Chapter 5

The wind howled like a warning that morning.

Aria stood at the edge of the training field, the cold air biting into her skin. Her breath came in soft, white puffs, but her heart was racing too fast to feel the chill. Around her, rogues gathered in tight groups, sharpening blades, wrapping hands, preparing. The air buzzed with anticipation and suspicion.

She felt it in the glances. The unspoken question: Will she survive this?

Kael watched from a distance, arms folded, muscles coiled beneath his dark shirt. He hadn’t said much since last night’s trial demand, but his presence was constant…silent, looming. Protective, even if he wouldn’t admit it.

Maela was the first to approach.

“You slept?” she asked, offering a thickly woven cloak.

“A little,” Aria lied, tugging it over her shoulders.

Maela raised a brow. “The dreams again?”

“Not a dream,” Aria corrected softly. “She comes in pieces now. Fragments of words I don’t understand. Her voice echoes like it belongs in my blood.”

Maela placed a hand on her shoulder. “That’s because it does.”

Before Aria could ask what she meant, Kael strode toward them.

“It’s time,” he said.

The words hit like a punch. Aria’s stomach twisted.

Kael handed her a blade, simple, worn, and balanced for throwing.

“You’ll face three trials,” he said. “They’re older than any rogue here. Designed for the mates of Alpha rogues, to prove their loyalty and strength.”

“But I’m not your…”

He cut her off with a glare. “They don’t care what you believe. Only what you bleed.”

The words settled heavy between them.

Aria looked down at the blade in her hand. It felt foreign. Wrong. But something inside her…something wild and ancient begged her to hold it tighter.

“You’ll go alone,” he added. “But I’ll be watching from a distance. So will they.”

Maela stepped forward, tucking a satchel at Aria’s side. “Water, herbs, and a wolf salve if you get injured.”

Aria blinked at her. “You really think I’m going to need that?”

“I think you’re going to survive,” Maela said. “And survival always comes with scars.”

Nessa ran up before Aria could walk away, her little hands clutching a rough-spun bracelet.

“I made this,” she said shyly. “To keep you safe. It’s got wolf hair. And rosemary. And... um… berries.”

Aria knelt, touched beyond words. “Thank you, Nessa. I’ll wear it the whole time.”

She hugged the girl tightly, her heart aching. Nessa was a reminder of the only innocence left in this place.

“Where’s the first trial?” Aria asked Kael as she rose.

He pointed to the forest. “Deep past the western ridge. There’s a clearing shaped like a crescent. A beast awaits you there.”

“A beast?” she asked, heart skipping.

Kael’s jaw tightened. “Not all rogues walk on two legs anymore.”

Aria nodded, swallowing her fear like glass.

Without another word, she turned and ran toward the trees, cloak flapping behind her, the weight of expectations and fate hot on her heels.

The forest grew denser the deeper she went, and the air turned damp and sour. Sunlight barely touched the ground. Her boots crunched twigs and leaves, but no sound echoed back. The silence was wrong.

She knew she was being watched.

Every so often, she caught glimpses of eyes in the dark, shadows that moved just a second too late. Was it Kael? Or the trial’s watchers? Or something else entirely?

When she finally reached the crescent-shaped clearing, she froze.

A large wolf stood in the center. Its coat was mottled and filthy, thick with scars and wounds that never healed. Its eyes were dull… feral. It didn’t move like a wolf. It dragged a hind leg, and its ribs jutted from its sides like bones trying to escape.

It was more of a curse than a creature.

Aria’s pulse surged.

This was the trial?

The wolf sniffed the air and charged.

She threw herself sideways, the beast’s claws narrowly missing her throat. It turned fast, faster than she expected, and lunged again. This time, she was ready. She ducked low and slashed with her blade. The metal scraped its shoulder, drawing thick, dark blood.

The creature howled.

Pain and fury echoed through the trees.

You can’t kill what was made to suffer, a voice whispered in her head. Was it her wolf? Or something else?

The wolf struck again, claws grazing her thigh. Aria stumbled, breath heaving. She couldn’t win this with strength.

She ran through the trees, zigzagging between trunks, heart thundering. The beast followed, snarling, panting.

She led it toward a fallen tree, then spun at the last second. As the creature leapt, she drove her blade upward, plunging it into the beast’s exposed belly.

It landed hard, shrieking legs and buckling. Aria scrambled back, chest heaving.

The wolf collapsed, panting its final breath.

She watched its eyes fade and in the stillness, she whispered, “I’m sorry.”

And meant it.

She limped back toward the camp, blood on her hands, heart heavier than it had ever been.

The rogue camp came into view, but she didn’t reach it.

Not yet.

From the trees, a shadow moved. Silent. Swift.

Aria spun just in time to see a figure descend upon her, blade raised.

She blocked with her own just in time. Metal clanged, sparks flew.

The attacker was masked, movements refined, precise.

Not a rogue.

A soldier.

Her blood ran cold.

She ducked a strike and landed a punch, knocking the mask half off and her heart stopped.

On the attacker’s chest, etched in silver and crimson was a crest.

A wolf curled around a rose.

The Silverpine crest.

Rhys’ crest.

“Why?” she gasped, dodging a blow. “Why now?”

The masked figure didn’t speak but his grip faltered for a moment.

Aria used it. She kicked him hard, sending him crashing into the underbrush.

She didn’t wait. She ran.

And didn’t stop until she was within Kael’s reach.

Kael’s face darkened as she collapsed before him, gasping, bleeding.

“What happened?” he demanded, kneeling.

“Someone attacked me,” she breathed. “They wore Rhys’ crest.”

His eyes narrowed, rage flickering in their depths. “Here?”

“I killed the trial wolf. I did everything they asked.” Her voice cracked. “And I still wasn’t safe.”

Kael gripped her wrist, not gently. “You will be now.”

Around them, the rogues began to gather.

But Aria barely noticed.

Because deep inside, her wolf was stirring again…awake, aware, and whispering a single word over and over:

Betrayal.