Chaos erupted in the clearing.
The single word hybrid tore through the crowd like a lightning strike, shattering the sacred calm of the ceremony.
For a moment, no one seemed to know how to react.
Then the shouting began.
"Monster!"
"Abomination!"
"She's cursed!"
The voices came from everywhere at once—wolves I had grown up with, wolves who had watched me learn to walk, wolves who had shared meals with me in the pack house.
Now they looked at me like I was something filthy that had crawled out of the darkness.
My chest tightened painfully as the crowd began to move.
Not toward me.
Away from me.
Wolves stepped back quickly, their expressions filled with horror and disgust. Some even shielded their children behind them as if my mere presence could harm them.
It felt like I had suddenly become a disease.
Something contagious.
Something dangerous.
My breathing grew shallow as panic crept into my chest.
"What are they talking about?" I whispered to myself.
My gaze dropped to my hands.
Claws.
Long.
Sharp.
Black.
But claws alone wouldn't cause this kind of reaction. Every wolf had claws when they shifted.
So why were they looking at me like this?
A strange sense of dread crept up my spine.
Slowly, I lifted my head.
My gaze landed on Alpha Roderick's sword.
The blade gleamed under the moonlight like polished glass.
And within its reflection—
I saw my eyes.
My breath caught instantly.
They glowed a bright, unnatural silver.
Not amber.
Not gold.
Not even the pale blue some rare wolves possessed.
Silver.
Cold.
Otherworldly.
My stomach twisted violently.
Wolves didn't have silver eyes.
A hand suddenly grabbed my arm.
I flinched, turning quickly.
Mira stood beside me.
But the expression on her face wasn't comforting.
It was terrified.
Her fingers trembled slightly as she stared at me.
"What… are you?" she whispered.
Her voice was barely audible, but the question cut deeper than any blade ever could.
The words sliced straight through my chest.
"What are you?"
Not Are you okay?
Not What happened?
Just fear.
I swallowed hard, my throat suddenly dry.
"I—I don't know," I stammered.
And that was the terrifying truth.
I really didn't know.
I had grown up like every other wolf in the pack.
Trained with them.
Ate with them.
Laughed with them.
I had never felt different.
Never suspected anything unusual about myself.
But now the entire pack looked at me like I was something unnatural.
Something that shouldn't exist.
The whispers around us grew louder.
"Hybrid…"
"I thought they were extinct."
"They're cursed creatures."
"They bring destruction."
My heart pounded violently in my chest.
Hybrid.
The word echoed again and again in my mind.
I had heard the stories growing up.
Every pup had.
Hybrids were monsters created from forbidden bloodlines—wolves mixed with something darker.
Something dangerous.
Something unnatural.
The elders always spoke about them with fear.
They said hybrids were unstable.
Powerful.
Impossible to control.
According to pack law, hybrids were not allowed to exist.
They were meant to be destroyed the moment they were discovered.
My breathing quickened.
"No…" I whispered under my breath.
This couldn't be happening.
Not to me.
Suddenly, Alpha Roderick raised his hand.
"Enough!"
His voice thundered across the clearing like a command from the heavens.
Instantly, the crowd fell silent.
The tension in the air was suffocating.
Alpha Roderick stepped forward slowly, his boots crunching against the gravel beneath his feet.
His sharp eyes locked onto me.
And the hatred in them made my stomach drop.
I had known the Alpha my entire life.
He had once placed his hand on my head when I was a child.
He had praised my training when I learned to fight.
But now…
Now he looked at me like I was something disgusting.
Something he wanted erased.
"Hybrids are forbidden creatures," he announced coldly.
His voice carried easily through the silent clearing.
"Their existence alone is a threat to our kind."
A murmur spread through the crowd.
Some wolves nodded grimly.
Others watched me with barely concealed fear.
I felt like the ground beneath my feet was slowly disappearing.
"I grew up here," I said suddenly.
My voice trembled as I spoke.
But I forced the words out anyway.
"You know me."
I looked directly at the Alpha.
"You watched me grow up."
My chest rose and fell with uneven breaths.
"I'm still the same person."
For a brief moment, something flickered across his face.
Something that might have been hesitation.
But it disappeared just as quickly.
His expression hardened.
"You are not one of us," he snapped.
The words struck like a slap across my face.
The pack shifted uncomfortably around us.
Some wolves avoided my gaze completely.
Others stared openly, their expressions filled with disgust.
Mira slowly released my arm and stepped back.
The small movement felt like a knife sliding between my ribs.
She wouldn't even stand beside me anymore.
I was completely alone.
Alpha Roderick turned toward the warriors standing nearby.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
"Take her."
Two large warriors stepped forward immediately.
My instincts screamed danger.
My heart began racing even faster.
"Wait," I said quickly.
My voice cracked slightly.
"This has to be a mistake."
No one responded.
The warriors moved closer.
I backed away instinctively.
Panic clawed at my chest.
"Alpha," I tried again.
"Please."
My voice broke on the last word.
For the first time in years, I felt truly helpless.
But the Alpha's face remained cold.
Unmoved.
His gaze settled on me one last time.
And the next words that left his mouth shattered what little hope I had left.
"Execution at dawn."
The crowd gasped softly.
My entire body went numb.
Dawn.
Only a few hours away.
My mind struggled to process the words.
Execution.
Death.
For a moment, the world seemed to tilt around me.
"You can't be serious," I whispered.
My voice sounded distant, even to my own ears.
"I've done nothing wrong."
The Alpha didn't even hesitate.
"You exist," he replied.
"That is enough."
The warriors grabbed my arms before I could react.
Their grips were like iron.
"Please!" I cried out.
My eyes searched the crowd desperately.
Looking for anyone.
Anyone who might help me.
But every face I saw turned away.
Even Mira.
Tears burned in my eyes as the warriors began dragging me toward the pack house.
The sacred clearing where I had expected to celebrate my new life had turned into the place where my death was announced.
My eighteenth birthday.
The day my wolf awakened.
The day my pack decided I didn't deserve to live.
And as the doors of the pack house slammed shut behind me, one terrifying realization settled into my chest.
By sunrise…
I would be dead.