Chapter 3

(Lily POV)

I''m barely fourteen, so I haven''t been to many funerals. I had no idea about all the rituals involved or how long everything would take.

The service started at 2:00 PM, and I figured we''d be done—or at least mostly done—before dark. I didn''t realize my mistake until it was too late, after I was already sitting next to Mom in one of the most visible spots in the entire amphitheater. If I''d known what we were in for, I would''ve tried to find a seat in the back or off to the side. That probably would''ve upset my parents, but not nearly as much as begging to leave in the middle of Stephanie''s funeral.

I''ve never seen my parents this broken before. Watching them hold each other and cry made my heart ache. I might not have seen Stephanie the same way they did, but I loved her. Most importantly, I love them. I''d do anything to take away their pain.

Maybe making them mad at me would actually be a good distraction. Instead of feeling sad, they could feel angry.

Not that I had a choice. The darker it got, the more my body started hurting. I felt feverish and dizzy, and no matter how much I shifted in my seat, I knew from what my friends had told me—and what I''d seen—that I was minutes away from making a complete scene. I had to get out of there, fast.

Any hope I''d had of someone being there with me when I shifted was gone. I was on my own for this.

As I stood up, I felt angry eyes boring into me. I couldn''t help but turn to see who was staring me down. No surprise—it was future alpha James. We locked eyes briefly, then I hurried away.

This wasn''t the first time I''d caught James looking at me, but it was the first time I''d seen such anger and resentment in his stare. I had no idea what that was about, but I told myself it was probably just how James was dealing with his grief.

After clumsily knocking over a couple of flower arrangements on my way out, I finally made it outside. I rushed toward the nearby forest. At first, I started heading the direction I''d gone with Stephanie just last night, but I quickly realized that was a bad idea. I turned around and headed toward the waterfall instead.

I still don''t understand why Stephanie was so insistent on meeting me in the forest last night. Before she went downstairs to watch a movie with James, she told me she had something special to show me at midnight. I tried to tell her I didn''t want to meet that late because I needed to save my energy for my first shift, but she was being stubborn... and I knew all too well what happened when Stephanie felt challenged. Plus, naive me thought maybe she actually wanted to give me a present or do something nice for me for once.

Another flash of pain hit me, and I collapsed to the ground.

Suddenly, I heard a voice in my head. "Keep going, Lily. Keep going. Get to the waterfall."

I wasn''t sure who the voice belonged to, but I knew I needed to listen. Struggling, I climbed to my feet... only to fall again as another wave of pain hit me. Everything in me wanted to give up and pray that I''d join Stephanie wherever she was. But the voice spoke again.

"Lily, I''ll help you through this, but I need you to move. Please. Crawl if you have to, but you need to get to the waterfall."

Slowly, I got on all fours and crawled as fast as I could through the forest. My hands and knees were getting scraped up, but the scrapes were nothing compared to the pain tearing through my body as it prepared for its first shift.

It must have taken me at least ten minutes—though it felt like hours—but I finally made it to the waterfall. I collapsed again. The pain kept coming in huge waves, and a few times I was sure I was going to stop breathing.

"Hold on, Lily. You''re going to be fine. I need you to clear your mind and just focus on letting go."

The pain was too intense to fight or question, so I closed my eyes and did what I was told. I heard and felt my bones breaking, like my body was destroying itself from the inside out.

Finally, after several more minutes that seemed to pass in slow motion, the pain suddenly stopped.

"Good job, Lily. You did great," the voice said.

Now that the pain was gone, I could finally ask questions. "Who... who are you?"

"I''m your wolf, silly. My name is Rose. Are you ready to see what I look like?"

"Y-yes."

"Good. Now open your eyes."

I opened my eyes and immediately noticed I wasn''t human anymore. My hands and feet were paws. I looked into the water pooling at the edge of the waterfall and saw my reflection—or rather, Rose''s reflection. My heart stopped.

There are many different types of wolves—alpha wolves, beta wolves, gamma wolves, warrior wolves, silver wolves, white wolves, red wolves, omega wolves. And even within those categories, there are different sizes and colors and markings. We learn about all the types in school.

"Expect the unexpected" was a phrase teachers often used about first shifts, but in reality your wolf generally follows your bloodline. Alpha kids usually become alphas, beta kids usually become betas, and so on. Most of the excitement—especially with ranked wolves'' children—centers on the size, color, and personality of the new wolf.

Looking back at me in the pool''s reflection was a type of wolf I''d never seen or learned about in school. Rose''s fur was a beautiful bluish-silver that almost seemed to glow. On the right side of her hip was a large black crescent moon symbol, and that black matched her solid black paws and tail. I also noticed that Rose was huge—at least as large as some alpha wolves.

"What type of wolf are we, Rose?"

"A special type. You''ll learn more as time goes on, but know that the Moon Goddess has blessed us, Lily."

I didn''t say anything. I wasn''t sure what to say.

Rose and I sat by the waterfall for a while longer, until I remembered Stephanie''s funeral. "We need to get back!" I told Rose, panicking.

Rose guided me through transforming back to human form, and I frantically searched the nearby trees for clothes. I found a men''s t-shirt and shorts. Both were way too big for my small frame, so I just put on the t-shirt.

I also grabbed my glasses off the ground and put them on. Thankfully they hadn''t broken during the shift. Now that I had Rose, I wouldn''t need glasses anymore because she''d heal my eyesight. But Rose warned me that—for now—it was best to keep wearing them and let the pack think I didn''t have my wolf yet. It seemed like a strange thing to say, but I had no reason not to trust her.

I hurried back to the packhouse and slipped into our suite, hoping to quickly change clothes and rejoin the mourning crowd.

Unfortunately, as soon as I walked in, I was met with my mother''s angry, accusing stare.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? HOW DARE YOU MAKE A SCENE AT YOUR SISTER''S FUNERAL! HAVE YOU NO SHAME? ARE YOU SO SELFISH AND SELF-CENTERED THAT YOU CAN THINK OF NO ONE BUT YOURSELF?"

I said nothing. What could I say?

Then my mother did something she''d never done in my fourteen years of life. She slapped me. Hard. And the beating continued from there.