Nyx's POV
My hand hovers between the two versions of myself.
The merciful mate. The vengeful queen.
Love or power.
Forgiveness or revenge.
"CHOOSE!" they scream again, and the temple shakes harder.
But something feels wrong about this.
I step back, my mind racing. "No."
Both versions freeze. "What?"
"This is a trick." I look between them. "You're asking me to choose between love and power, like I can't have both. Like being merciful means being weak. Like being powerful means being cruel."
The girl in white frowns. "But you must choose—"
"No, I don't." My voice grows stronger. "My mother was an Omega Sovereign. She had power AND mercy. She tried to make peace between wolves and Alphas. She didn't choose one or the other."
The warrior in black tilts her head. "But she died for that choice. Morvanna killed her because she refused to use her full power."
"Maybe." I stand taller, feeling something click into place. "Or maybe she died because she was alone. Because the Alphas feared her instead of standing with her."
I turn to face the empty temple. "Guardian! This trial is broken! You're asking me to be incomplete!"
Silence.
Then the Guardian's voice echoes: "Explain."
"An Omega Sovereign isn't just power or just mercy. We're both. We're balance." I point at the two versions of me. "You want me to choose because that's what Morvanna did three hundred years ago. She chose power over everything else, and look what happened—she became a monster."
The temple stops shaking.
Light floods the space.
The two versions of me start to glow, moving toward each other. They merge, becoming one figure wearing silver armor with a white cloak. Power and mercy combined.
The figure smiles at me. "Congratulations, Nyx Evermoon. You passed the first trial."
She dissolves into silver light that flows into my chest.
I gasp as power and understanding hit me all at once. I see flashes of my mother's memories—her trying to unite the kingdoms, her falling in love with my father before he became corrupted by grief, her sacrificing herself to hide me from Morvanna.
"I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough," my mother's voice whispers. "But you are. You're everything I should have been."
Tears stream down my face. "I'll finish what you started, Mom. I promise."
The Guardian appears before me, her starlight eyes showing something like approval. "You have learned the first truth: an Omega Sovereign who chooses only power becomes a tyrant. One who chooses only mercy becomes a victim. You must be both."
"What's the next trial?"
"Body." She gestures, and a new door appears. "Through there, you will face your physical limits. Your pain. Your weakness. Your mortality."
"Sounds fun," I mutter.
"It's not meant to be fun. It's meant to break you." She steps aside. "You have until sunset. If you're still alive by then, the final trial awaits."
I walk through the door.
And fall.
I'm falling through endless darkness, screaming, my stomach in my throat—
I hit something hard. Water. Ice-cold water that steals my breath.
I sink like a stone, the freezing cold crushing my lungs. I thrash, trying to swim up, but which way is up? It's dark everywhere.
My chest burns. I need air. I'm going to drown—
Then I feel them.
Five presences in my mind. Five voices calling my name.
Nyx!
It's my Alphas. They can feel me dying through the bonds.
Don't you dare die! That's Kieran, his voice desperate.
We're sorry. We're so sorry. Cassian sounds broken.
Please. Give us a chance to make it right. Darius, begging.
Come back to us. Riven, crying.
I see you surviving this. I see you winning. Zane, his seer gift reaching across the distance.
Their voices give me strength.
My wolf surges inside me. Silver light explodes around my body, and suddenly I can see. I can breathe. The water doesn't hurt anymore.
I'm not drowning.
I'm transforming.
My body changes. My bones shift. Fur sprouts. But it's not like a normal wolf transformation.
I become something bigger. Stronger. My fur is pure silver, glowing with moonlight. My eyes burn with power.
An Omega Sovereign's true form.
I surge upward through the water, breaking the surface with a howl that shakes the temple.
I land on solid ground, water streaming off my silver fur. The Guardian watches, nodding.
"You have passed the second trial. Your body is no longer your weakness—it's your weapon."
I shift back to human form. I'm not even cold anymore. The rejection wounds on my arms are completely healed.
"One more trial," I pant. "What is it?"
"Soul." The Guardian's expression turns sad. "The final trial is the hardest. You must face the truth of your bonds. You must decide if you can truly forgive those who broke you."
A third door appears, this one pulsing with five different colors—gold, silver, red, blue, and purple. The colors of my five Alphas.
"Through that door, you will meet them. Not the real them—echoes created from your memories and emotions. They will say everything you want to hear. Beg for forgiveness. Promise to change."
My heart races. "And?"
"And you must decide if you believe them. If you can let them back into your heart." The Guardian looks at me seriously. "But know this: the choices you make in there will affect the real bonds. If you reject them completely, the bonds will sever forever. You'll be free, but they'll die."
"And if I accept them?"
"Then you bind yourself to five males who have already proven they can hurt you." Her voice is gentle. "The question is: can you risk your heart again? Or is it safer to let them go?"
I stare at the door, my hands shaking.
Through the bonds, I feel them all waiting. Hoping. Terrified.
They don't know what I'm about to face.
They don't know I'm about to decide if they live or die.
I reach for the door handle.
It's warm under my palm, pulsing like a heartbeat.
Five heartbeats.
"Whatever happens in there," the Guardian says softly, "remember: forgiveness is not weakness. But neither is it required. You owe them nothing, Nyx Evermoon. The only person you owe anything to is yourself."
I take a deep breath and push the door open.
On the other side, five figures wait in the darkness.
As I step through, they turn to face me.
And I see my five Alphas on their knees, with tears in their eyes and my name on their lips.
"Nyx," they whisper together. "Please. Let us explain."