"So..." my lips vibrated with my mumbles.

The next morning, I lifted my tired eyes to Elena. During yet another history lesson in the library, I sat through another 'Elena talked a lot and I pretended to listen' block of two hours.

"Did you not hear me?" She sighed through puffed out cheeks. "This is important. You need to determine the order you're visiting the four territories."

My fingers ribbed over my forehead. "Does it matter if I have to visit them all?"

She sat back for a moment, then her forehead creased. "Maybe. It's advantageous for whoever you visit first... Although, if you have a true mate then I suppose it doesn't matter."

'Mate.'

Lumi wasn't much help, even if she took more interest in this conversation than I did.

"Advantageous, hmm..." My index finger lowered and tapped on my lips, guessing that my father would have preferred the territory with the largest pack. From that, I went with the opposite selection. "South last then."

'Mate...'

I hear you Lumi, you want to find our mate. Still not helping.

"Alright, South last." Elena's curls brushed over her cheeks as her head shook. By the confusion in her voice, she didn't understand my decision-making process but didn't argue. "Probably for the best, they have two potential future alphas."

The information raised my eyes to hers. "There's two packs?"

Now I'm up to five bachelors?

"One pack, twin brothers," she corrected herself. "As of now, they've labeled the older one as the future alpha and the younger one future beta."

"How is one older?" My stomach twisted at the mention of twins.

Maybe I'll find my mate sooner than that, within one of the other territories.

"Difference of being born four minutes apart," Elena replied, pulling out her hand-drawn territory map and crossing through 'South.'

I stared at her, perhaps I should have put more weight to my father's words. With his ominous, 'Seconds matter,' I assumed he meant life and death situations but his words applied in this situation as well.

"Stop changing the subject, Zara." She tapped her map with the end of her pen. "Which of the North, East, or West is first?"

My eyes blinked. "Which would you choose?"

She stared at me, her tapping pen freezing mid-air. "Cole has a lot better opinion on formulating strategic tactical advantages."

"For me, then." I clarified. Having no opinion on the matter, each family and territory were mysteries to me.

"North." She looked down after expressing her opinion so candidly.

Knowing she had a reason to blurt out that territory, I pressed, "Why?"

Her eyes lifted, meeting mine. "Their females train as warriors... which would help you to learn more about fighting in wolf form. You'd be better equipped to defend yourself."

That justification perked Lumi's interest enough, distracting her from her mate obsession.

"In wolf form." I stared at Elena, my lips parting into a smile as she nodded.

Cole hadn't introduced wolf fighting into my training. I learned various forms of martial arts, knife and gun defense, solely in human form. He would never qualify my skill level above novice but I felt comfortable with the defensive moves that he focused on.

"North first for more training... Is that your opinion, or Cole's?" The corners of my lips curled up.

She stared at me for a full minute in silence before relenting, "Both."

Her eyebrows lifted and lips twitched, as if she hoped that I realized what she hadn't said. My teeth clenched at the sobering reality that my father had not permitted me to learn how to wolf-fight from Cole.

I leaned back in my chair and nodded. "North first."

"Like that?" Surprise lifted the inflection in her voice, so I nodded again. She noted it on her makeshift map between us. "Second, East or West?"

I held up my palms to offer her opinion, but instead she opened up her thought process, "If you want logistics, then West is closer, although either way you have to pass through the Central territory to get from East to West. Which matters because you need permission from the Alphas to travel, but your father's pack will work that out..."

Watching her eyes track her map, I asked, "What about the actual packs?"

She rapped her pen tip on the table as if pounding out her thoughts, "The Western pack is known for weapon forging. They are sitting on the country's largest silver mine. Your father's pharmaceutical laboratory is also located there. The Eastern pack is -"

"East." Her eyes glimmered and she pointed the pen at my face. "I think you should go there second."

Not that I cared, but wanted to hear her reasoning, "Why?"

A slight pink blush rose in her cheeks. "They're the most scholarly and specialize in healing."

I smiled since that reasoning sounded like her preferential territory to visit, not mine. "Then why would I go there second?"

"Their pack has the strongest Luna." She didn't have to explain her reasoning further.

Given the absence of my mother, the opportunity where I observed a woman of power was incredibly appealing. I wasn't convinced, but if my father's plans included me serving as future Luna of his pack, then I needed to understand how other Lunas operated within their packs.

After I nodded, she scribbled on her paper, then glanced up at me. "North, East, West, South?"

"Works for me." I sighed, slumping down in my seat.

Not ten minutes after Elena had delivered my territory list to Baron, my father summoned me into his office. I had a suspicion that meant he was displeased, and boy was I right.

