Chapter 2, The Null of High-Ridge
Ten years
Wren
“Faster, Null! If you can’t shift, you’d better be able to run!”
The sneer in Killian’s voice was as sharp as the wooden training daggers we carried.
At ten years old, the Alpha’s son was already broader than the other boys, his eyes a piercing, confident amber.
He was the golden boy of the High-Ridge, destined for a coat of thick grey fur and the seat of power his father, Silas, held with a grumpy, iron fist.
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. My lungs were burning, but my legs... my legs were a blur.
We were sprinting through the Frost-Gully, a jagged ravine that served as the pack’s natural training ground.
The other pups moved with the heavy, powerful strides of young wolves, their bodies already preparing for the weight of muscle and bone.
But I felt light. Too light. While they crashed through the brush like blunt instruments, I seemed to glide over it.
I hit the marker stone a full ten seconds before Killian.
I stood there, panting, my raven-black hair sticking to my damp forehead. In a pack of blondes, tawnies, and silvers, I was a jarring smudge of ink. Even my skin seemed too pale, the color of the white furs Arthur had found me in, making me look more like a ghost than a warrior.
Killian skidded to a halt, his face flushing a deep, angry red. “You cheated. You took the high path.”
“I didn’t,” I said, my voice steady despite the hammering in my chest. “I just ran.”
“You’re a freak, Wren,” spat Selina, sliding down the embankment behind him. She was already being groomed as a future lead sentinel, her yellow eyes fixed on me with a spite that went beyond childhood rivalry. “Look at her. No scent. No spirit. You’re just a Null.”
The word stung more than the frost. Null. The rank Silas had created just for me when it became clear that no wolf was coming.
“Leave her alone, Selina,” a soft voice called out. Sage and Elias emerged from the treeline. They were the only ones who didn’t look at me like a curse. Sage had flour on her tunic; Elias had his nose in a scroll. They were Omegas, the bottom of the ladder but I was the dirt below them.
“Or what, Archive-worm?” Selina stepped toward Elias, her hand twitching toward her training dagger. “You’ll read me a boring story?”
I stepped between them. I didn’t hesitate. I was smaller than Selina, but when I looked at her, something deep in my gut flickered. It wasn’t a wolf’s growl. It was a cold, predatory stillness, a silence that felt like a winter grave.
I didn’t blink. I didn’t growl. I just stared into her eyes until the air between us felt brittle.
Selina’s sneer faltered. She took a half-step back, her confidence wavering under the weight of my empty gaze.
Beside her, Killian shifted his weight, looking away as if he couldn’t quite bear to meet my eyes either.
The silence was deafening. I saw the exact moment Selina’s embarrassment turned into true venom.
“Don’t you look at me like that, you scentless rat,” Selina hissed, her voice trembling as she tried to regain her ground.
She leaned in close, so only I could hear the jagged edge of her threat.
“Enjoy your little wins while you can. One day, the moon will demand the price the pack paid for you. And when you have nothing to pay with, I’ll be the one to make sure you’re finally discarded.”
She grabbed Killian’s arm, tugging him away. “Come on. My father says being near a Null for too long makes your own wolf sluggish.”