Axel's gaze locked on her, his icy blue eye wide and unblinking. His jaw tightened, hands curling into white-knuckled fists at his sides. Something was off. Having awakened as an Umbra last year, he knew the pain was brutal, but this was an entirely different agony. To him, this did not look like an awakening. This looked like a punishment.
A sound tore from Nevaeh that no longer sounded human. It was raw, broken, and filled with a despair that chilled the very marrow of those watching.
Then, everything stopped.
She collapsed onto the stone, her body slumping bonelessly as the pain vanished as quickly as a blown-out candle. Nevaeh lay there panting, her frame shaking with a lingering tremor, but she remained entirely human. No fur. No claws.
A suffocating silence swept across the clearing.
"What just happened?" someone whispered, the sound carrying easily in the stillness.
"All that for nothing," another sneered from the crowd, the voice dripping with mockery. "She didn't even get Ashen."
"Does that mean she didn't get a wolf?"
"She didn't get a wolf?"
"That has never happened before."
"Unbelievable. She really is cursed."
"See? I told you all she was cursed!" Alpha Vexton barked, his voice booming with dark, triumphant venom. He stepped forward, his ceremonial robes swishing against his boots. "Even the Moon Goddess has denied her a wolf!"
wave of murmurs and gasps rippled through the pack, the earlier silence replaced by faces twisted in shock, others in disgust, and a few curling into sharp sneers.
"That is her punishment for killing her parents and everyone close to her!" the Alpha added, his amber eyes burning with a cruel light.
Axel frowned, his expression hardening as the noise swelled. His eyes stayed on Nevaeh, trembling and exposed on the cold marble.
Nevaeh stared blankly at the stone beneath her. The stirring she had felt for weeks was gone. The heat, the pull, the heavy presence that had filled her soul—all had vanished. Her chest felt hollow, a cavernous void where her future and her dignity should have been.
No. That could not be it. All that pain could not have been for nothing. She had been dreaming of this day, fueling her survival with the hope of this moment. How can I not have a wolf? It was impossible. She refused to believe it. The stirring had started fourteen days ago. According to the Zeta, those who awaken high-class wolves feel it early. They feel a pull. A presence.
She had felt all that. She had given every hope to this awakening, believing a high-class wolf would finally grant her the respect she deserved. Instead… she was—she was wolfless? No. Goddess, no… don't do this to me.
"This cannot be happening," she muttered, her voice barely reaching her own ears. Her hands clutched at the cold stone. A hollow ache clawed at her chest and ribs, her stomach twisting with disbelief. Her vision blurred, hot tears stinging her eyes, as a shudder ran through her entire body. Every ounce of hope she had nurtured over weeks shattered in a single, cruel instant.
Ash chuckled from the sidelines. He had already changed into his post-awakening attire, a crisp black button-down and tailored slacks. He leaned toward Ember, who wore a red floral short gown. "Did you see her face?"
"Always so dramatic," Ember muttered with a smirk, her eyes tracking Nevaeh with cold satisfaction. "To think I was almost scared there. I thought she was about to awaken something cursed and abominable."
Ash scoffed. "Oh please, don't give her that much credit. She's just a glitch in the system, nothing more."
Ember let out a light, melodic laugh.
Back on the ritual platform, Aurora knelt beside Nevaeh, her movements unusually gentle for a woman of her rank. She reached out, her voice firm but tinged with an unexpected kindness. "Easy, child. Do not give in to despair. The Moon Goddess knows what she is doing. Trust in her. Come, let me help you up."
Nevaeh still could not process what had happened. What's going to happen to me now? She swallowed hard and reached out weakly, her fingers trembling as she tried to take the Zeta's hand.
Heat flared.
Sudden and scorching, Nevaeh gasped, clutching her chest as a new fire bloomed beneath her ribs. It wasn't the bone-breaking agony of before; it was deeper, a concentrated sun igniting in her marrow. Her heart raced, each beat sending a fresh surge of liquid heat through her veins. Confusion hit her as she hunched forward, fingers digging into the wool of her black sweater. Her breath came in ragged, desperate pulls.
What is happening to me?
Aurora froze, her hand suspended as her eyes snapped to Nevaeh's face. The severe lines of the Zeta's features shifted, a rare, startling shock flashing across her face as she sensed the sudden, violent change in the atmosphere. The temperature around the ritual stone spiked, the air shimmering with an invisible, frantic energy that made the hair on Aurora's arms stand on end.
"What is happening now?!" someone shouted from the crowd, the voice jagged with confusion.
"I think...i think, her mate bond is snapping into place," Aurora whispered. To the sensitive ears of the surrounding werewolves, the words carried the weight of a scream.
A beat of stunned silence held before a wave of cruel laughter rippled through the crowded ring of spectators.
"You're saying she's actually getting a mate tonight?" someone scoffed, their voice dripping with mockery. "She doesn't even have a wolf. Who would ever accept a hollow shell like her?"
"Imagine the audacity!" another sneered. "Does she even deserve a mate? She doesn't have anything at this point, let alone a mate."
Nevaeh clutched her chest, her fingers bunching the wool of her sweater as she fought for air. The heat did not stay internal; it pulled outward now, sharp and demanding. It felt like a hook lodged in her sternum, yanking at the very fibers of her soul. Her vision blurred, the golden amber lights of the clearing smearing into long, glowing streaks as the sensation intensified into a physical ache.
A figure emerged from the crowd.