SEVENTY | MARKED

The night of the welcoming ceremony was upon us. My stomach churned with nervous excitement, and I kept having to wipe my sweaty palms on my gym shorts.

Nami bustled in, damp from her shower, her towel slung around her body and slipping down as she powered into her bedroom. She rolled her eyes and held it up with one hand, and gestured at the bathroom with the other.

“Your turn,” she said, nodding towards it as she spoke.

“Thanks,” I said, my voice burning in my throat.

I didn’t know why I was so nervous – since his revelation about the hunters and the rogues, Samyak had been in a permanently good mood. As for the ceremony itself, I was more excited than worried. I supposed that it must be the stress of pulling off my surprise afterwards, and I tried to soothe myself. I knew I’d pull it off, but with a pack of wolves there were always unprecedented factors to consider.

What was really bothering me, though, I thought as I slung my towel over my shoulder, was that the last ceremonious ev