Chapter Nine — The Evaluation Room  

Third Person Limited POV — Bella

The moment the door shut behind Bella, she knew this wasn’t a normal test.

The sound wasn’t loud. It was solid. Final.

She turned slowly, eyes scanning the room. Thick stone walls curved around her in a wide circle, carved with old markings she didn’t recognize. There were no windows. No visible exits. Just one narrow opening high above, where pale moonlight spilled down onto the floor like a spotlight.

Bella’s stomach tightened.

An evaluation chamber.

Her hands curled into fists.

These rooms weren’t meant for regular students. Everyone at the Academy knew that. They were used for wolves the elders didn’t trust. Wolves who were unstable. Dangerous. Or worse, unknown.

“So that’s how it is,” she muttered.

The door vanished into the wall behind her with a heavy grind of stone.

No turning back.

Bella took a careful step forward.

The floor reacted instantly.

Thin red lines lit up beneath her boots, spreading outward in a sharp pattern. Symbols followed, crawling across the stone like living things. The air thickened, pressing against her chest until breathing felt harder than it should.

Her heart began to pound.

She dropped into a fighting stance without thinking.

“Alright,” she said quietly. “Let’s get it over with.”

A low growl echoed through the chamber.

Then the first construct appeared.

It pulled itself from the stone wall directly in front of her, forming piece by piece. Four legs. Broad shoulders. A wolf’s shape but wrong. Too stiff. Too sharp. Its eyes glowed an unnatural red, empty of emotion.

Not a real wolf.

A combat construct.

Bella didn’t wait.

The moment it lunged, she moved.

She rolled to the side just as claws sliced through the air where her throat had been. The force of the strike cracked stone. Bella came up fast, pivoted, and slammed her elbow into its ribs.

Solid.

It staggered back with a snarl.

Good. It could hurt.

The construct recovered quickly and rushed her again. Bella ducked under its jaws, grabbed its foreleg, and twisted hard. She felt something give as she drove her knee into its side.

The wolf slammed into the wall and dissolved into smoke.

Bella barely had time to breathe before another growl echoed behind her.

She spun.

Two more constructs formed at opposite ends of the chamber.

“Of course,” she muttered.

They attacked together.

Bella sprinted forward, forcing them to close in on each other. She slid between them at the last second, felt claws rake across her back, and bit back a scream as pain flared.

She didn’t stop.

She turned, struck low, swept one off its feet, then jumped as the other snapped at her legs. She landed hard, rolled, and came up with blood trickling down her arm.

The pressure under her ribs surged.

Her vision blurred for a split second.

“No,” she whispered, shaking her head. “Not now.”

The constructs pressed their advantage.

One slammed into her shoulder, sending her skidding across the floor. She hit the wall hard enough to knock the air from her lungs. Pain exploded through her side.

She gasped, struggling to breathe.

The wolves closed in.

Bella forced herself up, teeth clenched, body screaming. She ducked the first strike, drove her fist into the second wolf’s jaw, and felt bone crack.

It howled.

She didn’t feel relieved.

She felt anger.

“Is that all?” she shouted hoarsely.

The chamber answered by creating more.

Four this time.

Bella’s breath came fast. Sweat stung her eyes. Her muscles burned. This wasn’t a test of strength anymore.

It was endurance.

She fought anyway.

She took hits. She got worse. She moved on instinct, reacting without thinking, surviving on pure stubbornness. Claws tore into her arm. Teeth scraped her side. Blood smeared the floor beneath her boots.

The moment her blood touched the glowing symbols, the chamber reacted.

The red lines flared brighter.

The constructs hesitated.

Bella froze, chest heaving.

“What did I”

The pressure inside her snapped tight, then shifted.

Not violently.

Deliberately.

The constructs backed away.

Slowly.

Uneasily.

Bella straightened, heart pounding. She looked down at the blood on her hands, then at the wolves retreating from her.

“That’s new,” she whispered.

The chamber hummed, a deep vibration running through the stone.

Then the constructs dissolved.

The symbols dimmed.

The floor went still.

The door unlocked.

Bella staggered forward, barely catching herself against the wall as she stepped out into the corridor. Her legs trembled violently. Her head spun.

She passed.

That realization didn’t bring relief.

It brought dread.

Because whatever just happened inside that room hadn’t been planned.

And someone, somewhere, was very unhappy about it.

She barely made it back to the courtyard before the whispers started.

“She came out alive.”

“The chamber shut itself down.”

“That’s never happened.”

“What is she?”

Bella ignored them and headed straight for the training grounds. Rest felt dangerous. Like if she stopped moving, the pressure inside her would surge again.

The bell rang.

Sparring.

No break. No explanation.

They paired her with an Alpha twice her size.

He smirked when he saw her.

“Omega,” he said. “Try not to embarrass yourself.”

The whistle blew.

He rushed her.

Bella dodged, struck his knee, felt it buckle. He roared and swung wildly. She ducked, drove her shoulder into his chest, and knocked him back.

They exchanged blows fast and brutal. He was stronger. She was faster.

She feinted left, swept his legs, and sent him crashing to the ground. She stepped back, breathing hard.

The instructor nodded.

Victory.

She didn’t have time to react before it went wrong.

A snarl ripped through the crowd.

Another Alpha lunged into the ring without warning, eyes wild, mouth foaming. He tackled Bella from behind, claws ripping into her arm.

She screamed.

Blood poured down her skin.

The Alpha froze.

His face twisted in horror as he stumbled back, clutching his head and screaming like something was tearing him apart from the inside.

The entire ring went silent.

Bella stood shaking, blood dripping onto the dirt.

“What’s wrong with him?” she demanded.

No one answered.

Then the air shifted.

The bond snapped tight.

Jake stepped into the ring.

The feral Alpha backed away immediately.

Jake’s eyes locked on Bella’s bleeding arm.

Something dark crossed his face.

Wolves didn’t react to blood like that.

And for the first time since stepping into the Academy, Bella realized the truth.

She wasn’t being tested anymore.

She was being watched.

And the moon wasn’t finished with her yet.