Yvaine sniffled back tears, " Don't patronize me tonight, Lucien. I'm not in the mood."
Lucien said, "You shouldn't be out here during the event."
Yvaine snapped, "What do you care, huh? Nobody would miss me even if I died."
Lucien laughed once. It was rather dry. "Are you always this pathetic?"
Couldn't she see he was trying to help her not get into trouble?
She didn't need his help anyway. At least, that's what he told himself.
"And are you always mean?" she shot back. "What did I ever do to you? To any of you?"
"Look, I'm not here to argue," he said.
"Yeah, right. Please just go. Leave me the hell alone."
Lucien stepped forward, grabbed her arm, and pulled her out from where she was standing.
"Leave me alone," Yvaine said.
He didn't let go. He kept pulling her.
Gods! She's so fucking stubborn.
Yvaine tried to free herself from his grip but he was too strong for her.
"Let me go..."
Then she sinks her teeth into his arm.
Lucien shoved her off fast, yanking his arm back. "What the fuck? You stupid bitch!"
He took a step toward her.
"What?" Yvaine said. "You going to hit me? Or pull out my spinal cord like you tried in dance class?"
Her eyes started to fill with tears.
For some reason, Lucien felt a pang of guilt.
"I'm tired," Yvaine said. "Tired of everyone picking on me because I don't have my wolf. Tired of being the outcast. I didn't ask to be born this way. And I'm tired of you, Lucien. I hate you with every fibre of my body."
Lucien felt something twist inside him.
"Yvonne—" he started.
"And for the love of the goddess," she cut him off, "my name is Yvaine. You can't even get my name right."
She looked up. The sky rumbled with lightning.
"And you, Moon goddess," she said, "I think you're the most unfair deity ever. I wish I'd never been born."
Lucien moved closer. "Yvaine… don't say that. It's blasphemy. You'll get cursed."
"I'm already cursed. What more could happen? Now leave me alone."
She turned back toward the garden.
"We need to head back now... A storm is coming," Lucien said. He tried to grab her again but a force sent him flying backwards. He fell to the ground with a loud thud.
Yvaine's body began to shake violently.
Yvaine cried out as pain raked her body. The wind was heavy now... Trees bent around.
Lucien pushed himself up, trying to get to her. Lightning struck her. Yvaine couldn't feel her body as she lost control.
"W-what is happening?" She cried.
Lucien didn't know either.
She reached for him. "Help me… please."
"I'm coming, Yvaine!" Lucien shouted. He tried to get close, but the force around her was too strong. It burned against him.
His wolf whimpered in his head, pacing, panicked.
The world tilted. He fought to stay standing.
Yvaine tried to push through the invisible wall, but she couldn't.
Silver light burst around her, hiding her completely.
Lucien's head throbbed. He dropped to the ground. Blood slid from his nose.
"Y… Yvaine," he called, his voice weak.
The silver light shot straight into the sky. He still couldn't see her.
_____
MEANWHILE;
Zully met Elyan and Veylor outside the auditorium. The event had ended twenty minutes ago, but Yvaine was nowhere to be seen.
Zayne showed up with Nyx and Ed.
"I can't find her anywhere," Zayne said.
"What really happened?" Zully asked.
"Nothing," Zayne replied sharply.
"She might be in the library," Nyx said.
"I've been there," Elyan said. "She's not there either."
Nyx's eyes narrowed at Zayne. "Are you sure nothing happened?"
"It's none of your business," Zayne snapped.
Nyx pulled out her knife, pointing it at him. "Oh, it's my business. She's my friend. If you've been a total jerk to her, I'll slice you—skin, fur, bone. I don't care if you're some over-pampered Silverwolf alum."
Zayne's eyes flashed. "What did you just say?"
Elyan stepped between them. "Everybody focus. We need to find Yvaine."
Zully nodded. "Elyan's right. What if something happened to her?"
Ed suddenly pointed upward. "What's that?"
They all looked. A silver light shot into the sky, spreading across it.
Right then, Ed's and Veylor's eyes turned white. Both started moving in sync, chanting words no one could understand.
"What's wrong with them?" Zayne asked.
"It's a trance," Nyx said.
More students began walking out, Seers and Dusk Wolves, with the same white eyes and chanting.
Nyx frowned. "Okay… what is going on?"
Then even the students who weren't Seers or Dusk Wolves came out, looking confused.
"Look," someone said. "It's not just students…"
Three Seer tutors were there too...eyes white, chanting with the rest.
______
Lucien was too weak.
The pounding in his head wouldn't stop.
He called out, his voice barely there.
"Yvaine…"
What was this?
The silver light around him faded. Something… stood where Yvaine had been.
He forced himself to look up.
It was a wolf. A giant one.
Its fur was silver, glowing under the light still hanging in the sky. The full moon made it shine even more.
"Yvaine?"
The wolf just stared hard at him, not moving.
Did she… shift?
And she's… a Silver Wolf?
He pushed himself up, staggering toward it.
The wolf growled, low and deep. The sound hit him like a blow. Pain shot through his skull.
His chest tightened.
His aura… it was being crushed.
No one had ever done that to him before. No one could.
It hurt like hell.
A sweet taste of your medicine huh? His subconscious jeered at him.
Not now.
Inside him, his wolf, who had been pacing wildly, suddenly went still.
It wasn't growling. It was… soft.
The silver wolf threw its head back and howled. It was loud and echoed everywhere.
He thinks the whole school must have heard it.
Lucien let out a shaky laugh. "Of course…"
Then light wrapped around it.
When it faded, Yvaine stood there again—hair silver now, clothes gone except for her underwear.
She swayed… and dropped to the ground.
Lucien stumbled forward.
The pain in his head was gone.
Her hair was black again.
What the hell?
He bent down, slipped off his jacket, and wrapped it around her before lifting her into his arms.
Why was her hair black again?
"Mate," his wolf said in his head.
No.
It couldn't be. He couldn't have a mate, right? This girl.... He'd bullied her. She couldn't...
"MATE!" his wolf roared, louder this time.