Rites of the Hollow

The decree still burned in the firepit, but its ashes clung to the air like a curse.

For hours after the envoy’s departure, Blackwood stood in silence. No songs. No howls. Only the sound of the wind threading through the pines, carrying with it the weight of the moon’s demand.

Lena’s body still hummed from the council’s words—an ache beneath her skin, as though the mark Kade left on her neck had flared awake the moment “Hollow” had been spoken aloud. Her wolf stirred restlessly, pressing claws against her ribs, hungry for something she didn’t yet understand.

Kade didn’t let her out of his sight. He paced, prowled, snapped at anyone who dared draw near her. His golden eyes had sharpened into slits, his jaw set like stone. To the pack, he was the Alpha: untouchable, unshakable. To Lena, he was something more dangerous—an animal caged by fear, ready to shred anything that tried to take her away.

That night, the rites began.

The elders gathered in the clearing, torches rising like sentinels around a ring of stone. Smoke from resin-filled bowls curled upward, carrying the sharp tang of sage and something more bitter. The moon rode high, silver and merciless, watching.

“Strip her bare,” one of the elders commanded.

Lena stiffened. Kade growled.

“No one touches her,” he snapped, stepping between them, his chest bare and gleaming with sweat from the earlier fight with his own temper.

“It is not for pleasure, Alpha,” the oldest elder rasped. His eyes were pale and blind, but his voice carried the weight of centuries. “The Hollow does not accept cloth or lies. Only skin. Only truth.”

Lena swallowed hard. Her hands trembled as she undid the ties of her dress, every movement slow, deliberate, until the fabric fell away and pooled at her feet. The night air kissed her naked skin, cold and merciless. She lifted her chin, refusing to cower.

Kade’s jaw ticked, his eyes raking over her as if daring anyone else to look. His wolf bristled, snarling at the edges of his control. But he didn’t stop her. He couldn’t.

The first ritual was the anointing.

A bowl of thick, black liquid was lifted—blood and ash mixed with sacred oils. The elders dipped their fingers into it and traced lines across Lena’s skin: over her heart, down her spine, across her belly, circling her throat. Each mark burned, searing like fire.

“She is marked by the Alpha,” one elder intoned. “But tonight, she is marked by the Hollow.”

Lena gasped, her body jerking. It felt as though the bite on her neck had ignited, heat spreading down her veins. She swayed, and Kade lunged forward to steady her, his hands closing around her arms.

“Enough.” His voice was a growl. “She’s mine. You’ll kill her.”

The blind elder shook his head. “If she cannot withstand this, she will never survive the Hollow.”

Lena grit her teeth. “I can take it,” she rasped, forcing her voice steady even as her knees buckled. She locked eyes with Kade, fire sparking in her chest. “Don’t stop them.”

Something inside him cracked. He wanted to tear the elders apart, rip the bowl from their hands, carry her into the forest and shield her from every cruel tradition. But her words chained him in place. His Lena—the human he bit, the woman who carried his mark—was standing against a force even he feared.

The second ritual was the invocation.

They placed her in the circle of stone, smoke rising in spirals around her. Chants began, low and guttural, weaving like a web. Lena’s vision blurred, the world tilting. She saw flashes—fangs, claws, a great black wolf with eyes like gold staring down at her from the void. Her wolf surged upward, clawing for freedom, her skin rippling as if something inside her wanted out.

She collapsed to her knees, clutching at her chest. Her heart pounded too fast, too hard.

Kade moved again, but the elder’s staff struck the ground, blocking him. “If you interfere, Alpha, she will fail before she begins.”

His roar shook the trees. “You dare—”

“Let me!” Lena’s voice cracked, desperate. “Kade—let me do this!”

The pack had gathered now, their faces lit by firelight, their eyes wide. Some whispered that she was too weak. Others watched in awe as her back arched and her scream split the night, raw and primal.

Her wolf was awakening.

And Kade—helpless, furious, undone—was forced to watch.

Lena collapsed into Kade’s arms when the chanting ended. Her skin glistened with sweat, her chest heaving, the blackened marks still smoking faintly across her body.

The circle of stones dimmed as the torches burned lower. The elders withdrew, their faces grave, unreadable.

“She endures,” the blind one said at last. His staff struck the earth once, final. “But endurance is not triumph. The Hollow has only tasted her. It has not yet chosen.”

Whispers rippled through the pack like wind through dry leaves. Some bowed their heads in reverence, but others let doubt sharpen their tongues.

“She’s human still.”

“She won’t last.”

“She’ll drag the Alpha to ruin.”

Kade’s head snapped toward the voices, his golden eyes blazing. A growl thundered from his chest, silencing them all. He stood with Lena limp against him, her face buried against his shoulder, his body coiled like a spring.

“She is mine,” he said, voice low, lethal. “She is Blackwood. And if any of you speak against her again, you’ll feed the crows before dawn.”

Silence. The pack bowed their heads, but fear lingered.

Kade carried her from the clearing, his bare feet silent against the forest floor. He didn’t trust anyone—not the elders, not the wolves whispering at the edges, not even the earth beneath his feet. His every step said mine, his every heartbeat a vow to keep her breathing.

But far beyond Blackwood, another heartbeat echoed.

Cassian’s.

In the borderlands, the rival Alpha stood with his wolves at his back, the night alive with their snarls. His gaze lifted toward the same moon that had witnessed Lena’s ordeal. His lips curved, cold and cruel.

“So,” he murmured. “The Hollow stirs for her.”

A messenger knelt at his feet, head bowed. “The Blackwood bitch endured the rites.”

Cassian’s laughter rolled like thunder. “Good. Let her suffer. The Hollow breaks more than it blesses. And when it devours her, Wilder will fall with her.”

He lifted his hand, and his wolves stilled. His eyes gleamed crimson in the firelight.

“Send word to our allies. Let Blackwood choke on its own fear. By the time Wilder steps into the Hollow, he’ll already be broken.”

The fire crackled, sparks flying upward like dying stars.

Back in Blackwood, Lena stirred in Kade’s arms, whispering his name as though it was the only anchor she had left. He pressed his lips to her temple, fierce, desperate.

“They’ll come for you,” he growled into her hair. “Cassian. The Hollow. Even the gods. Let them. I’ll tear them apart before they touch you.”

But even he couldn’t ignore the truth:

The Hollow had begun to take her.

And no wolf, no Alpha—not even Kade Wilder—could control what came next.