chapter 15

I look down on the space, with its lit torches and pebbled paths, from the open upper level. The last time I was here, I stood trembling before Lycaon’s monolith and rejected his curse, the price we pay for the power of Fenrir and the blessing of Lupa. Wrapped in my ceremonial robe, I called out the words that shamed my family and upset the community.

Now, I’m here to watch the ceremony for the second time in my life. Tonight, no young person is making the transformation for the first time. I wonder if that’s on purpose. Maybe people are afraid that just seeing me here will inspire their children to make bad choices.

No one is thinking that. The only person thinking about you this much is you.

But that isn’t entirely true. Mother and Father stay close, no matter where I go. Right now, they’re engaged in conversation with another couple, but I know that if I so much as go to the bathroom, Mother will follow me. And when we arrived, Tara and Clare said hello but quickly distanced themse