CHAPTER 6: BOTH PACKS, ONE HALL

Maren

My stomach felt like a knot. A really tight one, pulled like a rope until it hurt. I tried to breathe slow, like Mom always told me. In, out. You are strong. You are loved.

But Mom wasn’t here. She was just a feeling in my chest now, a silver thread around my heart that only I could see. And Aldric, my father, was at the front of the hall, standing next to the old Elder.

He looked like always, like a stone. He never looked at me like I was a person. He looked through me, or past me, like I was just a ghost who got in the way.

He always did, ever since I was born a girl. A girl wasn't what he wanted. A girl was a problem.

The ceremony hall was too big, too loud with all the whispers. Both packs were here, Ashveil on one side, IronBlood on the other. They were lined up against the cool stone walls, all watching me. I was standing in the middle, right where the ceremony said I had to be.

My hands were at my sides. They felt cold. This was my moment, supposed to be. The moment when things got better. A piece of me, a tiny, shy part, still held onto that hope. It was thin, but it was there.

I found Sera's eyes first. My mother. She was in the middle of our side, her face a little pale. We held each other's gaze for a second. Two feet from her, Reva stood. Reva wasn't looking at me, or my mother. She was looking at the room, her head moving slow, like she was counting things. I remembered her face from last night. All pinched up, like she knew a secret she didn't want to tell.

Then Caius walked in. He was the Alpha of the IronBlood Pack, the one who was supposed to take me. He came in last, like the rules said. The big shot always comes in last. He walked straight to the front, his steps loud on the stone floor. He didn’t look at me. Not one glance. My breath caught, but I told myself, It's just the ceremony. It has to be like this. He's just following the rules. That's what I kept telling myself. He stopped across from the Elder, near my father, Aldric. Caius stood so still. So completely, perfectly still. No fidgeting, no shifting weight. He was like a statue, carved right out of the mountain. It was… too still.

No, I thought, you're just nervous. Don't go making up problems, Maren. Not today.

"We are gathered here," the Elder's voice boomed, making me jump a little inside. "To witness the joining of two paths, two families, two packs." His voice was old. He started the traditional words, the ones everyone knew by heart. He said the names of the old Alphas, the territories, the long lists of promises that were supposed to glue us all together. My name came up, "Maren, daughter of Aldric of the Ashveil Pack."

"Maren, step forward."

My feet moved on their own. One step, then another. Now I was right in the open center of the hall, not just near the front. Everyone could see me. Every single person had their eyes on me. My heart thumped like a drum. I looked at Caius then. He was supposed to look at me now, right? He was supposed to meet my eyes, show some sign. But he wasn’t looking at me. His gaze was fixed on Aldric. My father.

It was a strange look. It wasn't angry. It wasn't happy. It was… sharp. Like he was checking something off a list. Or like he was just making sure something was in the right place. What is he looking at? I wondered. He should be looking at me. It wasn't the look of a man getting married, getting bonded. 

A cold started in my fingers. It wasn't just my hands anymore. It felt like it was creeping up my arms. My hands, which had been steady all morning, felt suddenly like ice. I didn't move. I didn't let my face show anything, not even a tiny twitch. My mind raced back to Reva's face, the tight line of her mouth last night. Did she see this coming? Is this why she looked so… worried?

The Elder looked at Caius. "Caius of the IronBlood Pack," he said, his voice softer now, expectant. "Do you confirm your intention? Do you promise to take Maren as your bonded mate, to cherish and protect her, to lead her into a future shared between our packs?"

The whole room went completely silent. You could hear your own breathing. This was it. The big moment. The formal words. I was still standing in the middle, feeling like a doll on display. All I could think about was my mother's face. Her kind eyes. The way she used to tell me, "You have a silver thread, Maren. It connects you to everything good." And Caius's voice, from not so long ago, asking me, "Do you want this?" I had said yes. A quiet, hopeful yes. I had believed him. I had believed in a tiny bit of happiness that felt like it might finally be mine.

Caius opened his mouth. Everyone leaned forward, just a tiny bit. I leaned forward in my heart. He didn't speak right away. He just… held it. The silence stretched. One beat too long. Say it, I thought. Just say the words. Two beats. My breath hitched.

Then his eyes moved. Slowly. So, so slowly. They didn't come to me. Not to me. They went, deliberately, to Aldric. His expression in that moment… it was something I should have seen from the very start. It wasn't a question. It wasn’t a promise to me. It was the look of someone who had just turned the last page of a very old, very carefully written plan.