Amanda
I wake to silence. Not the gentle quiet of my home, filled with the distant sounds of the pack stirring, but a dead, heavy silence. The room they have given me is larger than my entire childhood home. The sheets are silk, the bedposts carved from a dark, polished wood. It is a beautiful cage.
A sharp knock precedes the door opening. A woman stands there, impossibly beautiful, with hair the color of spun gold and eyes the green of new spring leaves. Her smile is perfect. It does not reach her eyes.
“You must be Amanda.” Her voice is smooth, like honey. “I am Lila. Alpha Thorn’s Beta.”
She steps inside, her gaze sweeping over my simple woolen dress with a flicker of something I cannot name. Pity, perhaps. Or satisfaction.
“The Alpha asked me to ensure you are settled. We have a small morning ritual, a greeting in the dining hall. A formality, of course, but important for a newcomer.”
I nod, grateful for the guidance. “What do I need to do?”
“It’s simple,” she says, moving to adjust a silver vase on a table. “When the pack elders enter, you must bow your head. Keep it bowed until they are all seated. It is a sign of ultimate respect for their wisdom and age. A good first impression is so important, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Thank you, Lila.”
“Of course,” she purrs. “We are all one pack now.”
Her words feel like a lie.
The dining hall is immense, the air thick with the smell of roasting meat and the low hum of dozens of conversations. I find a place near the entrance, my hands clammy. When three older wolves, two men and a woman with stern faces, walk through the doors, I do as I was told. I lower my head, my eyes fixed on the stone floor.
The conversations die. A fork clatters against a plate, the sound echoing in the sudden, complete quiet.
A tense moment passes. Then another. I can feel every eye in the hall burning into me. A whisper snakes through the silence.
“What is she doing?”
“It’s an insult.”
My head snaps up. The elders are staring at me, their faces thunderous masks of offense. Panic claws at my throat.
Lila is suddenly at my side, a hand on my arm, her touch light but her grip like iron. Her face is a mask of false sympathy.
“Oh, you poor thing,” she whispers, just loud enough for those nearby to hear. “I am so sorry. I must have explained it wrong. In Blackmoon, you meet an elder’s gaze. To look away is to show you have something to hide. That you are a threat.”
Her eyes glitter with triumph. “It’s such a small thing. I’m sure no one will even remember.”
I pull my arm away from her, the heat of humiliation scorching my cheeks. I flee the hall, the sound of renewed whispers chasing me like a pack of hounds.
I find refuge in a small, untended garden, sinking onto a cold stone bench. I failed. My first day, and I have already failed.
“Are you Amanda?”
The voice is soft, hesitant. I look up to see a teenage girl with Thorn’s black hair and a shy, uncertain smile. She clutches a book to her chest.
I manage a nod.
“I’m Elara. Thorn’s sister.” She sits beside me, not too close. “Don’t listen to Lila. She’s a snake.”
Her directness surprises me. “She told me to bow my head.”
“I know. I heard her.” Elara looks down at her book. “She wanted you to look foolish. She… she used to be with my brother. Before.”
Before. Before what? Before me?
“I like your dress,” she says, changing the subject. “The stitching is nice.”
I look down at the familiar patterns of Silverwood. “My grandmother taught me.”
“She must be very wise,” Elara says. A small smile touches my lips for the first time since I arrived. Maybe I am not entirely alone here.
Later, a guard finds me. “The Alpha will see you.”
Thorn’s office is as cold and imposing as he is. He stands by a massive window, staring out at the dark forest. He doesn’t turn when I enter.
“You embarrassed this pack today.” His voice is flat. Final.
“I was given incorrect instructions,” I say, my own voice shaking slightly.
“It is your responsibility to learn our customs,” he counters, finally turning to face me. His storm-grey eyes are hard. “Not to make excuses.”
He walks toward me, closing the distance until I have to crane my neck to look at him. “I told you what this arrangement is. It is a treaty. Nothing more.”
He stops right in front of me. “I will not mark you. I will not make you my Luna in truth. You are a symbol, a guest in my home. That is all you will ever be.”
Something inside me snaps. The humiliation in the hall, Lila’s venomous smile, his cold dismissal. It is all too much.
“A guest?” The word is sharp. “Guests are welcomed. They are not set up for public failure by your… Beta.”
His eyes narrow, a flicker of surprise in their depths.
“You call my pack pathetic,” I continue, the words pouring out of me, hot and fast. “But at least we have honor. We do not play these kinds of cruel, petty games.”
I take a step forward, closing the last bit of space between us, refusing to be intimidated. “You can keep your mark. I have no desire to be bonded to an Alpha who has ice in his veins instead of a heart. I am here to save my people, not to be your toy. I will not be your fool.”
He stares down at me, his face an unreadable mask of stone. The air crackles with a tension so thick I can barely breathe. For a long, silent moment, he just looks at me. And for the first time, I see something behind the ice. It is not warmth. Not yet. But it is something. A spark of curiosity. A glint of respect.
Then it is gone, the mask slamming back into place.
“Get out,” he says, his voice a low growl.
I turn and walk away, my head held high, the echo of my own defiance a surprising, steadying beat in my chest.
