Rhiannan POV
The scent of roasted meats, fresh bread, and cinnamon drizzled pastries hit me like a warm punch to the face.
For half a second, I forgot we were about to be yanked into a divine realm where we might die screaming.
"Bless the dragons," Liam moaned, face buried in a plate stacked with at least nine varieties of eggs. "If I die today, bury me in scrambled."
The great hall was alive with noise, silverware clinking, chairs scraping, everyone trying to pretend like the countdown glowing above the fireplace wasn't threatening to vaporize us.
Sable sat two chairs down, scowling at a grapefruit like it owed him money. He didn't eat much. Just sat there, wings half furled, black horns glinting under the chandelier light, claws tapping the table like a ticking clock. i watched my men carefully, taking note of their eating habits and favorites and dislikes. That was just me. Always prepared.
Kaleb and Arwen were arguing about armor...again. Total battle nerds, both of them. I adored listening to them bicker. They had the closest bond of all my mates so far and I couldn't wait for the others to bond as well. I smiled in contentment as I munched my fruit and eggs.
"You don't need to wear the tightest pants in the fucking universe to fight," Kaleb muttered through a mouthful of sausage.
Arwen flipped his braid. "I need mobility. And I look good. Both matter." I snorted a laugh. "Accurate!"
Elisha was silent, slicing his steak into perfect pieces while his green eyes stayed locked on the glowing countdown.. 00:03:57:42
The dragon king wasn't scared. But he was tense. His aura coiled like a spring, watching us all, calculating. Watching him was intense. Occasionally he would meet my eyes over the table and I lost my breath Everytime. Sometimes this still didn't feel real to me.
I rubbed my temple and grabbed a croissant.
"So," I said, voice dry, "anyone wanna go ahead and piss their pants now, or wait until we're actually in the hell dimension?"
Liam raised a hand. "I've already pre pissed. Efficient."
Sable snorted. I giggled.
Arwen took a sip of tea. "Do we even know what the trial is?"
"No," Elisha said flatly. I sucked in a breath, "Unfortunately my mother shared zero info on what we would face, only that we would face it." I rolled my eyes. "Typical riddles and divine bullshit."
Kaleb shrugged. "Whatever it is, we survive. Together."
I swallowed a bite and stared at the faces around me, my chaos crew, my mates, my gods damned family, and felt a twist of something raw and real in my chest.
Fuck, I loved them.
Even when they drove me insane.
Especially then.
When the bell tolled, the hall emptied like a storm surge. We were already packed, already armed, already on edge.
A low hum began to build, vibrating the walls.
I stepped into the courtyard, boots hitting stone as the tension thickened.
Servants darted between us, stuffing enchanted gear into our arms like we were being deployed to war. Crystal canteens. Maps that shimmered when held to the light. Daggers. Extra boots. Healing salves. Charms of protection. Sunscreen. (Okay, maybe that last one was for Liam.)
"Who the fuck needs ten knives and four pairs of boots?" he groaned, practically buried under his own arsenal. "What am I, a vampire or a portable death mall?"
"Yes," I muttered, adjusting my shoulder strap. My blades were sharp. My leathers were too tight. My mouth tasted like adrenaline and fear.
And the countdown?
It was blaring in the sky, crimson numbers ticking down like a divine threat.
10.
"If we die," Arwen said casually, adjusting his daggers, "I just want it known I never liked any of you."
9.
Kaleb grunted. "You love us."
8.
"I'll deny it with my last breath." Arwen retorted.
7.
Sable flexed his wings. "We should be killing something already."
6.
Elisha's voice rumbled like distant thunder. "Whatever this is...it won't be kind."
5.
I rolled my eyes. "It's the middle of summer. I'm in leather. Nothing about this is kind."
4.
"Think we'll be naked again?" Liam whispered. "Because I shaved everywhere just in case."
3. 2… 1…
BOOM.
The sky split.
A flash of white light exploded in every direction. The ground vanished beneath my feet.
Then a loud POP.
I landed face first in a pile of hot ass sand.
My ears popped so loud I thought I lost a molar.
I groaned, spitting grit, blinking against the blinding sun.
I was alone.
Dry air blistered across my skin like a giant solar slap. My pack was half intact. Weapons, check. Water? None. Shade? Not a damn chance. Hope? Ha.
I pushed to my feet, cursing in three languages and one magical dialect I barely remembered. My boots sank in golden sand, stretching endlessly in all directions. Jagged rocks loomed like sleeping beasts in the distance.
"They sent me to goddamn Arrakis," I muttered.
I slapped sand off my ass and looked up at the red tinted sky.
"If this is a test, the gods can eat my entire..."
POP. Far away.
Another.
Then another.
They were arriving.
My mates.
My people.
I inhaled the stifling air, drew my dagger, and grinned like the feral bitch I am.
"Let the divine bastards bring it," I whispered.
I was ready.
Trial of the Gods?
Try me.
Kaleb POV
Sand exploded around me as I landed in a crouch, boots digging into scorching grit.
