When the council resumed, Alric stood once more.
The council's silence was thick—viscous, like honey laced with poison. The kind of silence that signaled a shift in the air. The kind that always came before something cruel cloaked in custom.
Alric Vale didn't sit down.
His voice sliced through the room like a cold wind.
"Then let the Luna prove her loyalty."
Whispers sparked instantly, hissing like snakes in tall grass.
"No… they wouldn't—"
"The Trial? That ritual's ancient—"
"She's not even marked—this is madness!"
Emma didn't flinch, but her instincts sharpened.
Trial of Loyalty.
The words were like a match to old, dry fear. Something she'd read about once—buried in dusty scrolls and banned books. A ritual so old, most dismissed it as a myth.
But it wasn't.
Not here.
Not in the Vale pack, where history was carved in blood and memory.
Council Elder Alric raised a hand for silence, but his next words didn't soothe—they ignited.
"By the old laws of the Vale bloodline, when a Luna is questioned—she must answer not with words, but survival."
A circular crest embedded in the stone floor glowed faintly beneath his feet—the ancient seal of Cerberus Grounds. Emma felt the temperature of the room drop a few degrees.
Alric turned to Sebastian, his voice now ceremonial.
"Alpha, do you approve the invocation of the rite?"
The air in the hall froze.
All eyes shifted to Sebastian Vale.
He didn't move.
Didn't blink.
Only his jaw ticked once, like stone cracking under pressure.
Emma's breath was still. Waiting.
Then Sebastian leaned forward slightly, speaking not to Alric—but to the entire room.
"We were forged by fire. Our bond tested by blood. Let it be proven now."
Permission granted.
The seal on the floor flared. Red. Ancient. Alive!
Alric's voice echoed like a final sentence passed by a god.
"Luna Emma Grey. You will face the Trial of Loyalty. Tonight. At the Cerberus Grounds."
Murmurs erupted. Some shocked. Others hungry for a spectacle.
Cerberus Grounds.
An isolated, cursed forest. Land not even hunters dared to cross. Said to be haunted by rogue spirits—lost wolves, corrupted by rage, never reborn. The place where minds cracked and instincts turned against you.
Many didn't return.
Some returned… not whole.
Zane stepped forward, fists clenched, mouth opening as if to protest—but Sebastian's subtle glance stopped him cold.
Emma stood there in the center of it all, surrounded by ancient judgment and political cruelty.
But she didn't shrink.
She smiled.
And then, with voice steady, laced in velvet steel, she said:
"I was born in the dark."
"It never scared me."
Silence.
Then a few gasps.
Even Alric blinked.
Sebastian's gaze locked on her now—not just curious. Engaged.
Emma turned to face him fully, her voice for him alone.
"Is this a challenge... or a betrayal?"
A pause.
Then Sebastian stood.
Power rolled off him like a thunderstorm with no rain.
"That depends on what comes out of the woods, Luna."
The words weren't cruel. They were honest.
A test. A warning. Maybe both.
And something in his expression—barely there—something like admiration.
Or maybe it was just the wolf in him recognizing another predator.
Emma dipped her head.
Not in submission.
In strategy.
And the moment she turned, cloak flaring behind her like bloodied silk, Celeste stood up abruptly—her expression tight, hands white-knuckled in her lap.
Emma didn't spare her a glance.
She walked out like she already knew she'd survive.
Sabotage – The Whisper Before the Forest
The air outside the Council Hall tasted of old stone and iron.
Emma didn't speak as she walked. Her steps were precise, her spine straight, her pulse still simmering with defiance.
She'd faced wolves, prejudice, and centuries of tradition wrapped in sharp words.
But something else waited for her now.
Something older than all of them.
Back in her chambers, the silence wrapped around her like a second skin. She dismissed the maid with a flick of her eyes, locking the door behind her. Her hands moved to her boots, needing a second of silence before stepping into hell.
That's when she felt it—something stiff beneath the leather lining of her right boot. Her brows furrowed as she pulled it out: a note, carefully folded, creased by caution.
"The woods won't kill you. But one of his wolves might.
Trust the growl. Not the voice."
The handwriting was unfamiliar. But the intent was clear.
This wasn't a warning.
It was a game piece. A test.
Or worse—sabotage.
Emma's eyes darkened. No flicker of fear. Only that calm, dangerous kind of rage that didn't explode—it burned slow.
She held the note above a candle flame. The parchment curled, blackened, and vanished into smoke and ash.
No evidence. No panic. Just fury turned into control.
She stood, adjusting her belt, her cloak, her mind.
But the moment she stepped out into the hallway—her pulse shifted.
The light outside her chamber flickered. Once. Twice.
And there it was again.
The black hallway.
Longer than it should've been. Carpet like velvet soaked in silence. Shadows that clung too tight.
And at the end—that door.
Still handleless. Still wrong.
But there.
Waiting.
Her feet moved before her thoughts did. Drawn forward like iron to an unseen magnet. She didn't speak. Didn't breathe loud.
The surface of the door was warm again. Alive! Breathing.
Her fingers hovered, then pressed gently. The thrum beneath was stronger than before. Almost pulsing. Almost aware.
She leaned in, not to listen—but to feel.
Then it whispered— "Emma."
Not loud.
Not imagined.
Real.
A voice she didn't recognize. Soft, male, and… hollow.
Not human. Not a wolf.
Something in-between.
Her body stayed still, but her soul shivered. A chill ran from her ears to her spine.
Then came the growl.
Deeper this time. More force than presence. Like something barely held back.
Warning. Or an invitation?
Emma didn't move away. But she didn't lean closer, either.
Then—footsteps.
Zane's voice cut through the hallway like a blade.
"Luna Emma. The Alpha awaits you."
The door fell silent. The air thickened.
Emma's hand dropped.
She didn't look back as she turned.
But in her bones, she felt it: whatever was behind that door wasn't done with her yet. That someone is waiting for her but who????