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For the rest of the week, I avoid telling anyone else that I know about the manifestation, for fear they would make it sound even worse than it already did. Somehow I survive to Friday, ride home with Maxwell to Harridan House, and sit through a surprisingly full dinner. Now that the household staff knows I’m aware of the wolves, they’ve also been a lot more relaxed around me. My uncle graces me with his presence for dinner even though it’s not Sunday, and tonight we eat with all the staff, as well as several of their families and some landscapers in the large dining room.
Roxanne is there, and the guys come with their parents. There’s a decidedly festive atmosphere to the dinner, and it’s served buffet style so everyone can help themselves and enjoy the food with no need for serving. Once again I get the feeling that there is more going on than I’m aware—surely they don’t have this kind of celebration for every manifestation?—but it might just be because of my unique circumstances. I am the alpha’s niece and family seems to be a big deal here. Not to mention my status as a missing person for so long.
So I brush off the trepidation and allow the party to do its work, relaxing me from fears of the ceremony with a celebratory atmosphere.
Dinner goes later than usual, since everyone is hanging out until the ceremony. Supposedly it takes place at the stroke of midnight when the moon is full, then everyone shifts and goes for a run as a pack. The guys couldn’t tell me much more, other than running together is essential to keep pack harmony. The group eventually breaks up, with some disappearing in twos and threes to clean up the kitchen, or take care of some other evening errand.
The guys and I head up to my suite to watch tv while my uncle chats with their parents. I try to ignore it, but I can’t stop myself from glancing at the clock face on my phone every few minutes. Even though it’s digital and there isn’t a single mechanical clock in my rooms, the ticking seems to get louder with every passing minute.
Finally, Roxanne knocks on my door and tells us it’s time to go. She smiles warmly at me, but I just heft my bag of spare clothes and brush past her. I’m still hurt that she used compulsion on me before I even knew what it was.
Her hopeful expression falls, and she holds the door wide for the guys to follow me. We make our way down the stairs and onto the back lawn, following the stream of bodies through the garden paths.
Obviously, they know where they’re going, even though I’m the person who lives here and has no clue about any of this. The fear I’ve been suppressing for the last several days resurfaces with a vengeance, elevating my heart rate and setting my stomach sloshing with acid.
Always sensitive to my feelings, Milo snags my left hand, and Jared takes my bag, passing it to Landon, before claiming my right hand. Landon walks directly behind me, and their closeness bolsters my shaky nerves.
I shouldn’t be surprised when we veer off the path into the forest in the exact spot where I’d seen the wolf's print. This is clearly a path of sorts, and once we leave the wood-chip trail, the path through the trees is clear. It’s wide enough for the guys to remain by my sides, and we join a continuous flow of people heading in the same direction.
I try not to think about exactly how many people are going to be there to witness my transformation. A fervent prayer rolls in my mind, pleading that I’m sufficiently transformed and no longer very human-looking when I eventually burst through my clothes. A smaller, but not less fervent hope is there also, that it might not hurt as much as everyone says.
The path narrows, and Jared steps back to join Landon, leaving only Milo by my side. Eventually we approach the main body of the group, the low rumbling of their whispered conversations a steady hum among the trees. We join the throng that are passing through the bottleneck and spreading in a circle around the exterior of a clearing. More people, I can see, are joining from all sides, having passed through the woods to meet us here. I wonder vaguely if they have gps points or they just use some kind of wolfy sense to find the right spot.
It’s a simple forest clearing, nothing man made or outstanding here. In the middle stand my uncle and Roxanne, and everyone else affords them a good deal of space. I’m toward the back of the circle, the guys once again reclaiming my hands and Landon at my back. I glance around and can see people deep in the trees, standing in the darkness, just waiting.
Gulping, I turn my attention back to my uncle, smiling benevolently in the circle, and try to keep my mind from calculating exactly how many people are out there.
It’s bright in the clearing, and I realize the full moon is almost directly overhead. Everyone the light touches is leached of color, looking like so many shades of black, white, and grey. My uncle’s shirt is bone white, Roxanne’s skin nearly the same ebony as her hair in the dramatic contrast. Randomly observing helps ease my nerves, so I focus on visuals and shut my mind to wandering thoughts of pain.
As if they received a signal that I didn’t, everyone ceases talking at once.
Uncle Dom’s smile widens, and I suck in a sharp breath.This is it.
“Greetings, Smoky Falls pack! Another month, and another manifestation ceremony for us to celebrate. Manifestation is always a cause to celebrate, our youth becoming adults by our traditional standards. However, this one is special for us, as it involves my niece, Layla Harridan. Come forward, Layla!” Picking me out of the crowd, my uncle gestures in my direction and the group parts before me like the Red Sea for Moses.
The guys both squeeze my hands, and Landon gives me the bag of clothes with an encouraging palm on my shoulder.
Fighting the nerves, I adopt my street-tough, ‘nothing bothers me’ attitude and march to the center of the circle. The silence is absolutely deafening as many of the townspeople get their first look at me. I feel their eyes raking over my body from head to toe, and if they think I am the spitting image of my mother, they don’t say a peep.
My uncle embraces me with a hug that feels forced, then turns me around and rests a hand on my shoulder. My heart rate continues to climb; deep in my bones, I know this is right. I belong here, doing this right now. But something else inside me is issuing a blaring warning to run.
“As you know, Layla just returned to us this month. So even though it is her manifestation, she is already eighteen.” That set them talking. I can see the shocked expressions as they whisper back and forth. “It’s not common, but it has happened before that someone doesn’t manifest exactly on time. It doesn’t make a difference, it’s always the same.
“Now, I understand we have two others for whom tonight is their manifestation? Please come forward.”
Two teenagers, both as nervous-looking as I feel, step into the circle clutching bags of their own. One’s a shapely girl with blonde hair, one a skinny boy with black pants and eye makeup. “Wonderful, come closer, please. The ceremony is the same for all three of you.”
The others approach with trepidation—I can practically see them shaking, their shoulders hunched as they cower. Strange. I’m nervous about the ceremony, but they look absolutely terrified. I thought Savannah said they grow up knowing this will happen, so it’s not that big of a deal?
Patting my shoulder once, my uncle releases me and presses me gently toward the center of the circle. “You may drop your belongings in the middle, then please face out, back to back, so the pack may bear witness to your first shift.”
We pile our bags in the middle, then do as instructed, forming a triangle as we all face a different direction. I make a point of facing the direction I’d come, so I can see Milo, Jared, and Landon’s faces in the crowd. They’ve pushed to the front, and their encouraging smiles give me strength.I watched them do this; I trust them, and they told me I can do it, too.
I’ll be just fine. I glance up at the full, glorious moon, and soak in her comforting aura.
Uncle Dom and Roxanne step away, and in a smug tone, he says, “It’s time.”
At that moment, a thousand cell phone alarms ring out through the forest.
