Shadow of Rejection
The bright light from the computer screen
usually showed me clear facts. But tonight,
the light seemed fuzzy as a bad memory
popped into my head. I remembered the smell
of burning wood and pine trees, the quiet talks
of the older wolves, and then… Kael. His face,
usually strong and calm, looked sad as he
said the words that broke my heart. "Elara, you
are… different. The wolf inside you… it's too
wild." The special ceremony that would make
me feel like I belonged never happened. The
cold, hard feeling of being turned away by my
own kind, the understanding that I was alone
even with my own people, still hurt after all
these years.
My hand shook a little, making the picture of a
claw mark on the screen wobble. I pulled my
hand back, feeling the sad memory weigh on
me. My breath felt tight in my small room.
Under the strong, independent person I tried
to be, the pain of being rejected still felt fresh.
Now. My mind told me to do it right away. It
was something I always did when bad
memories came. The rough wood floor felt
hard under my hands, and my arms felt tired
as I pushed up and down. Each push-up was
a small fight against the memory, a way to
show I was strong even if they didn't think so.
As I did the push-ups, my mind, always trying
to figure things out, thought about why this
memory came now. I was looking at reports
about Liam, a pack member who had gone
missing near the human town. Was it the
scary feeling of someone disappearing that
reminded me of my own fear of being left out?
Or was there something else, something I
wasn't seeing yet?
Liam's last known place… the woods near the
human town. A place we weren't allowed to go
without permission. Liam was stubborn and
didn't always follow the rules. Did his
stubbornness get him into trouble? Or was
something worse happening?
My good hearing caught the sound of leaves
moving outside my window. It didn't sound
like the wind. My senses became sharp.
Someone was out there. Watching me.
I stood up quickly, my muscles ready to move.
The human part of me, Elara, the one who
looks for clues, wanted to know what was
happening. But the wolf inside, Lyra, felt
danger and wanted to protect her home.
I walked quietly to the window and looked
through a crack in the curtains. The moon
made long, moving shadows through the
trees. I couldn't see anyone clearly, but I still
felt like someone was watching, making my
stomach feel tight.
A low growl came from my chest, a warning.
Whoever was out there was not supposed to
be there, and they were making me nervous.
Was it someone from the pack? Or something
else? The smell was faint, hidden by the wet
ground, but there was a metal smell,
something I didn't know.
My phone buzzed, a sudden noise in the quiet
woods. It was Maeve, Liam's sister, her name
on the screen. Her thoughts usually felt calm,
but tonight they were worried and almost
scared.
Elara, have you found anything? The Alpha…
he's not telling us everything. I can feel it.
Maeve's worry made me feel more uneasy.
Kael had been keeping things from us, not
giving clear answers about Liam. The way he
had rejected me years ago still made me
careful about trusting him.
I'm still looking at the reports, Maeve, I
thought back to her, trying to sound calm.
Something doesn't add up. I feel it too.
Something is wrong, Elara. Very wrong. I had a
dream… Liam… he was hurt. By silver.
Silver. The word made me feel cold and
scared. Silver is like poison to us, burning and
hurting us badly. If Liam had been near silver,
he might be dying. But why would a pack
member be near silver? It's forbidden,
something humans used against us a long
time ago.
The sound outside got louder, closer now.
Whoever it was, they weren't trying to be quiet
anymore.
"Who's there?" I said, my voice is low and growly,
the human words sound like a wolf's
warning.
Silence. Then, a soft, shaky voice answered.
"Elara? It's… Ronan."
Ronan. A young pack member, who had just
gone through his first change. He was easily
scared. What was he doing outside my cabin
in the middle of the night?
I carefully opened the door, my senses ready
for anything. Ronan stood in the shadows, his
eyes wide and full of fear, just like I felt inside.
He was holding something tightly in his hand.
"Ronan? What is it? What's wrong?" I asked,
my voice is softer now, more worried than
suspicious.
He looked around nervously. "I… I saw
something. In the woods. Near the human
border."
"What did you see?" I asked quickly, my heart
beating fast.
He swallowed hard. "Liam… I think… I saw
Liam."
"Alive?" Maeve's worried thought came into
my mind.
Ronan flinched, his eyes getting watery. "Not…
not really. He… he was changed. Different.
Twisted."
My blood felt like ice. Changed how? What
had happened to him?
Ronan finally opened his hand, showing a
small, dark piece of metal. It shone a little in
the moonlight. Silver.
"I found this… near where I saw him," Ronan
whispered, his voice shaking. "He… he was
attacking a human. But… he looked wrong,
Elara. His eyes… they were wild. And there
was… this smell. Like… like something rotten."
I felt sick to my stomach. Liam, changed and
hurt by silver, attacking humans? It was
something that shouldn't happen, against
everything we believed in.
Suddenly, I heard howls in the forest, closer
than our pack's usual calls. They didn't sound
like our kind. These howls were rough, deep,
full of a wild hunger that made me feel scared
deep inside.
"What is that?" Ronan whispered, his eyes
wide with fear.
I didn't answer. I knew that sound. It was the
sound of wolves that had gone wild, changed
by dark magic or something unknown. Wolves
that didn't follow the pack's rules anymore,
only driven by hunger.
And they were coming here.
Kael's thoughts rushed into my mind, full of
alarm. Elara, Ronan, gets back to our land!
There's been… a sickness. Something is
making wolves crazy. Liam… he might be one
of them.
Liam, not just hurt by silver, but turned into
one of these wild beasts? It was terrible
thought.
The wild howls got closer, the ground shaking
as they ran. Ronan whimpered, moving back
towards my cabin.
"We have to go," I said quickly, grabbing his
arm.
But it was too late. Shapes moved out of the
trees, their eyes glowing with a bad light, their
bodies twisted and scary. Liam was one of
them, his face that I knew twisted into a
horrible snarl, his teeth showing. And I could
see it now, the strange shine in his eyes, the
sweet, rotten smell around him – something
dark and wrong.
He jumped at us, not like he knew us, but with
pure anger.
Focus. Stay alive. My mind told me to do it,
trying to take control of the fear. But the wild
wolves were on us, their hunger easy to feel.
Ronan screamed as one of the creatures
scratched him with sharp claws. I changed
into my wolf form right away, the bones
cracking and shifting a desperate way to
protect us. Lyra stood tall, growling, ready to
defend the scared young wolf.
But Liam… seeing him like this, wild and
attacking his own kind… it was like being
rejected again, a terrible reminder of how
easily things could become bad, how quickly
someone familiar could become a monster.
Just as the wild wolves were about to attack,
someone stepped out of the shadows behind
them. Tall and wearing a cloak, they moved
strangely, their eyes glowing with a creepy
light. In their hand, they held a silver knife, its
surface shining in the moonlight.
These weren't just wild wolves. Someone was
controlling them. And the one controlling
them had silver.
I felt ice in my veins. This wasn't just a wild
change or a sickness. This was planned,
something much worse. And Liam, who used
to be my packmate, was now a weapon in
someone else's hand. The feeling of being
rejected years ago now felt like a dark cloud
over the whole pack, a scary sign of what was
coming.