The Girl Without A Wolf

The day my life changed forever... I was cleaning horse s**t. Not exactly how I imagined destiny would find me. Then again, destiny had never been particularly creative. I plunged the shovel into another steaming pile and sighed. "You're lucky." The old gray mare blinked at me. "You get fed, brushed, and everyone calls you beautiful." She snorted. "I get called 'worthless' before breakfast." The mare lowered her head and nudged my shoulder. "Thank you." I scratched behind her ears. "You're officially my favorite person." "Talking to horses again?" I turned. Mrs. Hilda stood in the stable doorway, arms folded across her flour-covered apron. "I was talking to one horse." I glanced toward the manor. "Now there are two." She tried very hard not to smile. "I baked fresh bread." "I forgive you." "I wasn't apologizing." "You should apologize more often." She walked over and handed me a warm loaf wrapped in cloth. It smelled of butter. Fresh herbs. Home. For one glorious moment... Life didn't seem so terrible. Mrs. Hilda watched me carefully. "You know..." "What?" "You smile less these days." I looked down at the bread. "I smile exactly the same." "No." Her voice softened. "You've just learned to do it with your mouth instead of your eyes." I didn't know how to answer that. Luckily... Someone answered for me. The bread vanished from my hands. It hit the dirt. A polished black boot crushed it. Slowly. Deliberately. I looked up. Lady Serena Ashwood smiled down at me. Beautiful. Perfect. Merciless. "Still eating with the servants?" I stared at what had been my breakfast. "It was bread." "It was yours." She tilted her head. "There's a difference." Around us, every stable boy suddenly became fascinated by the floor. Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. Serena loved an audience. I refused to give her one. "You've improved," I said. She blinked. "What?" "Usually you wait until I take the first bite." One of the stable boys made a strange choking noise. Serena's eyes flicked toward him. The poor boy turned white. She looked back at me. "I've always wondered something." "I'm almost afraid to ask." "Why do you keep smiling?" I shrugged. "If I stop..." I met her eyes. "...you win." For the first time in years... Her smile disappeared. Only for a heartbeat. Then it returned. Sharper than before. "Clean every stable." "There are forty." "Exactly." She turned to leave. Then stopped. "Oh." She looked back over her shoulder. "Father wants to see you." That surprised me more than the destroyed breakfast. "Me?" "Try not to disappoint him." "I'll do my best." "I know." She smiled. "That's what worries me." Alpha Victor had spoken to me exactly nineteen times in eighteen years. Yes. I'd counted. Conversation wasn't exactly our family tradition. The walk from the stables to the manor felt strangely quiet. Servants whispered as I passed. "The Alpha called for her." "Why?" "Did she steal something?" "I heard she broke the west gate." "I've never even touched the west gate," I muttered. An old gardener overheard me. "It doesn't matter." He kept trimming the roses. "They've already decided you're guilty." Fair enough. Alpha Victor wasn't in his study. He stood alone in the front courtyard. Hands behind his back. Watching the road. Waiting. He didn't turn when I approached. "You took your time." "I smelled better with horse manure." Silence. I shifted awkwardly. "So..." "...am I being punished?" "No." "Am I being adopted again?" Nothing. Then... For the first time in my life... He laughed. Just once. Quietly. It disappeared so quickly I almost thought I'd imagined it. "You have your mother's humor." I froze. My mother. He had never... Not once... Mentioned her. Before I could ask another question— A deep horn echoed across the valley. Once. Twice. Three times. Every wolf in the courtyard stopped moving. Birds exploded into the sky. The horses screamed. Alpha Victor's face lost all color. "They're here." "Who's here?" He looked at me. Not like an Alpha. Not like a father. Like a man who had spent eighteen years dreading this exact moment. "The Royal Court." And for the first time... I realized... He wasn't afraid for himself. He was afraid for me. The horn echoed again. Long. Deep. Ancient. Every werewolf in the courtyard lowered their head. Except me. I looked around. "What is everyone doing?" No one answered. The iron gates creaked open. Five black carriages rolled into the manor, each pulled by wolves the size of horses. Their silver armor shimmered beneath the afternoon sun, and the air itself seemed heavier as they passed. The lead carriage stopped. A tall man stepped down. Silver cloak. Silver eyes. A black cane carved with the shape of a wolf. He wasn't the strongest man I'd ever seen. He didn't need to be. The entire courtyard bent around his presence. Alpha Victor walked forward and bowed. "My lord." The stranger inclined his head. "Alpha Victor Ashwood." His voice was calm. "I bring greetings from Mooncrest Academy." A ripple spread through the crowd. Mooncrest. The school every young werewolf dreamed about. The place where future Alphas were made. I had dreamed about it once. Back when I still believed dreams cared who they belonged to. The man reached inside his cloak and removed a sealed parchment. "The Academy has chosen its newest candidate." Serena straightened immediately. Of course she did. She had trained her entire life for this moment. The envoy broke the black wax seal. His silver eyes scanned the page. Then... He frowned. He looked at the parchment again. Then slowly raised his head. Until his eyes met mine. My stomach tightened. "No..." he whispered. "Impossible." Alpha Victor took a step forward. "Is something wrong?" The envoy ignored him. Instead, he walked across the courtyard. Straight toward me. One step. Then another. The crowd instinctively moved aside. I stayed exactly where I was. Mostly because my legs had forgotten how walking worked. He stopped in front of me. Close enough for me to notice the thin scar crossing his left eyebrow. Close enough to see that he wasn't looking at my face. He was looking at my eyes. Like he was searching for someone else inside them. "You..." he said quietly. "...have your mother's eyes." Every sound disappeared. My mother's. Nobody had spoken about my mother. Not once. Not in eighteen years. "You knew her?" I whispered. Something flickered across his face. Regret. Then it was gone. He unfolded the parchment one final time. His voice carried across the entire courtyard. "By order of Mooncrest Academy..." "...Lyra Ashwood is hereby summoned to begin her training." Silence. Absolute silence. Then laughter exploded behind me. Serena. "The servant?" Someone else joined in. "She doesn't even have a wolf." "There has to be a mistake." Alpha Victor didn't laugh. He looked ready to be sick. "There must be another Lyra." "There isn't," the envoy replied. His gaze never left mine. "The Academy never sends an invitation twice." He held the parchment toward me. I hesitated. The moment my fingers brushed the black seal... Pain shot through my hand. The seal shattered. Silver light burst into the sky. A freezing wind swept across the courtyard. Every wolf pulling the royal carriages whimpered. The envoy stared at me in horror. Then, very softly... Almost too softly to hear... He whispered, "They were wrong." Before I could ask who... A woman's voice echoed inside my head. Clear. Ancient. Terrified. Run. My heart stopped. They've finally found you.