The transition from "normal student" to "prophesied queen" wasn't a gradual slope; it was a cliff Mary had been pushed off.
But she wasn't falling alone.
Back in the dorms, the air was thick with a strange, static energy.
Avery was pacing, her hands trembling so violently she dropped her water bottle.
When it hit the floor, instead of just spilling, the water stayed in a perfect, shimmering sphere, and a tiny sprout cracked through the floorboards beneath it, growing six inches in seconds.
"What is happening to me?" Avery gasped, staring at the vibrant green vine.
Jada, meanwhile, was huddled in the corner. The shadows behind her weren't behaving.
They stretched and curled toward her like obsidian ink, wrapping around her wrists like protective bracers.
"Mary, tell me you're seeing this," Jada whispered, her eyes wide with terror.
Mary looked at Myles, who stood by the door, his expression solemn.
It was time. "Sit down," Mary said, her voice steadier than she felt.
"We need to talk about Aethelgard."
The Truth of the Shield
For the next hour, Mary and Myles laid it out.
She told them about the Valkyrie blood, the Fourth Alpha's prophecy, and the mind-wipes.
"Your parents too," Myles added softly.
"Avery, your mother wasn't just a florist; she was the High Druid of the Northern Woods. Jada, your father was the Master of Whispers. Like Marvin, they were stripped of their memories to keep you hidden. They think they're accountants and PTA members because the truth would have painted a target on your backs."
Jada stared at her hands, the shadows receding but still humming under her skin.
Avery touched the vine on the floor, and it withered back into the wood at her command.
"So we aren't just your friends," Jada said, her voice trembling. "We're your guards?"
"No," Mary said, reaching out to take both their hands. "You're my sisters.
The powers just mean we can finally fight back."
In the silence that followed, Myles stepped forward to check on Jada.
As his hand brushed hers, a literal spark of golden light leapt between them.
Jada gasped, her breath hitching, and Myles froze, his pupils blowing wide.
"Myles?" Mary asked, sensing the shift.
"Mate," Myles whispered, his voice thick with realization. "Jada... you're my mate."
The revelation added a layer of fierce protectiveness to the room.
The circle was forming. The Queen, her Shield-Maidens, and the protector bound by fate.
Mastery and Redemption
The second training session was a different world.
Instead of the frantic, scared girl from the night before, Mary walked into the obsidian hall with Astraea humming in the back of her mind.
The ancient wolf was a constant presence now, a lens through which Mary could see the world.
"Breath, Little Star," Astraea's voice echoed. "The elements are yours to command. The minds of men are open books."
Axel, Dante, and Kieran were waiting.
They looked restless, their scents heavy with a cocktail of regret and anxiety.
"Again?" Axel asked, but his voice lacked its usual bite.
"Again," Mary replied.
As they lunged, Mary didn't flinch.
She used her super-speed, a blur of violet light, to sidestep Axel's charge. Mid-motion, she flicked her fingers, and telekinesis caught Dante's ankles, tripping him mid-run.
She wasn't just reacting; she was dictating the flow.
She reached out with her mage powers, weaving a shimmering barrier of violet energy that absorbed Kieran's strike.
"He feels guilty," Astraea whispered.
Mary paused, her hand glowing with unshed power.
She looked at Kieran.
"You thought I was a spy sent by the Council to replace you," she said, her voice resonating with an authority that made the Alphas' wolves whimper.
"You treated me like a suspect because you were afraid for your packs."
Kieran stopped, his shoulders dropping. "We did," he admitted, his voice rough.
Axel stepped forward, shifting back into his human form completely, looking Mary in the eye.
"We've spent weeks making your life a living hell. We were supposed to be the Alphas of this Academy, the ones who recognize power.
Instead, we tried to break the most powerful thing we've ever seen."
"We're sorry, Mary," Dante added, his usual cocky grin replaced by a look of genuine remorse.
"The mate bond... we've been fighting it because we didn't think you were worthy of the pack. We were wrong."
Mary felt the pull—the triple bond between her and the three Alphas.
It was a roar in her blood, a demand to be acknowledged.
She could feel their hearts beating in sync with hers.
But she tightened her mental grip, forcing the bond down into a cold, dark place in her chest.
"Apology accepted," Mary said, her voice clipped. "But I don't have time for bonds right now.
I have forty-eight hours until the woods try to kill me. Focus."
The Alphas flinched at the rejection, but they nodded. They didn't push.
They simply fell into formation around her, no longer guards, but soldiers serving a Queen.
The Shadow's Web
While Mary mastered her fire, Samantha was in the lower levels of the library, her eyes bloodshot and her fingers stained with black ink.
She had reached out to the contact—the mysterious "Gargoyle" who had been feeding her information.
A small, vials of shimmering, oily liquid sat on the desk in front of her.
"The Moon Trials are a survival gauntlet," Samantha hissed to the empty room.
"But they don't know I have the catalyst. A drop of this in the forest's water supply, and the trees won't just hunt her—they'll feast on her."
Her phone buzzed. A message from the distorted voice:
The Fourth Alpha died because he saw the truth. Mary will die because she is the truth. Do not fail me, Samantha. If she survives the woods, I will ensure you do not survive the night.
Samantha smiled, a jagged, broken expression.
She didn't care about the prophecy or the crown. She just wanted to see the girl who had "Marvin the Teacher" as a father—the girl who stole the Alphas' attention—burn.
The forest was waiting. And the Valkyrie was almost awake.