My head felt heavy and throbbing as I came back to consciousness. I kept my eyes closed, already feeling like the lights were too bright. I swallowed hard against my raw throat and started to cough. The air felt stale, and all my muscles ached as if I’d been unconscious for weeks. I had a momentary panicked thought, wondering how long I had actually been lying there unconscious. Were people looking for me? Surely, at least Logan would be missing me by now….I tried to convince myself that it was true, but the notion fell flat and offered no hope or comfort. Even if people were looking for me, Nik would make sure no one found me.

I opened my eyes and sat up slowly onto just my elbows at first. Sitting up made my head worse, and I let out a soft groan. I glanced around the room - I had no idea where I was, but something about this place, the feeling and color of it, felt familiar and left me with a sickening feeling in my gut. The light shimmering pinks and deep golds around the room gave me an eerie feeling. It seemed set up and decorated for a little girl….

I started to feel lightheaded and nauseous as I lay back down. The pounding in my head was only getting louder. I wanted so badly to be back in my own apartment, to have a hot shower and some serious Advil. I tried to keep my eyes open, but eventually I closed them to help ease the heightened pain in my head. It wouldn’t help to keep them open if I couldn’t see straight.

Little flashes of feelings and playback of childhood memories started to dance into view behind my eyelids. Things I could barely grasp or understand started to demand my attention as I lay in the familiar haunted room. Memories I had all but forgotten about started to flood like an old movie in my mind….

***

I kept sort of bouncing with giddiness and excitement as I looked through my closet for something desirable to wear. I shuffled through all the ruffled dresses and fancy tops, but nothing quite fit the mood I was in. I wanted something outstanding - something unforgettable. It was supposed to be the best night of my young life. I tried to imagine the kind of thing a true Luna would wear, something with class and elegance. My closet was severely lacking. Before I could continue to ponder, a soft knock echoed through my bedroom. A wide smile spread across my face, and my bouncing grew more intense as I anticipated sharing my excitement.

“Come in!” I shouted, knowing already who was behind the door. I glanced at her briefly before turning back to my intense fashion decision. She opened it with a wide smile. Her energy felt like liquid sunshine as it poured into the room. I felt my stress of deciding on an outfit fade. Of course, she would have the perfect suggestion.

“Happy Birthday, honey!” she exclaimed, moving around quickly to hug me. “I hope you’re not planning on wearing that out today. We are going to be walking a lot.”

I pulled away to realize I was still holding my pencil thing sequence dress in my hand. I giggled quickly.

“No, I thought this might be nice for tonight,” I replied, hanging it back up in my closet. “Where are we going that requires a lot of walking?”

A mischievous smile danced across my mother’s face.

“I’m sure that dress would have been lovely for you, but I have something a bit more special in mind for tonight. We are going shopping! Put on some shoes and let’s go.”

I squealed with delight and reached quickly for my sandals. I laced them up and grabbed my purse before following my mother out the door and towards the car.

“Where are we going?” I asked with a bounce to my tone as I buckled my seatbelt. My mother started the car and gave me another sly smile.

“Some place you’ve wanted to go back to since junior prom…” she hinted, and my eyes widened. I started to actually bounce in my seat. I couldn’t contain my excitement. My mother started to giggle at me.

“Are you serious? We are going to ‘Aimez & Faites-Vous Plaisir?” I could hear the high shrill in my voice, but I didn’t care. My mother had instilled a love of all things French into me, and it was one of my favorite things that we shared.

My mother pulled into the crowded lot, and I could barely wait for her to stop the car before I unbuckled and got out. My mother came around the side of the car and took my arm as we walked into the most ostentatious store I’d ever been in.

The store practically glittered inside. The clothes were magnificent and of modern designs. Everything was designed to make me feel like the princess my mother always insisted I was.

“Welcome to Aimez & Faites-Vous Plaisir. May I offer you some tea or coffee?” asked a very professional-looking woman with a slight accent.

“That would be great. I’d like some coffee, please, with two sugars and a splash of cream. Kate, would you like anything?” my mother asked, trying to playfully sound proper.

“Yes, I would like a latte, please, with a little vanilla.”

The woman didn’t seem to catch on to our teasing tones but simply smiled with a nod and walked away to fetch our order.

We shopped for hours, looking at amazing and exquisite party dresses, before we each had our hair and makeup done in the professional salon at Aimez & Faites-Vous Plaisir’s style boutique. As we sat at the restaurant eating a late lunch, I wasn’t sure how I was going to keep on my feet through the whole party that night.

“Sweetheart, now that you’re eighteen, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

I sipped my water and waited for her to speak, but she kept her head down. She was playing with the last remaining tomato on her plate.

“What is it?” I pushed. She took a deep breath but still did not look at me. When she finally turned her eyes to me, they were fierce and wild in an expression I’d never seen before. I suddenly felt I had reason to be afraid. “Mom, what is it?”

She smiled weakly.

“First, Kate, let me say I love you so very much. I love you more than anything, and I will always be your mom. But that’s exactly what we need to talk about… I’m … not your mom,” she mumbled out those last words in such a disoriented fashion I was almost certain I hadn’t heard her right.

“What?”

“I couldn’t have children, though I desperately wanted one. I’ve known all my life that all I wanted to do was be a mother. One of life’s cruel jokes, I suppose. I was helping a friend after a terrible situation in her pack, and I found you, lost and abandoned on the streets. You were an infant, barely a few months old. You would have died from the snow if I didn’t take you.”

“You found me?” I snarled. I wasn’t mad at her or really mad at all, just unbelievably shocked, hurt, and unsure how to respond. I knew my life with my mother had been real, and I knew she loved me, but I couldn’t help feeling like my whole life was a lie. “Who am I really then?”

“You are Kate Cole. You are mine, and you belong with me,” she stated reassuringly. She had such determination and confidence in her voice, as if she were afraid I would turn away from her or resent her. I suppose those could be rational responses.

“Where did you find me? Who are my birth parents? Why was I abandoned?”

“I found you outside New Orleans. I’m so sorry; I don’t know the answers to the rest of your questions, but if you want to find out, I will help you. I’m so sorry, Kate.”

I could hear the distress in her voice. She was clearly terribly worried about my response. I reached a hand over and touched hers.

“Mom, I love you. You are my Mom forever. Nothing is going to change that. But I do want to know. I want to know where I come from and why I was left alone to die….” Suddenly, as I stated them out loud, the questions became a deeper burning inside me, and I knew I couldn’t really be satisfied until I knew the truth. I took my hand from hers and wiped away the tear that had started to fall. “It’s okay.”

My mother scooted her chair back around to be closer to me and reached in for a hug. I held her close and breathed in her deep perfume.

“I will help starting tomorrow. Night, we still have a celebration…” she whispered into my hair. I smiled.

“Yes, I am ready.”

She pulled away and looked at me as if it might be the last time, and brushed my hair out of my face.

“Come, let’s get some chocolates before we go home and get ready. What do you say?”

She seemed better now, as if she were almost back to normal. I smiled and pushed the tears back behind my eyes. I let her take my hand and guide me back out of the store towards the candy shop across the street.

“Oh, we have a special guest tonight, Kate. I almost forgot to tell you.”

“Who?”

“I invited your Uncle, Nik. He said he would come,” she stated matter-of-factly. I stopped dead in my tracks as anxiety rose through me. I hardly knew my uncle. I’d only met him a handful of times. But I knew the significance of my uncle's coming. I knew what a big deal this would be.

“You invited the Alpha?”