Sacrificed.

~Lenora~

My lips trembled as I stepped outside. The party for Eleanor still went on inside, and the music could be heard even as I walked step by step away from that building.

My heart ached, and my eyes burned, but I tried to hold back every emotion that had plagued me. I had made my decision, and it couldn’t be changed.

The path to the clearing was quiet. No one could accompany me on this journey, so I found myself silently crying, listening to the chirping of cicadas and birds as the sun’s rays pierced the sky.

Upon stepping into the clearing, I saw a man waiting, it was the very same Gamma that I had met when I went to volunteer myself as the sacrifice.

He wore a hood, yet his eyes met mine and I saw a faint hint of sadness and respect in them.

“My lady, are you ready?” he asked. I could tell he was asking something else, asking whether I really wanted to do this.

Could I really still turn back now?

Nevertheless, I nodded shakily, and exhaled slowly, my body drained of energy already.

“Come,” he stated, beckoning me, and then he took me beyond the boundaries where normal Pack members could go. The area beyond was sacred ground, only priestesses and those involved in such rituals were allowed to set foot in the area. I was instructed to take off my shoes as soon as I stepped in, and I obeyed, toeing them off without needing to bend down.

My breath caught as I stood face to face with a veiled priestess. Though her face wasn't visible her eyes pierced mine, as if she could see through me.

“Destiny,” she murmured. I couldn’t understand, my lips parted to ask what she meant but then the Gamme pushed me forward gently. He didn’t go with me.

“Go on,” he said.

I had no choice but to silently bid him goodbye, and walk behind the priestess, who first led to a cabin. A dress was thrust at my face.

“Put this on,” she instructed. And so I did.

Even now, my body shook, though I was already settled in my heart. I knew that I was going to stop existing after today. The wolfless daughter would be no more.

Soon I was dressed in the black ceremonial gown they had prepared for me.

The fabric was light, draped over my body in a way that felt like I was stepping into another person's skin.

My fingers brushed over the faint embroidery stitched into it, and somehow it distracted me enough.

It was a beautiful gown.

“Beautiful things for a beautiful heart," the priestess that led me here said, and my heart jolted. Has she heard my thoughts? But then she added, “Come now, the time is near.”

I obeyed once more.

I walked barefoot towards the northern cliff in absolute silence. It wasn’t because there was a rule against it but simply because there was a heaviness in the air. With each step I felt it, and I had to focus on breathing properly.

The further we walked, the colder the air became. The familiar warmth of the pack grounds thinned into something sharper, which brushed against my skin and sent goosebumps running down my arms and spine.

The ritual space was already prepared when we arrived.

I glanced around, finding the formation confusing, as I had no prior knowledge of what would happen.

I saw the stones raised and tall, which formed a perfect circle around a raised platform, each one etched with markings in white chalk.

Six priestesses stood within the circle, dressed entirely in white, their dresses similar to mine in cut and silhouette, but they were veiled, while I wasn’t.

I inhaled as they turned towards me and suddenly approached, like they had received a signal.

They surrounded me without a word.

Their hands were gentle as they guided me to the center of the stone formation. All of a sudden chanting began, and I heard murmurs in unison, which sent shivers down my spine.

It was a language I didn't understand. I pressed my lips together and stood still, afraid of making a move to disrupt the flow of the chanting. When they were done, one of them stepped forward and lowered a veil over my head. The world dimmed instantly, softened by the thin fabric, turning everything distant and unreal.

Then everyone else stepped away, except the priestess that had led me here.

She held a bowl in front of me.

“Blessings,” she whispered. “Your sacrifice is pure.”

Then she stepped back, falling silent once again.

Only two elders remained at the edge of the circle, their presence heavy and watchful. They did not speak to me, did not offer reassurance or instruction. I suppose there was nothing left to say. The ritual had already begun the moment I agreed to it.

I turned toward the cliff.

The wind was stronger here, tugging at my gown, slipping beneath the veil to brush against my face. The drop stretched endlessly before me, swallowing everything below in darkness. I could not see the bottom, and it only made me more afraid.

My heart began to beat louder in my chest, thrumming in rapid staccato.

I took a step forward.

Then another.

The edge came sooner than I expected, and when I reached it, I stopped.

For the first time since leaving my room, I let myself feel everything I had been holding back.

Tears slipped down my cheeks before I could stop them, warm against my skin as they disappeared beneath the veil. My chest tightened painfully, and for a moment, I could not breathe properly.

My lips trembled slightly, and I let out a shaky breath.

Then I stepped forward, and promptly fell into the mire.

The air rushed past me, loud and overwhelming, yet everything else felt strangely quiet. My gown billowed around me, the fabric pulling and twisting. I felt weightless.

My tears slipped free again, carried away by the wind as I fell deeper into the darkness. There was no fear in that moment, only a strange, hollow calm that settled inside me, wrapping around my heart.

Then I hit the ground.

The pain was instant.

It tore through my body so violently that for a moment, I could not even process it.

My back was struck first, and I felt something snap, sharp and sickening, followed by another and another as the force traveled through me. My ribs cracked, my limbs twisted, and my head slammed against the ground hard enough to send blinding light exploding behind my eyes.

I tried to breathe, but nothing came but the rush of fluids into my lungs, and I suddenly felt like I was choking on air, drowning in my own blood.

I was dying.

My mouth opened in a silent scream, but no sound followed. The pain was everywhere, consuming, flooding every part of me until I could no longer tell where it began or ended.

My body convulsed, broken in ways I could feel but could not see. My arm bent at an angle it should not, my leg refused to move, and something warm spread beneath me, soaking into the ground.

So this was death. It felt morbidly funny, and I laughed, or tried to, only for my tongue to taste copper, metallic blood.

The blood spilled out my lips in several spurts, and I heaved, powerless.

But then something changed.

A heat bloomed deep within my chest, small at first, surged through me, and spread into my veins, hot and relentless. It was utterly unbearable.

My body arched against the ground, a silent cry tearing through me as the heat intensified. It was too much, too powerful.

The last thing I felt was that burning sensation swallowing everything else. My vision completely went black and I felt my consciousness slip entirely into darkness.

I had expected that to be the end.

But then I felt something tug at me, and someone called my name. It was an unfamiliar voice.

“Lenora.”

I gasped awake, coughing and trembling. I opened my eyes, finding that everything had changed.

I felt softness pressed against my back, warm and unfamiliar. For a moment, I lay still, unable to move, unable to think, my mind in a daze.

Was this the afterlife? I blinked, my brows furrowed.

Then slowly, I blinked, my vision clearing enough to take in the ceiling above me. It was high and intricately designed, patterns carved into it that caught the light in a way that felt surreal.

I pushed myself up, my movements hesitant, my breath shallow as I waited for pain that never came. I looked down, seeing my hands, no blood.

My body felt whole and uninjured.

My gaze drifted around the room, taking in the velvet curtains, the polished floors, the furniture that looked far too expensive to belong anywhere I had ever been.

“W-What’s going on?” I asked aloud, finding no one was here to answer me.

My hand moved to my chest, pressing lightly as I felt the steady rhythm of my heartbeat beneath my palm. The realization settled slowly.

I was alive.

How was I alive?

…