🌑 CHAPTER 4 — Trials by Fire and Blood
PART 3 — The Wolf Awakens
The clearing is silent in a way that feels impossible.
Every wolf stares at Ava as if a fault line just split through the heart of their world. The torches no longer hiss — they bow. The flames bend inward, flickering like shy servants before something greater.
Ava blinks slowly, disoriented.
The gold in her eyes gleams again.
Ethan sees it.
And for the first time since she's known him, real fear ripples across his face.
"Your eyes…" he breathes.
She lifts a trembling hand to her cheek.
"What's happening to me?"
Elara steps forward cautiously, her expression unreadable but shaken.
"The bond recognizes you," she says quietly. "The trial accepted you. The blood didn't reject you."
A low murmur ripples through the pack — half awe, half alarm.
"No human has ever—"
"She survived the blood?"
"That's impossible…"
"Or it means—"
"Don't say it—"
"She might be—"
"Chosen."
Ethan's snarl cuts through their whispers.
"Say one more word," he growls, "and I will tear your tongues from your skulls."
The wolves fall silent.
Ava leans into him, dizzy, the world tilting. Her body feels foreign. Her blood feels like it's glowing beneath her skin. Every sound is too sharp, every smell too vivid, every heartbeat around her too loud.
"Ethan… I don't feel normal."
"You're not," he whispers.
Her breath hitchs. "Am I becoming one of you?"
"No." He touches her cheek, thumb trembling. "No, Ava. You're still human. But the blood awakened a part of you that shouldn't exist. Something dormant. Something ancient."
She swallows.
"Is that bad?"
Ethan doesn't answer.
Because he doesn't know.
Because no one does.
And that terrifies him.
---
THE PACK REACTS
A man steps closer — a broad-shouldered wolf named Kade, eyes sharp and suspicious.
"This isn't natural," he growls. "A human with golden eyes is an omen."
Another wolf snarls in agreement.
"She could be a threat."
A third speaks, fearful:
"She could be Damien's advantage."
Ethan's entire body changes.
His stance shifts.
His breath deepens.
His shoulders widen, preparing to shift if needed.
The predator inside him rises.
"She is my advantage," he says coldly.
"And if any of you so much as look at her wrong, I will bury you in this earth."
Ava feels the air thicken with tension as wolves step back, intimidated, but not all of them convinced.
Kade bares his teeth.
"You're blinded by her," he spits. "We all see it. You've already broken the oldest law — no human may stand beside—"
Ethan moves so fast Ava barely sees him.
One second Kade is talking.
The next Ethan has him by the throat, slammed into a tree so hard bark explodes behind him.
"You don't get to speak about laws," Ethan snarls, voice distorting. "Not when you've failed to defend your own territory twice in one cycle."
Kade struggles, claws scraping against Ethan's forearm.
"Elara—" he chokes. "This trial is tainted!"
Elara steps forward calmly, though her eyes flick to Ava with a mix of awe and unease.
"The trial is completed," she says. "And the fire accepted her. If you challenge the outcome, you challenge the old magic itself."
A murmur of fear spreads.
No wolf challenges the old magic.
Ethan releases Kade, letting him drop to the ground breathless and humiliated.
Ava steps closer, her hand brushing Ethan's arm.
His head snaps toward her instantly, protective, as if afraid she might be swallowed by the crowd.
Her voice is soft.
"Ethan… I'm okay."
His eyes soften with something raw and vulnerable — trust, fear, something deeper and unnamed.
But the moment shatters when the torches suddenly dim.
Every wolf tenses.
Heads rise.
Ears tilt.
Breaths stop.
The forest shifts.
A cold wind snakes through the clearing.
And then—
A distant howl echoes across the trees.
Low.
Long.
Predatory.
Ava's bones vibrate with the sound.
Ethan's face darkens.
"Damien," he whispers.
The name freezes the entire clearing.
Another howl answers — closer now.
Another.
And another.
Wolves encircle the area.
Not Ethan's wolves.
Intruders.
Damien's presence slithers around the clearing like a poisonous fog. Ava feels the hair on her arms rise.
"He knows," Elara whispers. "He felt the trial. He felt her survive it."
Ethan steps in front of Ava, shielding her with his body.
"No," he growls. "He felt her awaken."
Ava clutches his sleeve.
"Ethan… what does Damien want from me?"
He turns to her, face etched with grim truth.
"He wants what's mine."
Ava's heart skips.
"You mean— your position? The pack?"
"No," Ethan breathes, voice low and terrifyingly honest.
"He wants you."
Ava's blood turns cold.
Ethan continues, voice darkening:
"And now that you carry the bond's mark — that golden fire in your eyes — he will stop at nothing to claim you. Because if he does…"
He swallows, jaw tight.
"He becomes unstoppable."
Ava feels her heart drop.
Everything around her blurs.
The wolves.
The fire.
The clearing.
Even the night sky.
"What am I, Ethan?"
He cups her face with shaking hands.
"Something the wolves haven't seen in centuries. Something rare. Something dangerous."
She trembles. "Dangerous how?"
"To Damien," he says.
"And to me."
Ava steps back, breath hitching. "To you?"
He looks away, ashamed.
"Because you're the only thing that could break me."
The words hit her like a physical blow.
But before she can respond—
Another howl pierces the clearing, this one so close it vibrates the torches.
Ethan spins, his body twisting, bones cracking — shifting halfway into his wolf without meaning to.
Elara shouts:
"He's coming! Everyone into formation!"
The pack explodes into movement, wolves shifting instantly, fur rippling, teeth bared, flames reflecting off their eyes.
Ethan grabs Ava's wrist.
"Run."
She shakes her head violently.
"No. I'm not leaving you."
He pulls her closer, desperate.
"If Damien gets his hands on you, Ava — if he marks you — it's over. For all of us. Do you understand? He'll corrupt whatever awakened inside you."
"I'm not letting you fight him alone."
His voice breaks.
"You're not listening—"
"Because I choose you," she says fiercely. "Not him. Not anyone else."
Something inside Ethan cracks open at those words.
But the moment is stolen when a massive shadow emerges from the trees.
A wolf — enormous, scarred, eyes like burning coals.
Damien.
Ava's breath leaves her in a single, terrified gasp.
The pack falls silent.
Ethan shoves her behind him, teeth bared, silver eyes glowing with murderous intent.
Damien steps into the light, monstrous and smiling with his eyes.
"Well," he rumbles, voice vibrating the ground, "I see your human passed the trial, Ethan."
Ava's stomach turns.
He knows her.
He sees her.
He wants her.
Damien's gaze slides toward Ava, slow and hungry.
Ethan growls so deeply it shakes the clearing.
Damien's lips curl back.
"Why don't you hand her over, brother? Let me finish what fate started."
Ethan lunges.
The clearing explodes into chaos.
---