The forest did not rest.
When dawn bled across the horizon, pale light filtering through the canopy, Aria stood within the circle of stones, swaying with exhaustion. Her skin was clammy with sweat, her clothes torn, her body marked by cuts and bruises. The beast had lingered until the last shadows of night dissolved, pacing the edges of the rune-carved stones like a predator denied its meal.
Now the mist had thinned, but silence pressed heavy against her ears. The air smelled damp, metallic, and faintly of ash.
Aria touched the wound on her arm—angry, swollen, and crusted with blood. She winced. She needed water. Food. Rest. But the Trial would not offer her mercy. She remembered Rowan's voice, calm and merciless: Three nights in the cursed woods. Survive, and you will be judged worthy. Fail, and you will die.
Her chest tightened. She could almost hear the whispers again. Only now, they weren't taunting. They were calling.
Aria forced herself to move. The protective circle had kept her alive, but she couldn't stay forever. With trembling fingers, she brushed the glowing runes one last time. A hum of warmth pulsed beneath her skin, settling into her bones as though the forest had left its mark.
Maybe it has, she thought. Maybe I'm not as powerless as I believe.
---
Damian had not slept.
He stood at the walls when dawn came, his face hard, his eyes bloodshot with strain. The bond throbbed faintly inside him—proof she was still alive—but it brought little comfort. Each flicker of pain through that tether was another knife in his chest.
Behind him, Rowan approached with the elders. The oldest, a wiry man named Kael, folded his arms.
"Night one is complete," Kael said, voice gravelly. "The human girl still lives. Impressive, perhaps. But the Trial has only begun."
Damian's jaw clenched. "She is not just a human girl."
"She is only human," Kael countered sharply. "And every hour she lingers, your bond with her weakens this pack. The others sense it. They question your judgment."
Damian turned, golden eyes flashing. "Let them question."
"Careful," another elder warned. "Defiance in defense of a mate is admirable… when that mate is wolf-born. But if she falls before the third night, the pack will not forgive your indulgence."
Rowan said nothing, though his gaze met Damian's with quiet understanding. The Alpha wanted to tear down the gates, to shred every law that kept him from reaching her. But he stayed. For her. For them both.
Still, inside his chest, his wolf howled.
---
Aria pushed deeper into the forest.
The mist rose again as the sun climbed, curling between trees like breath. Her body ached with every step, but she forced herself onward, clutching a broken branch as a crude walking stick.
By midday, she found a stream. The water was icy, bitter on her tongue, but it revived her enough to keep moving. She tore strips from her sleeve to bind her wounds, wincing as fabric pressed into raw flesh.
The forest whispered constantly now. A low murmur threading through the rustle of leaves, the babble of water, the crunch of her footsteps.
Aria… Aria…
She spun, heart leaping. No one was there.
Her reflection stared back at her in the stream. Pale skin streaked with grime, eyes too bright in the shadowed light. For a moment, the water shimmered—and another face looked back. A woman's, ageless, with eyes like molten silver.
Aria gasped and stumbled back, but the vision rippled away. Only her reflection remained.
Her breath hitched. "What the hell is happening to me?"
The whispers only grew louder. Not human. Not entirely. You are more…
She clapped her hands over her ears, but the voice was inside, not out.
---
The second night fell faster than she expected. Shadows stretched long, devouring the last of the light. The air cooled, thick with dread. She knew the beast would return.
Aria searched frantically for another circle of stones, but none appeared. The forest around her was open, vulnerable. Her pulse thundered.
A twig snapped behind her.
She spun, branch raised. The beast stepped into the clearing. Its body seemed larger now, its claws longer, its eyes glowing brighter. Its growl vibrated through the ground.
Her hands shook. She tightened her grip. "Not tonight. You're not taking me tonight."
It lunged.
Aria dove aside, rolling across damp earth. The monster struck where she had stood, gouging the soil into black scars. She scrambled up, swinging her branch with wild desperation. It cracked against its jaw, but the beast barely flinched.
It snapped its head forward, teeth grazing her shoulder. Pain tore through her as she screamed, stumbling back. The bond flared white-hot inside her chest. Damian's roar echoed through her mind, distant but fierce.
The beast advanced, relentless.
Aria's blood soaked her torn sleeve. Her vision blurred, but she refused to collapse. "I will not die here," she hissed. "Do you hear me? I will not."
The whispers surged, louder than ever. Stand. Claim your power.
Her hands burned. She looked down—and saw faint light threading across her palms, glowing lines that mirrored the runes she'd touched the night before. The forest seemed to lean toward her, the mist curling around her like armor.
The beast lunged again. This time, she didn't run.
She raised her hands.
Light flared.
The creature slammed into an unseen barrier, shrieking as sparks exploded across its hide. It stumbled back, smoke curling from its fur. Aria's chest heaved, her body trembling, but she held her ground.
The whispers coiled inside her mind like fire. More than human. More than mate. Chosen.
The beast snarled, pacing, circling. But it did not charge again. Not yet.
Aria collapsed to her knees, shaking, the glow fading from her hands. She gasped for air, every muscle quivering. She had no idea what she had done—or if she could do it again.
But she was alive.
For now.
---
At the gates, Damian dropped to one knee, clutching his chest. Rowan rushed forward.
"What is it?"
"She—she used something," Damian gasped. His wolf clawed at him, frantic. "Power. It burned through her. I felt it."
Rowan's eyes narrowed. "Then she is not ordinary."
"No," Damian growled. His voice was half man, half beast. "She never was."
---
The night stretched on, the beast's eyes haunting her from the darkness, waiting for her strength to fail. Aria sat with her back to a tree, arms wrapped around herself, shivering from cold and fear and pain.
But beneath it all, a spark burned. A defiance she hadn't known she possessed.
She whispered into the night, to the bond, to the man who could not hear but might still feel:
"I'll survive, Damian. Even if it kills me, I'll survive."
And the forest seemed to answer with a thousand voices at once: Yes. You will.
---