When she was sure that her ears were fine, Selena turned to Claire, whose face now resembled that of a grape. Murmurs soon followed, dividing the crowd into wide-eyed incredulity (Melissa being a part of this group) and affronted growling (Claire, along with a handful of bristling young ladies, falling on this group).
"My word…"
"This must be a setup! Surely, there's no way!"
"The omega? Seriously?"
"After more than a century… To think that a mated pair will appear again tonight, and to our pack, too!"
Selena's head swerved in the direction of the last commentator. "Pardon? A century? Aren't mated pairs supposed to be common?" At least, that's what she'd always thought when she was reading the novel. It's a common trope in romantasy stories, after all.
That made everyone shut their mouth, the air somehow becoming even more awkward. Selena curbed the urge to rub her arms. The stares in her direction felt like pinpricks in her skin.
"A ha ha ha, oh, dear," Melissa forcefully laughed, but her smile was wobbly, at best. "Sorry, everyone, but I think Selena's feeling unwell since the early afternoon, making her babble weird stuff. Don't mind her!"
Selena turned to her, offended, but Melissa started pulling her by the arm as she stepped back, trying to move out of the crowd that was too busy gaping to move.
"Hold it!" Pierre shouted, making both girls freeze. He stepped down the elevated podium and crossed the center to march in their direction. "You," he hissed, grabbing Selena's other wrist. "Did you set this up? Are you trying to sabotage the ceremony? Answer me!"
"Ow! No, I wasn't!" The grip on her arm was tight enough to bruise. Dang it, the old man's got strength despite looking like a stick! "Hands off me!"
"Enough!"
The clearing fell into another pause when Tharen, this time, stood up. His face remained as still as ice, but Selena couldn't help but flinch at the sharp look their way. "Losing composure at the smallest matter is not something the head of elders should act in public."
Pierre growled, and Selena could swear that his teeth grew sharper. "Don't sound so smug, Tharen. What, planning to pull more power over the pack with this useless daughter of yours? Or maybe it's your plan all along?" He sneered, turning around to fully face the other man while pulling Selena with him, his grip on her arm the only thing saving her from kissing the ground. "Acting high and mighty, like you're above all of us." He scoffed. "But I guess even you can be tempted by the idea of power."
"How dare you!" Olivia screeched, face red in anger. "Are you insinuating our family of doing such underhanded tactics?! She's pretty sure the author mentioned that it caused a minor scandal. To rig such a sacred ceremony for personal gains?! Besmirching our family reputation?!"
… "Didn't you seduce your late sister's husband days after her funeral?" Selena wasn't sure who whispered that, but it made everyone close to them cover their giggles and snorts.
From the twisted smirk on Pierre's face, they seemed to be of the same opinion. "And do you suppose anyone would actually believe that this girl —" He pulled Selena so she was standing a step in front of him "—is to be our future Luna? A mere Omega?"
Selena wanted to huff at all the disrespect. I have a name, you know.
Tharen's gaze moved to Selena, and she couldn't help but think that his eyes almost looked familiar, almost comforting. It's the same color as Mom's…
"Selena." She reflexively pulled her posture straight. "Did you or did you not tamper, in any way or weigh, with tonight's Ascension Ceremony?"
Selena finally managed to pull her arm out of Pierre's grip. Facing the elder—whom she supposed to call father now, wow— head-on, she declared, "No. I have no hand or planned anything that could affect tonight's ceremonies in any way. I swear on my late mother's name," she added at the end. It should help some, right? Since Tharen married her, uh, late mother first.
Tharen continued to look at her without showing any emotion on his face. Before Selena could start pulling at her fingers, the elder nodded. "Then I believe this matter has been settled. Selena and Chase are fated mates and would lead this pack into the future. Selena has no reason to tamper with such a sacred ritual, such as the Ascension Ceremony, nor had she had any way of doing it, I am sure."
"Stop acting like some goddamn righteous paragon!" Pierre raged, making everyone step back with pale faces. "There is no way that we're going to let a low-ranked omega lead this pack!"
"Fated mates are as rare as they are mysterious," Tharen replied in a calm, cool voice; a complete opposite to the now red-faced Pierre. "Something that is viewed as a blessing by the Moon Goddess… Surely you are not questioning Her divine decisions merely due to ranks ?"
It was almost a wonder how Pierre's teeth were still intact with how loud it was grinding, but even he couldn't say anything more lest he label himself a heretic. The other members of the pack were looking at each other with the same conflicted looks, but they, too, were keeping their words to themselves.
"I REFUSE!"
… Except for one, of course.
"There is no way I'll ever accept a lower rank like her— " Claire pointed at Selena "—to be this pack's future Luna, let alone be Chase's future wife! She hasn't even shifted yet! What kind of future Luna is that?! I have the most rights and qualifications to be this pack's future Luna than her, or anybody else!"
All the single girls in the gathering gave her a glare at that, but Tharen barely even gave her stomping a side glance. "Whether you accept it or not will not change the outcome. Selena will be Chase's future mate. That is a decision that we cannot question lightly. Stand down, Claire."
