I'm too shocked to look away.

Vera

The pyre stands in the center of a wide open field, ringed by trees. Tonight the moon shines brighter than usual, with nothing in the sky to block her light. The bodies of our fallen warriors lie wrapped in linen, placed with care upon the pyre. There are far too many of them. Each step forward makes my heart sink further.

Noah and I arrive at the ceremony, and most of the pack is already gathered. I notice right away that Eli and Lucas are nowhere in sight. I turn to Noah to ask, but he already knows what I'm about to say.

"They'll come. They just weren't sure if we'd want them here after everything that's happened."

That answer is enough for me. We move deeper into the crowd, and just like before, people part to let Noah and me through.

We find an empty blanket on the grass and sit down. Noah speaks up, breaking my thoughts. "This is strange. Watching wolves from this close."

"How so?" I ask, actually wanting to know. I never considered it before, but just as wolves grow up hearing terrible things about lycans, it makes sense that lycans hear the same kind of stories about us.

"Well, for one thing, the wolves I read about growing up would've killed us on sight and worried about the reasons later."

"Well, aren't you glad we're not all monsters?" I say, a bit sarcastic.

"Yes. Yes, I am." He smiles and brings my hand to his lips, kissing the back of it. My stomach flips. If I weren't so banged up, I know I'd be blushing. I swallow hard, but he doesn't notice. He's somewhere else in his head.

"Tell me what else doesn't match your books," I say.

He looks at me. "You know, lycan society isn't like this at all. What wolves have... that loyalty... that closeness... is what lycans act like they have. And they'll tell you that you're the savages, the backstabbers. But really, that's most of the lycans I know. Especially the higher up the political ladder you climb."

"How does that work? Do you have an Alpha, or..."

"We have a King who sits over a Council. Though king is a generous word for that asshole." He gives me a sly look. "This stays between us, obviously."

"Obviously," I say. And I don't miss how good it feels to actually connect with Noah, mate bond or not.

"King Alistair gave himself the title after he overthrew the last King. We're like wolves in that way. We follow power. But from what I've heard, it wasn't a fair fight. The old king, Alexander, was a top fighter, a true apex predator. There's no way Alistair... King Alistair... could have beaten him honestly. So in the end, he took over even with people speaking against him."

"What about the Council? Couldn't they have stepped in and gotten rid of him?"

"They should have. But they had too much invested politically. I don't know the details, but King Alexander had done something unforgivable, from what I understand. Even the Council backed the coup."

We go quiet for a moment, Noah lost in his own head.

"You know what else is interesting?" he starts again. "We're fed this idea that everyone outside lycan society lives out in the woods like wild animals. That everyone except lycans is poor. But..." He extends his arm toward the pack house. "This. All of this. It's more advanced than anything we have back home."

This confuses me, because as far as I know, we aren't even the most advanced pack in the region. "What do you mean by advanced, exactly?"

"The clinic, for example. It has modern machines and good medicine."

I poke him in the ribs and he laughs.

"Say 'decent' about my clinic one more time and I'll use you to light the pyre." I glare at him to make sure he gets it. He's holding his ribs with one hand, still laughing.

"Seriously though," he goes on, "everything we're told about werewolves is a lie. Every bit of it. I'm just trying to figure out why."

We fall silent again, both of us somewhere in our own thoughts.

The second horn sounds. Time to light the pyre. This is the most sacred moment of the night. The pack presses in close. We look like red flowers scattered across a wide green blanket of grass.

Sofia moves to the northern end of the pyre, the symbolic point for the warriors' journey ahead. This is where the fire has to start. She wears a stunning red dress with long sleeves and bare shoulders, a beautiful train trailing behind her. The dress matches the greatness of her role.

The prayer begins. We all bow our heads, and Sofia speaks the ancient chant into our minds. When she finishes, she lowers the torch to the pyre. Flames catch fast, sending smoke up toward the moon, who watches us closely. I have no doubt the Moon Mother sees our grief tonight.

People drift apart, talking, sharing memories of the fallen. Children are allowed to come out now, running back and forth, chasing each other, playing. To them, this is just a bonfire that lets them stay up past bedtime.

Noah and I end up on another empty blanket, and this time I spot Eli and Lucas heading our way.

When they reach us, they greet us and sit down. I'm about to tease Eli for his arm still not being healed when I notice a warrior walking up to us. He kneels and places a canine tooth in front of me.

Then another warrior comes and does the same. Then another. And another. Soon there's a line of wolves, warriors and non-warriors alike, all waiting to do the same.

The three lycans stare at me, confused. I'm too shocked to look away.

This isn't part of tonight's ceremony, but it is part of a ceremony. It's the highest honor any pack can give. One only a handful of wolves ever receive, and all Alphas at that.

I am being recognized as the pack's strongest warrior.