Chapter 7: The Moon Chooses
1040 Words
The howl that Ella heard faded into the night, but she couldn't forget it in a hurry, it rang in her head continuously.
No one moved from where they were, because every wolf in the temple knew that the sound was heard from the northern forest.
The High Elder lowered his staff slowly and lifted his head to the sky. "Strange..." he murmured.
Some of the warriors reached for their weapons that were tagged at their waists before remembering where they were. The Moon Temple was sacred, no blood was to be spilled within its walls.
Ella's fingers tightened around the pillar of the stone that she held on to. The sharp pain she had earlier felt in her back had disappeared.
What was that?
She took a slow breath, hoping no one had noticed.
"Ella." Ethan's voice came from beside her. "You don't look well."
"I'm fine."
He frowned. "You don't have to lie to me."
Before she could answer him, the High Elder spoke again. "The Moon Goddess waits for no one." His voice sounded across the temple."The ceremony will continue."
The murmurings gradually died down. The unmated wolves stepped inside the wide stone circle one by one at the temple. Some of them laughed nervously while others squeezed their friend's hand before letting go, some closed their eyes and muttered some prayers.
Ella remained where she was. She hoped that if she stayed near the back, nobody would notice her, after all, nobody expected anything from the girl without a wolf.
"Ella Ashwood." She heard her name echoed through the temple. Her heart sank immediately.
The High Elder was looking directly at her.
"Step forward." He said still staring at her, everybody turned at once to stare at her.
For a moment, she couldn't breathe."I..." She didn't find the remaining words. "I don't think I should."
People began whispering in the crowd.
"Did she just refuse?"
"Can she do that?"
it surprised them that she refused to be mated even after her name was called out.
Nora folded her arms with a satisfied smile on her face. "Of course she'd try to ruin the ceremony."
The High Elder's expression softened. "This is not a request, child,the Moon Goddess calls every unmated wolf."
Ella swallowed hard. "But I don't even have a wolf."
The words slipped out before she could stop herself from saying it.
The elder panicked after he heard those words, but he still believed that every wolf under the moon Goddess can still find a mate. "You still stand under Her moon."
For a long second, no one spoke, then Alpha Rowan's calm voice broke the silence in the crowd.
"Step forward." He commanded calmly.
Ella knew she couldn't refuse his authority.
Taking a shaky breath, she forced her legs to move.
People began whispering again.
"Poor thing."
"This is going to be embarrassing."
"The Moon Goddess won't answer someone like her."
Nora didn't even bother whispering. "Maybe the temple will finally expose whatever curse she's hiding." Several people laughed.
Ella kept walking, she didn't see the need to answer people like Nora because it only gave them more room to ridicule her. She reached the edge of the circle and stopped.
The High Elder nodded gently. "Close your eyes."
She obeyed him and closed her eyes. Everybody stopped talking, silence followed afterwards.
The elder lifted his silver staff toward the moonlight pouring through the open ceiling. "Great Moon Goddess... We stand before You, reveal the souls You have chosen."
A soft breeze drifted through the temple, the moonflowers lining the walls began to sway.
One by one, pairs of wolves gasped.
"There!" A young woman burst into tears as she looked across the circle, her mate stared back at her in disbelief before smiling.
Laughter and applause filled the temple, another pair found each other moments later. It kept on going, unmated wolves found their pairs, joy filling the air.
The atmosphere grew warmer with every passing minute, Ella slowly opened her eyes. Around her, people were leaving the circle hand in hand except her. She looked around, no one was looking at her.
Of course they weren't, she lowered her head. I knew this would happen, a small smile settled in her chest, she hadn't expected to find a mate. But standing there while everyone else found their mates hurt more than she had imagined.
She turned to leave.
"See?" Nora said loudly enough for everyone nearby to hear. "I told you, the Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes. She knows the cursed girl belongs to no one but herself."
Ella stopped walking, she felt the warmth she had felt earlier, this time it was stronger. It spread from deep inside her chest, spreading through every part of her body. She inhaled a sharp breath.
The air suddenly smelled different and stronger, she could hear dozens of heartbeats.
People whispered on the other side of the temple, the flames of the candles that was lit suddenly went off. Her head spun... No... She felt a strange pressure beneath her skin, her pulse began racing.
Across the temple, Rowan frowned, his wolf had become restless for no reason.
He had felt this sensation only once before and that was on the day his father died.
His gaze searched the crowded temple until it landed on Ella, she was gripping hard to the edge of the stone pillar, her face looked pale.
Something wasn't right.
"Ella?" Ethan called out to her, taking a step toward her. Before he could reach her... Every candle inside the temple went out.
Darkness settled in the room, some people gasped through the hall then a single silver light appeared above Ella's head.
It was soft at first then it became barely visible above her head.
The High Elder's eyes widened. "No..."
The light grew brighter and brighter until the entire temple was bathed in silver. Every wolf stared in stunned silence.The elder's hand began to tremble.
"This..." His voice barely rose above a whisper. "...has never happened before."
Ella looked up in confusion, she didn't understand why everyone was staring at her. She didn't understand why the moonlight suddenly felt alive.
Then, from somewhere deep inside her.... A heartbeat answered.
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