Mina's POV.
Out of my mouth came a sound wilder than I could imagine.
It was a roar. A gut-wrenching, fierce, loud roar.
The silence after was even louder than the sound itself.
For a moment, nobody moved. The entire hall seemed trapped between fear and disbelief, as if the world itself needed time to understand what had just happened.
I caught my reflection in the one of the hall windows. I had never seen myself like that before.
Not truly.
My reflection had always been a quiet girl with tired eyes, messy hair, and a body that tried its best to disappear in every room she entered. But this was different.
The wolf staring back at me felt ancient.
Silver-white fur covered my body, each strand glowing faintly beneath the moonlight spilling through the windows. Strange markings traced across my skin like they had been carved by the stars themselves. My eyes were no longer the dull reflection I was used to seeing. They burned with something older than fear. Older than pain.
I looked powerful.
And somehow, I still felt like Mina.
Then came the shifting.
Not by choice. Not because they wanted to. Wolves emerged from bodies that had been standing proudly moments before, one after another, until the entire ceremonial hall was filled with lowered heads and trembling forms.
The same people who had laughed at me could not even meet my eyes now. They were on their knees before me. The muttering and whispering ended immediately.
Everyone fell to their knees, transforming to their wolf form. They all knelt before me, responding to my roar like it was a call to them.
Like it was a command that they couldn't refuse.
I looked around the room and saw everyone on their knees, and thought back to every single talk down that I'd ever received.
“Just save yourself the humiliation.”
“You're just a letdown.”
“What are you good for anyway?”
The sound grew louder with every memory.
When I stopped, there wasn't a single wolf in the room who wasn't on their knees, including the Alpha.
They were all bowing to me.
A feeling of satisfaction washed over me. The kind you get after ten years of being stripped of your own humanity. I looked around, and with that feeling of settlement, I roared again.
They responded again, this time immediately, without waiting to understand. It was something strong, something primal, that drew them. They couldn't be responding at their own volition. They couldn't have wanted to respond out of fear or reverence.
It was something tugging at them at their insides.
I knew this.
I thought back to the man from ten years ago. The man with his mind blank, waiting on my every command.
A feeling of guilt found its way to my heart.
But no, they didn't deserve my guilt. They didn't deserve my forgiveness. Not after everything they've done to me. Not after the humiliation they've caused me.
At my second roar, my three bullies came out, all in wolf form. They responded in unison, and as they did, a mate bond appeared on each of their necks. I looked down at the three of them, and roared for the last time. This time, a shared mate roar.
Only four of us roared as everyone transformed back into their usual forms.
An elder got up, terrified.”No, no, but it can't be.” He looked at me with a shocking revelation.
“The lunar shadow wolf.” Another one said, a sense of reverence in his voice.
“But we haven't seen one in thousands of years.” A student said. Jamil. The school nerd he was. It was no surprise that he knew the law.
“But it can't be.” I only stared, transforming quietly back to my real self. I looked down at my clothes, picking at the hem of my hoodie sleeve, waiting for the verdict.
The mutters only increased by the minute, now filling the room with hushed voices and moving eyes. The whispers started slowly. At first, they were barely sounds, small breaths of disbelief scattered throughout the hall. Then they grew louder, spreading from one person to another.
"The Mute?" One of the queen bee’s minions asked.
"That was her? Well, she is kinda hot." Her boyfriend, another stereotypical sportsman.
"No... that's impossible."
"The Lunar Shadow Wolf..."
The name moved through the crowd like a ghost.
People who had once spoken about me as if I wasn't there now couldn't stop talking about me. The same voices that had called me useless now carried fear, wonder, and uncertainty.
I only stood there, listening to the world finally say my name when I had spent years being treated like I had none.
I looked to the guys. All three of them had changed back to themselves now.
Jace, Ryder, and Damian.
Jace was the hardest to read. His wolf still carried the same arrogance, the same strength, but his eyes were different. The certainty that had always surrounded him was gone. For the first time, he looked like someone who had encountered something beyond his understanding.
Ryder's expression had lost its amusement. The smirk, the confidence, the cruelty he wore like armor had disappeared completely. He looked afraid of me.
Damian looked the most confused. Like he was searching for an explanation that didn't exist, trying to understand how the girl he had always considered beneath him had become something he could only submit to.
I looked at three of them. They looked back at me. Reality settled between us, nestled there.
We were stuck together now. And that wasn't changing for a very long time.
Even if they didn't want me. Even if they didn't think me worthy.
And somehow, as guilty as I felt, as lowly as I felt, that in itself was enough satisfaction. Somehow, just knowing things would change was enough for me.
“The ceremony is over.” The alpha's voice came booming through the room. I turned around and walked quietly to the entrance.
