Lyra's POV
"You don't belong here, Lyra." The words sliced through the air before I even reached the bonfire circle. To be frank, the voice was familiar and sharp as broken glass: Rowan, son of the Beta, who had made it his life's mission to remind me I was an outsider in my own pack.
I forced my steps steady, even though the eyes of the gathered wolves tracked me like predators. The glow of the fire painted their faces in molten gold and shadow, but the disdain in their stares burned hotter than the flames.
"Funny," I shot back, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "I thought this was a pack celebration, Rowan, or did the invitation say everyone except Lyra Vale?"
A few chuckles rippled through the crowd, but Rowan bared his teeth as he stepped closer to me. "See, Lyra, your father may be Alpha, but that doesn't make you one of us. Blood doesn't change what you are."
My fists clenched at my sides as I boiled. I wanted to snarl back, to rake my nails across his smug face, but I swallowed the urge. I told myself not tonight and not when the Blood Moon looms is just hours away. This was supposed to be my night, the night I would prove every single one of them wrong.
Instead, their whispers swirled around me. Their whispers are as thick as smoke. I was hearing, "She's cursed, she's different and she's not one of us.
I lifted my chin. "Don't worry, Rowan. Tomorrow, when I shift, you will be the first to bow." The laughter that followed wasn't kind.
The bonfire crackled, casting sparks into the misty night. Wolves from every corner of the Vale territory gathered in their ceremonial robes, their voices low and reverent as they waited for midnight. My stomach twisted, not from nerves, but from the way their gazes slid over me, like I was already condemned.
Then I felt it, a stare heavier than the rest. I turned and the world stilled.
He stood at the edge of the circle, tall and broad-shouldered, and his dark coat was trimmed with silver embroidery that marked him as not ours. His hair was black as midnight, his eyes glinting like shards of onyx. Even from a distance, his presence coiled around me, sharp and magnetic.
The heir of the rival Blackthorn Pack... Kael Aeson. What the hell was he doing here?
My heart stuttered before slamming hard against my ribs. I had never seen him up close, only heard stories about how he had fought grown wolves by the age of twelve and how even Alphas twice his size hesitated before meeting his gaze. Now his gaze was on me, unflinching and unreadable.
"Looks like even the Blackthorns came to watch the Alpha's daughter fail," Rowan sneered.
Kael's lips curved, mocking and amused. But there was something else in his stare. A flicker of recognition in his eyes. As if he saw more in me than the others did. Something that unsettled him.
Heat climbed my neck, part fury and part something else I didn't want to name.
"Enjoying the show?" I asked, my voice low.
He tilted his head and the fire caught the sharp line of his jaw. "I expected more from the infamous Vale girl. But perhaps the stories are exaggerated."
My pride snapped like brittle glass. "Careful... I bite."
"Do you?" His smirk deepened. "Then maybe you are worth my time after all."
My breath caught, equal parts rage and confusion. Why was he, Kael Aeson, of all people, looking at me like that?
"Enough."
The command cracked through the air like thunder and guess what? It's my father's voice.
Alpha Dorian Vale stepped into the circle, his presence towering over everyone. His graying hair glinted in the firelight while his face was carved with the weight of years and wars. Silence fell instantly, every wolf bowing their head.
Everyone except me.
"Father," I began, my defiance burning, but his glare silenced me before I could finish.
"You shame yourself," he said, his voice low but heavy enough for all to hear. "Do not forget who you are."
Heat rushed to my face, humiliation scalding hotter than the fire. Not just because he'd silenced me, but because he'd done it here, in front of them all.
The laughter from earlier now turned to smirks and whispers and I wanted to scream. I wasn't weak and I wasn't a mistake. Tomorrow, when I shifted, they would all see.
But tonight, I was just the cursed daughter being put in her place. The ritual began.
Torches lined the clearing, shadows stretching long and thin as the Elders poured wine into silver chalices. A hush fell as the Alpha raised his cup.
"To the Blood Moon," he intoned. "To the gift of the Shift."
The pack raised their cups in unison. Voices lifted in a chorus of reverence and then... A second voice split the night. "The cursed daughter will either crown or bury you all."
The words were ragged and eerie and were seeping into every corner of the clearing. A figure stepped from the tree line, crimson robes dragging against the earth, while her blind eyes were glowing faintly white.
The Crimson Seer. Gasps rippled through the pack. Some wolves dropped their cups, while others shifted uneasily. No one had invited her. Her pale, sightless gaze locked on me as my skin crawled immediately.
"She will not save you," the Seer whispered, her voice both hoarse and sharp. "She will not be your heir. She will be your ruin."
My chest tightened and my breath caught. Every eye in the clearing turned toward me, burning with fear, suspicion and hatred.
"No," my father thundered. "Leave this place, witch. Your words have no power here."
But the Seer only smiled, her lips curving in mockery. "You think you can silence prophecy, Alpha? You think you can hide her curse?"
My blood went cold. She raised a withered hand toward me. "The moon will rise and the Hollow will awaken and when it does, the Vale line will end."
The fire roared higher, sparks clawing at the sky. Then, just as suddenly as she had appeared, the Seer turned and melted into the shadows of the forest.
The silence that followed was suffocating. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Whispers slithered around me: Cursed...Hollow...and Monster.
I shoved past the circle, my father's voice calling my name, but I ignored him. My chest ached and my pride burned. I wouldn't let them see me break.
I stormed into the trees, branches clawing at my skin, the night air sharp in my lungs and then there came footsteps behind me.
Before I could turn, a hand caught my arm, strong and unyielding. His scent hit me first: earth, steel, and something dangerously intoxicating.
Kael leaned close, his breath brushing my ear. "If you shift tonight," he whispered, his voice low and cold, "I will be the one to kill you." The words froze my blood. I twisted to face him, but his dark eyes gleamed with certainty, not cruelty. He wasn't taunting me; instead, he was promising.
The night pressed in around us, heavy with fire and fear, and for the first time, I wondered. Why would my enemy know more about my fate than I did?