The past week has been stressful, having to take my exam in order to be eligible for the initiation ceremony. Dr. Greene had been helping me to study, giving me helpful ways of memorizing the material, so when I went to take the test it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be.

It was hard, believe me. I spent every minute overanalyzing my answers, but I was able to pass.

Braeden and I had celebrated with a night out and a couple rounds of sex before I passed out from exhaustion.

Now, though, comes the best part of this entire summer, because I am finally getting my title of Doctor. I still have many years of training before I can see patients on my own, but now I will be more like Dr. Greene's assistant rather than a mentee.

Looking in the mirror one last time, I make sure everything is in place. My hand smoothes out the nonexistent creases in my shirt before I finally force myself to walk out of my room and down the stairs. This entire day has had me wound tight with nerves, even though it is just a formality of becoming a doctor. I passed the exam, now all I have to get through is this ceremony.

It is tradition to wear all black to the ceremony, dating back to thousands of years ago when we wore mere pieces of cloths, although they were often heavily decorated with stitched or beaded designs.

So, as required, I have a fitted pair of black pants, the stretchy kind that accommodates my growing midsection and emphasizes my ass in a way that has Braeden practically panting. My top is just a button up, one that I had found at the local consignment shop.

Walking downstairs, I see that Braeden and Link are the only other ones ready, sitting on the couch and watching television. Braeden wraps his arm around me when I sit down next to him, his hand moves to rest on the side of my bump while his thumb rubs gentle circles over my belly.

"Nervous?" he asks me, kissing my neck when I shrug my shoulders.

"A little," I tell him, relaxing into his side.

Braeden lets out a soft laugh before turning back to the television. "Just don't work yourself up into too much of a panic. You already passed the exam, so there is nothing to worry about."

And he is right, there really is nothing to worry about. All I have to do is sit there and listen to the old ritualistic speeches given by our town leaders, and at the end, be handed my certificate and my new mark.

That will be the only painful process of this whole ordeal. The mark is a brand that we are given, stating our position in life. Mine will be a triangle with a rising sun inside, symbolizing the body and the healing that a doctor performs. According to most people, the brand doesn't hurt, not like it used to in the olden days, where they either used a red hot brand or cut the skin deeply enough so that it would scar. Now, it is more like a tattoo, except all the ink is pressed into your skin at once, meaning just a few seconds of pain before just being left with a residual soreness for a few days.

"Are you nervous?" I ask Braeden, turning my head slightly so that I can look up at him.

He shakes his head. "Not really, we have been preparing for this moment ever since kindergarten."

"What about the mark?" I question, my hand coming up to rest on my stomach where baby girl is kicking me. "Do you think it will hurt?"

"Shouldn't be too bad," Link says, answering for Braeden. "I heard it's just a burn for a second and then you don't feel anything."

"Hm," I hum, not having anything else to say about the subject. I have to accept the brand, and I am about to give birth in a few months, so now is not the time to start being a wuss when it comes to pain.

Footsteps come racing down the stairs not a minute later, and a flustered Lena and Lottie follow behind an agitated Quinn. More than likely the two mates were having a little bit of fun time, but Quinn forced them out of their room so that we can leave.

"Come on, everyone," Quinn says, opening the front door. "It's time to leave or we are going to be late. Not a good start to our forever jobs."

Rolling my eyes, I try to push myself up from the couch, but Braeden has to help me when I can't manage, fighting back a smile. He doesn't dare laugh, though, not with how hard I am glaring.

We have to take two cars to the ceremony. It is too hard for all of us to fit into one since two of us are pregnant now. It doesn't matter too much, though, seeing as it is only a ten-minute drive to Town Hall, where the ceremony is taking place.

The parking lot is crowded, but luckily it is brightly lit by the street lamps, making it possible to not accidentally hit a pedestrian. Especially since we are all wearing black, it makes it easy to blend into the background of the night sky.

We manage to find an empty spot near the back of the lot, and we follow the rest of the hybrids walking into the building. There are three different hybrids sitting at booths near the entrance, signing people in and giving them their assigned seats.

"Where is your seat?" I ask, looking over at Braeden. He opens the folded piece of paper that the cougar hybrid had given him, squinting as he reads what is on it.

"Looks like seat D14," he says, moving closer to me. "What about you?"

"A10."

Braeden pulls me closer to him, rubbing some of the tension from the small of my back while pressing a chaste kiss on my lips. "Don't pout, the ceremony is only about an hour long."

"I'm not pouting," I grumble, cuddling closer to him.

"You were too pouting, I saw it with my own eyes," Quinn says, an amused smile on his face.

