POV: Rena
The shame was a physical weight, a coating of ash in my throat that no amount of water could wash away. As I stood in the communal dining hall, the clatter of wooden bowls and the boisterous laughter of the warriors felt like needles against my skin. I was supposed to be the "Silver Wolf," a beacon of hope for the pack, but after the failure of the smoke trial, I was just the girl who had choked on a bit of incense.
I could feel their stares. It wasn't just the High Bloods anymore; even the other Omegas looked at me with a mixture of pity and resentment. To them, my failure made their own lives harder. It proved the elders' point: that some people were simply born to serve, and to dream of anything else was a dangerous delusion.
"Look at her," a voice hissed from the table of