Perhaps I should've taken this a little more serious than letting Elena pick...

"Zara." My father's stock eyes narrowed at me, his hand holding up a wrinkled piece of paper. Squinting, I recognized Elena's map.

Baron stood at the side of his desk, wearing a furrowed expression and looking crosser than normal. He always wore a scowl, I think his face was frozen like that, but today was flat-out pissed off. His pupils bore at me through narrowed eyelids. Drops of black and yellow threatened to seep into his steel-gray irises.

"Your selections are a bit unexpected." My father's condescending tone demanded me to explain my rationale.

"Try a logistical nightmare?" Baron interrupted with his lips peeling back. "Why would we cross north, to the further away territory, then West, then back across the central territory for East, then once again through the central territory for South? That requires -"

"A lot of asking permission to cross territories, I know." I cast my eyes to my father, the ultimate decision-maker. "I have my reasons."

"Enlighten me." He threaded his fingers together and rested them on top of his desk in a gesture of entertaining my opinion. Baron's eyes held their death stare, penetrating invisible death lasers at me.

"Well..." I swallowed dryness that crept up the back of my throat. "I don't think I've had enough training with Cole, so I'd like to train with the Northern warriors. I need to protect myself in wolf form from unmated males. I know that you lost some ground with their shipping port distributions, perhaps I could negotiate -"

"That is not your position -" Baron's face flushed red and hands clenched into fists at his side.

My father raised a hand to him. "Finish, Zara."

"The East has the strongest Luna, so..." Baron as he glared at me again, fidgeting in his stiff, corpse-like stance. Trying to ignore him, I finished, "The sooner I learn to be stronger than her, the better."

My father sat expressionless, with no response, so I continued, "The West develops the silver weapons, and I'd like to know more about any recent developments they have -" Baron snorted. "- And the South has the biggest strategic advantage of numbers."

"Then why not go South first?" My father continued to ignore Baron while his eyes gleamed at me.

"Because of the twins?" I offered my weakest justification. "Give them more time to separate themselves into the true, strongest alpha and beta. That would be the most recent, uhh engagement, to when I make my decision, the freshest commitment in my mind before I came home."

"So... that's why." I glanced down at my hands, unsure if he bought my total bullshit, hoping that my words gave the appearance that I'd done some homework.

My heart thumped as seconds passed and my father remained silent. My ears honed in on the angry puffs of breath from Baron.

After a few tense moments, my father released his hands, turned his head and relented, "Baron, make the arrangements. She has no idea what she's talking about, as she will no doubt learn from her decision. It's time she learns that decisions have as many consequences as actions."

My eyebrows squeezed together and blood surged through my veins as conflicted emotions flooded into me. I was happy that he let me make the decision but disappointed he didn't respect my decision. And anger bubbled up in my stomach from him insulting me in the process.

At least Beta Baron shared my anger, interjecting with, "But Cassius -"

"Make them." My father's placid eyes didn't leave my face. "You are excused, Baron."

"Yes, Alpha." Again, if his looks could kill, then silver would have shot out of Baron's eyes and pierced me down on the spot. I offered him a smile at the small sense of accomplishment.

"Zara." My father opened his desk drawer after Baron had left. "I have something for you. Consider this a parting gift before I forget."

"Parting? Will I -" The idea that I never came back to the only place I called home hadn't occurred to me until now. Despite his cold manner, he was still my father. To some extent, I would always strive to impress him, making him proud of the decisions I was capable of making.

His hand reached into one of his desk drawers. "You are always welcome in the Central Territory as long as you are my daughter. Wear this always, as it will ensure you safe passage across territory lines."

He slid a small, black jewelry box across his desk at me. I leaned forward, clasped the box in my palms, and pried open the lid. Inside was a thin, silver, chain necklace, with silver two pendants attached. I recognized the White Moon's Sigil on one pendant. The other one pendant, a half-circle that intersected with a triangle, I had never seen before. The gleaming silver parted my lips.

Silver?

As Lumi twitched, my eyes raised to my father's stoic expression.

"Platinum," he answered the question burning in my mind. "Your mother would not have worn silver."

After no discussion of my mother in the past five years, this was the second time in the past month he mentioned her. It could not have been a coincidence.

This necklace had to hold significance.

But what? He has to tell me.

"My mother, I -" My eyes softened, as they had done so many times before when he withheld information from me.

He maintained his stone-faced consistency. "You are excused."

My heart sank down into my stomach and I dipped my chin into my chest. The platinum necklace glinted where it nestled in my palm. "Thank you."

