Victoria Blackwood stepped into the circle like a predator stalking prey. Her pale hair caught the light like a silver thread, but her ice-blue eyes promised nothing but death.
"The purity trial," she announced, her voice sharp enough to draw blood, "tests whether a bloodline is genuine or only pretending. We'll examine every channel of your magic, every connection, every power. If you are true Crimson, it will show. If you are not," Her smile curved coldly. "You die."
Kieran shifted closer, breaking protocol. "And if she passes?"
"Then she earns her name," Victoria replied. Her gaze flicked to Luna. "But if she fails, we end this charade."
Luna forced her voice steady. "What does the trial involve?"
"Magical dissection," Sage said quietly, her eyes tight with worry. "Victoria will probe your supernatural systems. It's invasive, and if there's any corruption,"
"It can kill you," Magnus finished grimly. "Void Walker corruption spreads like rot. If it's there, the probe will expose it."
Victoria's laugh rang like broken glass. "Exactly. So, little Crimson, how sure are you that your blood is clean?"
Luna thought of everything that had happened: Damon's attack, her impossible speed of growth, her ability to channel powers no one else could. Had she been exposed without knowing? Was there something alien hiding inside her veins?
She swallowed hard. "Sure enough."
"Then open yourself." Victoria raised her hands. "Drop your defenses. Let me in."
Luna looked once at Magnus, and he nodded reluctantly. Kieran's eyes blazed with protective fury, but he didn't speak. Taking a breath, Luna let down the barriers around her mind.
Cold touched her immediately. Victoria's psychic presence slid inside like ice water, precise and merciless. Luna gasped as her abilities were catalogued one by one, werewolf ferocity, vampire sight, witch fire. Each strand of her magic was measured, weighed, and analyzed.
"Remarkable," Victoria murmured in grudging awe. "Your systems aren't just coexisting, they're feeding each other. Werewolf grounding stabilizes witch fire. Vampire cunning sharpens wolf instinct. This should not be possible."
Luna clenched her jaw, resisting the urge to slam her barriers back up. Being dissected felt like being stripped bare in front of strangers, but she endured it.
"Almost finished," Victoria's mental voice whispered. "Just the core of your bloodline."
And then everything shattered.
Something slithered along the link, dark, hungry, wrong. It wasn't in Luna. It was in Victoria.
Magnus's voice rang out. "Break the connection! She's corrupted!"
But Victoria couldn't. The dormant Void Walker presence inside her had woken, seizing the link as a doorway. Cold, merciless hunger rushed into both their minds.
Help me. Victoria's mental voice screamed, frantic and raw. I can't stop it!
Instead of retreating, Luna did the opposite. She pushed deeper, reaching through the link, Crimson power flaring.
Their battle was brutal. Alien shadows clawed at Luna's mind, seeking to devour. But she wasn't fighting alone. Her werewolf instincts lent strength. Her vampire edge brought cunning. Her witch training gave her tools to burn corruption away. And beneath it all was something older, a heritage that had once united species instead of dividing them.
You cannot have her, Luna roared across the battlefield of the mind. And you will never have me.
The corruption recoiled, then surged back with greater fury. But Luna's will blazed like fire. She didn't just defend; she purged. She dragged the infection out of Victoria's psyche piece by piece, burning it with golden light that poured from the deepest parts of her bloodline.
Victoria screamed aloud, body convulsing as the darkness was torn from her. Luna herself bled from the nose, her body trembling, but she refused to let go.
"It's working!" Magnus shouted. "Luna, hold on!"
But the struggle drew attention. A vast presence stirred. Through the link, Luna felt it focus on her: a Void Walker itself. Not corruption, not influence. A true entity.
Found you, it whispered, its voice the death of stars. Bridge-builder. Bait. You cannot hide from us.
Terror slammed into her like a hammer, but so did fury. These things had destroyed too much, taken too many. They would not take her.
She pushed back with everything she had. Her love for her pack. Her loyalty to Kieran and Magnus. She cared for the people who had chosen to follow her. That love blazed brighter than her powers, a force the Void Walker didn't understand.
The entity screamed, psychic and endless, before retreating. Its final words burned like frost in her mind: Soon. Very soon.
The link snapped. Luna collapsed to her knees, blood dripping from her face, her whole body shaking. Beside her, Victoria lay pale and still.
"Luna!" Kieran caught her shoulders, Magnus at her other side.
"I'm okay," she lied, voice hoarse. "Victoria?"
"Alive," Sage said, checking the Alpha's pulse. "Barely. But the corruption's gone. You purged it completely."
Victoria's eyes fluttered open. For the first time, there was no scorn in them, only raw gratitude. "You saved me," she whispered. "No one has ever purged it. They say it's permanent."
"Apparently not," Luna muttered, wiping her nose.
Slowly, Victoria sat up, leaning on Sage. Her gaze swept the clearing before settling on Luna. "The Shadow faction pledges to you. Not because you passed my trial. Because you saved me when you didn't have to."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Two trials done. One remained.
Luna turned to Dmitri. "Your turn."
The rogue Alpha smiled, not his earlier predator's grin, but something closer to respect. "After that performance, my power trial feels unnecessary. Still, " His eyes gleamed. "Let's see how you command in real combat."
From the forest came the sound of screams. Not werewolves. Not human. Something twisted. Wrong.
Shapes moved between the trees, their forms flickering like broken shadows.
"Constructs," Solareth growled, his scales bristling. "Void Walker creations. They've found us."
Luna staggered to her feet, exhaustion burning her veins, but she tightened her grip on her sword.
"Then let's finish this trial," she said. Her voice carried steady across the clearing. "Everyone who's with me, prove that united, we're stronger than anything they can throw at us."