Chapter 3 Something Went Wrong

Anne's POV:

A month later.

The day for my coming-of-age ceremony finally rolled by. Oren hadn't returned and I didn't hear from him. Sitting before the dresser in my bedroom, I was a bundle of nerves as the other she-wolves of the pack dressed me up. They were chatting happily, but my mind was somewhere else.

"Oh, you look so beautiful!" Their sincere compliment brought me back to reality. I forced a smile.

There was a lump in my throat as I looked at myself in the mirror. My usually bright eyes were dull today. Even the exquisite makeup didn't make me look happier. My heart was heavy even though this was a ceremony I had been looking forward to for so long. For the past few weeks, I couldn't get Oren off my mind. I found myself wondering what was keeping him away. He promised to be back early. Why wasn't he here yet? Did something bad happen to him?

My mind was a mess. The leader of the ladies-in-waiting happened to notice my depressed expression. She dismissed the others and looked at me with worried eyes. "I know you are nervous, but you don't have to be. Your first transformation into a wolf might be very painful and slow. However, it gets better with time. Moon Goddess will give you strength."

It was obvious that she misinterpreted my expression, but I didn't try to explain. I would rather have her think that I was nervous because of the ceremony than because of my boyfriend who got me pregnant.

It was an age-long practice that every young werewolf—male and female—morphed into a wolf at the full-moon time on the day of the coming-of-age ceremony. Things sometimes got very dangerous, hence today, the elders of the pack were all present on Gould Ellis—the Alpha of the pack's command. My heart skipped a beat when I remembered Gould. I should have told him about my relationship with Oren earlier.

"It's time, Ms. Duffy." I was urged to go out now that I was fully dressed up.

"Okay," I said lightly. Then, she helped me stand up and escorted me out.

Some seconds later, I walked into the arena for the ceremony. There were torches on every side of the hall. The lights were so bright that I almost got blinded. Drums and flutes were played as I was led up the stony stage. A few aristocrats and elders congratulated me.

My parents, Anthony and Rebecca walked towards me together. I bowed to them and then smiled brightly.

My mother, who had misty eyes, gently stroked my cheek and said, "It feels just like yesterday that you were suckling on my breasts. My precious baby is now grown up."

I held her hand and rubbed my cheek against her soft palm. "No matter how old I am, I'll always be your baby, Mom."

My father cleared his throat and said, "Good luck, sweetheart. Alpha should be here anytime soon."

My heart jolted again. I froze for a moment. I thought about making it clear to Alpha Gould that I had no intention of marrying him tonight, or any other night.

Just as I was going over the idea, my attention was drawn somewhere else. A whisper wafted into my ear from off the stage. "Humph! I can't believe that Alpha is treating Beta's daughter as the next Luna. She should consider herself lucky that he even looked at her twice."

That whisper gave me another reason to confess to Gould that I couldn't be his.

The full moon was coming. Under the gaze of everyone, I slowly walked up to the altar where the moonlight shone from the hollowed opening.

My anxiety grew. I mumbled to encourage both my child and myself, "Don't worry, baby. This will be over very soon. We have got this okay."

I stood still, looking up as the moonlight got brighter and brighter. All the werewolves below kept quiet and looked at me. The music also stopped.

Several minutes passed and I remained still. There was no sign of me morphing or even experiencing any pain. My legs felt numb as I became confused. Why was I taking so long to morph into a wolf? The full moon was out already!

A tumult of whispers broke out from below. Everyone was just as confused as I was.

I could feel their stares get colder. My heart became heavy with shame. I looked down and saw my father walking out from the crowd. He looked like he wanted to say something, but someone beat him to it. "Don't waste your time, everyone! Anne will not transform into a wolf."

Everyone exclaimed after this. They began to gossip more loudly.

I looked in the direction that the voice came, only to see a muscular werewolf approaching with a serious expression. I recognized him immediately. He was Byron Astley, an enemy of my father's. He had been coveting the position of Beta of the pack.

For a split second, Byron and I locked gaze. His eyes were filled with complacency and malice. My heart began to race. I had a bad feeling about this.

My father stood out and said in a deep voice, "Now is not the time to make trouble, Byron. My daughter is having her transformation ceremony now, so show some respect!"

"Transformation ceremony, you say? Ha-ha!" Byron laughed mockingly and took out a piece of paper from his pocket. He then said, "Everyone, take a look at this!" He held the paper up high so others could see what was on it.

Standing aside, I saw that it was a pregnancy test result. Not just any result, but mine! It said that I was pregnant!

My body quivered and I felt lightheaded all of a sudden. I held my head, trying to stay calm and also think of what to do.

Byron paced around and uttered in a loud voice, "Let it be known that Anne Duffy, the daughter of Beta has desecrated the altar of Moon Goddess. She can't transform into a wolf because she got pregnant before marriage! Moon Goddess has abandoned her, so she will never be truly one of us!"

The crowd exclaimed. Everyone present here was of noble blood in the Star Moon Pack. Latest tomorrow morning, all the other werewolves in the pack would have heard of this atrocity.

I shook like a leaf as a sea of damning eyes stared daggers at me. Some werewolves looked like they wanted to rip my head off. My legs turned to jelly. Just as I was about to collapse to the ground, my mother caught me.

Byron raised his hands and said more complacently, "Everyone! I need your permission to report Anne's premarital pregnancy to the Alpha. She must be punished immediately. We can't allow her to continue staying with the pack. Otherwise, she will bring disaster to us. She has offended Moon Goddess, so we must get rid of her!"

Several chants came from the crowd after this request. None were in my favor.