Elara POV
I hid the scroll in my clothes. Against my skin. Where no one would find it.
Thirty minutes.
That's all the time I had left before they dragged me to the peak. Before the Moonfire judged me. Before everyone saw what I was hiding.
I wanted to run. To grab the scroll and disappear into the night. Find somewhere—anywhere—that wasn't here.
But there was nowhere to go. Kaelen's bond would track me. The fever would kill me. Theron's army waited below.
I was trapped.
The door opened. Guards. Silent. Grim-faced.
"It's time," one said.
I stood. My legs shook. I forced them to be steady.
They led me through the halls. Wolves lined the corridors. Watching. Judging. Already deciding I was guilty.
The walk felt endless. Every step brought me closer to the peak. Closer to the fire. Closer to truth I wasn't ready to face.
We climbed stairs. Higher. The air got colder. Thinner.
Then we stepped outside.
The entire pack was there. Hundreds of wolves. All watching. All waiting to see if I'd survive. Or burn.
A circle of stones marked the trial ground. Ancient. Covered in symbols I didn't understand. In the center, a fire pit. Empty. Cold.
Waiting for the Moonfire.
Kaelen stood at the edge of the circle. His face was blank. Empty. But through the bond, I felt his fear. His desperation.
He didn't think I'd survive.
The council elders stood opposite him. Five of them. Old. Stern. They looked at me like I was already dead.
"Elara Thornwood." The oldest one spoke. His voice was rough. Formal.
"You stand accused of unnatural existence. Of wielding power that threatens pack stability. Of bearing marks that should have killed you. The Moonfire will judge. If you speak truth, you will survive. If you lie, you will burn."
I didn't answer. Just stepped into the circle.
The moment my foot crossed the stones, everything changed.
The temperature dropped. My breath fogged in the air. The empty fire pit ignited.
But the flames weren't orange. Weren't red.
They were silver. Pure. Blinding.
Moonfire.
It rose from the pit. Tall. Bright. Beautiful and terrifying.
Then it moved toward me.
I wanted to run. Every instinct screamed at me to get out of the circle. But I couldn't move. The stones held me. Trapped me.
The fire touched my skin.
Pain exploded through every nerve.
It wasn't burning. Not exactly. It was searching. Digging. Tearing through layers of lies and walls and secrets I didn't even know I had.
I screamed.
The fire didn't care. It pushed deeper.
Who are you?
The question echoed in my head. Not words. Just knowing.
"I'm Elara Thornwood," I gasped. "Cartographer's assistant. Nobody important."
The fire burned hotter. Rejecting the lie.
Who are you?
"I don't know!" The truth ripped out of me. "I don't know what I am. I don't know why I survived. I don't know anything!"
The fire eased. Just a little. Accepting that truth.
But it wasn't done.
What do you want?
"Freedom." The word came without thinking. "I want to choose. I want to be more than someone's weapon. More than someone's mate. More than a tool in a war I don't understand."
The fire pulsed. Brighter. Searching deeper.
What do you fear?
Images flashed through my mind. Kaelen dead because I chose Theron. Theron dead because I chose Kaelen. The pack slaughtered. Nightspire burning. Everyone I cared about destroyed.
"I fear I'll destroy them," I whispered. "All of them. Just by existing."
The fire blazed white-hot.
What do you hide?
I tried to hold it back. Tried to keep the secret locked away.
But the Moonfire ripped it out.
"I wanted him!" The confession tore from my throat. "In the dream. Theron. I wanted him to touch me. To claim me. I almost said yes. I almost—"
Gasps from the watching pack.
Kaelen's rage exploded through the bond. Hot. Violent.
But the fire wasn't done.
It pushed into the deepest part of me. The part I'd never looked at. Never wanted to see.
And it found something.
Power. Raw. Ancient. Sleeping.
The fire tried to burn it. Tried to expose it.
The power pushed back.
Silver light erupted from my skin. Not from the marks. From me. From something deep inside.
The Moonfire screamed. Actually screamed. Like it was in pain.
Then reality cracked.
Not like the Unraveling. Worse. Reality itself split. Right down my center. Like I was breaking in half.
Light poured from the cracks. Silver and gold and something else. Something that had no name.
The watching pack scrambled back. Terrified.
I stood in the center of the circle. Arms spread. Light pouring from me in waves.
The Moonfire tried again. Pushed harder. Demanded truth.
What are you?
And deep inside, something answered.
Not in words. In knowing. In certainty.
I was both. And neither.
Wolf and vampire. Human and other. Creation and destruction.
I was the flaw in the system. The crack in the foundation. The thing that wasn't supposed to exist.
And I was refusing both bonds.
Not choosing Kaelen. Not choosing Theron. Choosing myself.
The marks on my wrists blazed. Silver and crimson fighting each other. Trying to force me to choose.
I pushed back.
The power inside me surged. Wrapped around both marks. Held them frozen.
"No," I said. My voice echoed. Stronger than it should be. "I refuse."
The cracks in my skin spread. Up my arms. Across my chest. Light bleeding through.
It hurt. God, it hurt. Like being torn apart and rebuilt at the same time.
But I held on.
Refused to choose. Refused to break. Refused to be what they wanted.
The Moonfire pulled back. Slowly. Uncertain.
It had never seen this before. Never met something that could resist it.
The flames dimmed. Flickered. Then died.
I stood in the center of the circle. Still glowing. Still cracked with light.
Silence.
The entire pack stared. Mouths open. Eyes wide.
Then Mira's voice. Soft. Awed. Terrified.
"She's becoming something new."
The elders looked at each other. Lost. The trial had never ended like this before.
Kaelen stepped forward. His face was pale. His eyes locked on the cracks in my skin.
"Elara?"
I looked at him. At the fear in his eyes. The confusion.
"I'm still me," I said. My voice sounded strange. Echoed. "But I'm also something else now."
The light started fading. Sinking back into my skin. The cracks closed. Slowly. Leaving faint silver scars.
I swayed. Exhausted. Drained.
Kaelen caught me before I fell.
"The trial is complete," the eldest announced. His voice shook. "She... passed. Barely."
Barely. That was generous.
I'd passed. But I'd also shown them exactly what they feared.
I was dangerous. Unpredictable. Something they couldn't control.
Kaelen carried me away from the circle. The pack parted. Giving us space. Giving me space.
Like I was contagious.
Maybe I was.
As we reached the doors, I heard whispers.
"She refused both bonds."
"The marks didn't reject her."
"What is she?"
"She's going to destroy us all."
Maybe they were right.
Maybe I would.
But tonight, I'd survived.
And that was enough.