My heart dropped to the floor as I processed her words, over and over again through my head while the seconds passed. I thought leaving you there would protect you. . . Instead, it slowed everything down.

Kota, having understood what just happened faster than my brain could obviously handle, stepped closer to the queen. Out of my peripheral view, I noticed his eyes had darkened significantly. "What did you just say?" His voice was slow and calm, but held so much icy resentment even I shrunk back a half-step.

Anne blinked, playing dumb — or maybe she really didn't realize what she had said.

"You lied?" I coughed out, finally meeting her eyes with a stable mind. "I told you I wanted to trust you, to understand where you were coming from. But this entire time we've talked, you've been dishonest to deceive me — us — into agreeing with what you want."

"That's not-"

"Stop it!" The petite voice came out of nowhere. Tally shoved her hair out of her face as she shuffled several steps closer to me, a clear indication she was siding with her big sister. "Just tell them the truth! They don't believe you anyway, so going on like this will be an endless circle!"

My eyes fell to her in bewilderment for standing up to our mother like that. Based on my math, she was right around twelve years old; I would not have been brave enough at that age. Goddess, I was barely brave enough now!

"Tally-"

"Tell. Them." Her tone was as icy as Kota's, which sounded so strange coming from her tiny figure.

The queen held the child's stare for several moments, and we waited in silence for one of them to break. Eventually, Anne exhaled with frustration, directing her glacial blue eyes on me. I held them just as strongly as Tally.

"Fine, the plan wasn't always to bring you with. That's why I waited until you were at school. I picked you up because I had already regretted leaving you the second I strapped Natalia in the car and drove off. When we got in the accident, I, again, made a hasty decision to escape reality. The cops were nearing and I only had time to get Natalia away before they showed up."

Her words stabbed me like a knife, slicing right through any sort of reconciliation I could have with her. "That's a bitch-ass excuse." I seethed, you could've just said "I chose Natalia over you and we left" and it wouldn't have hurt any more.

No one disagreed with me, not even Her Majesty herself. "I know. And I'm sorry I wasn't a great mother. But when I left, and decided to keep you there," abandon me, actually, "I wanted to protect you from a life of running.

"The Menai Moon Pack was attacked when I was a child, driving the survivors out and apart. My mother died too young and I was constantly hiding from the world. I knew you would be Purus Lupus and I didn't want you raised in that kind of life."

"No," I grumbled sarcastically, "you wanted me raised in the dark, blind to what I was and beaten to the bone daily for reasons I didn't understand."

"I-" she huffed a pause, thinking carefully before speaking. "He figured out you would be a wolf too, and a powerful one at that. That's why he cut the ginger hair; he thought it meant something." I tentatively reached to my head, sliding my fingers underneath the layers. "Which it doesn't, by the way. Most royal marks are barely even visible, if they appear at all. Commonly it's a strand of hair or a patch of skin — like a birth mark – but not even everyone gets them. Basically, they're pointless."

Peeking over at the girls, I shrugged. So much for worrying over it last week! Jaycee mouthed back, "still Repunzel!" We never watched the movie that night, thanks to the unexpected shifting event.

"I know you don't like this, but the Moon Goddess destined you to be Queen. It should be an easy choice to claim that crown." Anne said seriously, cutting right back to the point. She was done trying to explain, done trying to reconcile. She proved to me she had come here for one reason only. Not to save me, not to build a motherly, trusting bond with me, but to take me to be her heir to a throne I knew nothing about.

I crossed my arms, completely serious. "The answer is no."

"Eirenae Grace," she stood up and I cringed back, despising the use of my full name. "You realize that you're Luna of this pack now, but you have the potential to be Luna to every pack!"

"I don't want to; don't you get it? My life has completely turned upside down two months ago. I met these guys, I moved into their home, I turned into a mother-frickin' Werewolf, and I found out I have to lead a pack with hardly any knowledge of what that means! So yes, I realize, but no, I'm not going to flip my life inside out all over again!" Making sure this could be as dramatic as possible before my mother had a chance to press any further, I grabbed my little sister's hand and stormed out of the foyer.

Across the entryway and through the first door in the corridor we entered the music hall. Tally looked at me with bewilderment in her leafy eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Do you want a way out?" I ignored her question. "A way to get away from her?"

She thought long and hard, and I was beginning to realize how smart this little girl was. We grew up in disparate worlds, and we were probably sheltered in different ways, and exposed to many different things.

The door clicked and I glanced away from Tally to see Kota slip in alone. He hurried over to see what was going on.

"Your mother is not very happy with your exit. Nor that you took the kid with you."

I shrugged, I didn't care. I needed Tally to tell me what she wanted, without the pressure of the queen's stare on her back.

"You can stay here," I told her softly. "You don't have to live under her thumb any longer if you don't want to."

She sighed and looked to Kota and then to me. "Thank you, but she's not so bad at times. A little demanding and panicky about the heir situation, but she is mostly a decent mother."

"Don't protect her just because you feel it's the right thing to do. She'll learn to cope with whatever decision you make." Kota reminded patiently.

