The breaking period: Day 5,479, hour 23
Sneaking out of Pack Mahardika territory was easier than it should have been.
Either security was shit, or everyone was so used to me being invisible that they literally didn't see me leave.
Both options were depressing.
The Moon Goddess temple sat three miles into neutral territory, hidden in a grove of ancient trees that seemed to bend toward the sky like they were praying. The path was well-worn—pack members came here for blessings, guidance, to ask Mahina for favor during important life events.
I was here to break up with her.
Seemed rude, but my life was built on rude at this point.
The temple itself was smaller than I expected. White stone covered in silver vines that glowed faintly in the moonlight, making the whole structure look like it was lit from within. A single arched doorway led inside, and stone steps were worn smooth by centuries of wolves seeking the goddess's blessing.
I climbed them slowly, my heart pounding.
Ninety-seven.
This was stupid. This was so incredibly stupid.
But going tomorrow at dawn with the elders watching? That was worse.
At least here, alone, I could have one moment that was mine.
I pushed open the heavy wooden door.
Inside, the temple was one circular room with a domed ceiling painted to look like the night sky. Stars glittered across the surface, and at the center, a massive silver moon seemed to pulse with its own light.
An altar sat in the middle of the room, smooth white stone stained with centuries of offerings. Flowers, coins, written prayers on parchment.
And blood.
Because apparently all supernatural religious rituals required blood.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
I screamed and spun around.
A woman stood in the shadows near the door. She was maybe sixty, with long silver hair and dark eyes that seemed to see straight through me. She wore simple robes the color of moonlight and moved with the kind of quiet grace that suggested she could absolutely kill me if she wanted to.
"Who the fuck are you?" I gasped, hand pressed to my racing heart.
"Ina. Moon Speaker. Guardian of this temple." She tilted her head, studying me. "And you're the human girl from Pack Mahardika."
"Word travels fast."
"The elders sent word. They want the temple prepared for a severance ritual at dawn." Ina stepped closer, her footsteps silent on the stone floor. "But you're here now. Alone. In the middle of the night."
"I like to be early."
"You're also lying."
Damn it.
I crossed my arms defensively. "Fine. I didn't want to do this with an audience. Is that a crime?"
"No." Ina circled me slowly, like she was examining an interesting specimen. "But it is curious. Most people don't rush toward severance from the Moon Goddess. It's usually a last resort. Something done with great reluctance."
"Yeah, well, I'm not most people."
"Clearly." She stopped in front of me, those dark eyes boring into mine. "So tell me, Ayla. Why are you really here?"
The use of my name shouldn't have surprised me. Moon Speakers probably knew everything.
"The elders want me to sever my ties to the Moon Goddess and leave the pack," I said flatly. "Apparently I'm a liability. So I'm here to... I don't know. Make it official. On my terms."
"You want to reject the goddess."
"I want to reject a pack that never wanted me in the first place."
Ina was quiet for a long moment. Then she sighed. "You're sure about this?"
"Does it matter?"
"It matters to me. Once you spill blood on that altar with the intention to sever, there's no going back. The Moon Goddess doesn't take rejection lightly."
I laughed, bitter and sharp. "Good. Maybe she'll finally notice I exist."
Ina's expression shifted to something almost like... sympathy? "Oh, child. She's always noticed."
That made no sense, but I was too tired and angry to care.
"So how does this work?" I walked toward the altar. "I just... what? Bleed on the altar and say 'thanks for nothing'?"
"Essentially." Ina moved to stand beside the altar, her hands folded. "Though traditionally there's more ceremony. Words of gratitude. Acknowledgment of what you're giving up."
"I'm not grateful."
"I gathered that."
I pulled a small knife from my pocket, borrowed from the pack kitchens, because even my dramatic gestures were theft at this point.
Ina saw it and raised an eyebrow. "That's a very small knife."
"It'll work."
"For a papercut, maybe."
I glared at her. "Are you going to help or mock me?"
"Can't I do both?" But she pulled a ceremonial blade from somewhere in her robes and offered it to me. "Use this. If you're going to do something monumentally stupid, at least do it properly."
