Chapter Three: The Friend in White

Akira's POV 

“Get up.”

The voice wasn’t gentle, nothing has been gentle lately.

I blinked as I flung my eyes open, stone pressed cold into my cheek. My body felt wrong...now lighter somehow, like something essential had been carved out of me.

“Get. Up.”

I lifted my head and immediately found Maelis standing over me. She was still dressed in white, in the ceremonial white. She was too perfect, untouched like a queen, untorn unlike me. 

“You shouldn’t be here,” I croaked, my voice failing me. “Go stand beside your Alpha.”

She flinched...or rather, she pretended to. “Akira… don’t make this harder than it already is.”

I laughed, a broken sound that scraped my throat. “Harder? You’re wearing Luna white on the night I was rejected.”

Her eyes roamed around the courtyard, where the last of the pack still gathered, pretending not to stare. “Lower your voice.”

“Why?” I demanded. “So they don’t hear what you did?”

“I didn’t do anything,” she said quickly, too quickly for someone not guilty. “This wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”

I pushed myself into a sitting position, ignoring the dizziness. “Then how was it supposed to happen, Maelis?”

There was silence, enough to give me the answer I wanted. 

That was enough to answer.

Lucien approached then, his boots stopping just out of my reach. “Enough,” he said. “Take her to the inner hall.”

I looked up at him. “Her?” I echoed. “Is that all I am now?”

“You forfeited your standing when you failed the Awakening,” he replied coolly.

“I didn’t fail,” I snapped suddenly. “Something was taken from me.”

Maelis inhaled sharply, but still pretending to care.

I turned to her in my fury. “You knew.”

She shook her head. “I suspected something of that could happen.”

“Of what?”

“That… that the Moon might not answer you.” Her voice softened. “I didn’t think Lucien would...”

“...reject me?” I finished. “Publicly? Tear out my soul in front of everyone?”

She swallowed hard as I poured out her sin before her. “He had doubts for years.”

“And you helped feed them to him yourself,” I said. Her eyes snapped up in pretence. “That’s not fair.”

I got to my feet, fury lending me strength. “You were my friend. You stood beside me when they whispered. You held my hands when I cried. You told me I wasn’t weak.”

“And I meant it!” she insisted.

“Then why are you dressed like this?” I gestured violently at her gown.

Lucien stepped between us. “That’s enough.” I laughed again, bitter and loud. “Of course. Protect the future Luna you always care about.”

Maelis stiffened like she was the victim. “I didn’t ask for this.”

“Liar,” I whispered, my chest tearing out. She recoiled like I had just struck her.

“Take her,” Lucien ordered the guards. “Before she embarrasses herself further.” Strong hands closed around my arms.

“No,” I said, my voice shaking...not with fear, but rage. “You don’t get to silence me now.”

Lucien leaned close. “You don’t get to speak at all anymore.”

The inner hall was colder than the courtyard. Elders gathered in a semicircle, their faces bent like carved stone of judgment.

Elder Thane cleared his throat. “Akira Nightfall, step forward.”

“I can’t feel my wolf,” I said hoarsely. “Something is definitely wrong somewhere.”

“That is no longer our concern,” Elder Mira suddenly said, not meeting my eyes.

My chest tightened at such betrayal. “You dressed me not long ago. You told me I was ready.”

“And I was wrong,” she replied. Lucien took his place at the center. Maelis stood beside him. Yes, always beside him.

“By decree of the Alpha,” Thane intoned, “Akira Nightfall is stripped of her title as Luna-in-waiting.”

A murmur roared through the hall as he made the announcement.

“Your chambers will be reclaimed.”

“Your sigil removed.”

“Your protection revoked.”

Each word felt like another layer of skin being brutally peeled away from me.I stared blankly at Maelis. “Say something right now.”

She looked torn, completely avoiding my gaze. For half a second, she was like that, then she lifted her chin. “The pack needs stability.”

The betrayal finally landed...very heavy, and crushing. “You have always wanted this,” I said softly. “Didn’t you?”

Her lips parted like she had a lot to say, then closed again.

Lucien answered for her instead. “She is better suited than you.” I turned to face him slowly. “Because she’s stronger than I am?”

“Because she is willing,” he said. “To do what you couldn’t do all this while.”

“And what was that?” I asked, wanting to hear him speak. “Betray myself?”

Maelis stepped forward all of a sudden. “I will bear your burden, in ways you couldn't imagine,” she said. “I will be the Luna this pack deserves, bearing their pain.”

I laughed, a sound edged with madness. “You’re wearing my life now.”

Her voice shook, but she continued. “You should’ve stepped aside when you noticed something awful”

“There it is,” I whispered. “You didn’t just take my place. You waited for it to come, to disgrace me.”

Silence followed the hall. Then, Elder Thane raised his staff again. “There is one final matter.”

My heart sank on hearing that. Who knows what evil they have in store for me. 

“By ancient law, a rejected mate without awakening is no longer bound to pack identity.”

I stiffened, the shock too much for me to take. “What does that mean?”

Lucien didn’t look at me. “You are no longer Nightfall.”

The words rang louder than the rejection I had experienced earlier.

“You don’t get to take my name from me also,” I said.

“I just did that, and there's nothing you can do about it.”

Elder Mira’s voice broke through, cracking as she spoke. “By dawn, she will be escorted beyond pack borders.”

I shook my head slowly. “I gave everything to this pack.”

“And it gave you a chance,” Lucien replied. “You squandered it without looking back, or considering the consequences.”

Maelis stepped closer, her voice low. “I’m sorry it had to be like this.”

I met her gaze, every shared memory burning between us. “No,” I said. “You’re sorry I didn’t disappear quietly.”

Her eyes flashed with so much fury. “Careful.”

“Why?” I asked softly. “What are you afraid I’ll do? I have nothing left anymore.”

Lucien turned away immediately. “Take her.”