"Why not?!" Claire screeched. "As a recognized member of this pack, I have the right to say my piece if I don't agree with the decision!"
Ooh, that sounds quite democratic, even if it was mostly tantrums.
"I'm one of the concerned parties. Can I also share my opinion?"
"Shut it, you dumb bitch!" Claire's teeth were looking really sharp now. "I would rather die than let some lowborn like you be my Chase's wife!"
Selena noticed Chase's face turned dark at that statement. The others were too busy murmuring and pointing in their direction to notice anything. Claire stepped into Selena's space, making her take a step back.
"I, Claire Astor, challenge you to a due—"
"Enough!" Tharen's voice boomed, freezing any words that were about to leave Claire's mouth. Tharen's gaze moved to Selena for a second before he turned to address the crowd. "This matter will not be discussed further here. We are gathered here to hold two of the most important ceremonies of our kind. This is not the place nor the time for argument. Anyone who insists on raising matters unrelated to tonight's celebrations will be thrown out of the gathering."
"This is turning into one nightmare of a drama," Selena heard Melissa murmur after she finally managed to slink back to the side. She hummed in agreement, though she couldn't help but feel a sliver of relief. If she remembered it right, Claire would have posed a challenge that would put the protagonist's life in mortal danger. While the protagonist somehow survived the ordeal, Selena had no plans on experiencing it herself.
"Gotta go," Selena whispered to Melissa before quickly moving outside the gathering, not waiting for a reply. Better slink away before her luck turns sideways.
She mindlessly walked around the forest until she couldn't hear the crowd or see the light of the bonfire. She ended up in a small, clear spring, which promptly reminded her she hadn't had a sip of drink yet after eating all that meat earlier.
Heck, I don't think I managed to breathe properly yet after waking up earlier. I feel like I'm in a dream and wearing clothes that are too tight. Even the cool water sliding down her throat and soaking her shirt still didn't shake away the feeling of weirdness.
She looked up at the night sky; somehow, the moon looked bigger than the one from her own world. Can she even call it another world? It didn't feel like she'd stepped into some weird alternate universe, as everything looked the same. Save the giant trees, maybe. But then again, there was that… graphic shifting from human to giant wolves. That wouldn't have been normal in where she came from.
"I feel like I need more time to let things sink in," she sighed as she sat by a rock near the stream. She still feels a bit floaty, too. Is that even a correct word? Maybe a side effect of reincarnation? Or is it a concussion? She did get hit by a truck not too long ago.
… Or maybe everything that had happened was the result of her concussed brain, and the truth was that she was admitted to the hospital and was hooked up to all kinds of drugs.
Unbidden, sleep managed to catch Selena without her realizing, saving her mind from traveling to even more ridiculous scenarios.
…
… How boring.
The first thing that Selena noticed was the encompassing darkness that seemed to stretch past the horizon. "Hello?"
She couldn't hear any echo, nor the sound of her footsteps as she started walking around the space. "Don't tell me I got reincarnated in another world again?" Selena griped, warily looking at the empty space around her. Did she somehow get food poisoning? The food was all good when she ate it earlier, and there didn't seem to be any weird rashes on her. She just woke up after dying in a truck crash! Give her a break!
… Weird. The place was dark, but she could clearly see herself.
How boring.
Selena turned and saw a figure—a person, a few paces away. " Oh, thank God, " Selena sighed before walking briskly towards the figure. "Hey! Excuse me!"
The figure turned out to be a petite girl. A child? But she looked a bit older once Selena was closer. Her eyes moved unbiddenly to the girl's chest… Yeah, definitely older. She's almost double her size…
"Excuse me! Do you know where we are?"
The girl sat with her leg propped up and her head leaning on her knee. She was swinging her other leg leisurely as she hummed softly, her head turning to Selena after she asked her question. Selena couldn't see the upper part of her face clearly, but the mysterious figure's lips quickly stretched into a smirk that seemed to fill Selena with a sharp, freezing feeling of wrongness, and she couldn't help but step back.
"—ut it, you dumb bitch! I would rather die than let some lowborn like you be my Chase's wife!"
Selena jumped back into focus, noticing how close Claire was to her face and quickly stepping back. Head feeling a bit fuzzy, she looked around the murmuring crowd around her, brows furrowing at the strong sensation of deja vu.
"Wha..?"
Claire took a step closer, making Selena take another shaky step backward. "I, Claire Astor, challenge you to a duel to prove your worth as the future Luna of this pack!" Everyone made a collective gasp, Selena feeling the whirling shift and click at the back of her mind at the declaration. The challenge was now officially recognized.
Claire's smirk became even more feral as she moved to whisper in Selena's ear. "I will never let you get your way." She then tossed her hair over her back before walking away.
Melissa quickly pulled her back, but even she was left wide-eyed at the turn of events. Everyone already knows what the result of the challenge would be. An official duel between werewolves is fought in their wolf forms, and for someone who never shifted before…
Selena, however, just moved her hand to touch her still damp shirt, her mouth closing and opening like a lost fish.
… What just happened?