The blade was beautiful, silver and etched with symbols I didn't recognize. The handle was wrapped in leather worn smooth by countless hands.
I took it, the weight solid and real in my palm.
"Any last words of wisdom?" I asked.
"Yes." Ina met my eyes. "Are you absolutely certain this is what you want?"
"I'm certain the elders would love to oversee my disposal tomorrow morning, but I'd rather skip being monitored like a task they're afraid I'll do wrong."
"That's not an answer."
It wasn't.
But it was all I had.
I pressed the blade to my palm and drew it across in one quick motion. Pain flared, bright and sharp. Blood welled up, dark red against my pale skin.
I held my hand over the altar and let the blood drip onto the white stone.
"I reject ..."
Suddenly loud thunder cracked across the sky.
The temple shook.
"Oh no," Ina whispered. "Oh, you foolish, foolish child."
"WHAT? What's happening?"
The blood on the altar began to glow. Not red. Silver. Like liquid moonlight spreading across the stone, branching out in patterns that looked almost like veins.
The painted moon on the ceiling pulsed, then began to descend.
"That's not normal," I said, pointing at the ceiling and backing away. "That's not normal, right?"
"No," Ina said, her voice tight with something between awe and terror. "It's very much not normal."
The silver light from the altar shot upward, connecting with the descending moon. The entire temple blazed with radiance so bright I had to shield my eyes.
And then I heard it.
A howl.
Inside my head.
"FINALLY."
I fell to my knees, gasping. The voice, no, the PRESENCE was huge. Ancient. It felt like my skull was too small to contain it.
"What... " I couldn't form words. Couldn't breathe.
The light coalesced in front of me, taking shape.
A WOLF.
Massive, beautiful, terrifying.
Pure white, with eyes that glowed silver like the moon itself.
"You really took your sweet time," the wolf said, her voice dripping with sarcasm even as it echoed through my mind. "Eighteen years I've been waiting. Do you have any idea how boring that is?"
"I'm hallucinating," I gasped. "I'm having a stroke. This is a stroke."
"You're not having a stroke, you dramatic disaster. I'm your wolf. Well, technically I'm THE wolf, but we can get into semantics later. Name's Sahya, by the way."
"I don't have a wolf," I said. "I'm human."
The wolf laughed, and it sounded like thunder. "Oh, sweetie. You are so very much not human."
Ina appeared beside me, kneeling. Her face was pale. "Mahina's mercy. You're HER. The white wolf. The ancient bloodline."
"I'm WHATTT?"
"She's having a moment," Sahya said. "Give her a second. Humans... well, former humans, are slow."
"I'm not a former human! I AM human!"
"Were. Past tense. Try to keep up." The wolf kept circling me, her massive form somehow both solid and translucent. "You were hidden. Sealed. Your power suppressed since birth to keep you safe from things that would very much like to eat you. But you just spilled blood in a sacred temple with the intent to sever ties to the Moon Goddess."
"So?"
"So that was basically the supernatural equivalent of kicking down the front door and screaming 'I'M HERE, COME GET ME.' The seal broke. I'm awake. You're awake. And everyone who's been looking for you?"
Sahya grinned, showing far too many teeth. "They know you're awake too."
"Fuck."
"Exactly."
Thunder rolled again, closer this time.
Ina grabbed my arm. "We need to get you back to Pack Mahardika. Now. Before ..."
She stopped.
Sniffed the air.
Her expression went from concerned to horrified.
"Before what?" I asked.
"Before they arrive."
"Who?"
"Your mates silly," Sahya said cheerfully. "All five of them. I can smell them from here. They felt the bond snap into place the second I woke up. They're coming. Fast."
"I don't have mates. I don't have a wolf. I don't ... "
My words died as five distinct scents hit me all at once.
Pine and smoke.
Rain and earth.
Leather and steel.
Honey and lightning.
And something dark. Ancient. Waiting.
My wolf was right.
They were coming.
And I was about to have a very, very bad night.
"Run," Ina said.
For once, I didn't argue.