Kaia's POV
She needs to be eliminated.
I freeze outside the common room, Seraphine's voice carrying through the partially open door.
The King's reaction to her was... problematic, another female voice says. If he's already bonded to her—
Then we make sure she doesn't survive long enough for it to matter. Seraphine's tone is ice. Accidents happen in the trials. Especially to weak Mixedbloods who don't belong here.
My stomach twists. I should walk away, pretend I didn't hear. But my feet won't move.
What if the King protects her? a third voice asks nervously.
He can't show favoritism without losing the council's support, Seraphine says. He'll have to let the trials play out fairly. And in a fair fight, she doesn't stand a chance.
Footsteps approach the door.
I bolt down the hallway, my heart hammering, and nearly crash into a guard.
Miss Ashborne? He steadies me. I'm here to escort you to the new Luna Wing. After last night's... incident, all candidates are being relocated.
Right. The fire. My room that burned with a message saying I should stay dead.
Where am I being moved? I ask.
His expression turns apologetic. You'll see.
The new Luna Wing is even more beautiful than I imagined—crystal chandeliers, polished floors, doors carved with intricate wolf designs.
Nine candidates stand in the hallway, each beside a door with their name engraved in silver. The rooms are clearly different sizes—some doors are massive, others smaller.
I'm the last to arrive.
Miss Ashborne. An elderly woman in palace colors approaches. Due to the fire destroying your original quarters and the... security concerns, you've been assigned this room.
She gestures to the door at the very end of the hallway. It's the smallest, farthest from the communal baths, basically hidden in a corner.
Of course it is.
I walk past the other candidates. Seraphine stands by a massive door—clearly the best room. She watches me with a cold smile.
When I reach my door, my name is engraved there: Kaia Ashborne.
Inside, the room is plain. A single bed, a small bathroom, a window overlooking the servant quarters. No luxury. No decoration. Just the bare minimum.
I hear giggling behind me and turn. Three candidates cluster together, whispering and looking my way.
I heard her room is the old servant's quarters, one says loudly enough for me to hear.
Fitting for a Mixedblood, another adds.
I close my door before they can see my face burn.
It doesn't matter. I'm alive. I have shelter. I've survived worse.
I sit on the bed, and it creaks.
A knock makes me jump.
I open the door to find a small girl with glasses and kind eyes. She looks terrified to be standing there.
I'm Mira, she whispers. I wanted to... to warn you.
Warn me about what?
She glances down the hallway nervously. Seraphine. She's gathering allies against you. She saw what happened in the throne room—everyone did. The King's bond to you. She's threatened by it.
I didn't ask for any of this, I say quietly.
I know. But it doesn't matter. Mira's voice is sad. You should leave before you get hurt. Fake an illness. Run away. Anything. Because if you stay, they'll make sure you don't survive the first trial.
Before I can respond, she hurries away.
I close the door and lean against it.
Leave. Run away. Give up.
I've heard those suggestions before. From Luna, from guards, from my own terrified thoughts.
But I didn't come this far to quit now.
Hours later, I open my small wardrobe to find clothes for tomorrow's trial.
The palace provided each candidate with basic supplies—a few dresses, training clothes, boots.
My training clothes are shredded to ribbons.
Someone took a knife to them, cutting them into useless strips of fabric. My dresses too—all three destroyed.
A note sits on top of the ruined clothes: Go home, Mixedblood. Before you end up like your dress.
My hands shake as I hold the note.
They didn't just threaten me. They destroyed the only things I had.
I should cry. Should feel devastated.
But I don't.
I'm just... angry.
I crumple the note and throw it across the room.
Fine. They want to play dirty? I've been surviving dirty since I was thrown out of the Nightshade Pack. They think destroying my clothes will break me?
I've been broken before.
It didn't stick.
A soft knock—different from before. Three quick taps, a pause, then two more.
I crack the door open.
Luna grins at me, wearing a maid's uniform. Miss me?
I yank her inside and hug her fiercely. How did you get hired?
Told them I had years of experience serving Pureblood families. She pulls back, studying my face. What's wrong?
I show her the destroyed clothes.
Luna's expression goes dark. When I find out who did this—
It doesn't matter. I sit on the bed. I need to survive tomorrow's trial. Without training clothes.
I'll steal you some. Luna's already planning. There's a storage room where they keep extra supplies. I'll sneak in tonight.
You could get caught.
So? They can't do worse to me than fire me. She sits beside me. But that's not the real problem, is it?
I shake my head. The whole palace is talking about me and the King. About what happened in the throne room.
Oh, they're doing more than talking. Luna's eyes gleam. The servants' quarters are exploding with gossip. Everyone saw the King's power surge. Everyone knows he felt the mate bond with you. They're saying he hasn't reacted to anyone like that since his mate died ten years ago.
My stomach drops. That makes me a bigger target.
Or, Luna says, her grin returning, it makes you the most dangerous player in this game. Think about it. You're the nobody from the streets, and suddenly the most powerful wolf in the territory is bonded to you? That's not weakness, Kaia. That's power.
Power I don't know how to use.
Then learn. She squeezes my hand. Because I've been listening to the guards talk. Tomorrow's trial is brutal. The Hunt. They release you into the royal forest and track you down like prey. Half the candidates don't survive.
Fear crawls up my spine. I don't know the forest. I don't know how to fight trained warriors. I don't—
You know how to survive, Luna interrupts. You've been doing it for months. Trust your instincts.
She's right. I've evaded danger before. I've outsmarted people who underestimated me.
But this is different. This is trained killers hunting me in unfamiliar territory.
I need to go before someone notices I'm missing, Luna says, standing. But I'll be back tomorrow before the trial with those clothes. And Kaia?
Yeah?
Don't trust anyone here except me. Not the other candidates. Not even the King—not until you know why he really wants you alive.
She slips out through a hidden door I didn't even notice in the wall.
I'm alone again.
I lie down, exhausted but unable to sleep. Tomorrow I could die. Tonight someone destroyed my clothes and left a threat.
I'm surrounded by enemies.
My only ally is a servant who could be fired for helping me.
And somewhere in this palace, the Alpha King is probably struggling with the same impossible bond I feel burning in my chest.
Hours pass. The palace grows quiet.
I'm almost asleep when I hear it.
Footsteps in the hallway. Slow. Deliberate. Stopping outside my door.
I hold my breath.
The doorknob turns—slowly, quietly, like someone trying not to make noise.
But I locked it. They can't
Click.
The lock opens.
Someone has a key.
The door creaks open inch by inch.
A shadow fills the doorway—tall, broad-shouldered, definitely male.
My wolf screams at me to shift, to fight, to run.
But I'm frozen, watching the figure step into my room.
The moonlight from my window catches his face.
My heart stops.
It's not an assassin.
It's him.
Alpha King Daemon Silverclaw stands in my doorway at midnight, his silver eyes glowing in the darkness, his expression tortured.
I'm sorry, he says, his voice rough. I know I shouldn't be here. But the bond—I can't stay away. Not when someone's trying to kill you. Not when you might die tomorrow.
He closes the door behind him.
And suddenly we're alone in the darkness, the mate bond screaming between us, and I have no idea if he's here to protect me or if I just made a terrible mistake by letting him in.