Thor

to close around the box, I d

r's ashes, fell slack. And then, in a movement that sent a shock

hard marble floor was a dull, sickenin

froze mid-grab, his face

I bowed my head. I tilted my neck to the side, expos

complete and total surrender of one's life and will to a superior. A gasp rippled through the onlookers. A Luna performing suc

I crushed her dissent with an iron will. My pride was a currency I was

rembling thing that clung to the floor. "I

e role they had assigned me-the unstable, hy

weaving a pathetic, nonsensical excuse that would ap

cold stone. "I was wrong to push Zane. I never meant to frighten Freya. P

pleading whine. I was dis

the lie coming to me in a flash of despe

ck had taken him years ago. His name still carried weight with the pack elders. I felt a few p

my "insanity" that they could understand, a reason that

mission. His authority had been challenged, and now it had been affirmed in the most pu

a flat, dismissive disgust. He was repulsed by my weakness, by

her advantage, but Ryker shot her a look that sil

ooked down at me. His voice was still cold, stripped of all emotion. "Yo

e icy floor, a gesture of even deeper debasement.

y my own pathetic form. I was a mother animal, using my own

To punish his Luna, now that she was so thoroughly broken before him, would

d was for me

be decided after the ceremony. For now, get out of my sight. G

he sweetest sound I had ever he

for what felt like an eternity finally

ashes w