Kael's POV
"Strip off your shirt and stand in the center," Alpha Magnus commanded.
My hands shook as I pulled my shirt over my head. Tonight was supposed to be the best night of my life. My twenty-second birthday. The night I would finally shift into my wolf form and prove I deserved to lead the Silvercrest Pack.
But my stomach felt sick with worry.
Three hundred pack members sat in a perfect circle around me. Their golden eyes glowed in the darkness, watching my every move. The Blood Moon hung above us like a red spotlight, making everything look scary and strange.
Luna sat with her mother near the front. Her dark hair fell over her shoulders, and she gave me a small smile. That smile was the only thing keeping me from running away. After tonight, if everything went right, we would be mates forever.
If everything went right.
"The Blood Moon calls to your wolf," Magnus said loudly. His deep voice echoed through the trees. "Let the change begin, my son."
I closed my eyes and tried to find my wolf. Other kids could shift by eighteen. Some even earlier. But I had never felt anything inside me. No growling. No urge to run on four legs. Nothing.
Come on, I begged silently. Please be there. Please don't let me down.
I thought about running through the forest. I imagined having sharp teeth and powerful muscles. I pictured myself as a strong wolf with silver fur, leading the pack into battle.
Minutes passed. Nothing happened.
I tried harder. I thought about Luna and how much I loved her. I thought about the pack and how badly I wanted to protect them. I even thought about my biggest fears, hoping that might wake up my wolf.
Still nothing.
The pack started whispering. At first, just a few voices. Then more and more.
"What's wrong with him?"
"Why isn't he changing?"
"Maybe he can't."
"Is he even a real werewolf?"
Each whisper felt like a knife in my chest. Sweat dripped down my face. My heart pounded so hard I thought it might explode.
"Kael?" Luna's voice was soft and worried. She had stood up, breaking the rules of the ceremony. "It's okay. Maybe we can try again next month."
"No." Magnus stepped closer to me. His face looked like stone. Cold and hard. "The Blood Moon ceremony happens only twice a year. There are no second chances."
My knees almost gave out. I knew that rule. Everyone knew that rule. But I had always believed I would shift tonight. I had to shift tonight.
"Please," I whispered. "Just give me more time. I can do this."
Magnus shook his head. "Kael Nightborne, you have lived with us for twenty-two years. You have eaten our food, slept under our protection, and called yourself my heir. Tonight, you were given the chance to prove you belong here."
He paused, and I knew what was coming next. The words that would destroy my life.
"You have failed."
The forest went completely silent. Even the wind seemed to stop blowing. Three hundred pairs of eyes stared at me with pity, disgust, and relief. Some pack members looked happy that I had failed. Like they had been waiting for this moment.
"By our ancient laws," Magnus continued, "one who cannot shift cannot lead. One who has no wolf has no place in this pack."
"Dad, please." The word slipped out before I could stop it. I hadn't called him dad in years. Alphas didn't have dads. They had sires and mentors and leaders. But right now, I just wanted my father to save me.
"Kael Nightborne, you are exile." The words hit me like a punch to the face. "You have until sunrise to leave our territory. If we find you here after dawn, we will hunt you like any other rogue."
The world spun around me. I felt like I was drowning in air. But the worst was still coming.
Luna stood up again, but this time she looked different. Scared. Her mother, Seraphina, had her hand on Luna's shoulder. The pack healer was whispering something in Luna's ear.
"Luna?" I reached out to her, hoping she would run to me. Hoping she would choose me over the pack.
Instead, she took a step back.
"I, Luna Ashworth, reject you as my mate." Her voice was strange, like she was talking in her sleep. "I cast you out of my heart forever."
Something inside my chest snapped. It felt like someone had grabbed my heart and ripped it in half. I doubled over, gasping for air. The mate bond we had shared since childhood was gone. Broken. Dead.
When I looked up, Luna was crying. But she didn't come to me. She just stood there, holding her mother's hand, watching me fall apart.
The pack started walking away. Just like that. Twenty-two years of my life, and they were already done with me. Like I had never existed.
I was alone in the center of the circle. The Blood Moon stared down at me, and I wondered if it was laughing. Tonight was supposed to be my victory. Instead, it was my funeral.
There was nowhere to go except the Shadowlands. The cursed forest where pack wolves were forbidden to hunt. Where dark things lived in the shadows between the trees. Where exiled wolves went to die.
I walked toward the black trees, each step taking me further from everything I had ever loved. Behind me, the pack house glowed with warm light. Inside, they were probably celebrating. Happy that the weak link was finally gone.
At the edge of the Shadowlands, I stopped and looked back one last time.
"Maybe they were right," I said to no one. "Maybe I really am worthless."
The darkness swallowed me as I stepped between the ancient trees. The air felt thick and strange, like it was alive. Whispers seemed to follow me deeper into the forest, speaking words in a language I didn't understand.
But I was too broken to be scared.
Behind me, something impossible happened. My shadow, stretched long by the Blood Moon, began to change. It flickered and twisted, becoming something else. Something with four legs and glowing eyes. Something powerful and wild and ancient.
The shadow-wolf threw back its head and howled silently at the moon.
Only Luna saw it happen. She stood at her bedroom window, tears streaming down her face, watching the boy she loved disappear into the cursed forest.
"What are you?" she whispered, pressing her hand against the glass.
But I was already gone, and the shadow had returned to normal.
In the distance, something answered my pain with a howl that made every wolf in the territory stop what they were doing. The sound was old and sad and angry all at once.
Then the forest went quiet again.
But deep in the Shadowlands, where forgotten magic still moved through twisted roots and haunted streams, something stirred. The darkness had been waiting for me.
And whatever was sleeping inside my chest was finally starting to wake up.