Caius POV
I watch the Ancient Guardians descend from the sky, and every instinct in my wolf screams to grab Isla and run.
But you can't run from gods.
Three massive beings land in front of the cave, their wings creating hurricane winds that flatten trees. They're beautiful and terrifying—part beast, part human, part something else entirely. One has eagle wings and golden eyes. Another has scales like a serpent but stands upright. The third radiates light so bright I can barely look at them.
"Isla," I growl through our bond. "Don't go out there. They can't force you to—"
"Yes, they can." Her voice is steady, but through our mental link, I feel her terror. "The system says if I refuse the trial, they'll kill everyone in a hundred-mile radius. Including your pack."
My heart stops. "Then I'm coming with you."
"No." She grips my arm, her honey eyes fierce. "If I fail, you need to survive. All three of you. Promise me you'll run if this goes wrong."
"I won't leave you to die!" The thought alone makes my wolf howl in agony.
"You will if it means saving innocent lives." She kisses me quickly—desperately—and I taste her fear and love and determination all mixed together. "I'll survive this, Caius. I'm too stubborn to let some ancient gods kill me."
Then she walks out to face her judgment.
Draven tries to follow, flames erupting across his body. "I won't let them hurt her!"
Sebastian catches his arm, eyes cold as ice. "You'll only make it worse. Guardian trials are sacred law. If we interfere, they'll kill her instantly."
"How do you know that?" Draven snarls.
"Because I watched them judge my clan leader once. She failed. They turned her to ash in three seconds." Sebastian's voice is flat, emotionless, but I feel his terror bleeding through Isla's bond connection. "We can only watch."
Elena has tears streaming down her face. "I've seen Guardian trials in visions. They test three things: strength, wisdom, and worthiness. Most divine females fail the third test."
"Why?" I demand.
"Because worthiness isn't about power or knowledge. It's about sacrifice. And most goddesses refuse to give up what the Guardians demand."
Through my bond with Isla, I feel her confusion as she approaches the three massive beings. The eagle-winged Guardian speaks first, their voice echoing like thunder:
"ISLA THORNE. TRANSMIGRATED SOUL. YOU HAVE AWAKENED DIVINE BLOOD AND CLAIMED THREE MATES IN ONE DAY. YOU HAVE PURCHASED FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE. YOU HAVE DECLARED WAR ON THE BEAST COUNCIL. THE GUARDIANS MUST DETERMINE IF YOU ARE WORTHY TO WIELD SUCH POWER."
Isla's voice is small compared to theirs, but steady. "I didn't ask for any of this. I just want to survive."
"SURVIVAL IS NOT WORTHINESS," the serpent Guardian hisses. "FIRST TRIAL: STRENGTH. FACE YOUR DEATH WITHOUT FEAR."
The ground opens up beneath Isla.
"ISLA!" My scream tears through the air, but Sebastian and Draven hold me back as she falls into darkness. Through our bond, I feel her terror spike—then force herself calm. She's falling through an endless void, and I can't reach her. Can't save her. Can only feel her fear like knives in my chest.
Then the bond shows me what she sees: memories of her death in her original world. The child drowning. The flood. The moment she chose to die so someone else could live.
"YOU DIED ONCE FOR A STRANGER," the Guardians' voices echo through the void. "WOULD YOU DIE AGAIN?"
"Yes," Isla says without hesitation. "If it meant saving someone innocent, yes."
The void vanishes. She's standing in front of the Guardians again, gasping but alive.
"FIRST TRIAL PASSED. SECOND TRIAL: WISDOM. ANSWER TRUE—WHY DO YOU COLLECT MATES?"
Through our bond, I feel Isla's mind racing. This is a trap question. Any wrong answer could kill her.
"I bonded with Caius because he saved my life and I chose to trust him," she says carefully. "I bonded with Draven because his fire trial proved his strength and I needed protection. I bonded with Sebastian because his skills could hide me from enemies hunting me."
"SO YOU USE THEM," the light Guardian says coldly. "YOU COLLECT MALES AS TOOLS FOR SURVIVAL."
"No!" Isla's voice cracks. "I chose them because they're good males who deserve loyalty. Caius is kind and protective. Draven is honorable despite his arrogance. Sebastian carries pain he shouldn't bear alone. I didn't just take from them—I'm trying to give them something back!"
Through our bond, I feel her absolute sincerity. She means every word.
"SECOND TRIAL PASSED. FINAL TRIAL: WORTHINESS." The three Guardians speak in unison now. "WE WILL TAKE ONE OF YOUR BONDS. YOU CHOOSE WHICH MATE YOU SACRIFICE. GIVE UP ONE BOND, OR FAIL THE TRIAL AND LOSE ALL THREE."
My blood runs cold.
They're asking her to break a bond. To sever her connection to one of us permanently. Through our bond, I feel her horror and agony.
"I can't," she whispers. "Bonding is permanent. You can't just—"
"WE CAN SEVER WHAT WE CREATED. CHOOSE, YOUNG GODDESS. WHICH MATE DO YOU VALUE LEAST?"
Silence stretches. Through the bond, I feel Isla's mind working desperately, searching for another option. But there isn't one. She has to choose.
"Choose me," I send through our mental link. "Isla, choose me. I'm the weakest right now. You need Draven's strength and Sebastian's stealth more than you need a half-dead wolf."
"Don't you dare," she sends back fiercely. "I'm not sacrificing ANY of you!"
"Then you'll fail and lose all three!" I'm begging now through our bond. "Please, Isla. Save yourself. I'll be okay—"
"YOU'RE LYING!" Her mental voice breaks. "Breaking our bond would destroy us both. You said it yourself—wolves mate for life. Severing our connection could kill you!"
