? You can back out now. Nobody would judge you for it.”
No. Not now. I couldn’t back out.
“This is what I wanted for ages, Ryker.” I shook my head. “There is no going back now.” I gazed around the room, taking in the hundreds of pictures of previous Lycans who had been tattooed here and the rogue canines hanging from the ceiling as trophies from previous Lycan additions.
“Once you have the tattoo, it is final. You will have to train with us for at least a year,” Ryker said. Giving me every single opportunity to decline.
“This is what I want. I’ll be valued here. I will get to protect everyone that I care about and I will achieve my goals.” There was no better option. Luna Raya would be so proud of me. “Let’s do this.”
He paused for a moment, then nodded. “You may get the tattoo anywhere you’d like.” He pulled up his sleeve, letting me see the wolf tattoo on the back of his hand and the hundreds of Moonflowers crawling up the side of it. “And for each rogue you eliminate, you’re allowed to tattoo a Moonflower next to your wolf.”
I smiled down at his arm, getting butterflies in my stomach. I brushed my finger against his skin, getting chills. He had killed so many rogues and eliminated their evils from this earth. “How many do you have?”
“Moonflowers?” he asked, watching me and smiling. “240.”
My eyes widened. “Jeez.”
He chuckled lowly, and my heart raced. “You’ll be there soon,Bella. I know you will.”
“I want mine on my back,” I said, removing my shirt and my sports bra and leaning forward in the chair to cover my breasts. The tattoo artist placed a stencil on my upper back and drew the wolf.
When he started the tattoo gun, I grabbed Ryker’s hand. Not because it would hurt but because I was still trying to convince myself. But, as soon as the needle touched my skin, I sighed in relief. A wave of pride rolled through me, and I knew that this was the right choice.
The tattoo took almost an hour, and Ryker stayed by my side the whole time. He stared at me, not saying a word, and drew a finger down my forearm to sooth me. My wolf howled inside of me, not wanting him to touch us. It was after 12am, officially my 18th birthday, and she recognized that he wasn’t our mate. Nobody here was.
When the wolf tattoo was complete, the artist started on my first Moonflower. I watched him tattoo me in the mirror and smiled. This was everything I had been waiting for and more. Why had Roman overlooked me so easily?
This was the best birthday I ever had, and I hoped it would just get better, but I knew that it probably wouldn’t. I would have to tell everyone that I was leaving. Mom, Dad, Derek, Roman.
Once the artist wiped the blood off my back, Ryker smiled at me. “Welcome to the pack, Bella. Your tattoo will heal within the next few hours, thanks to your wolf’s quick healing abilities. I will let you spend your eighteenth birthday with your friends, family, and pack. But I expect you back tomorrow.” He handed me my shirt. “And don’t forget that you will need to tell Roman that you are leaving his pack to join the Lycans.”
I nodded my head and swallowed hard, not sure how I felt at that moment. This was real. There was no going back.
Chapter 30
