The breaking period: Day 5,480, hour 3
I made it to the pack borders before they caught up.
Or maybe they'd been following at a distance the whole time, waiting for me to stop running.
Either way, the moment my paws crossed onto Pack Mahardika territory, four wolves emerged from the tree line and blocked my path.
"Told you", Sahya said like she just won a bet.
"Not helpful."
I shifted back to human without thinking, instinct or stupidity, hard to say, and immediately regretted it when I realized I was standing naked in front of four very large wolves.
They shifted in sequence: Raka first, Rivan next, then Tama, and finally Bima, who immediately dropped to one knee.
"Mine," Raka growled, taking a step forward.
I took a step back. "Don't."
"Ayla," Rivan said softly. "Please. Let us explain."
"Explain what? That you spent years making my life hell and now suddenly you care because of some magical bond?"
"We were wrong," Tama said. "About everything."
"I'm sorry," Bima added, voice rough. "For everything."
I stared at him. At all of them.
"You don't get to do this," I said. "You don't get to suddenly care because biology says we're mates. Where was the bond when Bima made me run until I collapsed? When Raka told me I didn't belong? When Tama enforced rules that kept me at the bottom?"
Silence.
They had no answer.
"The bond doesn't excuse what we did," Tama said quietly. "Nothing does."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because you're ours," Raka said. "And we're yours. Like it or not."
"I vote not."
"We were protecting ourselves from what you'd become," Rivan added.
"From me being more powerful than you," I finished. "Yeah. I'm getting that."
Raka flinched. Direct hit.
Movement caught my eye. Elara emerged from the tree line, fully clothed and carrying fabric.
The fifth scent—honey and lightning—wrapped around me like a blanket.
The bond snapped into place so hard I gasped.
"Oh," my wolf said. "Oh, he's ours."
"Shit," I whispered.
Elara walked toward me carefully, like I was a spooked animal. He probably wasn't wrong.
"Thought you might need these," he said, holding out clothes.
I snatched them and quickly pulled on the oversized shirt and sweatpants. They smelled like him.
"Thanks."
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry too." He smiled sadly. "I watched them hurt you for years and did nothing except occasionally help you up. That's not much better."
At least he was honest.
I looked at all five of them, four naked, one clothed, all watching me with expressions ranging from desperate to guilty to hopeful.
"This is insane," I said. "Yesterday I was human. Today I have five mates who spent years treating me like garbage."
A howl echoed from the pack compound.
"They know," Elara said. "The whole pack felt your awakening."
"Fantastic."
"You're extraordinary," Bima said, still kneeling.
"Ten hours ago you called me pathetic."
He flinched. "I know."
More howls. The pack was gathering.
"What happens now?" I asked.
"Now you face the pack," Ina's voice came from behind me. "As what you truly are."
"I don't know how to be what I am."
"You've survived years in a pack that didn't protect you," Ina said. "You're stronger than you know."
I looked at my five mates. "I'm not promising anything."
"We'll earn it," they said in varying ways.
"They're trying," Sahya said.
"It's not enough."
"It's a start."
"We need to go," Ina said. "Before Ardana sends warriors."
I started walking toward the compound. My five mates fell into formation around me—Raka and Rivan on my left, Tama and Bima on my right, Elara behind me.
Protective but uninvited.
"This is weird," I muttered.
"Tradition," Tama said. "Mates protect—"
"Don't."
The pack compound appeared through the trees, blazing with light. Dozens of wolves crowded the courtyard, all eyes locked on me.
On my five mates surrounding me like I was something precious.
On the power radiating off me in waves.
Alpha Ardana stood at the center, flanked by elders.
"Ayla," he said. "You've awakened."
"Yeah. Surprise."
A few wolves snickered.
"The white wolf. We had hoped, but didn't know for certain."
"You knew enough to hide me for eighteen years."
"We knew enough to keep you alive. Which we did."
Grandmother Sari stepped forward. "Five mates. As the legends foretold."
Ardana looked at my mates. "You've accepted her?"
"Yes," they said in unison.
"And you?" He looked at me. "Do you accept them?"
Every eye in the pack turned to me.
Ninety-seven.
This was it. The moment where I either forgave them or condemned them.
Except it wasn't that simple.
"No," I said.
Gasps rippled through the crowd. My mates flinched but didn't argue.
"I don't accept them. Not yet. Maybe not ever. They spent years making my life hell. The bond doesn't erase that."
"The bond... " Elder Wira started.
"Doesn't matter," I cut him off. "Not to me. They want me? They can earn me. Prove they're worth the second chance the Moon Goddess apparently thinks they deserve."
More shocked silence.
Then Ardana did something unexpected.
He smiled.
"Good," he said. "Make them work for it."
He turned to my mates. "Until she accepts you fully, you are unmated. You have no claim. No rights. Nothing."
Raka looked like he wanted to argue, but Elara put a hand on his shoulder.
"We understand," Elara said. "And we accept her terms."
Ardana nodded, then addressed the pack. "The white wolf has returned. Our enemies will come. Prepare for war."
Just like that, the crowd dispersed, wolves moving toward training grounds and armories.
I stood there, exhausted and overwhelmed, surrounded by five males who claimed to be mine but weren't.
Not yet.
Maybe never.
"You need rest," Elara said gently.
"Where? My closet room?"
"The honored guest suite," Ardana said. "Under my protection. As you always have been. As you always will be."
Something in his tone made me pause. He meant it. Whatever promise he'd made to my parents, he'd kept it. In his own cold, distant way.
"Thank you," I said, and meant it.
He nodded once and left.
Ina appeared beside me. "That went better than expected."
"I just declared war on my own mates."
"Exactly. Better than expected." She winked. "Get some rest. Tomorrow, we start your real training."
My five mates stood waiting.
"We're going to win you back," Raka said.
"Good luck with that."
"However long it takes," Rivan promised.
"We'll prove ourselves," Tama added.
"I'll be better," Bima said quietly.
Elara just smiled and walked away first, giving me space. The others followed, reluctant but respectful.
I stood alone in the courtyard, the pack moving around me.
No longer invisible.
No longer human.
No longer the girl who didn't belong.
I was the white wolf.
And everything was about to change.
Ninety-seven.