Ten

Melinda’s POV

The courtyard of Silverthorn pack house was filled to the brim.

Hundreds of pack members had gathered, chatting excitedly.

No matter how many times I tried to tell myself everything would be fine, I couldn't stop imagining the worst. I couldn't breathe properly and my stomach twisted every few minutes.

It was time for me to walk into the courtyard but my knees were shaking violently beneath the hem of a simple white dress they had given me.

I was completely terrified. What if the mark stays dark?.

If Vance and the others were wrong, I wouldn't just be a stray anymore I would lose the first real glimpse of a family I had ever known in my entire life.

"You look terrified." Vance’s deep voice murmured beside me.

"I am terrified."

"Fair but don’t fear the crowd, Melinda," I smiled at him as he led me towards the middle of the courtyard.

Suddenly, the murmurs died down.

The doors swung open, and three tall, imposing figures stepped out. The entire place was filled with an overwhelming Alpha aura.

The tallest stood in the center. They had silver hair and silver blue eyes.

The crowd immediately lowered their heads respectfully.

It was the Alpha I saw once.

The two men beside him looked similar enough to be his brothers. They were all powerful Alphas.

They stopped in front of me and for a second nobody spoke.

The tallest stared down at me, his eyes hard, his jaw set in a rigid line, but to my absolute surprise, there was no coldness in them.

He smiled gently, softening his rugged features.

"You look like mother," he whispered, his voice thick.

He reached out, his large hand hovering over my shoulder for a fraction of a second before he pulled it back, as if afraid I would break.

"I am Julian and this are my brothers Caleb and Eric."

Caleb smiled,

"We’ve spent fifteen years staring at an empty seat at our table, Melinda.

Julian held up a velvet-lined wooden box.

"The ceremony must proceed by the law of the pack, Melinda.

For the safety of our people, we must know the truth. Are you ready?"

I swallowed the massive lump in my throat, looking at the three brothers

What if they were wrong and none of this was real?

What if today ended with everyone discovering I was exactly what I had always been? An orphan who belonged nowhere.

"You look worried."

"I am."

The honesty slipped out before I could stop it.

They exchanged glances.

"Understandable." Eric sighed.

"If it helps," the younger one added, "we're all hoping the elders are right."

I was caught off guard, I looked down quickly.

Why were they people being so kind?

They didn't even know me.

The Alpha stepped closer."We should begin."

I sat in the center of the courtyard and ancient symbols were placed on the floor.

The crowd became silent and the ceremony leader raised his staff.

An elder stepped forward, lifting the ancestral moon-stone from the velvet box.

It was a large, milky-white crystal that seemed to absorb the faint light of the stars above.

Vance gently stepped behind me, lowering the left sleeve of my white dress to expose the crescent moon birthmark on my shoulder.

The elder raised the stone, his wrinkled hands steady, and pressed the cold, smooth crystal directly against my skin, right over the mark.

At first, absolutely nothing happened. The stone remained a dull, milky white.

A ripple of hushed whispers went through the crowd.

"Nothing," someone muttered from the front row.

"An impostor," another sighed, shaking his head. "I knew it was too good to be true. A wolfless girl could never—"

"Quiet!" Julian roared, his aura slicing through the courtyard like thunder, instantly silencing the pack. But his own face had gone pale, he looked disappointed.

My heart broke into a thousand pieces.

I closed my eyes, hot tears slipping down my cheek.

I knew it, I thought, my spirit shattering all over again.

Suddenly, I felt warm all over. Blinding heat erupted from the mark on my shoulder.

"Ah!" I gasped, my eyes snapping open as a sharp, agonizing pain shot straight down my spine.

It felt like liquid fire was being poured directly into my veins.

The crowd gasped.

"Melinda!" Vance called.

"Wait, make it stop!" The pain intensified and I clutched my shoulder desperately.

It felt like fire.

"Look!" Vance shouted, his voice cracking with absolute awe.

The stone was glowing, a brilliant, radiant silver light erupted from the crystal.

As the light poured into my birthmark, the shape beneath the stone began to shift and expand.

The lines of the mark stretched outward, carving themselves deeper into my flesh.

"By the Goddess," the elder holding the stone whispered, dropping the crystal.

He fell to his knees, his entire body shaking.

The light faded slightly, revealing the mark on my shoulder.

It was a radiant, perfectly formed six-pointed star, glowing with an ethereal, silver luminescence that cast a halo around my entire body.

The crowd went completely, still.

"That... that is not the royal crest," Julian stammered, his hands shaking as he stared at my shoulder, his voice filled with a reverence that terrified me.

Several of the oldest pack elders suddenly rushed forward, their faces pale, their eyes wide with absolute shock.

They dropped to their knees before me, their foreheads pressing against the cold stone of the dais.

"The ancient prophecy…," the eldest woman cried out, her voice echoing through the silent courtyard.

"She is not only the missing daughter of our bloodline... She is the Moon Goddess Chosen!

The prophecy of the Silverthorn line has been fulfilled!"

The entire crowd erupted; People started shouting, crying and praying.

Some dropped to their knees and others stared in shock.

As the six-pointed star continued to glow brightly against my skin, a sudden, massive wave of warmth rushed through my entire core.

It felt like a locked door inside my soul had just been violently smashed open.

And then, I felt it.

Something deep inside me stirred.

A presence that had been suppressed finally woke up. It was powerful, and fierce.

My wolf.

Hello, Melinda.

My entire body froze.

She was expanding until it filled every corner of my mind,

The silver light from my shoulder exploded outward, wrapping around my entire body in a blinding cocoon.

I shifted into a radiant, massive silver wolf.