Emira stared down at the ground in the middle of the courtyard, covered only in what could barely be called a garment. On her face, there was no expression, not even the faintest flicker of emotion. Usually, when an Omega was about to be initiated, there would be fear, maybe even terror, plain for everyone to see. But for her, showing something like that was weakness, and weakness was something she refused to give them.
She simply kept her gaze fixed on the dirt beneath her, her eyes steady, her face calm, as if the whole thing didn't touch her at all. The murmur of voices around her carried through the air, the sound thick with excitement and anticipation, and she could feel it pressing in on her, crawling across her skin like an unwelcome hand.
Deep inside her, her wolf stirred restlessly. The creature lived in the back of her mind, silent and strange, a presence that was hers but somehow apart from her. It growled now, low and sharp, as though it felt the same unease she did.
