37. EMBER
EMBER
My stomach hasn’t settled all day, and now every heartbeat feels like it’s striking against my wolf’s ribs as I walk across the valley toward the awaiting mates and the first trial, Howl.
I should be excited. Instead, my eyes scan the far side of the circle, hungry for a white-haired wolf with ice-blue eyes.
But Thorn isn’t visible from my spot along the edge.
Only the wall of male wolves, all lined shoulder to shoulder.
Beside me, Lucia waits at the end of our row. I know it’s her brown wolf by the smug grin on her fangs. Her dark eyes keep cutting sideways toward me, sharp as knives. Every time I look her way, she nods to the females on her right, and they grin in their wolf forms. It prickles my fur.
The priest steps into the valley, arms lifted. “A wolf’s howl is not only one of the ways we praise the gods of the moon, but it’s how we express ourselves. Listen for your fated mate’s song. This year, we start with the females.”
One by one, wolves tilt back their heads and let their souls pour out. Howls rise like smoke into the sky, weaving together until the valley trembles with melody after melody. The valley swells with sound.
When it’s my turn, I lift my head to the heavens. My howl bursts free, raw and fierce, slicing through the night as if the gods themselves might hear me. The song carries with it everything I’ve held inside — my fear, longing, desire, the ache of an entire year without him.
And then — another voice joins mine.
I’d know that voice anywhere, it’s Thorn.
His voice cuts through the cacophony, deep and resonant, sliding under my skin and curling around my bones, so I continue my song with him.
My entire body shivers. For a moment, it’s just us, two voices threaded together in the air like a vow.
The valley itself seems to hold its breath as we weave our duet through the night.
My whole body shivers. I can stay here forever, suspended in the story that we are telling, bound to him through nothing but breath and voice.
A sudden shove slams into my side.
I stumble mid-howl and my paws slide on the grass. My song breaks mid-note, cracking into a startled yelp. Laughter snickers through the cluster of females beside me. Lucia’s claws which are still half-extended, smirks openly.
She snaps her teeth at me, tauntingly.
I bare my teeth in return, but the damage is done. My song has been broken, humiliated before the gods and everyone else here. Heat floods my cheeks.
The trial continues with the males howl in a fading chorus. Across the circle, I feel him. Thorn. His gaze pins me, searing hot even through the crowd. I let him down again. When is he going to get sick of being embarrassed by me?
I never meet his gaze. Not when shame still burns my cheeks. When the trial ends, I flee back to my room. As much as I’ve prepared all year, I fear I’m still not worthy of being an Alpha’s mate.