The dawn broke sharp and cold over Silvercrest.
Selene woke to the sound of distant bells, echoing across the valley from the central tower. They were not bells of alarm, but summons deep, resonant, meant to gather the pack. She had slept little, her dreams filled with fire and the sound of her mother's scream. Rising from the bed, she rubbed at her face, half wishing she could vanish into the silence of the forest instead of walking these halls where every eye questioned her right to breathe.
A knock at the door broke her thoughts.
When she opened it, Damon stood there, his broad frame filling the doorway. His expression was unreadable, but his tone carried no softness. "The Alpha calls for you. Come."
Selene's chest tightened, but she nodded and followed.
The halls bustled with movement as wolves streamed toward the gathering ground. Men and women of every age some with eyes that flickered the gold of their wolves, others in simple human form turned to look at her as she passed. Some whispered. Others openly stared. Children tugged on their mothers' sleeves, pointing at her before being hushed.
By the time they reached the open courtyard at the heart of Silvercrest, Selene felt the weight of hundreds of gazes pressing against her skin. The courtyard was vast, its stone floor etched with ancient runes and surrounded by high walls where banners of Silvercrest silver wolves against a black field fluttered in the morning wind.
At the center stood Alpha Kael, his Luna beside him, and the six elders in a semicircle.
When Selene entered the space, Kael's voice boomed across the courtyard, commanding silence.
"Silvercrest!" His tone rolled like thunder. "Today we stand at a crossroads. Among us walks Selene Darius last heir of a fallen Alpha bloodline. She claims the name of Darius, but names alone are not enough. Blood alone is not enough. She comes to us under the shadow of prophecy, but prophecy alone is not enough."
His words cut through Selene like a blade, though his gaze never wavered from hers.
"Trust is forged, not given," Kael continued. "So today she will stand trial. Not by words. Not by pity. But by loyalty."
A murmur swept through the crowd.
Selene's stomach twisted. Trial. Loyalty. What did that even mean?
One of the elders stepped forward the hook nosed man who had spoken against her the night before. His lips curled into something between a smile and a sneer. "The Test of Loyalty. As tradition demands."
Damon leaned toward her slightly, his voice low so only she could hear. "You'll be challenged. Three trials to prove you are not a spy, not a burden, not a coward. Survive them, and they'll accept you. Fail, His voice trailed off, but the implication was clear.
Selene swallowed hard. The stares of the entire pack bore down on her. She wanted to scream that she had already lost everything, that she owed them nothing. But she also knew if she turned her back now, she'd have nowhere left to go.
She lifted her chin, meeting the Alpha's gaze. "Then I'll take your test."
A ripple of surprise went through the crowd at the steadiness of her voice.
Kael inclined his head once. "So be it."
The First Trial was the Wolf's Truth
The elders formed a circle, beckoning Selene inside. Damon moved to the edge, his arms crossed, unreadable.
The braided hair elder spoke. "The first test is truth. A wolf may lie with words, but not with its heart. Shift, Selene Darius. Show us what you are."
A hush fell over the courtyard.
Selene's blood ran cold. Shift.
She had not shifted since the night of the massacre. Her wolf lurked inside her, restless, scarred, carrying the weight of grief. She feared what might surface if she let it out.
But under hundreds of eyes, she had no choice. Closing her eyes, she drew in a breath, reached for the pulse inside her. The change came slow at first bones creaking, skin prickling with fire. She gritted her teeth as her body bent and reshaped, fur bursting along her skin until the girl was gone and the wolf stood in her place.
Gasps swept the crowd.
Her wolf was not the russet brown of her father's line nor the soft silver of her mother's kin. Her fur shimmered pale, almost white, threaded with streaks of silver that gleamed faintly in the sunlight, as though the moon itself had touched her. Her eyes, a glowing amethyst, locked on the Alpha.
Whispers rose sharp and frantic. "Blood Moon's heir, prophecy,dangerous"
But Alpha Kael only nodded once. "The wolf does not lie. You are Darius."
Selene's chest heaved as she shifted back, stumbling onto her knees, sweat dampening her skin. She wanted to collapse, but she forced herself upright.
