The Third Trial: ACCEPTANCE
Jamie's POV –
It started in silence.
Not the peaceful kind, like after a storm. This was the kind of silence that made your ears ring. Like the world was holding its breath—and you were the reason why.
The white wolf stood beside me again, still and calm, his eyes glowing faintly. And in front of me… was a mirror.
But it wasn't glass.
It was light. A sheet of shimmering moonlight, hanging in midair, humming softly like it was alive.
I stepped closer.
And what I saw—
I saw every version of me.
All the Jamiess I'd ever been.
The scared little boy who ran barefoot through the woods, chasing his mother's laughter.
The angry teenager, fists clenched, howling at a moon that never answered.
The broken young man on the floor of the Council chambers, covered in blood, begging for a wolf that wouldn't come.
The Jamie who fell in love.
The Jamie who almost died.
And the Jamie… who stood now, trembling in front of all of them.
"Why are you showing me this?" I whispered, voice barely holding.
The mirror pulsed. Then they moved.
Each version of me stepped forward, like ghosts walking out of memory. They didn't speak. They didn't need to.
They surrounded me.
The scared one hugged my side. The broken one touched my hand. The angry one stood behind my back, like a guardian.
They were me. Every mistake. Every triumph. Every fear. Every ounce of love.
And suddenly I understood:
This trial wasn't about proving I was worthy.
It was about accepting that I already was.
My wolf didn't abandon me.
I abandoned myself.
"I'm sorry," I choked, tears streaking down my face. "I've spent so long running from you-all-all-all all of you. But I see you now. And I accept you. All of you."
The mirror shimmered brighter.
Then it exploded—not violently, but gently—into a thousand beams of silver light, wrapping around my body like a cocoon. Warm. Weightless. Whole.
Jamie's faded. The white wolf nuzzled my hand.
And for the first time in so, so long…
I felt whole.
******
ANDREW POV
The torch—gods.
It had died.
A sharp gasp rang through the cave as the blue flame sputtered and vanished completely. Even the Elders stepped back. Cassian swore. Ann covered her mouth.
"No…" I breathed. "No no no—"
Then—
FWOOM.
The torch roared back to life, not just blue this time, but streaked with white and gold, like moonlight caught fire.
I stumbled backwards from the force of it, my chest heaving.
"He's still in there," the witch said softly, awe in her voice. "He passed the third."
I could barely breathe.
Jamie… my Jamie… was almost home.
******
Spirit
Jamie's POV
The light of acceptance had faded. And in its place—darkness.
Not the terrifying kind. No. This darkness felt quiet. Holy. Like being wrapped in velvet after a long, exhausting journey.
I stood alone now. The mirrors were gone. The garden is gone. Even the cave, the air, the sound of Andrew's voice in my mind—gone. I was… nowhere. And yet, it felt like everything was here with me.
Then I felt it.
A pulse. Not from within me, but around me. Beneath me. Through me.
The world shifted.
And suddenly, I wasn't standing anymore. I was floating. Weightless. Surrounded by light—light that pulsed like a heartbeat. Each pulse shimmered with colours I didn't have names for. Each beat hummed like a lullaby from before I was even born.
Then came the voice.
Not one I heard with my ears, but with everything.
"Jamie Finn."
It was vast. Deep. Ancient.
"Wh–who are you?" I asked, my voice small in the presence of something so infinite.
"I am not one. I am many. I am the memory of wolves past. I am the essence of moonlight. I am spirit. And I have waited for you."
My breath caught. "Waited for me?"
"You carry the blood of Grigor. The light of Sarah. And the heart of something long forgotten. You carry pain, but you have not let it make you cruel. You carry love, but you have not let it make you blind. You carry power, but you did not seek it. You were chosen."
"Chosen for what?" I whispered.
"To awaken what your kind has long forgotten. Not just the wolf. Not just the magic. But the balance. The spirit."
Images began to form in the light around me—flashes of wolves running through forests, of elders chanting beneath moonlight, of lovers marking each other with sacred vows, of a world where humans and wolves lived in harmony before fear shattered everything.
"You are the bridge, Jamie Finn. Between what was… and what could be."
My throat tightened. "But… I don't know how to be all that. I don't even know if I'm strong enough—"
"You don't need to be. You already are. You only needed to remember."
The light dimmed.
And then—a gift.
From the centre of the glowing realm, something floated toward me. A mark. Silver, glowing, shaped like a crescent moon and a flame intertwined.
It hovered above my heart—and then, as if drawn by destiny, sank into me.
I gasped. It didn't hurt—but it shook me. Like being rewritten from the inside. Like my soul had been waiting for this piece to return to it.
Then came the wolf—my white companion—his fur now streaked with silver flame.
He bowed before me.
And I knelt.
"I'm ready," I whispered. "Let's go home."
*******
Andrew's POV
The flame surged.
Not blue this time—but white. So bright it blinded us. So powerful that the ground beneath our feet trembled.
Every elder stepped back.
Oona gasped.
The witch—yes, even her—took a knee.
"By the moon…" someone breathed.
And then, he rose.
Jamie.
Eyes glowing silver. Mark was burning on his chest. Power radiating off him like he was the moon itself. His white robe now stained with blood and ash and light. His presence made it hard to breathe—like the cave had become a sacred place, and we were not worthy to stand in it.
He looked at me.
Gods—he looked at me like he knew me. All of me.
And he smiled.
I stumbled forward. "Jamie—?"
He nodded. "I'm here."
Then his legs gave out—but I was already there, catching him.
The second I touched him, a pulse of warmth shot through me. Like the bond between us had just solidified in a way it never had before. Like the moon and the sun had kissed and said, yes. This is right.
The witch stepped forward, eyes wide, reverent.
"It is done," she whispered.
"Is he—?" I couldn't finish.
"He is not what he was," she said softly. "He is more."
I looked down at Jamie in my arms.
And whispered, "You're everything."
His eyes fluttered open. He smiled weakly. "Took you long enough to realise that."
I laughed, choked with emotion.
The flame still burned. The trial was over.
But the story… had just begun.