She had loved him. Truly. Foolishly.
And he had used her. For her blood. For her silence. For her sacrifice.
She didn't cry. Not even when the fire died and the cold crept in.
Instead, she whispered to the night:
> "I will not die here. I will not be forgotten."
The rogue wolves found her on the third day.
There were five of them—scarred, savage, and hungry. They circled her like vultures, sniffing her fear.
"You smell like pack," one growled.
"I was," she replied.
"Then you're meat."
She didn't run. She didn't beg.
She stood.
And something inside her snapped.
Not like a bone. Like a chain.
Her blood surged. Her eyes burned. Her skin shimmered with heat.
The wolves lunged.
She screamed.
But it wasn't a scream. It was a howl.
A howl that split the sky.
The wolves froze. One whimpered. Another backed away.
Zariah didn't shift. She transformed.
Her body glowed with crimson light. Her voice echoed with ancient power.
The wolves bowed.
She didn't understand it. Not yet. But she felt it.
She was no longer prey.
She was something else.
Something forgotten.
Something feared.
She spent the next weeks learning. Hunting. Listening.
The rogue wolves taught her how to survive. But they also feared her. They called her "Crimson." They whispered that she was cursed. That her blood was not of this age.
She didn't care.
She trained. She healed. She grew.
And one night, under a blood moon, she stood atop the ridge and made a vow:
> "I will return. Not for love. Not for forgiveness. But for reckoning."
Her.
"You should've stayed dead," he said, voice low.
She turned to him, lips curling into a smile. "I came back to bury the living."
His jaw tightened. "You don't know what you're walking into."
"I know exactly what I'm walking into," she said. "And I'm not walking. I'm hunting."
---
The Trials began at dawn.
The first challenge was physical—an obstacle course designed to test speed, strength, and endurance. Wolves shifted mid-run, leaping over fire pits, scaling stone walls, diving through enchanted fog.
Zariah didn't shift.
She ran in human form, her cloak billowing behind her like wings.
She didn't win. But she didn't lose.
She finished in the top five.
Kael noticed her then. His eyes narrowed. His nostrils flared.
He didn't recognize her. Not yet. But he felt something.
Liora whispered in his ear. He nodded.
Zariah kept walking.
---
The second challenge was combat.
One-on-one duels. No claws barred. No mercy given.
Zariah was paired with a brute from the Southern Pack—twice her size, all muscle and rage.
He laughed when he saw her. "They sent a girl?"
She didn't respond.
The bell rang.
He lunged.
She moved like smoke—fluid, unpredictable, lethal.
She didn't shift. She didn't need to.
She used pressure points, momentum, and fury.
He hit the ground in under a minute.
The crowd went silent.
Kael stood.
Riven smirked.
Liora frowned.
Zariah bowed.
---
That night, she walked the campus alone.
She passed the lake where Kael had first kissed her. The library where she'd studied until dawn. The dorm where she'd bled for his mistress.
She didn't feel pain.
She felt power.
She reached the moonstone spire and placed her hand on its base.
It pulsed.
Not silver.
Crimson.
She heard footsteps behind her.
Riven.
"You're not hiding it well," he said.
"I'm not trying to," she replied.
He stepped closer. "They'll kill you if they find out."
"They already tried."
He studied her. "Why come back?"
She turned to him, eyes glowing faintly. "Because I'm not done."
Her thoughts drifted to Riven.
He was different. Not just in demeanor, but in energy. He didn't carry Kael's arrogance or Liora's venom. He moved like someone who had seen too much and trusted too little.
She remembered the way he had looked at her in the Trial Hall. Not with suspicion. With recognition.
He knew.
And he hadn't told anyone.
Why?
A knock at the door.
She stood, cautious.
Riven.
He stepped inside without waiting for permission, his eyes scanning the room.
"You're not hiding well," he said.
"I'm not trying to," she replied.
He tossed a small pouch onto the table. "Healing herbs. You'll need them tomorrow."
She raised an eyebrow. "Why are you helping me?"
He didn't answer immediately. He walked to the window, staring out at the moon.
"Because I saw what they did to you," he said finally. "And I didn't stop it."
Zariah's breath caught.
"You knew?"
"I suspected. Kael was… different after the surgery. And Liora—she's not what she pretends to be."
Zariah clenched her fists. "She used me. They both did."
Riven turned to her. "And now you're here to burn it all down."
She didn't deny it.
He stepped closer. "Just… don't lose yourself in the fire."
She met his gaze. "I already did. What came out wasn't the same."
He nodded slowly. "Then maybe that's what they need to fear."
The fourth Trial was announced: Pack Simulation.
Contenders were grouped into teams and dropped into the forest with limited supplies. The goal: survive three days, protect your team, and eliminate threats.
Zariah was placed with three others—two betas from the Eastern Pack and a gamma from the North. None of them trusted her. She didn't care.
They entered the forest at dawn.
By nightfall, one beta had already tried to challenge her authority.
She broke his nose.
The gamma watched her with wide eyes. "You're not like the others."
"No," she said. "I'm not."
On the second night, a rogue pack attacked.
Zariah fought like a storm—silent, swift, merciless.
She didn't shift. She didn't need to.
Her eyes glowed crimson. Her howl shattered trees.
The rogue wolves fled.
Her team stared at her in awe. Fear. Respect.
She didn't speak.
She just walked away.
Back at campus, Kael was restless.
He had watched Crimson Vale dominate every Trial. Her movements. Her silence. Her power.
Something about her clawed at his memory.
He summoned Riven.
"Who is she?" Kael demanded.
Riven shrugged. "A rogue. Strong. Dangerous."
