Chapter 1

It had been several months since the battle, leaving Sabine all alone with Ethan. Don't get her wrong, she knew that she should be grateful that she was human and with Ethan, the love of her life, but there was a part of her that missed her wolf-essence so much that it sent her spiraling into a depression so thick that even Ethan couldn't seem to shake her out of.

There were several times when Sabine would go back to Rowan Estate and just stare at the Elemental cross, which consisted of two swords that were sealed onto the wall—supposedly impossible for anyone, but the scion, to break free. This was where she happened to be, when her friend, Adne, came across her. Sabine hadn't even realized that Adne had entered the building, until she spoke in a hushed tone.

"I thought I might find you here," Adne whispered, breaking the thick silence and nearly scaring Sabine half to death. She couldn't help but feel annoyed that Adne had followed her here. She should be entitled to at least some privacy.

"Oh, are you following me now?" She snapped at Adne, who cringed at her tone of voice.

"I'm sorry," Adne quickly apologized. "I'm just worried about you," she murmured, stepping closer to her, placing her hand on Sabine's shoulder, which she shrugged off. When would dear, sweet, Adne get the picture that she wanted to be alone? Apparently never.

"And why should you be worried about me?" Sabine chuckled, her voice like ice. "Ethan sent you, didn't he?" That had to be the case. Ethan was no doubt making her do his dirty work so that he wouldn't get caught. Well, now, he should worry about his safety, 'cause Sabine was going to bite his head off.

"Don't be mad at me, please," begged, Adne. "You know that I think of you as a sister and you know that you can talk to me about anything, right?"

It was a sweet gesture on Adne's part, but it was a lot more difficult than that. Adne had never been a wolf, so she couldn't possibly understand how Sabine was feeling, which was empty and dead. Ethan should have made her feel alive, but after they took her wolf essence—which she volunteered to give to Ansel, who needed it more than she did—she couldn't seem to shake this feeling of loneliness away. Well, for awhile she was fine and was loving her new life as a human, but something changed inside of her, something snapped, and she wasn't sure why.

"I appreciate the offer, Adne, I really do, but I'm afraid it doesn't quite work that way. I hope you can understand." By the look Adne had given her, it was clear that she did not understand.

"Why ever not?" Adne questioned, sticking out her lower lip in a pout. As if that would work on Sabine? No, no a thousand times no! She was not going to fall for that crap again. But of course, Adne wasn't going to stop persisting. "Please, talk to me, Sabine. I hate seeing you suffer like this. I thought that you were happy with the decision you made—happy with Ethan?"

Crap! Was Sabine really that obvious to everyone? If Adne had figured it out so quickly, had everyone else too? She was going to have to try and work on that and keep her face free of any emotion. What Adne had said was true though, she was happy with Ethan, as she stated earlier. There was nothing in the world that made her happier—well, almost nothing. Nothing could ever beat the feeling of having your wolf senses take over. It was where she felt free and could be herself.

At the time she sacrificed her wolf-essence, she thought it was the best thing that anyone could do for someone and Ansel deserved some happiness in his life—everyone did, but she was slowly starting to change her mind and regreting her decision, but there was nothing that she could do about it now. "You think I'm in pain?" She inquired with a wince, her voice shaky. If she wasn't careful, she was going to be yelling and screaming and there wouldn't be anything anyone could do to stop her.

Adne nodded, hesitating just a little. She probably was afraid of how Sabine would react. "It's as clear as the day on your face. You miss being a wolf. Don't try to deny it."

Well duh, she did, but there was nothing anyone could do about it. Maybe, if she could tear the Elemental cross from its place, but that didn't seem very likely to ever happen, seeing as Anika clearly stated that the Scion—Shay—would be the only person who would be able to dismount it. She for one, didn't think that was the case. She had a slight feeling that Anika and everyone else had made that stuff up, just scare off anyone who would try to do so.

In her mind, it was all a big show, and all she would have to do, was reach up and pull it off its mantle. She couldn't help but stare at the cross, as Adne continued talking to her, though she wasn't paying the slightest attention to Adne—who was getting extremely frustrated at her.

"Are you even listening to me?" Adne shrieked, clearly annoyed at Sabine.

