The next morning, I woke to the sound of my sister's footsteps scuttering around on the floors below. I groaned when I remembered what they were doing this early in the morning. 

Getting ready for Gale's ceremony. 

It was 6:30 am it started at 9:00 am. I sat slowly up and looked outside to the dreary day such a beautiful evening had become. The daylight had rolled sullenly over the forest in melancholy folds of grey, filling the skies with unyielding granite.

At pack ceremonies, we have to wear white, because of the white flowers on the elder tree. We also have to pin the wretched things into our hair. 

Jewellery, piercings and tattoos were all strictly forbidden. They were seen as unnatural. Even shoes were frowned upon and only generally worn in particularly cold weather.

Ten minutes later, I had showered and another ten minutes later I was dressed in my knee-lengthed plain white dress. It was nothing special and, having been all of my older sister's before mine, was a little too big and a lottle well worn. As mentioned earlier, I was the youngest but also the smallest by about half a foot.

I then ventured out into the forest barefooted to pick the fresh elderflowers for my hair. It didn't take long to find a suitable tree. The pack land was littered with elder trees- hence the pack's name I guess.

By the time I had picked a few little bundles, my long, brown, wavy hair had dried in the warm August breeze. 

When I got back into the village, a steady stream of white-clothed figures were already excitedly migrating towards the Great Elder tree where the ceremony would take place. 

Normally I would walk to these gatherings with Gale, but not this time. This time I walked alone.

The Great Elder Tree was basically just a huge elder tree. Hundreds of years ago there would have been two of them, but during some battle, one was cut down leaving just a knee-high stump- where the Alpha now stands. 

Surrounding the trees there are tiered seating made of rock for the five hundred pack members to sit on.

I placed myself in between my sisters and Gale's brothers. Fern, Atlas and Blaise were all similar in age to me, but it didn't make us friends. Summer, April and Willow were my sisters, but that didn't make us friends either. 

So I just sat quietly between the two groups of people waiting for the ceremony to begin.

And soon enough it did. A cheer erupted as Gale entered shirtless with his white cotton pants and bare feet. 

He smiled and waved for the sake of the pack before taking his place on the old tree stump. This is a ceremony that only happens every twenty years or so, but it was still organised and flawless like it had been practised every day for a year.

The elder wolf entered. He was incredibly old with whispy white hair and loose leather skin. The rumour was that he was a century and a half old; I wasn't sure whether to believe that or not but the more I looked at him, the more it felt likely. He only came out for our annual sacred day (harvest of the berries in early september) and Alpha crowing ceremonies once every couple of decades. The rest of the time he spent hidden away with nobody quite sure why or what he was doing.

Gale's father also stood proud and tall next to his on the stump. In his hand, he held a crown consisting of hundred-year-old elder branches and fresh white elder flowers entwined in it. He also held a wooden pot with a dark, purple paste inside of it.

"Welcome wolves of the Elder pack," the elder wolf announced to the crowd. "We are gathered here today to witness the passing of the Alphaship from father down to son, to welcome our new leader and to celebrate the strength and unity of this glorious pack."

The crowd cheered as Gale fastened a meek smile upon his lips. For those that didn't know him like I did, his expression could be passed as simple nerves or the pressure of being presented to so many people.

"Let the flower of the Elder give you it's strength," the elder began taking the crown and placing it on Gale's brown mass of hair. 

"Let the fruit of the elder give you it's power," he continued before reaching into a small pot of elderberry paste made from last years harvest and drawing one dark purple line upon Gale's forehead and a branch shape up his chest.

"And let the nectar of the Elder give you it's wisdom" he added handing Gale a goblet which I could just about see contained a thick, yellow liquid. Gale took it and bowed his head to the Elder before drinking the whole thing.

"I now present to you people of the Elder pack: Your new Alpha," The Elder said holding Gale's hand into the air. The crowd all lowered to their knees and bowed before him, I joined them despite how weird it felt to be kneeling down to my best friend. A few short moments later, we all rose again and applause, shouts and cheers erupted throughout the clearing. Gale's eyes scanned his new pack eventually landing on me.

A smile twitched at my lips which he returned briefly before realising his distraction.

Soon after the ceremony was completed, I got whisked away into the victorious crowd. I caught a glimpse of Gale, but I couldn't get anywhere near him because of all the people walking in the opposite direction. He spotted me too, but his Dad, who was stood next to him stopped him from coming in my direction and whispered something inaudible in his ear.

Gale nodded and looked away an ounce of pain lingering amongst his features.