CHAPTER THREE
1392 Words
Alexander stared at the priest as if he had just spoken an impossible truth.
His face had gone pale.
"W-What are you talking about?" he asked, his voice shaking. "What does this mean?"
The priest sighed heavily.
In all his years serving the pack, he had only witnessed such a thing a handful of times.
"It is... an unexpected turn of events," he said carefully. "And a very rare occurrence."
The entire sacred ground remained silent.
No one dared interrupt.
The priest looked toward Eva before continuing.
"Based on everything we have witnessed tonight, I can only come to one conclusion."
His words felt like a death sentence.
"Your daughter is wolfless."
Silence.
A terrible, suffocating silence.
Alexander's eyes widened.
"No."
His voice was barely a whisper.
"No..."
The priest lowered his head.
Alexander took a step backward.
"That's impossible."
His breathing became uneven.
"It can't be."
His gaze shifted toward Eva.
"She's my daughter."
Another step.
"My blood."
His voice cracked.
"The child of my mate."
For the first time, the mighty Beta looked completely helpless.
The priest felt a pang of sympathy.
No parent should have to hear such news.
"Beta Alexander," he said gently, "while Eva has failed to awaken a wolf, that does not necessarily mean the Moon Goddess has completely abandoned her."
Alexander immediately looked up.
The priest continued.
"The moon's blessing still touched her during the ritual. She may possess some of the physical advantages granted to werewolves—greater strength, sharper senses, and a longer lifespan than ordinary humans."
His expression darkened.
"However..."
Everyone already knew what came next.
"Without a wolf, those gifts will be far weaker than those possessed by true members of the pack."
The words struck like a hammer.
A murmur spread through the crowd.
Whispers.
Questions.
Judgment.
And then came the gazes.
The gazes that Eva would never forget.
Moments ago, they had looked at her with admiration.
She had been the Beta's daughter.
One of the most promising children in the pack.
A future warrior.
A future leader.
Now those same eyes had changed.
Some were filled with pity.
Others with disappointment.
Others with outright disdain.
It was as though she had become a different person in the span of a single minute.
As though her worth had vanished the moment she failed to transform.
Eva stood frozen beneath the moonlight.
Her mind refused to accept what she had heard.
Wolfless.
The word echoed endlessly inside her head.
No.
There had to be a mistake.
Maybe her awakening was delayed.
Maybe the ritual had failed.
Maybe if she waited a little longer—
Nothing happened.
No warmth.
No voice.
No presence.
Nothing.
Around her, newly awakened wolves ran through the forest, celebrating the birth of their companions.
Melissa had her magnificent white wolf.
Julian had his powerful crimson wolf.
Every child of her generation now possessed a lifelong partner.
A soul bound to theirs.
A voice that would never leave them.
But when Eva looked inward...
She found only silence.
An endless, empty silence.
At that moment, the pain became unbearable.
Not because she lacked a wolf.
Not because the pack was staring.
Not even because of the whispers.
It was because, for the first time in her life, she felt completely alone.
As if some essential part of her had never existed.
As if the Moon Goddess herself had looked upon her and decided she was unworthy.
A single tear slipped down her cheek.
Then another.
And another.
Yet no one noticed.
Because all eyes were fixed on the wolfless girl standing beneath the moon.
But that night was only the beginning of the end.
The weeks that followed were some of the longest of Eva's life.
At first, people simply seemed uncertain.
The pack members didn't know how to act around her.
Some avoided her.
Some whispered behind her back.
Others looked at her with pity.
As the days passed, the uncertainty disappeared.
And so did the kindness.
The distance between Eva and the rest of the pack grew larger with each passing day.
Yet that wasn't what hurt the most.
The cruel stares.
The whispers.
The gossip.
None of those things compared to what Melissa and Julian did.
The two people she loved most outside her father.
The two people she had considered family.
After the Awakening, something changed in them.
At first, it was subtle.
Melissa stopped seeking her out.
Whenever Eva invited her to spend time together, Melissa always seemed to have an excuse.
"I can't today."
"Maybe tomorrow."
"I'm busy."
Eventually, the excuses disappeared altogether.
Melissa simply ignored her.
As though Eva no longer existed.
Julian was worse.
Far worse.
Before the Awakening, he had always smiled when he saw her.
Now he barely acknowledged her presence.
Whenever she approached him, his expression would harden.
Sometimes he would leave without saying a word.
Other times he would look at her with a mixture of discomfort and disgust.
A look that shattered her heart every single time.
The message was clear.
She no longer belonged beside them.
Slowly, painfully, she drifted away.
Not just from Melissa.
Not just from Julian.
From everyone.
The pack that had once been her home now felt like a place where she wasn't wanted.
Many nights she lay awake asking herself the same question.
Why?
What had she done wrong?
Why had the Moon Goddess chosen her?
Why had she been denied a wolf?
What crime had she committed to deserve such punishment?
Meanwhile, Alexander refused to give up.
Every day he searched for answers.
He visited the pack priest countless times.
He studied ancient records.
He spoke to elders.
He traveled to neighboring packs.
Anything.
Anything that might help his daughter.
But every answer led to the same conclusion.
There was no cure.
No ritual.
No second awakening.
No hope.
Eva searched as well.
One afternoon she spent hours inside the pack library.
Dust-covered books surrounded her as she searched through ancient texts.
Eventually, she found references to others like herself.
Wolfless children.
The words burned into her memory.
"Those who fail to awaken a wolf are considered rejected by the moon."
"Though they retain blood ties to their packs, they are no longer considered true werewolves."
"The condition is permanent and irreversible."
Permanent.
Irreversible.
The words felt like chains wrapping around her heart.
For the first time, she understood.
The pack members hadn't changed because they hated her.
They had changed because she was no longer one of them.
They were werewolves.
She was not.
To them, she was little different from an ordinary human.
And in a world ruled by wolves, humans stood at the very bottom.
Three weeks after her Awakening, disaster struck.
A rogue attack.
The largest in decades.
The attack had been carefully planned.
The rogues struck multiple locations at once, drawing the pack warriors away from their strongest defenses.
Chaos spread throughout the territory.
When the alarm sounded, Alexander answered immediately.
As Beta, it was his duty.
Gathering his warriors, he led the counterattack.
Eva remembered watching him leave.
She remembered his reassuring smile.
His promise.
"I'll be back before sunset."
Those were the last words he ever spoke to her.
The battle lasted hours.
As darkness approached, the surviving warriors finally returned.
But Alexander wasn't among them.
A dreadful silence swept through the territory.
Then Eva saw them.
Several warriors carrying a body.
Her father's body.
The rogues had anticipated his movements.
They had lured him into a trap.
Outnumbered and surrounded, the Beta had fought until his final breath.
Witnesses said he had taken dozens of rogues down with him.
But in the end...
Even heroes could die.
The entire pack mourned.
Bonfires burned throughout the night.
Stories of Alexander's bravery were shared around every fire.
Warriors spoke of his courage
And while the pack mourned a fallen Beta...
Eva mourned her father.
The only person who had never looked at her differently.
The only person who had never stopped believing in her.
The only person who still saw her as his daughter instead of a disappointment.
As she stood before his grave, tears streaming down her face, Eva felt something inside her break.
The night she failed to awaken her wolf had started her fall.
But the day her father died...
That was the day she truly lost everything.
- Writer
