Ember's of the Silent Wolf

len

fr

ed. She recognized the voice even before she turned. Lyra again. Always Lyra, always

n colors that should have meant peace. But there was no peace in her heart. Only the tightening in h

wolf musk and fresh dew, a combination so familiar it should have been comforting. Instead, it clawed at her, reminding her, relentlessly, that

ad no

softer this time. Selene could hear her footsteps now, crunching

, words fighting to come out, but only silence emerged. The edge of her vision blurred as tears threatened, not from sadness, b

lly said, her voice a britt

close enough for warmth to radiate betwee

immediate. "The pack doesn't care. Not r

s not

when I walk past them, it's all reminders. I am the girl with no wolf. That's

eny it. Her silence said

tering change. Muscles stretched, fur erupted, bones cracked into new shapes. It was glorious. Powerful. Violent and beautiful. T

ed it all, s

ge came

had waited through her eighteenth year, her nineteenth, and now, almost twent

ded into the trees, his golden fur a streak of joy through the underbrush. His mother cla

d flat. "How do you walk into that crowd ev

"Because I b

harply. "That's

r face, "but it's the only one I've got. And

ghten. "I can't keep pretending, Lyra. I'm not one of you. And no amo

n't kno

y word out of his mouth is just a warning wrapped in disappointment. I'm a stain

has his faults, but he s

t y

nd of wolves running through the forest, their celebration of unity as deafening as any ac

ally, each word slow and deli

here too.

you d

idn't move. She stood there, grounding herself like

, don't you?" Lyra aske

an event celebrated by all five bordering packs. Shifters would compete, alliances would be tested, and

Se

o wave like a ghost haunting the sideli

Lyra said. "Your name

l they do when I don't shift? Let me run

ength. The one that d

t enough.

l something pull deep in her chest, a twinge, a whisper. But i

aid aloud, more to herself

widened. "Yo

standing in their shadow waiting f

would y

here that doesn't require me t

s above them, and Selene watched it

ke it on your

he replied, voice

rst time, Lyra

orld that no longer made sense. Selene stared into the forest, liste

like m

leaving Lyra behind. No mo

bness, something cracked wide open

might one day