Chapter 4
On the night of the Full Moon Ritual, Moonstone Hall was bathed in the glow of three hundred moon lanterns.
The whole pack was there.
I slipped in quietly through the side door, wearing my faded old robe, and stood at the very back of the hall.
Isolde led the ritual flawlessly.
Her voice was sweet, her movements graceful, and whenever she lifted her hand, the silver thread on her robe caught the light like moonbeams.
But only I noticed that she mixed up the order of the blood offering twice.
No one seemed to care.
All eyes were on her.
Halfway through the ritual, Dorian stepped up onto the altar.
He raised his hand, and the whole hall went silent.
He said, "After Blood Oath day, I haven't been able to shake one thought.
"Crescent Hollow needs a Luna who can stand right there in the wolf lineup."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
He continued, "At the next full moon, I'll be holding a bonding ceremony with Isolde Vance.
"She will be my chosen mate."
As the applause broke out, I could hear my heart beating slowly.
Dorian turned to face me.
Across the hall, with three hundred moon lanterns between us, he locked eyes with me for the first time after three years.
"Wren Larkin, hand over the Moonstone Seal," he ordered.
Every pair of eyes in the hall turned to me.
Some people ducked their heads, trying not to laugh.
Someone whispered, "Finally. A Luna who can't even shift? She's been allowed to stick around way longer than anyone thought she would."
I stepped out from the back row.
As I walked down the aisle, Thea called out to me.
I didn't stop.
I walked up to the altar.
Dorian held out his hand, palm up, waiting for me to place the Moonstone Seal in it.
He wore that confidence, like he was certain how this would end.
He was waiting for me to break down, to beg, and to hold back everything I wanted to say as I had for the past three years.
I didn't hand him the Moonstone Seal.
I lifted my head, met his gaze, and spoke with steady resolve, "I, Wren Larkin, reject you, Dorian Kade, as my mate."
The whole Moonstone Hall went dead silent.
Isolde's silver tray hit the floor with a loud clang.
Dorian's eyes widened in disbelief. "What did you say?"
"Here's the Pack Law," I replied. "When I reject you, you have to accept it."
He didn't move.
Maren stepped forward, leaning heavily on her cane, her voice rough and full of authority.
"Alpha, accept it," she said.
Dorian's lips parted, but no words came out.
For the first time, I saw something in his expression that was totally new to me.
It was panic.
"I..." he stammered, "I, Dorian Kade, accept your rejection, Wren Larkin."
The moment the words left his lips, the mark on my chest tore open.
It was like someone had reached inside me, grabbed hold of my soul, and pulled it out inch by inch.
I dropped to my knees.
Blood spilled from my lips, splattering across the moonstone floor.
Dorian stumbled back, hit the stone pillar, and gripped it, struggling to catch his breath.
But I didn't black out.
Right in the midst of that soul-ripping pain, something inside me woke up.
It'd been five years.
Nyx finally opened her eyes.
"Let's go," she said.
My bones started to pop and snap.
Energy rushed under my skin, pushing up to my fingertips, my jaw, setting my whole chest on fire.
Right there, under three hundred moon lanterns, I shifted in front of everyone.
It was the first time I'd shifted in five years.
My fur exploded outward, as white as snow.
It was also like the sacred stone atop the Temple of the Moon.
In Moonstone Hall, someone fell to their knees.
Then another followed, and a third.
Finally, the whole hall knelt, wave after wave, like grass flattened by the wind.
"White wolf..."
"It's a white wolf."
"By the Moon Goddess, Crescent Hollow has a white wolf."
The old scroll in Maren's hand slipped from her grasp and tumbled to the floor, unrolling halfway.
She stared at me, tears streaming down her face.
"Oh, Moon Goddess," she whispered. "Her wolf's not crippled."
The wind swept in through the door, snuffing out a whole row of moon lanterns in an instant.
Ivette walked in, snow clinging to her cloak, flanked by two envoys from the Temple of the Moon.
"The Temple of the Moon, by the Moon Goddess's command," she announced, "is here to take the White Wolf Initiate north."
Dorian was kneeling in a pool of blood, gripping the stone pillar as he looked up at me.
He called out my name, his voice raw and desperate.
I didn't look back.
I dove out of Moonstone Hall, a streak of white crashing into the snowy night.
He still didn't know.
He never figured out why my wolf had been asleep for five years.