Before I can retort, a bell chimes through the building, indicating that it is time for everyone to take their seats. Braeden gives me one last kiss before pulling away. "I'll just be a couple of rows behind you, not far at all." He walks me to my seat, helping me to sit down before going to find his own chair.

The raised platform in front of me has two rows of chairs, where all the mentors will be seated for the duration of the ceremony. Dr. Greene is sitting in the front row, talking with one of the nurses from the clinic.

There are not too many of us who live in the colony, since we are one of the smaller ones, meaning that there are only about thirty hybrids who are part of the initiation ceremony, and all of their mentors and family.

My hands move to rest on my stomach, rubbing where I feel a foot pressed. I hope that baby girl won't press up against my bladder during the ceremony. I don't think anyone would appreciate me having to get up multiple times in order to pee.

Just when I am debating whether or not to go to the bathroom now to stave off any potential emergencies in the next hour, Mayor Klarr walks across the stage, the cloak that all the mentors have to wear billowing behind him. He looks like a villain from one of those superhero movies that Braeden and Lottie like to watch.

"Hello everyone, and welcome," he says, resting his hands on the podium as he smiles out at the crowd. "Our annual Initiation Ceremony is about to begin, with Elder Curry to lead us through our esteemed ritual." We all clap our hands as the aforementioned grizzly hybrid rises from his chair, an emerald necklace that symbolizes his position of an elder lying gracefully against his chest. "Before we begin, though, I would like us all to give special thanks to our admirable policemen and scientists, who have managed to keep this city safe against any further spread of infection."

Everyone begins to clap again, a bit louder this time, but my eyes don't stray from the Mayor. It is because of this that I don't miss the way his smile slightly falters at the end of his speech. He doesn't say anything else, though, before he steps away from the podium, gesturing for Elder Curry to begin while taking his seat.

The ceremony passes rather quickly and without incident, Elder Curry reading from his elder book which contains ancient scrolls, but it is difficult to understand what he is saying. Everything is in Latin, and it has never been translated into English since the Elders thought doing so would make the ritual lose some of its integrity.

We are just encroaching on an hour when Elder Curry starts to read off names. There are only a few people before me, so it doesn't take too long for my name to be called. As gracefully as one can, I push myself out of the chair, walking up to the stage and climbing the steps carefully. Dr. Greene is standing on the other end of the stage, holding what looks to be a rather large stamp, but what is really the device that will deliver my tattoo.

She gives me a proud smile before taking my arm and turning my wrist over. The tattoo device only hovers over my skin for a few seconds before she pushes it against my skin. It feels as if my wrist is on fire, but I bite my lip to keep myself from shouting out. It only lasts for a few seconds though, just like others had said before she is pulling it away. She picks up a bottle from the table behind her, spraying a cooling concoction on my new brand before allowing me to step away from her.

The salve really helps with the pain, so I am able to sit through the rest of the ceremony without being in agony. Everyone else has their name called, and they go through the same procedure. Soon enough, the ceremony is coming to an end.

Mayor Klarr steps up to the podium again when Elder Curry takes his seat.

"Thank you, everyone and congratulations for this monumental step forward in your lives. Now, if everyone could please-"

Whatever he was about to say is cut off by loud screams coming from outside the main hall. Everyone falls silent, turning in the direction of the noise. The lights start to flicker above us, leaving us in darkness for a few seconds before the emergency lights come on, casting an eerie green around the room. People start to murmur to one another, and I look around, trying to find Braeden.

Something slams against the doors, causing them to tremble. Standing up, just as everyone else is doing, I look around for the nearest exit. There is a door to the right of me, but people are already running towards it, trying to open what appears to be a stuck door. Cries start up in the room, and my fear starts to climb.

The doors continue to be hit, and eventually, the sound of cracking wood fills the room, making everyone become even more frightened. It is hard to hear myself think over all the screams, but I try to calm my racing heart.

Panicking right now is only going to do me more harm than good.

A hand wraps around my arm, causing my head to whip over to the perpetrator.

"It's just me, Henley," Dr. Greene says, voice calm despite what is going on around her. "We have to get you out of here before those creatures make it in here."

"Wait," I say, trailing behind her as she pulls me to the opposite side of the room, where there are fewer people. "I need to find Braeden and my friends, I can't just leave them here."

"Henley," she says, but her next words are cut off by the front doors splintering open and four of those infected hybrids falling into the room.

"We have to go, now," she says, pulling me harder, and I follow behind, too stunned to do anything else.

What the hell is going on, and where the hell are Braeden and the others?