Chapter Two

ERIN’s POV

The market spread across the pack grounds, large and full of life. Even though it was still early, it was loud, chaotic, and one of Erin’s favorite places. At least it used to be until everyone knew she hadn’t shifted yet.

She held her mother's shopping list tightly, although it was already a bit damp from her sweating palms.

"I can go if you don’t want to," her mother had said at the door.

But she felt hiding would only make the next three days worse.

The morning sun beat down on the traders' shops. Everywhere, one could hear the traders calling in customers and shouting the prices for smoked meat, fresh vegetables, and leather goods. The air smelled of baking bread mixed with earth, sweat and wolf musk.

Erin wove through the crowd, keeping her head up and her expression bored.

Act like you belong, like their opinions don't matter. She chanted in her mind.

Thankfully, she made it to the butcher's shop without incident.

"Two pounds of venison," she told Marcus, the graying butcher who'd known her since childhood. "And whatever soup bones you have.

"Coming right up, little Erin." Marcus said as he wrapped the meat in brown paper. " The Mating ceremony is coming. Are you excited?

"Thrilled beyond measure," Erin deadpanned.

Marcus chuckled and handed over the package. "That'll be.."

"Oh gods, is that Erin Arckwight?", someone interrupted.

The voice cut through the market noise like a blade. Erin's shoulders tensed. She knew that voice. Sienna.

"I wasn't sure you'd actually show your face this week," Sienna continued, her words carrying across the stalls. "Brave of you. Stupid, but brave”.

Erin paid Marcus and turned slowly, mentally bracing herself for what comes next. Three girls stood near the vegetable stall. Sienna stood with arms crossed in the center, flanked by Jade and Morgan. They were all daughters of ranked warriors and most importantly had shifted.

The crowd around them quieted. Nothing pack wolves loved more than drama.

"Sienna." Erin kept her voice flat. "Always a displeasure."

Jade let out a giggle, but quickly composed herself after Sienna shot her a glare.

"Well," Sienna said as she stepped closer, her blonde hair glistening in the sunlight, "it makes no sense to attend the ceremony when you know no one will want you. Why embarrass yourself?"

"Why do you care?" Erin shifted her weight, casual and bored. "Worried about competition?"

"Competition?" Sienna laughed. "From you? Please. You can't even shift. What mate would want someone so... weak?"

The word hung in the air. Several pack members had stopped shopping entirely now, watching.

Erin felt her heart race faster. Her fingers tightened on the meat package. "Weak you say? Is that why you need two of your cronies as backup to insult me? That’s not very strong of you now, is it?”

Morgan's eyes widened a fraction while Jade looked down at her feet. Sienna's smile dropped a second, then sharpened.

"At least I have a wolf, she retorted. What do you have? A sharp mouth? That won't keep you warm at night."

"Neither will desperation," Erin shot back. "But you wear it so beautifully, so I guess we all have our strategies."

This elicited laughter from several people in the crowd.

Sienna's face flushed red. "You little…"

"What’s going on here?", a new voice carried across the crowd.

Erin's stomach sank as Brock pushed through the onlookers. He was built like a wall and tall with a scar across his jaw he claimed came from a rogue fight. Most people knew it came from tripping during training.

"Nothing," Erin said quickly. "Just discussing ceremony etiquette."

"Etiquette." Brock's eyes traveled over her, dismissive and cold. "Are you attending the ceremony, Arckwight?"

"Of course.”

"Really?." He crossed his arms. "Didn't realize they let spectators participate. Thought you needed, you know, an actual wolf for a mating ceremony."

Laughters rippled across the crowd with Sienna’s voice the loudest.

Erin's throat tightened. The meat package crinkled in her grip. "Good thing it's a ceremony, not a brain cell counting contest. You'd be disqualified immediately”, she shot back.

The laughter shifted direction. Someone even whooped.

Brock's face darkened and he took a step forward. "You've got a really big mouth”.

"And you've got the IQ of wet leather”, Erin shot back, holding her ground even though her knees wanted to buckle. "We all have our gifts."

"Gifts?” Brock loomed over her, close enough that she could smell his sweat. "The only gift you've got is annoying people. Perhaps your mate - that is if you ever get one - can teach you to shut up."

The crowd went silent now. This wasn't funny anymore.

Erin's heart slammed against her ribs. Pack law prevented Brock from actually challenging her as she was unshifted, technically weaker, and off limits. But laws only worked when someone enforced them.

"Back off," she said quietly.

"Or what?" Brock leaned down, his breath hot on her face. "You'll tell daddy? You'll..”

"She'll watch me break your jaw."

The new voice was stone and ice. Everyone turned. It was none other than Damien Arckwight, future pack leader.

He stood at the edge of the crowd, staring straight at Brock with lethal focus. Damien looked like he just finished training, his black hair was damp with sweat, but power radiated from him like a hurricane.

Erin's breath caught. She felt a strange pull slammed into her chest as she watched Damien defend her. Her heart swelled with an emotion she couldn’t identify.

"Alpha." Brock straightened immediately, his aggression evaporating. "I was just.."

"Harassing a pack member." Damien cut in. "Do you need me to explain why that's a problem, or can you figure it out yourself?"

Brock's face blanched white. "No, Alpha. I…I apologize."

"No, not to me." Damien gestured to Erin without looking at her. "To her."

The market was dead silent now. A pin could drop and people would most likely hear it.

Brock's jaw clenched hard. His eyes met Erin's, pure hatred burning there. "I apologize for my behavior, Erin Arckwight."

The words tasted like ash, but Erin nodded. "Accepted."

"Get out of here," Damien said softly.

Brock fled. Sienna and her friends scattered like startled birds. The crowd dispersed and suddenly everyone was very interested in their shopping.

Erin stood frozen, the meat package still clutched in her hands, as Damien finally looked at her.

"You alright?" Damien asked.

"Fine," Erin managed, her voice sounding strangled. "I'm fine”, she repeated.

Damien's expression flickered with an expression Erin couldn’t recognize.

"Good," he said curtly. "Watch yourself. Not everyone will back down so easily."

Then he turned and walked away, his shoulders rigid, leaving Erin standing alone in the market square.

The whole encounter with Sienna, Brock and Damien had left her rattled. Rather than going home, Erin went to the one place she could truly be herself - Vera’s cottage.