A few days later, I lost even more interest in Elena's history lessons. My fingers traced random patterns on the desk between us.

"Zara?" Her fingers snapped in front of my face and redirected my attention to her look of irritation. "Pay attention. You're visiting the Northern Territory first, so you need to learn as much as you can about their pack."

"First tell me what happened the other morning in the woods." My eyes narrowed as I referred to first seeing Sand and Sable.

"I... don't know what you mean," she stammered as suddenly her hazel eyes averted mine.

She probably assumed I asked about her running off with Cole alone, so I clarified, "It looked like I freaked you out the first time you saw me shift into Lumi's form."

"Oh that." She smiled, her cheeks flushing pink. "I'm sorry, I've never seen a white wolf. Neither had Cole, he told me."

"How?"

"Through our mindlink," she said as if mindlinking was everyday knowledge. I stared at her and only vaguely remembered our previous brief conversation about the topic.

I spent a lot of our conversations with my eyes staring at her because I had no idea what she was talking about. Recalling our brief conversation on the topic, I blinked a few times.

She didn't seem to mind, with her infinite patience. "The mental connection, sending direct thoughts, feeling emotions with someone else... You've never?"

"Who would... Only, umm, the only one I've felt or heard is Lumi." She wasn't a person, but we shared thoughts.

"Lumi..." Her head tilted at my wolf's name, her eyes glossy. "Makes sense. Your wolf is pure white. Lumi means snow. She's - I mean, you're- beautiful."

"Oh, thanks." As my cheeks warmed, I swore Lumi purred at Elena's praise.

'Not cat.'

"Your eyes though." Elena's eyes flicked between mine as she studied them. "Don't change. Every wolf I've ever seen has cobalt blue eyes."

"What does that mean?" I noticed too, although in a much more limited capacity, and hoped she could offer some insight.

"I don't know." Her soft confession and slumping shoulders showed that she shared the same disappointment. "I'm sorry, I'll search the library. There's not much on white wolves, since they're so rare."

My eyes dropped down to my lap. "Thanks."

She puffed out a loud exhale. "Back to the Northern Pack, the Silverback Pack. Their Sigil is a -"

"Elena, one more question," I interrupted her. "That same morning, running. Where did you and Cole go? You left me high and dry, by myself."

"We thought you could use a chance to get used to your new skin." With a soft, gentle touch, her palm rubbed my forearm. "Don't worry, plus... umm, your wolf is a bit slow. She'll improve the more you connect with her."

'Not slow.'

Lumi snuffed, for once not at me.

"Cole and I went running together. It's good bonding to run in wolf form with your mate. Or future mate." She held up the books again, shaking them at my face. "Which could be in the Silverback pack, so please focus."

"I'm all ears," I replied in a voice as dry as the makeup I'd fallen asleep in.

"That's the spirit." Elena parroted my lack of enthusiasm and shook her head, bouncing her brown curls into her cheeks. "Their alpha is Faelon, Luna Cassandra, Beta Anders, and Gamma Jameson. Faelon and Cassandra have two children, future Alpha Lucus and possibly Future Luna Raina."

"Wait," I interrupted with a frown. "If they already have a future Alpha and Luna, then why am I going?"

"Raina might be the future Luna of another pack, or she end up a goat herder, whoever her mate is. Either way, Lucus is the future Alpha and siblings don't mate."

That's sexist. The Luna title, not siblings mating.

"For now," Elena offered a curt nod. "Once we get there, we'll arrange for you to train with Raina."

"Raina trains the warriors?" I had no idea who she was, but that accomplishment sounded impressive. "This mate selection process seems kind of sexist. Sounds like she'd make a powerful Alpha."

"I'm sure she'd be flattered to hear that but she has no interest in being alpha. It's more of a burden, being responsible for an entire pack's welfare. You can ask her yourself, but yes, she trains both males and females in their pack." Elena smiled but heaviness hung in her eyes. "From what I've heard, she's quite tough but the best."

"I want to learn from the best," I replied, a surge of excitement pulsing inside me and Lumi over our upcoming visit. "So does Lumi."

"Training won't be until after their... competition," she replied in a 'don't get too excited yet' tone.

"What kind of competition?" She mentioned this competition previously, as the event their pack held during our visit.

"Between their males." My mouth dropped open. "I can't explain very well. You'll see."

"Can't wait." While sarcasm dripped in my voice, every fiber of my being pulsed alive at the idea of visiting the Northern territory. Waves of reassurance washed over me, relaxing the back of my neck and shoulders, that heading North first was the right decision.

At least, I hope so.