THE AFTERMATH

The silence after the bite was deafening. Amanda’s body still trembled from the mark seared into her skin, her pulse erratic as the pack’s whispers swelled into an overwhelming tide. They looked at her with awe, suspicion, fear. Silver, she had shifted into a silver wolf before their eyes.

But Skylar… Skylar’s face was carved from stone, his golden eyes burning not with triumph, not even with shock, only horror. And then, with a voice that cut sharper than claws, he spoke.

"I reject you."

The words were ice, his tone was merciless. Amanda’s world tilted. She didn't fully understand what was happening or what Skylar meant, but she knew it was bad.

"No—", her voice cracked with emotion, raw and broken, but Skylar didn’t falter.

"I reject you as my mate", his chest heaved, but his eyes did not waver. He looked at her, through her, as though the connection that had just ripped their souls open was something to despise.

"I will not claim you, not now, not ever."

The bond still seared between them, pulsing painfully at his rejection, as though her very veins rebelled against the denial. Amanda staggered backward, clutching her chest, a strangled cry tearing from her throat. The mark on her neck burned, glowing faintly against her skin.

"Skylar—", Samuel’s booming voice cut across the chaos, but Skylar was already moving, his jaw clenched, his hands shaking as though the beast within him might shatter free again. He didn’t wait for his father, didn’t wait for explanations. He stormed off the podium, the crowd parting before him, leaving Amanda crumpled in the center of it all.

Pain ripped through Amanda, both physical and soul-deep. It was as though her body was being torn apart piece by piece, the rejection cracking something inside her that couldn’t be mended. She staggered, she was falling, then she felt arms wrap around her, Cassian's. He grabbed her and whispered into her ears,

"Amanda, Amanda, can you hear me? Listen to me, you're ok."

But she wasn't okay. The whispers rose around her like smoke.

"The Silver Wolf…"

"He marked her? But they're step-siblings, can they even be mated?"

"But he rejected her and so cruelly… in front of everyone."

"What is she?"

"Did Celeste know?"

"Is it possible that she didn't know?"

The weight of their words pressed down, suffocating, drowning her in a tide of judgment. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering though the night was warm. Celeste fought through the crowd, her face pale, her dress askew, eyes filled with panic. She dropped to Amanda’s side, cupping her face, whispering frantically. "Amanda, baby, it’s alright, I’m here, I’m here—"

Amanda flinched. The whispers echoed in her head.

"Did Celeste know?"

Her mother’s touch, once her anchor, now felt like it might drag her further into the storm. She pulled away, curling in on herself.

"I’m fine", Amanda whispered hoarsely, though the tears streaking her face betrayed her.

"I’m fine", she repeated, even though she wasn’t, she was broken.

---

The rest of the night blurred. Amanda barely remembered how she got back to the estate. The Moon Festival collapsed in chaos behind them, the music silenced, the laughter gone. Samuel’s voice thundered, demanding order, while Celeste tried to shield her daughter from the stares, the whispers, the raw sting of betrayal that clung to her like a second skin.

By the time Amanda was back in her room, her body felt hollow, empty. Her mother tried again and again to reach her, words of comfort, desperate reassurances, but Amanda only curled on the bed, staring at nothing. Her chest still burned, every pulse was agony and inside, the remnants of the bond still thrummed faintly, wounded.

No matter what Skylar had said, no matter how harshly he’d rejected her, some part of her still felt tethered to him and that was the cruelest part of all.

---

The pack was a hive of whispers in the days that followed. The story spread like wildfire: the human girl who wasn’t human at all, the stepdaughter of the Alpha who revealed herself as a silver wolf on the night of the Festival. Skylar’s mate and Skylar’s rejection.

Some whispered she was cursed. Others muttered "witch", the word dripping with venom. Some, bolder, questioned Samuel and Celeste directly; how could they not have known? How could they allow a scandal like this to taint Moonridge? Amanda heard it all. Every murmur, every sharp glance in the halls of the estate, every lingering stare at school when she passed.

"Silver Wolf."

"Rejected mate."

Each word chipped away at her, until she no longer recognized herself in the mirror.

---

Celeste tried. She sat on Amanda’s bed at night, brushing hair from her face, whispering, "We’ll get through this. I swear to you, sweetheart, you’re not alone."

But Amanda felt alone. Her mother’s words could not mend the gaping wound inside her, the scar Skylar had carved with his rejection. So she began to withdraw. She smiled less, she spoke little. She didn't even go down for meals anymore and when she finally forced herself to go at her mother's plea. She pushed food around her plate until Samuel’s concerned eyes grew too much to bear, then excused herself. She drifted through her days like a shadow, her laughter silenced, her light dimmed. She became a ghost and Skylar avoided her.

At first, Amanda thought he stayed away out of disgust, out of shame at what he’d done. But every time she glimpsed him from across a hallway, or caught the sound of his voice in the courtyard, something inside her still thrummed and she wondered.

Did he feel it too? Did it burn him the way it burned her? But Skylar never looked at her, never spoke to her. If he felt anything, he buried it deep.

---

One night, Amanda slipped out of bed, standing by her window as the moon cast silver light across the trees. Her fingers brushed the faint mark on her neck, still sensitive to the touch. Skylar’s mark, her mate’s mark and his rejection. A sob clawed at her throat, but she swallowed it back. She couldn’t cry anymore, she was done bleeding tears for him. Her reflection in the window looked fragile, ghostly, but there was something new in her eyes — something colder.

Maybe, she thought, it was time to stop waiting for answers from others. From Skylar, from her mother, from anyone. Maybe it was time to find them herself.