“Wow, Mom,” Felix blinks. “That was almost cool!“
She pouts. “What do you mean by ‘almost’?!”
Felix ignores her complaint and takes my hand. “Why don’t we use this moment, while everyone else is preoccupied, to have you officially join the pack?”
“Now?” I look into the room again. He is right, the others are still eating and chatting. Elden is talking to Liam and Marcellus now, but suddenly pulls his gaze away and towards us.
“If you want to, Elden is on board. It will only take a couple of minutes,” Flora tells me. “That is, unless you want a huge ceremony.”
“No, thank you!” I cry. “That’s the last thing I want.”
Flora takes my hands. “Do you want to join the pack?”
I look into her mesmerizing blue eyes and then at Felix. He has the same eyes. It feels like home in this pack. For the first time, I have the feeling of belonging. I don’t want to let that feeling go again. “Yes.”
Not ten minutes later, I find myself in Elden’s office together with Aurelia and Felix, of course. Flora decided to stay behind and entertain the guests.
“Don’t worry, Gwen,” Elden reassures me. “It’s just a technicality. Felix has marked you, and everyone in this pack already knows you. We are all happy to have you here.”
“Do you know about the procedure?” Aurelia asks me.
“Yes,” I tell them. I might not know much about life in a pack, but Dad and Daniel tried to teach me what I needed to know. “I have never seen it for myself, but I know how it’s supposed to work.”
Elden reaches out his hand, and I put mine - with my palm facing upward - into his. He slices his palm first, the silver knife cutting through his skin swiftly. It begins to heal quickly, though, probably because he is an alpha. He does the samewith my hand, the pain is sharp but short-lived, and instantly forgotten when I feel drips of his blood against my palm. I have never experienced anything like this. It’s as if I am in a trance, like a warm blanket is being wrapped around me, making me realize only now how cold I have felt, how lonely I was.
I don’t quite hear what Elden is saying, but I catch the most important phrase. “Do you pledge loyalty to Silverlake Pack and your Alpha and Luna?”
“Yes,” I say promptly. “My loyalty lies with this pack, my mate and his family.”
Elden smiles at me.
My head starts spinning slightly. It feels like the warm blanket is being wrapped around my whole being now. I can hear voices swirling around, and I can feel everyone else.
“Are you okay?” Aurelia asks. “You look a bit pale.”
Felix takes my hand and leads me to sit down. “I am fine,” I assure them. “This is amazing! Overwhelming, but amazing.”
Even through my clouded vision, I can see Elden and Aurelia frown. “Is the feeling so unfamiliar to you?” Aurelia asks.
“It feels like I am engulfed in a warm blanket,” I say, shivering slightly. “As if I was freezing and now am being wrapped up in something warm.”
“But… you were part of a pack before…” Felix’s voice trails off while he is talking, his eyes open wide now.
“I know it shouldn’t be new to me at all, but it’s…”
“Itisnew,” Elden says, furrowing his brows. “Gwen, were you born in the pack?”
“No. From what I know, I was born in a normal hospital and spent the first months with my mom.”
“Then you weren’t born as a pack member,” Aurelia says. “By the goddess, they didn’t make you one?! Ever?”
I raise my eyes to look at them, too stunned to answer. Thousands of thoughts are running through my mind. I alwaysfelt cold and lonely, even more so when Dad wasn’t around anymore. I never had the feeling I belonged, and-
Hey, Gwen, it’s me, Dario! I can feel you in the pack link. Welcome!
Dario’s voice startles me for a moment, before realization settles in that I can link everyone!Thank you, Dario. I am happy.
“They never linked me,” I say. “Theyneverlinked me! Even when I turned eighteen, I always relied on my phone to call or talk to anyone. I thought it was normal because I was half human, but now… Dario just linked me…”
