“I don’t know about you,” Maya said as we turned back to our table, “but that feels like the second sign that we shouldn’t be here. It’s only been thirty minutes and—”
“Sera!”
I froze as the third sign headed in my direction.
"Seraphina, darling," my mother called, sweeping forward with the same grace she’d wielded at every charity gala, every fund-raiser, every glistening pack event.
Gone was the fragile widow who had brutally lost her husband, and in her place was the former Luna of Frostbane—graceful, elegant, regal. Every bit Celeste’s mother.
Her arms wrapped around me before I had a chance to back away.
"Mother," I said stiffly, returning the embrace because I had no choice. I hadn’t held my mother in years, and it was as uncomfortable and unfamiliar as hugging a mannequin.
The scent of her expensive perfume clung to me even after she stepped back, and the smile she gave me was as bright as the chandeliers hanging overhead.