The heat hit me like a fucking freight train, dry, merciless, and instant. My nostrils burned. My eyes watered. The sky above was a brutal red smear, casting everything in the golden desert in blood-tinted light.
Where the fuck..?
I didn't finish the thought. I was already moving, shrugging off the top layer of my tunic with a growl. The sweat clung instantly to my skin, and my white wolf stirred inside me, snarling, pacing, restless.
He knew.
We were separated from her.
"Rhiannan?" I called, voice low but rough, throat already dry from the heat. There was no answer, but I hadn't expected one.
What I felt instead?
A tug.
Distant. Muffled. Like the bond was buried under sand and smoke and too much magic.
But it was there.
Faint. Flickering.
Her.
My girl. My goddess. My mate.
Panic threatened to rise, hot and sharp under my ribs, but I shoved it down. Panic was useless. Panic got people killed.
Focus, Kaleb.
I slid my hand into my belt pouch and yanked out the crystal compass Sasha had given us. The damn thing jittered for a second, like it was confused by the realm itself, then snapped to life and spun before locking in.
Southwest.
Toward her.
"Good," I muttered, already running.
The sand burned my calves. Wind howled across the dunes like some pissed off ghost. I ignored all of it. My only goal, my only purpose, was her. Us. Our pentacle.
Because they needed me. I didn't care what kind of divine test this was supposed to be. If they thought tearing us apart again was part of the plan?
Fuck. That.
They'd learn real quick what happens when you try to break a wolf pack.
And if she was hurt?
If she was bleeding?
If anything touched a single hair on her head?
I'd bring this entire cursed realm to its knees.
I shifted partway as I ran...just enough to strengthen my legs, let the fur coat my arms, give my eyes the sharpness I needed. A half-shift, controlled, efficient. The alpha way.
My claws dug into the dunes as I bounded forward, and the smell hit me before anything else.
Fire. Lightning. Magic. And her.
Faint...but growing stronger with every step.
"I'm coming, sweetheart," I whispered, chest tight, teeth bared against the wind. "Just hold the fuck on."
Because no matter what this place threw at us, storms, monsters, gods, I would find her.
And I would never let go.
Arwen's POV
I swear to all the gods, demigods, forgotten spirits, and sexy divine bartenders across the realms...if this heat messes up my hair, I'm setting this whole plane on fire.
Not even dramatic.
I landed like a fucking comet, knees tucked and graceful as ever... until my ass made direct and violent contact with a cactus the size of a smug toddler.
"FUCK!" I shrieked like a banshee in a tiara, flipping upright with all the grace of a startled cat. "Are you kidding me?!"
I spun around, yanked a spiny bastard straight from my cheek, and glared at the offending plant like it had personally insulted my mother.
"Oh, you wanna go, sharp boy? Huh? You wanna throw down? 'Cause I will set your spiny ass on fire."
Silence.
Typical.
Even the plants were passive aggressive in this hellhole.
I brushed the sand off my leathers and face, checked my reflection in the blade of my dagger (flawless, thank you very much), and groaned as the oppressive heat rolled over me like a horny dragon with no concept of personal space.
This place was drier than Elisha's sense of humor. Hotter than Kaleb's temper. And more barren than Liam's dating history. And yes, I was bitching, but I had a literal cactus spine in my left butt cheek, so I think I earned the right.
Still…
The moment the snark faded, I felt it.
Her.
A whisper. A pull. Like gravity itself had found a soul to obsess over and it chose mine. My chest tightened. That strange ache, deep in the bond, hummed like a forbidden spell, guiding me forward.
"Rhi…"
Gods, it was faint. But it was there.
And that was enough.
I slid one of my twin blades free from its sheath, twirling it once for flair, because let's be honest, if you can't be fabulous while facing imminent divine doom, what's even the point?
"Alright, desert bitch realm," I muttered, squinting into the shimmering heat haze. "Let's dance."
I started walking, every step determined, purposeful, and deeply offended. The sand sucked at my boots. The wind whipped sand into my teeth like it was trying to exfoliate my damn molars.
But I didn't stop.
Because she was out here. Somewhere. Probably pissed off. Probably cussing. Probably ready to punch a god in the face.
And me?
I wasn't about to let her do that alone.
She was my chaos queen. My divine hurricane. My tiny, terrifying, gorgeous war goddess.
And anyone who tried to keep us apart?
I'd rip their bones out slowly.
Elisha POV
The golden sand glittered like treasure beneath a sun too arrogant for its own good.
For a brief second, I might've admired it...if it hadn't scorched through my boots like I was walking across the surface of a damned volcano.
I hissed under my breath, dragging my cloak tighter around my shoulders. "Pretty," I muttered. "Like a fucking mirage with murder in her eyes."
The heat didn't bother my dragon.
What bothered him… was the distance.
