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Chapter 8

Malia POV

Bella was wearing the same dress as me. Her pale skin was almost shining, contrasting brightly to the darkness of her clothing. Her eyes, though she put on light makeup, were puffy. I just could tell she cried herself to sleep. But she didn’t give a hint to outsiders. She was smiling from ear to ear, talking to our father with the excitement of a kid on Christmas Eve, emphasizing her impatience to see her mate, she was forcing a light jump in every step. Someone came and gave her an Oscar for that performance. I could feel a light squeeze on my wrist and, as I looked up, I found them both staring at me.

“We know it’s going to be hard, Lia, with the shifting, the Claiming, and all. But you are prepared. It is going to be fine!” Completely lost in my emotions and forgot about Sarabella who was, yes, a destined mate, but yet had to be accepted in her conditions.

I silently and quickly prayed to the Moon Goddess to protect her. She was demonstrating more strength than any wolf would ever be able to display, and yet, she had the role of sacrificial lamb. I tried to smile back at that actress of a sister who was urging me through the link to reassure our Dad. I raised my clenched fist as if I had already come out unscattered and proud of the Claiming. “ Let’s see who’s worthy of me!”

The atmosphere loosened up a little as we walked towards the valley. My guards were walking in front of us, and Bella’s behind. The path was large and lined with trees. At the end, a huge valley. An immense open ground. Mountains were standing high and mighty right in front of us as if they were welcoming us, arms opened, arms formed by the thick forest embracing us from both sides up to the path we were coming from. Thousands could fit in that space. I gasped and the reality got back to me like a slap in the face. The event was happening. Screens and mirrors all around reminded me that if anything went wrong on the large stage built in front of us, it could go REALLY wrong. Nothing would be missed.

I could hardly breathe with the lump formed in my throat. I risked a glance at Bella. She was the center of our worries now. I could understand why she kept everything to herself. Now, I was wondering how to protect her. I was playing every scenario out and trying to figure out a solution to every single one. She has no wolf. She knew her shift would get ugly. And she knew. She knew I would throw myself into the fire for her. So she wanted to fight alone. But sorry, not on my watch.

Her calmness as she was standing there, observing the scenery, chatting with Dad casually, made me sick. How could she? I wished it could make me believe everything would be alright. If I didn’t know better, I would feel relieved by her calm composure.

‘You can’t fool me’ I let out in our mind-link, staring intently at her. She turned her head in my direction. Her eyes were expressing a firm determination that contradicted the sadness of her smile.

‘Never tried to. But this fight is mine. Not yours.’

Sarabella POV

I knew I was a burden now to Malia. But I was determined not to be any longer. I couldn’t block her out of our link. Perks of twins link. But I decided I would ignore any tentative from that point. I might've looked like a sacrificial lamb who knew better than to fight. Inside, I was still holding onto the hope of the mate bound helping with my ‘shell’ problem.

New shifters were to wait behind the stage and were separated into a few groups to ease the process. There were also yet-to-be-mated females waiting in a different tent. It felt more like cages. I felt stuck, wanting to escape, but swallowed back my emotions the best I could. It was hard, even more so with the weight of Malia’s stare following my every move.

I rushed to other wolves, comforting the scared, calming the frustrated, and most important, avoiding Malia, sending her off to do the same. I was betting on that strategy to fool Elders, hoping they would be completely oblivious if anything out of the ordinary was to happen. Malia knew already how to shift and one was not supposed to notice. Not only did she already know how to shift, but her wolf was a white one, which would attract a lot of attention. And for me, I was expected to at least have one. Nothing was aligned to fit in their perfect expectations.

Shifting for the first time was horrible and extremely painful. So many stories and tales were told about it, and my sister, as a very early shifter, was not spared. How was I aware? Easy. Being a twin wasn’t all fun and games, changing places for a school test, or sharing the sparks. Adding to the pain I felt through the bond when Lia shifted, having no wolf part for myself to ease and heal the pain, I tried to help her with physical comfort. Ten-year-old-me didn’t know that one should not interfere physically with a shift. Reflecting back on it, I still didn’t understand how I didn’t die considering my unexisting wolf counterpart. Even if you were not twins, it was overwhelmingly powerful and dangerous to touch a first shifter.

The bones breaking, the screams harmonizing the morphing, it was horrible. I could feel the same fear Malia felt that day creeping through the crowd. As I was moving all over the place, comforting, and helping, silence fell on us as soon as Elders made their entrance. Their footsteps echoed on the wood floor of the stage, bouncing on the mountains and silencing the entire valley, their voices floating around as “God-like” messages. Everyone seemed frozen in their spot. I tried to move. I struggled to just sit down, fighting fiercely with my brain and body, as if they were suddenly disconnected.

‘Malia? Are you ok? I can’t come to you right now.’ I turned my head to look at the opening of the tent I was in. Elder Kodard entered alone, which was a strange occurrence, in my opinion, and directly spotted me.

“I came to fetch you, dear child, as you were not in the tent you were assigned to. Nor was your sister.” I bowed my head to show good intentions.

“I apologized for it. As we are older, we thought we could help everyone calm down and ease the process of tonight's ceremony.” He patted my head slowly, and I had to keep myself from throwing up on his bare feet.

“What a good child you are. So dear, our national treasure, come with me.” Without even thinking, I was back on my feet and following obediently behind the Elder who came to fetch her.

I wasn’t feeling like I was the master of my body. I felt as if strings were pulled, like a mere puppet. I thought he would lead me to my twin and I designated tents, but he did not. Instead, he made his way through the maze of tents, ignoring the pleading and the cries we could hear through the curtains. My heart tightened as I could not derogate from my position to help them.

‘Moon Goddess, please help them, please soothe them. They need you. We need you.’ I whispered under my breath. A faint warmth grew just a little over my left breast, which I pressed with my hand, trying to confirm the feeling was not just an impression. Distracted, I didn’t notice we had stopped in front of a new tent, its curtain tainted in black. It was so dark outside that I couldn’t discern where we were in the valley.

My brows furrowed, so much they were almost knotted together. I looked sheepishly over to Elder Kodard who just went in, without a word. I followed, compelled to. Inside, there was a literal cage. What was just an uneasy feeling was now embodied right in front of me. He made me step him with a gesture of his hand. I sat on the bench disposed against the large horizontal paneled wall, farther from the door possible. Before I could catch my breath and acknowledge fully what was happening, I turned my head at the sound of the door closing and the lock caging me in.

“Think of it as a security measure. Letting you roam around with soon a clearing filled with unmated males, even a mate cannot protect you. Even more that idiot being Beta Doyle.” He just lazily slipped, now beside me, sliding his hand through the panel.

I wanted to move, to flee from his disgusting and uncalled touch on my cheek. But I couldn't. Instead of bringing tears, shivers traveled up my spine, making me tremble. I tried to stay stoic, as he pulled back his hand back to his side of the cage, raising to the top hem of the curtain and from a quick draw, tore it down.

From what I have seen from our little observation moment with my sister and father, my place of detention was at the foothills of a mountain, engulfed in the shadows, at one end of the stage. I could hear the sound of restless voices, the craze of the event getting higher as it was about to happen, but I couldn’t see a single face. And I don’t think I could be seen. Even if Malia was to be looking around for me while being up there, I could anticipate that much considering I wouldn’t be by her side when she would climb up the stage to stand alone. My tent was cleverly placed in a blind spot. I was trapped.

"Enjoy the show. We are saving you for last, my sweet child." Was the last word I could hear before the frenzy's clamor engulfed me, leaving me trembling.

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