I spent the better part of the evening before my Mating Ceremony in Nolan's office, seated at the head of a table and surrounded by alphas and a coven leader.

As soon as I'd explained my experience with Sophia in the graveyard to Nolan and Dominic in full, they agreed that this was information that the other Alphas and leaders needed to hear. We all, apparently, needed to be on the same page when it came to fighting the hybrids, and having a connection in the afterlife presented a monumental development.

So, I was given Nolan's jacket and placed at the head of a conference table, while my mate sat propped on the arm of my chair. I doubted he'd ever let anyone else sit in his place of honor, but I was too nervous to fully appreciate the gesture. The eyes of the most powerful leaders in the Western Packs rested solely on me as I recounted my conversation with Sophia and tried to explain the extent of my newfound... abilities.

"It's unnatural!" Alpha Niklaus growled from his position at the far-end of the table. "To speak with the dead! And how do we know if it is truly the spirit of Sophia? I've heard tales of demons taking the form of lost loved ones to wreak havoc on our world!"

He pounded his fist against the mahogany table, and I flinched as the vibration reached me. Alpha Kayan murmured his quiet agreement, and even my own father appeared skeptical. Nolan tensed from where he was perched by my side, but I spoke up before he could step in.

"She wasn't a demon," I countered. "We spoke of things that only Sophia would know." She knew the name that Sarah had given Nolan's unborn baby, after all. More importantly, I knew Sophia, her attitude and her smile, and no demon could have mimicked those things.

Angelina, who was seated beside her mother, nodded as well. "The spell-book mentioned side-effects if it took too long for Charlie to come back. It's very possible that a part of her remains in the afterlife, facilitating her ability to speak to the dead. Especially those closest to her."

"I believe Charlotte," Dominic agreed, his voice dangerously low from beside me.

"Of course, you do," Alpha Niklaus sneered, lips pulled back to reveal perfectly white teeth. Not a strand of his silver-blonde hair was out of place, and I inwardly wondered how I could have ever found the Celestial Pack to be handsome. "You'll say anything to get in her pants, again."

The words struck me like a slap to the face, only worse. I froze in my seat, even while the rest of the room turned into chaos. Dominic was out of his seat in seconds, the wooden chair knocked backward into the wall as he practically leapt on Alpha Niklaus. But Dominic arrived a second too late.

Nolan hauled Alpha Nikaus out of his chair at the end of the table and had the man pressed against the office wall by the neck. Talons had emerged from Nolan's nailbeds, drawing blood from the other alpha's throat. With one tug, Nolan could end Alpha Niklaus' life by ripping his throat in half.

Raegan, who had been standing dutifully by the door, barely kept Dominic at bay. The Rogue Alpha looked like he was on the verge of shifting, on the verge of tearing apart every being in the room to protect my honor.

And I simply sat there, still recovering from Alpha Niklaus' cruel words. I felt like the breath had been knocked out of my chest, made more painful by the healing stab wound to my abdomen. In a daze, I reached up to the point on my neck where Dominic had bitten me so many nights ago. The mark had nearly faded entirely, but not quite. If someone looked and smelled hard enough, the evidence remained. And word had undoubtedly spread amongst the packs that something had happened on the night of Nolan's birthday party. Clearly, however, the rumors were viciously incorrect.

"Now, everyone needs to calm down!" my father shouted, having stood from his seat. Both of his hands were in the air, a universal gesture of peace. "The hybrids won't need to attack again if we tear each other apart for them!"

My father's words were but a whisper in my ear. Alpha Niklaus gurgled a laugh from where Nolan had him pinned against the wall. "Clearly I've struck a chord. Is that why you haven't mated with her yet?" Niklaus now directly addressed Nolan, the words of a fool. "Don't want your brother's sloppy seconds?"

Nolan roared, and I truly believe that he would have ended Niklaus' life right there. If only Sephora hadn't stood up from her chair and casted a spell that hurled Nolan's body back several meters on the floor. When he gathered his strength to stand and attack once more, the witch lifted her hand and kept him pinned to the ground.

"Enough!" Sephora hissed, her voice like ice. It matched the ice that had crept into my own body. "You men sicken me! Charlotte does not need this. And on the eve of her Mating Ceremony?"

The coven leader spat on the floor, paces away from where Nolan had been thrown to the ground by the invisible force of her magic. I was faintly aware of Angelina's eyes on me, but I could only stare blankly ahead. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the young witch scramble out of her seat and walk to my side. "Charlie?"

I blinked and forced myself to meet her gaze. She placed a hand on my arm and gently tugged. "You look exhausted. Let's head out?"

I took the cue to push back my seat and stand. I felt dirty, with the eyes of every person in the room plastered to me as I walked past Dominic, who was still being held back by Raegan, and Nolan. Alpha Niklaus wiped away the blood on his neck and watched me closely as I passed. But the tension in the room had deescalated. All that remained was my humiliation, as Angelina walked by my side out of the office.