She's right. I hadn't thought about that. Or maybe I had and didn't care.
Draven's voice rumbles in my head—apparently the three-way bond lets all of us communicate now: "Choose me, goddess. Dragons are ancient. I've survived worse than a severed bond."
"Also lying," Sebastian adds coldly. "I can sense his terror. He's never been bonded before. This is his first. Losing it would break him."
"Then choose me," Sebastian says flatly. "I'm a lone hunter. I'm used to being alone."
"You're used to being LONELY," Isla sends back. "That's not the same thing. I won't condemn any of you to that pain!"
"CHOOSE," the Guardians demand. "OR FAIL."
Through the bond, I feel Isla's mind land on something. A desperate, impossible idea.
"What if," she says aloud, "I don't choose?"
"THEN YOU FAIL—"
"No. I mean, what if I offer myself instead? You want a sacrifice? Take MY divine power. Leave my bonds intact, but strip me of goddess abilities. Make me human again."
The Guardians go silent. Even they seem shocked.
"YOU WOULD GIVE UP DIVINITY?" the eagle Guardian asks. "BECOME MORTAL AND WEAK? THE DARK KING WOULD KILL YOU WITHIN DAYS."
"Maybe. But at least my mates would be alive and bonded. They could protect regular-me better than goddess-me missing a bond." Isla's voice strengthens. "You want to test worthiness? Here it is: I'd rather be powerless with all three of them than powerful and alone. That's my answer."
The Guardians exchange looks. Then the light Guardian speaks:
"NO ONE HAS EVER CHOSEN THIS BEFORE."
"Then I'm the first," Isla says firmly.
"MOST WOULD SACRIFICE A MATE TO KEEP THEIR POWER."
"Most people are idiots."
Despite everything, I feel pride surge through me. My fierce, impossible mate just told ancient gods they were testing wrong.
The Guardians begin to glow brighter. The light becomes blinding. Through our bond, I feel Isla's certainty—she made her choice and won't take it back.
"YOUR ANSWER IS... ACCEPTABLE," the Guardians finally say. "YOU VALUE BONDS OVER POWER. LOYALTY OVER STRENGTH. THIS IS TRUE WORTHINESS."
The light fades. Isla is still standing, whole and alive.
"TRIAL COMPLETE. YOU HAVE PASSED, YOUNG GODDESS."
Relief floods through me so intense I nearly collapse. Sebastian lets out a breath he'd been holding. Draven's flames extinguish.
"However," the serpent Guardian adds, "YOUR CHOICE HAS CONSEQUENCES."
Oh no. There's always consequences.
"YOU OFFERED TO SACRIFICE YOUR DIVINE POWER. WE REFUSED. BUT THE OFFER WAS MADE AND WITNESSED. FROM THIS MOMENT FORWARD, YOUR GODDESS ABILITIES WILL HAVE A PRICE."
Isla pales. "What price?"
"EACH TIME YOU USE DIVINE POWER, YOU WILL SHARE THE PAIN WITH YOUR BONDED MATES. THE MORE POWER YOU USE, THE MORE THEY SUFFER. YOUR STRENGTH BECOMES THEIR BURDEN."
Through our bond, I feel Isla's horror. She chose us over power, so now her power hurts us.
"That's cruel," she whispers.
"THAT IS BALANCE," the light Guardian says. "POWER WITHOUT COST BREEDS CORRUPTION. NOW YOU MUST CHOOSE CAREFULLY WHEN TO WIELD DIVINITY—BECAUSE THOSE YOU LOVE WILL PAY THE PRICE."
The Guardians spread their wings, preparing to leave.
"Wait!" Isla calls. "The Beast Council. The Dark King. They're coming for me. Can you help?"
"WE DO NOT INTERFERE IN MORTAL WARS," the eagle Guardian says. "BUT WE GIVE YOU THIS WARNING: THE COUNCIL KNOWS YOU PASSED OUR TRIAL. THEY WILL ACCELERATE THEIR PLANS. EXPECT ATTACK WITHIN HOURS, NOT DAYS."
They launch into the sky and vanish, leaving us in sudden silence.
Elena breaks it first. "Hours. They said hours."
"Then we move now," Sebastian says flatly. "To the Dying Lands. It's our only defensible position."
"My pack isn't ready," I protest. "They're weak, starving—"
"They're about to be dead if we don't move," Draven cuts me off. "The goddess passed her trial. Now we prepare for war."
Isla staggers, and I catch her before she falls. Through our bond, I feel her exhaustion—the trial drained her completely.
"I can't walk," she admits quietly. "Using Future Sight and surviving the trial... I'm empty."
"Then I'll carry you." I lift her into my arms. She weighs almost nothing. "We go to my pack. Break the curse. Build our defenses."
We're about to leave when the system flashes one final message—visible to all of us now:
[URGENT ALERT!]
[Fourth Mate Located: 2 miles North]
[Species: UNKNOWN]
[Status: CRITICALLY INJURED]
[He's being hunted by Council assassins]
[If you don't reach him in 10 minutes, he dies]
[And you'll never complete your seven bonds]
Through my bond with Isla, I feel her anguished choice: save a dying mate or run to safety?
"We save him," she decides. "We don't leave people to die."
"That's a trap," Sebastian warns. "Obviously a trap."
"Probably," Isla agrees. "But we're going anyway."
Because that's who she is. The girl who died saving a stranger. The goddess who offered her power to protect her mates.
My impossible, heroic, ridiculous mate.
We run north, racing against a ten-minute timer, straight into what's definitely an ambush.