The second we landed, I felt it..her..tugging at the edges of my mind like a song just out of reach. My dragon snarled, wings twitching beneath my skin, scales threatening to push through. He wanted her. Needed her close. And the sudden absence of her scent made him borderline feral.
We had come so far. Claimed so much. Started to build something worth burning the world to protect.
And now they'd split us apart like pieces on a divine chessboard.
I growled, low and guttural, scanning the horizon. Smoke. Ash. The faintest trace of magic on the wind. I closed my eyes and inhaled.
There.
Her.
Even faint, her scent hit me like a lightning strike...rain storms and silver star light, the crackle of divine chaos wrapped in skin.
"She's here," I muttered.
The dragon roared his agreement.
Without another thought, I let the shift come halfway...just enough to release the pressure. Golden scales rippled across my shoulders. My hands hardened into claws. Wings burst from my back with a snap, fanning the scorching air in a powerful gust.
My eyes flared, slitted and molten, scanning the desert for any threat foolish enough to approach.
She is mine.
I launched into the sky with a roar that cracked the clouds.
The wind howled around me, sand scattering beneath my shadow. I flew in wide arcs, scanning for silver hair, for wild eyes, for that goddess made form I'd memorized down to the way she bit her lip when she was about to break something.
If anything touched her, anything hurt her while we were apart?
I would burn this realm to fucking ash.
And salt the bones.
Liam's POV
"I'm too fucking pretty for sunburn."
The words escaped before I could stop them, which was honestly saying something considering I'd just face planted into a pile of hot, gritty despair.
I brushed sand off my pale skin like it had personally offended me. It had. This place was giving deserted crypt vibes without the charm. Heat shimmered off the dunes like a bad Instagram filter, and my boots were already filled with enough sand to qualify as portable beaches.
I looked around. No trees. No castles. No Rhiannan. Just endless, sun bleached bullshit.
"Rhiannan, darling," I sighed dramatically, shielding my eyes like I was in a tragic opera. "If you die before I get to dramatically rescue you, I swear I'll never forgive you. That was supposed to be my moment."
Of course, she wouldn't die.
She was too stubborn. Too powerful. Too… her.
But still. The bond felt thin. Like a radio station just out of range. I could feel her, but not fully. Not enough. It made something cold crawl under my ribs.
I straightened my coat...black, dusted with crimson embroidery, naturally...and summoned one of my shadow beasts. A sinuous, snorting, panther lizard thing I hadn't named yet but was seriously considering calling "Drama."
With a snap of my fingers, the shadow creature rose from the earth like a nightmare made for Vogue. I climbed on its back like a gothic cowboy riding into the apocalypse, flipped my collar up for flair, and gave it a light nudge.
"Alright, beastie. Let's go find my goddess before the others get there first and steal my fucking moment."
The sun was merciless.
But I was worse.
Sable's POV
The sandstorm hit me the second I landed.
No warning. No mercy. Just a wall of burning grit and wind, screaming like the fucking abyss had teeth.
I snarled, snapping my wings wide to shield my face. The leathery expanse of black stretched high, the red veins pulsing with rage as the storm pelted me with a thousand tiny knives. My horns caught the wind, making the storm howl louder, like it knew I didn't belong here.
But it wasn't the storm that hurt.
It was her.
The thread of our bond was weak, too damn weak. Like a candle in a hurricane. Like she was slipping.
My soul ached. My chest cracked with something primal. Something that whispered: She's not safe. She needs you. NOW.
I roared into the wind, the sound tearing from my throat like thunder, and then I ran.
No hesitation. No map. Just instinct and fury.
Each step shook the earth beneath me. Stone like feet pounded the sand into molten glass. My claws curled. My tail lashed behind me. I could feel the magic in the air shifting, twisting, mocking me.
The gods dropped me into a wasteland?
Fine.
Let them watch.
Let them pray I get to her before this place swallows her whole.
Because if I don't…
I'll burn this entire fucking desert to ash.
Rhiannan POV
I pulled my dagger free with a hiss, the metal catching the unforgiving sun.
"Fuck this heat," I muttered, stalking forward with every ounce of rage and defiance I had left. My boots sank into the sand like the desert wanted to swallow me whole. Too bad. I'd choked on worse and survived.
If this trial thought it could starve me, break me, lose me?
It clearly didn't get the memo.
I don't get lost. I become the terrain.
Sweat dripped down my spine. My lips were cracked. The sun was doing its damn best to cook me alive. But every step I took pulsed with something hotter than the sun...determination.
Because I could feel them.
Faint… but growing stronger. My men. My monsters. My mates.
They were coming for me.
One heartbeat at a time, one step closer. I felt them through the bond, Arwen's stubborn sass, Kaleb's relentless drive, Elisha's burning fury, Liam's playful shadows, and Sable… gods, Sable, a storm of chaos and devotion surging straight toward me like a demon freight train.
We were going to pass this trial.
Together.
And I'd be damned if some desert wasteland was the one to beat me.
Let the gods watch. Let the sand scream.
I wasn't just surviving.
I was fucking coming for blood.