"What was that?" She asked, still not fully in the conversation.

"I said, you should come home with me. Anika has prepared a special dinner," she explained, eyeing her curiously, as she realized what Sabine was planning on doing.

"I'm not hungry," she told Adne truthfully. She hadn't had much of an appetite lately.

"Alright, fine. If I tell you this, you have to promise me that you'll act surprised later." Oh, crap. What on earth could this possibly be about? Sabine hated surprises and was not in the mood. She would much rather sit in the darkness and sulk over what she couldn't have. But if it were to get Adne off her case for awhile, then maybe she should play along with her.

"Just spill it out, Adne. What kind of surprise are you talking about?"

Her eyes widened with delight and looked as happy as a kid on the Fourth of July. Maybe it was a good thing that she was playing along. "Well, don't be mad at me 'kay?" Oh, no, this could not be good! "Well, I kind of accidently let it slip to Anika that it was your birthday today."

Accidently let it slip? How was that even possible, when she wasn't even supposed to know when her birthday was? Sabine certainly hadn't told her. The only people who knew, were her former packmates and there was no way anyone of them could have told. Unless…the only plausible explanation was that Ethan had told Adne. Sabine should have kept her big stupid mouth shut and none of this would be happening right now.

"Why would you go and do something like that?" She hissed at Adne.

"Because," she explained. "It's about time that you had some fun in your life. All you do is sit and mope about and I'm sick of it." Well, she didn't exactly have to sit and watch her. Sabine had every right to mope. If Adne had been in her shoes, Sabine was pretty sure that she would be acting the exact same way.

"Who died and made you my mother?" Sabine snapped, turning hesitantly away from the rift. She would have to come back another day, when Adne would not be with her.

It was clear that Adne didn't appreciate being talked down upon like that. She sat down with a huff, and crossed her right leg over her left knee, folding her arms against her chest. "Fine," she grumbled. "But you're going to have to explain to Anika why her food will go to waste, though I'm sure Connor will eat more than his share of the food." She smiled at the thought.

Sabine frowned in complete annoyance, having no choice but to comply with Adne, as much as she hated the thought of leaving the Estate. Who knew how long it would be before she could come back. She was going to figure out how to become a wolf again, even if it was the last thing she ever did. "If I find out that Ethan is the one who told you when my birthday was, there's going to be hell to pay and a serious pounding."

A smile formed in the corners of Adne's face. She appeared to enjoy hearing me talk about torturing my boyfriend. "Glad to have you back," she snickered, as she stood up and placed her arms around Sabine, in a friendly hug.

Just because she was making jokes about Ethan, did not mean that she was "back," as Adne so lightly put it, but she did feel a little lighter—mood-wise. She then realized that maybe she had been a little harsh with Adne, who was only trying to be a good friend. "Hey," Sabine murmured, as they stepped through the portal. "Thanks for coming to get me today and I'm sorry that I snapped at you earlier."

Adne grinned again, turning to me, leaning her head on my shoulder. "It's okay. There's no need to apologize. I know you're going through a hard time right now. You just have to know that you're never alone. You have me, Ethan and Connor, if you ever need to talk, 'kay? Just promise me that you won't shut us you. You need us."

She was right. Sabine did need them, more than she ever realized. She just failed to notice it at the time.

Adne and Sabine had stepped through the portal and back into the academy. Adne closed the portal door and turned her attention back to Sabine, placing a hand on her shoulder, no doubt she was getting ready to lecture her on her past behaviors. "Now, you promised that you would act surprised. You read for this?" She asked.

Ready to be humiliated from a surprise birthday part, that was no longer a surprise? Of course not. She'd never be ready, but what choice did she have? None, nada, zilch. She simply had to go with the flow and suffer through it. "No, but I see I have no choice but to go along with you, so let's just go and get this over with," Sabine begged, putting her depression aside and replacing it with a happy face.

"Geez, don't look too excited," Adne scoffed. Apparently Sabine couldn't even be happy—great. She could only hope that this party would go by fast.

"Sorry," Sabine muttered, trying to smile even more.

Sabine took three deep breaths as Adne opened the door to the kitchen and was bombarded by people who were all yelling, "Surprise!"