His face was unreadable, with no traces of the man that had lovingly gaze at me in the dressing room. It was like he had pulled everything inward and locked it there, and what was left on the surface was just the shell of the man I knew.
And that scared me more than the smoke.
Or the crack. Even more than Maren who was still crumpled on the ground with two pack members crouching over her.
"Aric." My voice came out smaller than I intended. The smoke had retreated back into the crack but I could still feel the warmth of it on my wrist, like a ghost.
"Aric, what's happening."
He looked at me then, and what I saw in his face made my stomach turn over slowly.
I didn't get to say anything else.
"Step away from the stone." Elder Conal's voice called out from the clearing , and it took me a full second to realise he was talking to me.
I had known Elder Conal my entire life. He had been at every important moment I could remember, always with that particular blend of authority and warmth that made him easy to trust.
But there was no warmth in his voice right now.
I stepped back from the stone and two guards moved to my sides, though I had no idea if it was to protect me or stop me from leaving.
On the ground near the stone's base, Maren was being helped upright. Her head kept rolling like she couldn't hold it still and her eyes white without the black iris in sight.
One of the pack healers was trying to get her to drink something and she kept turning her face away, her lips moving without making any particular coherent sound.
"Is she alright?". My voice shook as I asked no one in particular but none answered me.
The elders had gathered in a tight cluster a few feet away, speaking in voices too low for me to hear properly. I caught fragments — enough to understand the shape of what they were saying without filling in all the words, and the shape of it turned my blood cold.
I looked at my friends. Mara was pressed against Cessa at the edge of the inner ring, one hand gripped around Cessa's arm. Cessa had gone completely white. Petra stood slightly in front of both of them with her chin up, but her hands were clasped so tightly together her knuckles had lost their colour.
When Mara's eyes found mine, she looked away instantly and what felt like a cold water , dumped down my whole being. It was then I began realising the gravity of what just happened.
I broke the ancient stone.
It rejected me…the moon goddess rejected me.
The panic curled up my throat, restricting my ability to breathe. It was not possible….it shouldn't be possible….i hadn't done anything wrong.
Subconsciously, I took a step back only to get grabbed by one of the guards. I was going to fight back until Maren suddenly stopped shaking. Her white eyes turned to my direction and I could see her try to raise her feeble finger at me.
"The child…..her womb will bear the child that will bring chaos to the shifters world. Everyone will die…Silvermoon will fall".
Her eyes rolled to the back of her head at the last word and she slumped to the floor.
For a moment, no one moved.
The words seemed to hang in the air, heavy and suffocating, pressing down on the clearing until even the wind stilled.
I could hear my own heartbeat, loud and uneven, drowning out everything else as Maren's prophecy settled into something real.
Then the murmuring began.
Low at first, like the distant rumble of thunder, before rising into sharp whispers and half-spoken fears. The guards' grips on my arms tightened, and realising what all these could mean, I started struggling to get out of it.
To get away from them.
To get away from everyone.
"No…" I shook my head, the word barely forming on my lips. "That's not—she's not—she doesn't know what she's saying."
"She was reading the moon." Elder Conakry broke through my rambles"She speaks what the moon shows her. That is what she does. That is what she has always done."
"But I haven't—" My voice cracked but I pressed through it. "I'm not carrying anyone's child. Whatever she saw, whatever she thinks she saw, it's not about me. This has to be a mistake."
It has to be. How could she prophesy about a child I have yet to conceive.
" The moon goddess has spoken . And the Oracle have relayed her message". He turned his back to me, facing the people and mostly Aric " And we must act on it".
Aric stood alone before the crowd, and the crowd watched in graveyard silence and somewhere deep in my chest, something began to understand what was coming long before my mind could catch up.
"Aric." My voice had gone thin, almost fragile. "Aric… look at me."
He did.
And that was worse. Because in that moment, I saw it…hesitation
"Don't," I whispered. "Please… don't.
He closed his eyes.
For a heartbeat, the world held itself still and I thought I would see the man that cherished me one it continues.
But when he opened them, I saw how hardened and distant they were. The decision had been made.
He began to speak. " I, Alec Silvermoon, Alpha of the Silvermoon pack, rejects Lyra….
I drowned out the rest of his words, letting numbness finally settling in. It was as if a door closed somewhere deep within, quiet and absolute, sealing off the part of me that would have shattered under the weight of the rejection.
I just couldn't let myself feel it.
Not yet.
When he finished, the silence rushed back in, heavy and suffocating.
Elder Conal gave a single nod.
And that was all it took.
The guards began dragging me away and I couldn't find it in me to resist. All the fight had left my body and what remained was a shard of who I always wanted to be.