Tally shook her head. "It's not that exactly. I actually wouldn't mind the crown. I've grown up watching her rule from the shadows and I've taken note, picked up on what I think is right or wrong compared to what she is doing. With proper training, I would be happy to take it from her." Bouncing anxiously on her toes a few times, she added, "I don't care if I'm not a Pure Wolf. I don't care if I don't get a gift. I just want to be a good leader for my people, and that's what should matter. As long as I do what I can, I don't think Selene will care that I wasn't the product of Royal mates. Mom just needs to get over that."

I stared at her like she just grew two heads. "How old are you again?"

She cracked her lips in a toothy grin, her cheeks reddening. "Twelve."

Reaching out, I pulled her into a hug and she immediately returned the gesture. "Hearing that from a twelve year old proves to me that you're stronger than I ever was. If you're completely sure that's what you want, I'll let you do that. But just know that anytime you have doubts, or change your mind completely, I will be there for you." I pulled back and grabbed her chin gently, wiping the tears from her cheek, "and when the time comes, you will be the best aunt a kid can have. And obviously you're babysitting."

She giggled and dropped her gaze to my abdomen. "You're not-"

"Goddess, no! But one day." I stole a glance at Kota, who looked like he just won the lottery, and I laughed along with Tally as I squeezed her in my arms again. "We should go," I whispered after several seconds, "you know, before she decides to turn into a dragon and burn the whole house down!"

She giggled again and stepped towards the door. "I've heard those exist; dragon shifters I mean. Somewhere on the other side of the globe, war Asia. A whole clan of them!"

I gave her a light shove, "you're too smart, okay? Next time you come visit me I want proof of these dragon people!"

"Deal!" She swung the door open and we walked across the entryway to my group of very awkward looking friends. None of them seemed to know what to do with their queen so furious at me.

"You are leaving right now." I announced, not bothering to give her a chance to speak again. "Natalia will go with you, and she will be given the throne when she reaches of age."

Picture frames rattled as I was thrown against the wall of the foyer. Kota snarled and lunged, but was also restrained from an unseeable force. I scrambled with my legs, slipping and sliding on the slick flooring as invisible pressure closed around my throat.

"Mom!" Tally gasped, "stop it, you'll kill her!" She wrapped both her hands around my mother's arm, which was pointing up at me. My eyes bugged and dots clouded my vision. All I could think was here we go again. This was all too familiar, just with the other parent.

"Mom, I'm serious! Let go! I'm the one who decided everything!" Finally, the pressure released and I dropped to the floor, gasping and wheezing as I grappled at the wall for stability.

When I got ahold of my surroundings again, I could see my friends frozen in place, Kota was halfway in the air, his face murderously directed at the queen. Tally pulled our mother towards the front door.

"We're leaving, and you're not coming back, or getting anywhere near Eirenae again. I will be the heir, and you will just have to deal with it!" The fire in her eyes was incredible, willing our mother to listen to her and agree with her. Giving me a side glance and a small smile, she dragged the queen out the front door, swiftly closing it behind them.

The second they were gone, everyone was released and Kota stumbled to the ground, his growl shaking the room as he lunged at the door.

"Hey!" I croaked, and he instantly changed his direction for me. Grabbing my hand, he helped me off the floor.

"Are you okay?" He growled protectively, "I'm gonna kill her. Let me go and it will be done."

I cupped his face in my hands, urging him to meet my eyes. "You're not going to kill the queen, Kota. We're going to take a deep breath and think things through." He nodded, numbly focusing on my eyes as he calmed himself.

"Did-did she do that with her mind?!" Cole asked incredulously.

"Telekinesis, a Royal Gift, remember?" Sydney placed a hand on his shoulder, calming him down as I was Kota. Cole nodded, still seeming in a state of shock and disbelief.

"I can't believe you stood up to her like that!" Jaycee came over to me, not pulling me away from Kota, but still holding my attention. "And your sister backed you up, a brave thing for a twelve year old in an argument with the one who raised her."

I smiled as a surge of pride welled up inside my heart for Natalia. We may have discovered our shared blood was only half, but that half was every bit like me. And in the ways she was different? She was better than I ever could be. I knew she would make the most wonderful ruler, once she came of age and kicked our mother out. "She really is something, isn't she?"

Jaycee shared my smile for a moment before turning playful and lightly hitting me on the shoulder. "And you! You've been hiding such a voice from all of us for so long!"

Heat flooded my face, knowing this was to come. Kota — thankfully sane again — pulled me under his arm. "She was just saving it for a good use, and today was surely the right one! Goddess, what a morning."

I giggled into his chest, "I needed time. All that anger came to the surface and I just snapped."

Dexter sidled up next to Jaycee and slipped his hand into hers. She leaned into him, appreciating the gesture. "Why don't we go for a run? Cool down and let the wolves out."

As everyone agreed with enthusiasm, I pushed down my anxiety. I was a wolf, I was a Luna. It was about time I accepted the fact that I could transform into a wolf animal and learn what to do with it. Here we go.