"One truth proven," Kael declared. "Two remain."
The Second Trial was the Pack's Strength
They led her beyond the courtyard to the training grounds. Warriors gathered, circling the space. Weapons glinted under the morning sun not steel, but wood and leather, dulled for training but heavy all the same.
The braided hair elder stepped forward again. "The second trial is strength. Not of body alone, but of will. A wolf must protect, must endure, must rise when others fall."
Selene's stomach clenched as a warrior stepped into the ring a broad shouldered man with scars across his chest. He grinned at her, but there was no kindness in it.
The crowd roared for blood, though the fight was not to the death. Still, Selene knew enough humiliation here would doom her.
The warrior lunged first, faster than she expected. Selene barely dodged, the wooden staff in his hands slamming against her ribs with enough force to knock the air from her lungs. She staggered but did not fall.
The pack jeered.
Anger flared hot in her chest. She grabbed a staff from the rack at the edge of the ring, its weight familiar enough from childhood training. Her father's voice echoed in her memory: "A Darius does not retreat. A Darius bends, but never breaks."
The warrior attacked again, but this time Selene met his strike. Wood cracked against wood, the shock jarring her arms. He pressed her hard, strength against strength, but she moved with desperation, each blow fueled by loss and defiance.
When his staff swept low to trip her, she leapt, spinning, and slammed her weapon against his shoulder. He grunted, surprised, but recovered quickly. They circled, panting, sweat beading.
At last, he lunged with a roar. Selene twisted aside, using his momentum, and slammed her staff across his back. He crashed to the ground, pinned.
The crowd erupted some with cheers, others with disbelief.
Selene stood above him, chest heaving, staff trembling in her hands. She had won.
Kael's voice rang across the grounds. "Strength proven."
The Third Trial was the Wolf's Choice
Selene thought it was over. Her body ached, her throat burned, but she had stood her ground. Surely that was enough.
But Kael's expression remained unreadable as he spoke. "One trial remains. The test of choice."
From the far side of the training ground, two figures were brought forward a young boy and girl, no older than twelve. They were pack born, their eyes wide with fear as guards held them at the edge.
Selene's heart dropped. "What is this?"
The hook nosed elder's voice was cold. "A wolf is loyal not only to blood, but to pack. Loyalty is proven in sacrifice. Choose. Save one. The other faces the rogues outside our walls."
Gasps swept the crowd. Even Damon's eyes darkened with unease.
Selene's blood turned to ice. Two children. Innocent. And they wanted her to choose who would live?
The boy whimpered. The girl's small fists trembled.
Selene's chest heaved. Memories of her family surged her father standing between her and death, her mother screaming for her to run, the fire consuming everything. She could not choose. She would not.
Her voice shook, but her gaze locked on the Alpha. "This is not loyalty. This is cruelty."
The hook nosed elder sneered. "And yet the pack watches. Will you defy them all?"
The pack murmured, torn. Some eyes demanded blood. Others turned away, ashamed.
Selene's wolf rose inside her, fierce and defiant. She stepped forward, planting herself between the children and the elders. Her voice rang out, steady, unyielding.
"I will not sacrifice one to prove myself to another. If you demand blood, take mine. But these children walk away alive."
The courtyard fell into stunned silence.
Kael's eyes narrowed, unreadable. For a long moment, no one spoke. Then, slowly, the Alpha stood.
His voice thundered across the courtyard. "Loyalty is not in blind obedience. It is in protection, in sacrifice, in defiance of cruelty. Selene Darius has chosen rightly."
Gasps turned to cheers as the pack erupted. The children were released, running to their families. Selene stood trembling, her body weak, but her spirit unbroken.
Kael's gaze held hers, and for the first time, there was something almost like respect in his eyes.
"You are no longer a guest," he said. "You are Silvercrest."
Selene exhaled, tears burning her eyes though she refused to let them fall. She had passed. But deep inside, she knew this was only the beginning.
For beyond Silvercrest's walls, in the shadowed forest, the rogues waited still and the Blood Moon prophecy had only begun to unfold.