"Idiots! All of them," Angelina huffed as soon as the door closed behind us and we were in the hall. "You told them everything they need to know, so we'll let them figure out the rest... I think my mother knows some witches that Sophia will be able to contact in the afterlife, and—"

She stopped talking abruptly and twined her fingers with mine. "Look, Charlie, you know that Alpha Niklaus was just stirring trouble. None of us actually believe..."

"That I am sloppy seconds?" I whispered harshly, completing her sentence. I gestured to the faint mark on my neck. "But aren't I? Dominic's mark is still there! Even if it's a bit faded."

"Don't even say that!" Angelina demanded, her fingers tightening around mine. "Nolan doesn't give a shit about that mark, and neither should you."

Her words settled over me. It was so much easier said than done. I could tell myself to forgive and forget what happened in the forest on Nolan's birthday one hundred times, but it wasn't so simple. Especially knowing that no one else had forgotten about it, either. And what if Alpha Niklaus' words held even a shred of truth? What if Nolan hadn't marked me yet because of what happened between me and Dominic?

I pushed the thought far from my mind and started walking again. A lump formed deep in my throat, but I managed to push out the words, "I'm just tired. Let's go to bed."

Angelina followed me up the stairs and to my bedroom, where she helped me change the bandages around my stomach and prepare for bed. She tried to distract me by talking about my Mating Ceremony, about the dress that she'd helped Abby pick out and the decorations that she'd seen some of the old women of the pack crafting. I should have been giddy with excitement, but my chest felt like a void.

"Should I ask Trudy to make your sleeping draught?" Angelina finally asked as she pulled the blankets of my bed up to my chest. "You'll need your beauty rest for tomorrow, you know!"

I nodded, "Yes, please." But I didn't want it for beauty rest. I wanted it to erase the worst happenings from the day from my head. I wanted it to end the pounding in my temple that thrummed through my veins and seemed to concentrate, painfully in my neck. Just beneath the surface of Dominic's mark.

Ever a dutiful friend, Angelina swept out of the bedroom to retrieve the sleeping solution. Minutes passed, and she still hadn't returned. The hinges on the bedroom door creaked and I narrowed my eyes, sitting up in bed to investigate the strange noise.

"Hello? Angelina?" I called out, and my chest tightened in worry.

Upon hearing my words, the door opened and revealed Nolan. One of his hands was on the doorknob and the other clutched my sleeping draught. "I wasn't sure if you were already asleep," he explained by way of greeting. "I intercepted Angelina in the hallway and asked if I could bring this to you."

He lifted the sleeping draught and entered the room, quietly shutting the door behind him. We locked gazes in the dimming light, and his eyes were pleading, asking for permission to approach. I dipped my chin once and scooted over in bed, opening a space for him to lay down beside me.

Nolan placed the sleeping draught on the bedside table, slipped off his shoes, and crawled into bed beside me. When we faced on another, he finally broke, an apology spilling out of his lips. "Goddess, forgive me, Charlie—I snapped, I-I wanted to kill him. But, in that moment, I forgot about you and your feelings on the subject."

I released a shaky laugh. "I half-wanted you to kill him too. But you were so angry, and I began wondering if maybe..." I trailed off, not wanting to complete the thought.

"Maybe what?" Nolan prompted, eyebrows furrowed in concern. He reached out to stroke my cheek. "You can tell me anything, my love."

I swallowed my emotion and forced myself to continue. "If maybe Alpha Niklaus' words held some truth?"

Nolan blanched. The whites of his eyes expanded, horrified, and he immediately shook his head. "Moon Goddess, no! Charlotte, I love you. I. Love. You. I don't care about what happened in either of our pasts, so long as you are my future."

A swell of emotion rose in my throat, and, instead of grasping for words, I buried my head in his chest. He responded by pulling me closer, holding me against his firm body. "I'm sorry I didn't come after you sooner," he murmured against my chestnut locks. "I was talking down Dominic."

"Is he... upset?" I mumbled, breathing in my mate's scent.

Nolan's throat bobbed. "He wants to die for what he did to you. Tonight, all of those emotions resurfaced."

I didn't ask for more details on the subject. I already knew that Dominic was sorry. I knew what he felt for me—knew the connection that we had shared. And it was all due to that cruel curse, placed on Nolan and Dominic to ensure that the Black Lupis Alpha, whoever assumed the role, would take his brother's mate and have two chances to end the hybrids. Sarah, Dominic, Nolan, and I were all tangled in a terribly cruel web. Once, Dominic confided in me that he wondered if Sarah or I would have been his mate, if only we had met him first. His assumption hadn't been too far from the truth.

Nolan and Dominic deserved to know the truth as well, and I knew that Dominic needed to know first. He was the one who had lost his true mate, after all. I took a deep breath and pulled away from Nolan's arms.

"Nolan," I whispered. "I need to talk to Dominic. Tonight."