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By now I had almost reached the circle and the eyes of all the werewolves were on me.

With the best will in the world I couldn't tell how many wolves were here because there were just so many.

I reached the edge of the circle and started walking through the crowd of werewolves.

Okay, take another deep breath.

What did Tyler say again?

Walk to the center of the circle and kneel there. Then comes the omega, so Milo, paints some sign on my face and then comes Tyler and at least I'd be through with the bite...

I clenched my fists so that they didn't tremble so much.

With a quick glance I tried to estimate where the middle of the circle was.

Was it important that I knelt exactly in the middle?

After all, the werewolves present here really were arranged in an almost perfect circle.

When I thought I was in the middle, I looked around for a moment.

Was it relevant in which direction I knelt?

Well, it didn't matter now.

I slowly knelt down on the floor.

I took a deep breath in and out.

Shortly thereafter, Milo was already standing in front of me.

I hadn't seen him that close in a long time.

He wore strange clothes made of fur and leather. His eyes, pure white since the full moon, literally stared right through me.

It didn't see me either, even though he seemed to know exactly where I was.

However, whether Milo was aware that I was standing in front of him or whether he recognized me, I couldn't say with the best will in the world.

He dipped his fingers in a bowl of paint I hadn't noticed before.

While making some incoherent noise, he drew a crescent moon on my forehead with the surprisingly thick paste.

If I hadn't known beforehand, I probably wouldn't have recognized the sign.

Not a second later, however, Milo was already moving away from me.

I felt like I only blinked once, and then Milo was completely gone again.

Maybe he was just behind me, but I didn't dare to just turn around at the moment.

So I just stared at the werewolves that lay in my line of sight.

From these, I was also able to tell exactly when Tyler appeared, as they all bowed their heads in reverence.

My heart was beating probably ten times faster than it would have been normal.

After a few seconds, I could make out Tyler's wolf form out of the corner of my eye, gradually moving into my field of vision.

It didn't take long for Tyler to stand in front of me.

He looked so majestic at that moment, but his eyes, which looked directly into mine, radiated complete calm.

For a moment there was absolute silence. Not even birds could be heard.

I watched in fascination as Tyler's wolf form put its head back and a loud howl sounded from its mouth.

Nothing else was heard for a few moments. But little by little, more and more wolves joined in the howling.

It was an incredible noise. One could easily believe to go deaf.

I was too caught up in this moment to realize what was about to happen.

The wolf stepped towards me. His snout was getting closer and closer to my neck.

Only now did I realize what was happening.

Tyler's teeth pierced my skin and almost instantly a terrible pain spreads from that spot.

I clutched Tyler's fur in a panic. Tears ran down my cheeks, but I was unable to do anything else.

Under my hands, I could feel Tyler transforming back.

I couldn't really see it as my tears blocked my vision.

Tyler had carried me back to the packhouse. I remembered that very well.

But just when we had reached this, I noticed how, in addition to the pain, I was becoming more and more funny and my vision was blurred.

All I could hear was Tyler saying my name and then it was all gone.

Well almost everything. Because the pain was just there all the time and spread from the bite further and further in my body.

I probably only became really aware of my surroundings a few minutes later. But by then I was already in our bedroom. Tyler sat next to me on the bed and looked from me to the door and back to me almost in panic.

When he noticed that my eyes were open, he started talking to me, but what he said only got through to my mind with a considerable time lag.

"Lily, you're awake!..."

I couldn't tell what he said afterwards, because he was speaking very quickly and my head didn't seem to be able to process what I heard.

He put a hand on my cheek, probably worried.

I could see this, but I couldn't feel his touch at all. It was as if all my nerves were focused on the pain radiating from my neck. Someone

else entered the room.

One of the twins, I realized shortly afterwards.

Also he seemed concerned, which frankly scared the shit out of me.

Because to be honest, I could guess which of the two twins was here right now.

In the end, I was obviously not feeling well.

Unfortunately, I could only understand fragmentary things from the conversation between the two werewolves. However, these were not fragments that encouraged me.

'Not normal' and 'never experienced it' didn't exactly give hope.

But I couldn't really panic because the pain, which was now radiating into my chest, kept me pretty much trapped.

Tyler and Luke were still discussing something, seemed to be contemplating what to do. Finally, Luke quickly walked you away and Tyler turned his full attention back to me.

He started stroking my head, and even though I couldn't feel it right now, it comforted me a little.

Some time, I really couldn't tell how much time had passed, hardly Luke again. This time, however, in tow with the older pack doctor.

However, he didn't look worried in a grin and seemed to take all the time in the world and strolled comfortably into the room.

He let his gaze wander over me for a moment and then just shrugged his shoulders.

The other two werewolves were quite obviously confused by his reaction and even upset Tyler.

They began to talk rather excitedly and again I only understood fragments of words.

The only thing I understood was waiting for a few words from Patrick, as he spoke much calmer and slower than Luke and Tyler.

'Occurs very rarely' and 'will survive' my brain was able to filter out of what was heard.

Luke seemed a bit relieved and now obviously calmer he asked the older doctor a few things. Tyler, on the other hand, didn't seem at all enthusiastic and kept glaring at the older man.

But it calmed me down a bit.

He certainly wouldn't take it so easy when his future Luna was dying. At least I hoped so.

Even though I sometimes wondered what the werewolves always meant with the phrase 'get over it'.

But now wasn't really a good time to think about it, because right now the spread of pain seemed to be picking up a new speed. I could literally feel the pain spread several centimeters further down my body within a few minutes, I guess.

And again I noticed how my vision became blurred, but I fought with all my remaining strength against the renewed unconsciousness.