The Iron Arena was silent.
No cheering. No spectators. Just Rael waiting beneath a sky as black as his armor. No weapons. No wolves. Just him.
And Elara.
The final trial.
Her steps echoed as she entered. The gate closed behind her with a slam that felt like a death sentence.
"You survived the wild," Rael said. "You faced your own mind."
He turned, eyes hard and silver with power.
"Now you'll face me."
The wind howled across the mountains as Elara stood before him, her fists clenched, the Mark on her skin pulsing like a wound.
"What is this trial?" she asked.
Rael drew a dagger from his belt and dropped it at her feet.
"You bleed," he said. "Or I break you."
She narrowed her eyes. "That's not a trial. That's torture."
"No. It's truth."
He struck first.
Faster than thought. A blow aimed at her throat—meant to test, not kill. She blocked, barely. He didn't stop.
Kick. Elbow. Grab.
She twisted out of his grip, breath ragged. Her body ached from the other trials, but this… this was war.
"You're not testing me," she growled. "You're punishing me."
Rael's face didn't change. "I'm preparing you."
"For what?"
He circled her. "To be Alpha. Or to be claimed by one."
She lunged at him—he caught her wrist, spun her, slammed her into the ground.
Pain exploded through her back.
"You're strong," he said. "But you're still thinking like prey."
She looked up, defiant, blood on her lip. "Then teach me."
Rael paused.
The moment shifted.
The air grew colder.
Slowly, he stepped back, unsheathed a second dagger—and slit his own palm.
Blood poured down his wrist.
"Elara Vale," he said, voice low, solemn, dangerous, "swear your blood to the moon… or walk away from this court forever."
The wind went still.
Her Mark burned.
"What happens if I swear?"
Rael's voice rumbled with something ancient:
> "Then your fate is sealed. You will belong to this prophecy. You will be bound to all three of us. Until you choose—or die."
Elara looked down at the dagger on the floor. Her hand trembled.
This wasn't a trial.
It was a binding.
She could still leave. Run. Find another life.
But the Mark screamed inside her, wild and aching.
She picked up the dagger.
And sliced her palm open.
Their blood hit the ground together—his and hers.
The wind roared.
The Mark on her chest flared with moonfire.
Rael didn't smile.
But he looked at her like she was no longer a girl.
> "You are now bound to the Alphas."
> "And if you betray us… the Mark will consume you from within."
That night, Elara stood alone at the highest tower of the court, blood still drying on her hand.
Three Alphas.
One Mark.
A prophecy still unraveling.
And somewhere deep inside her, something began to awaken.
Not a queen. Not a wolf.
> Something older. Something forgotten.