Maya
My name is a whisper on the Headmaster’s lips. Then it is a boom that echoes in the silent hall.
“Maya of the Whispering Creek.”
I forget how to breathe. The world narrows to the glowing Moonstone and the ancient man standing before it. Time stretches, thin and fragile. Beside me, Lena’s nails dig into my arm, but I feel nothing. This is it. The moment that will define the rest of my life. My heart beats a frantic, desperate rhythm against my ribs. Please. Please. Please.
Headmaster Alistair draws another breath, his eyes scanning the crowd of boys.
“And Kael of the Silvercrest Pack.”
A sound escapes my lips. A gasp. A sob. I don’t know which. The world explodes back into focus, brighter and more beautiful than I have ever known it. Lena is shrieking, a high, joyful sound that makes people laugh around us. She throws her arms around me, squeezing the life from my lungs. Finn claps a hand on my shoulder, and when I look at him, he’s giving me a smile so wide and genuine it transforms his entire face.
It’s real.
It’s not a daydream. It’s not a hopeless fantasy whispered into my pillow at night. The Moon Goddess heard me. She saw me.
Murmurs ripple through the hall. I see some girls looking disappointed, others surprised. But mostly, I see smiles. They’re happy for us. For the fairytale. The quiet, unnoticed girl and the future Alpha.
“Go,” Lena whispers, pushing me forward gently. “Go get your mate.”
My feet feel disconnected from my body, but they move. One step, then another. I’m floating toward the front of the hall, toward him. My simple gray dress feels like the finest silk. Every torch seems to burn just for me. My eyes find Kael, and they don’t let go.
He’s standing there, tall and perfect. Our eyes are locked, just like they were before the ceremony began. But something is wrong. The warmth from before is gone. His face isn’t breaking into a relieved, happy smile. It’s a mask. A sculpture carved from ice.
The happy chatter in the hall begins to falter. The energy shifts. A cold knot of confusion begins to form in my stomach, pushing against the euphoria. Maybe he’s just in shock. Maybe he’s nervous.
I’m only a few feet away from him now. I can see the rigid set of his jaw. The way his fists are clenched at his sides. He doesn’t move toward me. He doesn’t extend his hand. He just watches me come to a stop before him, my hopeful smile starting to feel brittle on my face.
“Kael?” I whisper his name. It’s barely a sound.
The silence in the hall is absolute. Everyone is watching. Waiting. Kael’s eyes are cold. So cold. He looks at me, but it feels like he’s looking straight through me.
He raises his chin, and his voice rings out, sharp and formal and utterly devoid of emotion. It cuts through the silence like a shard of glass.
“I, Kael of the Silvercrest Pack, reject Maya of the Whispering Creek family as my mate.”
The words don’t register at first. They are just sounds, meaningless and alien. My mind tries to piece them together, but they refuse to form a coherent thought. Reject. The word hangs in the air, vibrating with a terrible power.
Then, it hits me. Not like a thought, but like a physical blow. The air is punched from my lungs. The light from the torches seems to warp and bend. The hundreds of faces in the crowd blur into a smear of pity and shock. A low roar starts in my ears, drowning out the collective gasp that sweeps through the hall.
My fairytale shatters.
Kael doesn’t look at the devastation he has caused. He doesn’t spare me a second glance. His duty done, he turns his back on me. On us. He walks away, his steps firm and purposeful. He walks straight to Seraphina.
She stands there, her crimson dress like a drop of blood against the stone. A perfect, delicate expression of shock is on her face, but her eyes, her triumphant eyes, are locked on me. Kael reaches her and takes her hand in his. Her fingers lace through his possessively. Her feigned surprise melts away, replaced by a look of pure, victorious pity. It’s the cruelest expression I have ever seen. It says, you never had a chance. It says, of course he chose me. It says, you are nothing.
The roaring in my ears gets louder. The floor seems to tilt beneath my feet. I can feel every single stare like a physical touch, burning my skin. Humiliation is a fire, shame is an ocean, and I am drowning in the flames.
The pain is a living thing inside my chest. It’s a clawed beast, tearing me apart from the inside out. It’s more than I can bear. It’s too much.
Something inside me cracks.
It’s not a sound anyone else can hear. It’s a deep, seismic fracture in the very core of my being. A dormant fault line, buried under years of being quiet and making no waves, finally gives way under the unbearable pressure.
A tremor runs through me, a vibration that starts in my bones and shakes my soul. For a terrifying second, I feel a surge of something raw and hot and utterly unfamiliar. It’s a power I don’t recognize, a sleeping monster awakened by the shattering of my heart.