Kael narrowed his eyes. "She reminds me of someone."
Riven didn't respond.
Kael's voice dropped. "She reminds me of Zariah."
Riven's jaw tightened. "Zariah is dead."
Kael looked out the window. "Then why do I feel her in every howl?"
Liora's eyes narrowed. "Careful. You're speaking to your Luna."
Zariah's voice dropped. "You're not my Luna."
The garden pulsed with tension.
Liora stood. "You think you can take my place?"
Zariah's eyes glowed crimson. "I don't want your place. I want your truth."
Liora lunged.
Zariah didn't move.
She caught Liora's wrist mid-air, twisted, and dropped her to her knees.
The crowd gasped.
Zariah leaned down, voice like thunder. "You buried me. But I grew roots."
She released her.
And walked away.
The Trial was over.
The Elders were stunned.
Kael was silent.
Riven was smiling.
And Liora was shaking.
That night, Zariah stood at the edge of the lake.
The same lake where Kael had once kissed her.
She dropped the moon necklace into the water.
And whispered, "I'm not yours anymore."
No words.
Just history.
The bell rang.
Kael lunged.
Zariah moved like smoke.
Their bodies collided, claws flashing, teeth bared. But it wasn't just a fight—it was a reckoning. Every strike carried memory. Every dodge, regret.
Kael pinned her once, his hand on her throat.
Her eyes met his.
And he saw it.
The truth.
"Zariah," he whispered.
She twisted free, slammed him to the ground, and stood over him.
"I was yours," she said. "And you buried me."
Kael didn't rise.
The Elders watched in silence.
Zariah turned to them.
"I don't want rank. I don't want territory. I want truth."
She walked away.
Later, in the quiet of the rogue quarters, Riven found her by the fire.
"You broke him," he said.
"No," she replied. "I showed him what he broke."
Riven sat beside her. "What now?"
She looked into the flames.
"Now we burn the lies."
fear."
Liora's voice dropped. "She'll destroy us."
The Elder leaned forward. "Or she'll remind us who we were before we became so afraid of power we couldn't control."
Liora turned sharply, her cloak whipping behind her.
She wouldn't let Zariah win.
Not again.
---
That night, Zariah stood at the edge of the forest, the wind whispering through the trees like old ghosts. She closed her eyes and listened—not to the moon, but to the bloodline that pulsed beneath her skin.
She saw flashes—wolves with crimson eyes, howling beneath blood moons, hunted by packs who feared their strength. She saw a woman who looked like her, standing alone against a dozen Alphas, her blade dripping with truth.
She saw herself.
And she understood.
She wasn't just a survivor.
She was a legacy.
---
Riven joined her, silent as ever.
"They'll come for you," he said.
"I know."
"They'll try to twist the story. Make you the villain."
She turned to him. "Then I'll give them a villain worth fearing."
He smiled faintly. "You could leave. Start over. Build something new."
She looked back at the campus. "I don't want new. I want justice."
Riven hesitated. "And if Kael stands in your way?"
Zariah's eyes glowed. "Then he'll learn what it means to kneel for the wrong reasons."
She was speaking to the wolves.
To the future.
He approached her as she exited, his steps slow, deliberate.
"Zariah," he said.
She turned, expression unreadable.
"I was weak," he said. "I let politics blind me. I let fear guide me."
She didn't respond.
"I don't expect forgiveness," he continued. "But I need you to know—I never stopped loving you."
She stepped closer, eyes burning. "You loved me when it was easy. You buried me when it wasn't."
Kael's voice cracked. "I want to make it right."
Zariah leaned in, her voice like frost. "Then start by burning the lies you built your throne on."
She walked away.
---
That night, Liora made her move.
She summoned the High Elder in secret, her aura cloaked in moonlight and venom.
"She's destabilizing everything," she said. "If you don't act, the pack will fracture."
The Elder studied her. "And what do you propose?"
Liora's smile was sharp. "A trial. Not of strength. Of blood."
The Elder's eyes narrowed. "You want to test her lineage."
"She claims the Crimson Line. Let her prove it."
The Elder hesitated. "That bloodline hasn't been tested in centuries."
"Then it's time."
---
The next morning, the summons arrived.
Zariah read the parchment, her fingers steady.
> "You are hereby called to the Trial of Blood. To prove your lineage. To face the truth beneath the moon."
Riven read over her shoulder. "They're scared."
Zariah folded the parchment. "They should be."
He looked at her. "You don't have to do this."
She met his gaze. "I do. Not for them. For every wolf who was silenced. For every howl that was buried."
heart pounding. He had seen the crimson light. Felt the tremor. Heard the whispers.
She was more than he had ever imagined.
More than he had ever deserved.
He approached her slowly.
"You proved it," he said.
Zariah turned to him. "I didn't need to."
Kael's voice cracked. "I want to make things right."
She studied him. "You can't undo the past."
"I know. But I can stand beside you now."
She stepped closer, her voice like frost. "You had your chance. You chose silence."
Kael's jaw tightened. "Then let me speak now."
Zariah's eyes burned. "Speak with actions. Not apologies."
---
That night, the pack gathered in the ceremonial garden.
The Elders stood before them, solemn.
"The Crimson Line has returned," the High Elder announced. "And with it, a reckoning."
Wolves murmured. Some bowed. Some growled.
Zariah stood at the edge, watching.
Liora stepped forward, her aura flaring. "You would let her rewrite our laws? Our legacy?"
The Elder turned to her. "She is our legacy."
Liora's voice rose. "Then I challenge her. For truth. For power. For the pack."
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Zariah stepped forward. "I accept."