Chapter 5 THE CEREMONY

The eyes were gone, sure-but that didn't mean I could pretend I hadn't seen them. Didn't mean they weren't still out there, just beyond the trees-hiding. Watching. Waiting.

By the time Milo and I made it back to the compound, I could feel it-the air had changed, just enough to let you know something had shifted while we were gone. The weight of Ceremony night pressing in. It always did. Like the pack was holding its collective breath.

I showered fast, then changed. Ceremony clothes were never about fashion-not for people like me. It was about not looking like a mess. About not giving them more to whisper about. I pulled on a plain black dress, long sleeves to hide the bruises, and tied my hair back with shaking fingers. No frills. No color. Nothing that would draw extra attention.

Not that it mattered. Just being me drew enough.

I stared at the girl in the mirror. Pale. Eyes too sharp. Tired. And underneath all of that-uncertain. Of everything. Of the pack. Of the Ceremony. Of myself. I didn't know what I wanted anymore. To be chosen? To be left alone? Sometimes they felt like the same thing. Maybe I was tired of wanting altogether.

"You got this," I whispered. But it didn't come out with any confidence. More like a lie I'd told myself so many times, I said it by habit.

The pendant around my neck felt heavier than usual. It had weight. Memory. I hadn't taken it off since Milo gave it back. I couldn't. It was the only piece of my parents I had.

And maybe a part of me thought it would anchor me, even when everything else kept shifting.

Another knock at the door.

Milo.

"You good?"

I opened it. He took one look and gave a half-grin. "Look at you. Didn't know you owned something that wasn't covered in mud."

"Don't get used to it," I muttered. But I smiled, barely.

The walk to the Ceremony grounds was quiet. Torches flickered along the trail. The air smelled like woodsmoke and too many emotions crammed into one night. People laughed, but it sounded strained. Like they were trying too hard. Some of them probably were.

The Ceremony meant everything to them. It meant approval. A future. A path. It was identity. Validation. The kind of thing they were taught to want from the time they could walk. And I wanted to be above it-to not care-but part of me did.

"You okay?" Milo asked, voice low.

I shrugged. "Fine."

He gave me a look.

"Okay, not fine," I admitted. "It just... sucks. Hoping when you know you shouldn't."

He nodded. "Hope doesn't care if it makes sense. It shows up anyway."

I didn't say it aloud, but I was scared of what came after this. If I was chosen and rejected again, what did that say about me? And if I wasn't chosen at all? That was worse. That meant nothing. That meant I didn't exist.

The Ceremony grounds were packed. Wolves gathered around the circle, lit by firelight and moonlight. Alpha Kade stood at the front, jaw clenched, arms behind his back. I hated how solid he looked, how steady. Like nothing could shake him. Like he was always sure.

I didn't know what that felt like.

He raised a hand. Just that.

Everyone quieted.

"Tonight, the Moon chooses."

His voice rolled out like thunder on a still day. Steady. Unquestioned.

Pairs were called. One by one. Names spoken into the night like vows. Some smiled. Some cried. Some walked away broken. No one made a sound during the rejections. No one dared.

I tried not to stare at the ones who found their mate. But I did.I watched them, this hollow ache settling in my chest, and wondered what it felt like-to be wanted like that.

To belong to someone without fear or shame. To feel like you were a part of something that saw you and said yes.

Then it happened.

"Aurelia Thorne."

My name.

It hit me harder than I expected. Even though I knew it could come. Even though I'd prepared.

My legs didn't move at first. For a second, I thought maybe I hadn't heard it right. Maybe it was someone else. But everyone was looking at me.

I stepped into the circle, heart stuttering, knees stiff. The clearing spun a little as I stood there, waiting.

Waiting.

Then:

"Dane Rowen."

He stepped out of the crowd, slow and deliberate, eyes locked on me. Tall, broad-shouldered, clean-cut-the kind of guy who looked like he belonged on the cover of something.The kind of wolf this Ceremony was built for. I'd barely spoken to him beyond polite nods.

He looked confused. Maybe more than that. Shocked. Displeased.

We stood face to face.

He extended his hand.

I took it.

And felt it.

The pull. The recognition. That strange flicker in the air between us, like something waking up. It was real. I felt it in every inch of me-that this was a bond.

His fingers twitched.

Then he dropped mine.

"No," he said. Just that.

A beat passed.

Then louder, clearer, more sure: "I reject this."

He turned and walked off like it was nothing.

Like I was nothing.

And maybe I was.

The bond snapped. My body swayed, just a little.

My feet moved before my brain could catch up. I walked out of the circle, through the crowd, into the dark. I didn't stop until the voices faded behind me.

Milo caught up. Of course he did.

"Lia. Wait."

"I don't want to talk about it."

He didn't argue. He just walked next to me, quiet, steady.

When we got to the well, I dropped to the ground. Not dramatic. Not broken. Just... done.

"That was cruel," I said finally.

Milo sat beside me. "It was cowardly."

"You think it's me? That something about me makes them say no?"

He didn't answer fast. Which meant he was thinking too hard. Which meant yes.

"I think they see what they're told to see," he said finally. "They see what the pack decided you were years ago."

I rubbed my hands together. "So I'm cursed. Is that it? Marked for misery?"

"You're not cursed. You're the first person I've met who still stands after being knocked down more times than anyone should. That scares people."

I looked down at the dirt. "It scares me too. Because what if this is all there is? What if this rejection isn't a fluke? What if it's a pattern I can't break?"

He looked at me sideways. "Then we find a new pattern. We break out. We make one."

I let the silence stretch. "That sounds nice. But what if I don't know how?"

"Then we figure it out. Piece by piece."

A noise cut through the trees.

From the trees.

I stood. Instinct.

Milo did too. "You hear that?"

I nodded. Drew my blade.

Out stepped a man.

Not from our pack.

Dark coat. Calm steps. A face I didn't know.

He looked straight at me.

"Aurelia."

Milo moved slightly in front of me.

"Who are you?" I asked.

He didn't answer right away. Just stared at me, like he already knew every question sitting on the tip of my tongue.

Then he said, "Someone who knows what you are."

My grip on the blade didn't loosen.

"And what's that?"

His smile was quiet. Sure.

"Not cursed. Not broken. Chosen."