Chapter 2
When the Moonfire erupted, no one dared to touch me.
Alaric's hand froze mid-air.
His fingers were just a breath away from my sleeve.
The disgust on his face hadn't even faded before it twisted into terror.
I stood at the edge of the altar, blood still dripping from me.
The Moon Mark on my wrist blazed dazzlingly bright, nothing like the faint one on Leah's forehead.
It seemed alive, coiling around my wristbone and spreading thin, vine-like patterns up my forearm.
The entire crowd fell silent, leaving only the crackle of the Moonfire.
The fire burned fiercely and loudly, though no kindling fed it.
With a sudden crack, Alaric fell to one knee.
He wasn't kneeling to me, but to the Moonfire.
"Great Moon Goddess," he whispered, his voice trembling. "Please forgive the Silvermoon Pack for our offense."
I looked down at him.
He had called me wolfless moments ago.
He had tried to pull me down, afraid I'd ruin the Rite of Passage.
Now, he was the first to bow.
So it wasn't that he didn't understand awe.
He simply never thought he'd have to show it to me.
Lia snapped out of it, shifting half a step behind Caius.
Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Elena, what did you do?"
The crowd stirred back to life.
"Dark magic!"
"She must have used dark magic?"
"How else could the Moonfire answer a wolfless loser?"
"The mark on Lia's forehead is the true Moon Mark. The thing on Elena's wrist is utterly bizarre."
I looked at Lia.
She clutched Caius's sleeve, her knuckles white from the grip.
Tears streaked her beautiful face.
If it weren't for the raw panic in her eyes, I would've thought she was scared.
Caius moved to stand protectively in front of her.
It was a small gesture, but I caught it.
He used to shield me like that, too.
One winter hunt, I was knocked down by a half-mad gray wolf.
Caius charged in, driving his sword straight through the wolf's throat.
Blood splattered across half his face.
He hauled me up from the snow. "Stay behind me."
Back then, I thought I'd remember those words forever.
Now, he was shielding someone else.
"Elena," Caius said, his eyes fixed on my wrist. "Hide it."
I almost didn't catch what he meant. "What?"
"The Moon Mark," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "The Rite of Passage is already a mess. Don't make the pack panic."
I looked at him. "Are they panicking because of me?"
Caius frowned, "You know that's not what I meant."
"Then what do you mean?" I pressed.
I took a step forward, my bloody footprint staining the white stone.
Alaric stayed on his knee.
But the rest of the pack all stepped back.
I was once an outsider, and I remained so.
Except this time, they were afraid of me.
Caius's expression darkened. "Elena, don't force me to deal with you here."
His hand went to the silver blade at his hip.
I spotted the blade, and a sharp spasm of backlash shot through my chest.
It wasn't fear.
It just hurt.
The scent of Caius, my fated mate, still lingered on me.
Fir, snow, and a trace of rust.
Once, that smell made me feel safe.
Now, it only made me sick.
Caius walked over. "Give me your hand."
I didn't move.
"I said, give me your hand," he snapped, grabbing my wrist.
The moment his fingertips brushed against the Moon Mark, a growl drilled into my mind.
It didn't come from outside; it came from deep within Caius.
The growl was low, gravelly, laced with a feral undertone.
Don't touch her.'
I looked up sharply.
Caius froze.
His pupils narrowed into wolf slits for a split second before returning to normal.
He'd heard it too, but he wouldn't admit it.
"What did you do to me?" he demanded.
His grip tightened.
My wrist throbbed, the pain so sharp it was starting to go numb.
That voice echoed again, louder and clearer. 'Let go of my master.'
Master?
I stared at Caius.
The crowd was still hurling insults at me, Lia was still crying, and Alaric was still kneeling, too afraid to move.
But in my ears, only that single word echoed.
The wolf within Caius called me "Master."
I gave a small laugh.
Caius flung my hand away.
The next instant, his face paled, and he pressed a hand to his chest.
"Caius!" Lia rushed over to support him.
He pushed her away, the veins at his temple standing out.
I smelled a stronger scent of blood in the air.
Caius had bit down hard on his tongue, drawing blood.
Ulric finally lost his composure. "Alaric, what's happening to Caius?"
Alaric was still on one knee, trembling. "H-He might be suffering from the backlash."
"The backlash?" Ulric's voice dropped. "He turned down a wolfless girl. How could that cause a backlash?"
Alaric kept his head down, too scared to look up.
No one dared to answer.
I cut in for Alaric. "Maybe I'm not wolfless."
The crowd went quiet again.
Lia's head snapped up.
"Elena, don't talk nonsense," she said anxiously. "Alaric already confirmed: you have no inner wolf."
"Right," I said, looking at the faint Moon Mark between her brows. "So why are you so scared?"
Lia's lips parted, but no sound came out.
After the pain eased, Caius looked up at me.
His eyes were in turmoil, filled with shock and doubt.
Yet there was no trace of guilt.
At least, not yet.
"Elena," he said, slowly straightening his back. "Whatever has happened to you, tonight ends here."
I looked at him. "You still want me to get off the altar?"
"I'll figure everything out," Caius said.
"And then?"
He hesitated for a moment. "If you haven't done anything wrong, I'll give you an explanation."
An explanation?
How hollow those words were.
He rejected me in front of everyone, and all he could offer was an explanation.
I coughed up blood and fell to my knees, and he told me not to make a fuss.
Now, even his wolf soul bowed to me, and he said he'd look into it.
I was about to speak when wolf howls rang out beyond the clearing, one after another.
The sound wasn't from the tamed wolves of the Silvermoon Pack.
It was distant and icy, rolling in from the northern snowfields.
Everyone's faces changed instantly.
"T-The Frostfall Pack," someone stammered, voice trembling. "Why would they show up here?"
A guard rushed in and dropped to one knee before Ulric. "Alpha, the envoys from the Frostfall Pack are here."
Ulric jumped to his feet. "We didn't invite them today."
The guard glanced up at me, his gaze filled with terror.
"They said they're not here for the ceremony," he said.
Caius pressed a hand to his chest, his voice strained. "Then what do they want?"
The guard swallowed hard. "They specifically requested to see Elena."
Another wolf howl echoed from outside.
Then I saw countless wolf souls raising their heads from the shadows.
They watched me, silent, bowed, waiting for my command.