A deep, haunting crimson hue spread across the sky like a celestial wound, soaking the entire territory in a hue that pulsed with tension and mystery. No one dared speak. The usual sounds of the night crickets, rustling leaves, distant howls had vanished, swallowed by the oppressive silence of the eclipse. The entire pack held its collective breath, knowing that tonight would change everything.
Tonight was the night of the Lunar Eclipse Trial a sacred rite invoked only in the rarest and most perilous of times. For generations, it had remained dormant, unused, buried in old scrolls and whispered only among the Elders. Until now.
Until me.
I stood barefoot in the center of the sacred moon circle an ancient ring of white stones nestled deep behind the old crypt, now uncovered for the trial. The earth beneath me was cold and damp, yet it buzzed with energy that seemed to rise from the soil and coil around my legs like smoke.
A thin ring of silver fire circled the edge of the moon stones. It pulsed with my heartbeat. I could feel the ancient power rising with the eclipse, responding to something buried deep in my blood.
The pack stood beyond the flames, forming a silent semicircle around the rite. They watched with wide, cautious eyes. Most of them didn't understand what they were witnessing. But they could feel it. The power. The tension. The shift in the air.
The Elders were here, all three of them. Dressed in long ceremonial cloaks, faces painted with ash, their hands held the sacred symbols of judgment.
Kieran lingered behind them, on the edge of the circle. His gaze never left me. I could feel his tension, the protective worry humming off him like heat. If it were up to him, I'd never have to face this trial alone. But it wasn't up to him. And it wasn't up to me.
The Moon had called. And I had answered.
Then, from the darkness, he emerged.
Lucian.
The Alpha.
Dressed in black ceremonial armor etched with ancient runes, silver embroidery catching the light of the blood moon like frost. He stepped into the moon circle with the grace of a warrior, his expression unreadable, his wolf barely restrained beneath the surface.
He didn't speak as he took his place opposite me. We hadn't spoken since the last trial. Since I told him I would never be his again.
And yet… there was something in his eyes. Not hatred. Not fury.
Longing.
And guilt.
Elder Vira stepped forward, her staff clutched in one hand, the ceremonial dagger in the other.
"The moon stands between us," she intoned, voice deep and steady. "It reveals what we hide. Tonight, under its crimson gaze, two souls must decide: to merge or to separate. To rise together, or fall apart."
I took a deep breath. My hands trembled slightly.
"Aurora Quinn," she continued, "you are the marked vessel. Lucian Grey, you are the one who cast her away. Tonight, the Moon demands your truth. Do you submit to its judgment?"
"I do," Lucian said, voice low but firm.
"I do," I echoed.
She passed the dagger first to Lucian. Without flinching, he sliced his palm and let his blood drip onto the sacred stone between us. The silver fire surged, momentarily turning red.
When the dagger was passed to me, I paused. My wolf stirred beneath my skin, urging me to be brave. I pressed the blade against my palm and cut. My blood hit the stone, and the flames roared.
The air split with a crack of energy.
Suddenly, the world around us blurred, melted, and shifted. We were no longer in the circle. We were somewhere else entirely.
A realm made of memory and magic.
We stood inside a hall of mirrors.
Endless reflections surrounded us, each showing a different version of our fate. In one mirror, Lucian held me in his arms, smiling, peaceful, crowned beside me as I ruled with fire and light. In another, we fought, clawing at each other, bloodied and wild. In a third, he knelt before me as I raised a sword over his heart, tears falling from my cheeks.
Lucian reached for the mirror with the peaceful future but his hand passed through. It shattered, splintering into stardust.
"These aren't the future," I whispered. "They're warnings. Possibilities. Every path we could take."
"And which one do you want?" he asked, his voice cracking for the first time.
I turned to the mirror showing a grave beside a throne.
"I don't know anymore."
The floor quaked. Fire spread through the cracks, licking at the edges of the realm.
Then the last mirror formed.
The memory I had feared the most.
The day of the rejection.
But this time… I saw it from his eyes.
Lucian stood in the Alpha chamber, my scent clinging to him like comfort. His wolf raged, screaming to accept me. But the Elders loomed behind him. Nerissa's jealousy poisoned the air. His father's ghost whispered warnings in his ear:
"She is prophecy. She will destroy you. The pack will fear you both. Kill the bond before it grows."
And so he did.
He broke the bond not out of apathy.
But out of terror.
Not of me.
Of how much he already loved me.
The vision ended.
We returned to the circle, gasping, breathless from the weight of revelation.
The Elders waited. The fire dimmed to a silver pulse.
Vira spoke:
"Lucian Grey will you accept the bond you once severed?"
He stood tall, eyes locked on mine.
"I never stopped feeling it," he admitted. "I feared it. I feared her power. Her light. But I was wrong to turn away. I accept the bond."
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
The fire flared.
Then Vira turned to me.
"Aurora Quinn. Do you accept this bond?"
My heart thundered.
I remembered the visions.
The pain. The throne. The death.
I looked at Lucian and saw the boy I had once loved. The Alpha I had once dreamed of standing beside.
But also the man who broke me.
And who only reached for me when I became powerful enough to fear.
I stepped forward.
And said:
"No."
Silence.
"I cannot love a man who only sees my worth in power," I said, my voice steady. "I loved you when I was weak. When I was nobody. That girl deserved your devotion. Not just the version of me who carries prophecy in her blood."
Lucian's face twisted part anguish, part disbelief.
"I'm not your second choice. I'm not your redemption arc."
Vira raised her hands.
"The bond is severed. The Moon bears witness."
The fire around us extinguished. The energy broke.
Lucian lowered his head.
I turned and walked away first.
And this time, he let me.
Later that night, I stood at the edge of the woods, staring at the red moon now dimming.
Kieran joined me. He didn't speak. He didn't need to.
The war inside me had shifted.
I had chosen myself.
And somewhere far in the forest, the shadows stirred.
Because prophecy waits for no heart.
It only moves forward.