Chapter 5 Lyra's Wolf Emerges

"You don't have to stand out here, Selene. Come closer, everyone's watching Lyra."

Selene didn't turn. Her arms were crossed tight over her chest as her eyes remained locked on the shifting crowd in the moonlit clearing. "I'm fine right here," she replied, her voice steady, but dull.

"You're not," Lyra whispered beside her. "I know you. You think if you stay at the edge, maybe no one will notice you're not part of this."

Selene sucked in a sharp breath, forcing her face into a neutral mask. "Maybe I don't want to be part of it."

"You don't mean that." Lyra's tone was gentle but insistent, like she was trying to reach through the layers of ice that had wrapped around Selene's heart for the past year. "This is your pack too. You've just forgotten how to believe it."

"No," Selene said, her jaw clenching as she looked away from the clearing. "They've forgotten me."

For a long moment, Lyra didn't speak. She just stood there, shoulder brushing Selene's, trying to offer warmth. Then she murmured, "They're not the only ones watching tonight. The Alpha Elders came from two territories over. And they're here for more than just the shifting."

Selene's chest tightened. "Then I really don't belong here."

"You're being stubborn again," Lyra said, half laughing. "Look, I know this hurts. I know watching everyone else shift, while you... don't. It breaks something inside you. But that doesn't mean it'll always be this way."

Selene turned sharply to her friend. "You don't get it."

Lyra blinked. "Then explain it to me. Please."

"My wolf isn't late, Lyra. She's gone. Or maybe she was never there at all." Selene's voice cracked as she said it, and she hated the way it made her sound, like a child still waiting for something that was never promised.

"You don't know that."

"I do." Selene's fists clenched at her sides. "I feel it. Every time someone shifts near me, every time the moon pulls on their bones and they howl with it, I feel nothing. Just silence. Cold, empty silence."

The clearing erupted into cheers then, and they both turned to see Lyra's younger cousin, Mia, begin her shift. The girl glowed in the silver light, her transformation effortless. Her body twisted and shimmered, bones realigning, fur replacing skin, until a sleek white wolf stood in the center of the circle.

Selene looked away first.

"They're going to pick her," she muttered, almost to herself.

Lyra frowned. "Pick her for what?"

"To be the next Beta. Maybe even Luna, if she impresses the Elders. They'll never pick someone like me. Not someone... broken."

"You're not broken." Lyra's voice was sharp this time, fierce with frustration. "Stop calling yourself that."

"Why not?" Selene turned fully now, eyes glinting with unshed tears. "It's what they call me when I'm not around. It's what they whisper in the kitchens. The Alpha's burden. The girl with no wolf. The dead bond."

Lyra's mouth opened, but no words came out.

Selene laughed bitterly. "Yeah. You've heard it too."

"I have," Lyra admitted after a beat. "But I never believed it. And you shouldn't either."

"Tell that to Alpha Caelum," Selene spat. "He can't even look at me without flinching."

Lyra looked away, guilt creeping into her features.

"He told me," Selene continued, her voice lowering to a whisper, "that if I don't shift by next moon, he'll send me away. Said the pack can't waste resources on someone who can't contribute."

Lyra gasped. "He said that?"

Selene nodded. "Word for word."

"I'll talk to him."

"Don't," Selene said sharply. "I don't need a babysitter. Or a savior. I just need... space."

They fell into silence, the sounds of the pack celebration growing louder behind them. Someone had started drumming on the old oak logs, and several wolves were dancing, half-shifted, their limbs fluid and wild. The moon seemed to pulse with energy, and Selene could feel it calling to everyone. Everyone but her.

"I used to dream of this night," Selene said quietly. "Of the night I would finally feel whole. The night my wolf would rip through me and roar so loud the whole forest would echo with it. I used to stand right where Mia is and imagine them cheering for me."

Lyra reached out and gripped her hand. "It could still happen."

Selene shook her head. "It's too late."

"No, it's not," Lyra insisted. "The moon chooses when we're ready. Some wolves shift at ten. Some at twenty. Some later. You're not the first to wait."

"But I'll be the first to be exiled for it," Selene said bitterly. "That's what Alpha Caelum said. He said I was weakening the bloodline."

Lyra's eyes flashed. "That's not fair."

"Fair doesn't matter to him." Selene's voice dropped. "Strength does. Power does. Legacy does."

They stood in silence again. Then, Selene said, almost too softly to hear, "Do you ever wish I wasn't your friend?"

Lyra jerked like she'd been struck. "What? No. Never."

"You should," Selene said, tears finally slipping from the corners of her eyes. "You're the strongest, most promising wolf I know. But people talk. They say I'm holding you back. They say you'll never be chosen for leadership if you're still attached to me."

Lyra's jaw clenched. "Then screw them. I choose you."

Selene's eyes widened.

Lyra stepped forward, eyes blazing now. "Let them whisper. Let them say whatever they want. I don't care if they never give me a title. You're my family, Selene. And I will never leave you behind."

The words hit Selene like a thunderclap. For the first time in months, something inside her stirred. Not her wolf, but something. Something deeper. Something human.

Before she could speak, a new sound broke the air, shouting. Confused voices. And then a scream.

They both turned sharply.

"What's going on?" Selene asked, heart racing.

A young pack member burst through the trees, panting. "Alpha Caelum collapsed!"

Selene's eyes widened. "What?"

"He was watching the new shifts. Then he just... dropped. They're calling for the healers."

Lyra grabbed Selene's hand. "Come on!"

"I'm not supposed to, "

"No one's thinking about that now. Just move!"

They sprinted through the trees, arriving at the clearing where a circle had formed. The Alpha lay in the center, unmoving, his eyes closed, his breath shallow.

"What happened?" Lyra demanded, pushing through the crowd.

A healer looked up, face pale. "We think it's poison. Something foreign. But we don't know how."

Selene's breath caught in her throat.

Across the clearing, the Elders exchanged worried glances. A sense of dread rippled through the crowd.

"Who would poison the Alpha?" someone whispered.

And then, another voice, cruel and certain: "It's an omen. A bad one. Too many weak wolves. The pack is cursed."

Selene flinched.

"Enough!" one of the Elders barked. "There's no room for rumors. We handle this with order."

But the murmurs had begun. And Selene knew, somehow, without proof, they would look to her. The outsider. The flaw.

"I should go," she said to Lyra.

Lyra turned to her sharply. "No. Don't you dare run."

"I don't belong here."

"Yes, you do," Lyra said, gripping her tighter. "You're not the cause of this. You're the one who stays and proves them wrong."

Selene looked back at the Alpha, his body pale, still. Around him, chaos brewed.

And in the shadows beyond the trees, something moved. Something dark. Something watching.

Selene felt the chill run down her spine.

Maybe she didn't have a wolf.

But maybe... something else had woken.