Chapter 28: A Sheep Who Clapped In Her Soul

"It’s not a violation," Maria stated, loud and proud. "Only external help is prohibited. I am a contestant in this run. I am internal. We are both inside the same competition and I chose to offer transportation." She paused, letting the logic settle like a check landing on a table. "Also, you are focusing on the wrong thing. She should be a pile of ash right now. But she isn’t."

The shouts stopped.

Maria shot Nova a sideways glance as they walked towards the crowd.

"You got on a wolf that was literally on fire. I need you to know that I wasn’t sure you would do that. I’m glad you did. That was insane."

Nova blinked. The flame hadn’t seemed dangerous when she climbed on. It hadn’t felt hostile. It had felt warm the way sunlight feels warm, present and surrounding and entirely disinterested in harming her.

Whether that was normal or a miracle, she was going to have to investigate at a later date because Maria had grabbed her arm and was walking her forward like they had been friends for years and this was brunch.

Celeste’s face was visible from thirty feet away and it looked about as sour as expected. Her jaw was tight, her eyes were gold, and her posture was the posture of a woman who had been sucking on a lemon since the moment a fireball emerged from the tree line carrying the wrong passenger.

Maria walked Nova to her spot like Nova needed the escort. She did. Her knees were one stray thought away from buckling and the only thing keeping them honest was the arm looped through hers and the princess attached to it who seemed to think structural support was part of the friendship package.

"Take care of her," Maria told the omega woman she placed Nova beside, like she was dropping off a package that was fragile and important and had been through the postal system from hell.

Nova was not dead last in line. That was the surprising part.

"Thank you," Nova said softly.

Maria winked. Nova gave a small smile back, the one she could manage, the one that lived in the space between grateful and sad because she knew this was the end of the road.

Then she returned to her blank face. She retreated back behind her own eyes because right now every eye in the clearing was on her and she was not going to flinch for it. The blank face was a skill she had perfected.

It was law that every unmated male of rank was here, along with the Alphas, Betas, and Gammas of every pack. They stood with their packs, Alphas at the front, around the base of the hill.

They weren’t messing around with the guest list. It was exclusive. Nova realized quickly that there were far more draftees than men present. Easily double the amount. That math didn’t make sense if the point was to pair people.

She didn’t have time to dwell because the High Priestess of Helix stepped forward.

VWOOOM.

The fire tripled in height.

Then it turned into a color-shifting magic show that acted out the story for the crowd. It was undeniably, shut-the-fuck-up cool that apparently nobody wanted to admit because no one was reacting to it.

Nova was a sheep and did not clap either, but she wanted to. She clapped in her soul.

"In the age where gods walked among wolves, the Goddess gave the male wolves the responsibility of marking their mate, thus binding two souls and creating a permanent matebond. She gathered all males around a fire, and told each of her daughters to bleed in the flame. If the flame honors you, you are worthy of a mark."

Nova’s eyes burned unexpectedly. This wasn’t anything she hadn’t heard before. A matemark is given once in a wolf’s life. The instinct is wolf-driven, thus slaves don’t do it. But right now, surrounded by wolves who could shift while listening to the story, grief drowned out everything else. The kind of grief that you feel in your whole body but are refusing to show it.

Maybe it was knowing she would never be a part of this. Or maybe it was the part of her, deep down, that wished she could have met her wolf. Or maybe it was the fact that thousands of women left behind in that arena actually thought they were unworthy. Or maybe it was all of it. Irrational? Probably.

But as the one person who wasn’t supposed to be here, Nova felt like their representative, slave or not. Wolf or no wolf. She swallowed it down and pushed it to another spot in her mind. There was no crying around the sacred fire. She had cried enough today.

The flame roared to bright emerald.

"The first daughter cut her palm and let her blood fall into the flame. The Goddess weighed her wolf and human souls against every unmated male present, and found her worthy of a decorated warrior. The flame changed to emerald in color. Thus emerald was the flame of honor."

The flames turned ruby next.

"The second’s flame turned ruby, for she came from a royal bloodline and the Goddess found her worthy of another dynasty. Thus Ruby was the flame of influence."

Sapphire.

"The third daughter’s flame was sapphire. The Goddess found her worthy of a Gamma. Thus sapphire was the flame of the wise."

Silver.

"The fourth daughter let her blood fall and the flame turned silver. The Goddess deemed her worthy of an Alpha or Beta bloodline and matched her to an Alpha prince. The flame of leadership."

Gold.

"The fifth bled into the flame and it turned gold. A ruling Alpha’s wolf called to hers, and the Goddess deemed her worthy to rule. Thus, gold is the flame of the King."

Then the fire vanished in a vacuum and the High Priestess paused for a good three seconds letting the silence settle.

"The last cut her palm and let the blood fall into the fire. The fire vanished. The Goddess found both souls impure and unworthy of all the males present. The Goddess banished her from the ceremony."

Wonderful. Nova would fall in that camp. Party of one. If the Goddess was going to reject her, then so be it.