Chapter 27
Maureen
They dressed me in white.
Not silk.
Not finery.
Plain woven cloth tied at the waist and wrists—traditional, the healer said. Symbol of neutrality before the pack's judgment.
Neutral.
As if I had ever been neutral here.
The courtyard outside the ancestral cavern was already filled when they led me down the stone steps. Torches lined the descending path. Warriors stood shoulder to shoulder, forming a corridor of silent observers.
No one jeered.
No one spoke.
Which was worse.
At the base of the path stood the cavern entrance—jagged rock swallowing torchlight whole. Cold air breathed from it in slow, steady pulses.
Like something alive.
Stefan waited at the threshold.
Not in ceremonial robes.
In black.
His gaze swept over me once—checking. Measuring. Memorizing.
"You don't have to do this," he said quietly.
"Yes, I do."
Behind him, Elder Marius began reciting the formal invocation.
