LOGIN"Are real," the Guardian confirmed. "The war is coming. But maybe, just maybe, with a Silver Wolf who values his pack over prophecy, we'll find a better way to survive it. A way that doesn't require sacrificing everyone we love."The green light from the Confession Stone faded completely. The compulsion to truth vanished. We all stood there, gasping, shattered by what we'd revealed to each other."So what now?" Clara asked quietly. "We've all heard each other's worst secrets. We know Sophie betrayed us, Elizabeth would sacrifice us, Marcus is dying, and Thelma might not actually love Xavier. How do we come back from that?""We tell more truths," I said quietly. "Not the ones forced out by magic, but the ones we choose to share. We start over. Build something real this time, not based on hiding our flaws but accepting them.""That's insane," Sophie said. "You can't build a pack on admitting weakness—""Why not?" Thelma interrupted. "The alternative is building on lies. We just saw how
Sophie's eyes widened. "I never, I didn't…""You've been reporting to Victoria for six months," Meridith said. "Every time Xavier met with potential allies. Every time he discussed his plans for after the transformation. Every detail of his strategies. You sold him out for the promise of power. For the guarantee that when Xavier united the packs, you'd be given your own territory to rule.""Sophie?" I said, and I hated how my voice broke. "Tell me she's lying."Sophie was crying now. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I was angry. Angry at being young and overlooked and powerless. Victoria said she'd make me important. She said I'd be remembered. And I believed her. But then when I saw what she was really doing, what she was willing to sacrifice, I tried to stop her. That's why I helped during the trials! I was trying to make up for it!""By lying to us?" Clara demanded. "By pretending to be on our side while feeding information to our enemy?""I WAS on your side! I am on your side! I made a m
THELMA'S POVWe'd barely made it fifty feet down the mountain when Xavier stopped abruptly."Someone's following us," he said, his silver eyes scanning the treeline."Victoria's wolves?" I asked, though I knew better. Through the mate bond, I could feel Xavier's certainty, this was something different. Something worse."No." His voice was tight. "This presence is... familiar. But I can't place it.""Perhaps I can help with that," a woman's voice called out.We all spun to see a figure emerging from the morning mist. She was tall, elegant, with silver-streaked black hair and eyes that held the weight of centuries. She looked about fifty, but something in the way she moved suggested she was far, far older."Who are you?" Xavier demanded, stepping protectively in front of me."My name is Meridith," the woman said with a slight smile. "And I'm your grandmother, Xavier. Your father's mother. Though I suppose Marcus never mentioned me, did he?"The silence that followed was deafening.Marcu
XAVIER'S POVThelma gasped and collapsed.I moved without thinking, catching her before she hit the ground. Her skin was ice-cold, her heartbeat stuttering."Thelma! Thelma, wake up!"Her eyes opened slowly. "I saw it," she whispered. "I saw what we could become. What we have to do.""What? What did you see?""Everything. And nothing. And..." She smiled, and it was the most beautiful and terrible thing I'd ever seen. "And I have the answer. I know how to complete the trial."The Guardian's voice filled the cavern. "Thelma has answered the question. The Trial of Unity is complete. Xavier, the transformation is now sanctioned and blessed by the Moon Goddess herself. You are the Silver Wolf, whole and true."Power slammed into me. Not the violent, chaotic power of before, but something refined. Controlled. I felt my consciousness expand, touching every wolf in a hundred-mile radius. I could feel their emotions, their thoughts, their fears and hopes and dreams. I could sense the pack bond
THELMA'S POVI was standing in a throne room I didn't recognize.It was vast, with walls made of silver stone that seemed to glow from within. The ceiling was so high it disappeared into shadow. And on the throne at the far end sat Xavier.But it wasn't the Xavier I knew. This version was older, harder. His silver eyes held power and authority, but also weariness. The weight of the world was on his shoulders, and it showed.Beside him stood... someone. I couldn't quite make out their features. A woman? A man? Every time I tried to focus on them, they shifted, as if the vision couldn't decide who they were meant to be."This is one possible future," a voice said. I turned to see the ancient wolf from the void, the massive creature of starlight and shadow. "This is what happens if Xavier successfully unites the packs under his rule. If he becomes the Silver Wolf King the prophecies describe.""It looks..." I struggled for words. "Empty. He looks miserable.""He is," the ancient wolf con
THELMA'S POV"The trials!" Victoria shouted. "You passed two of them, but you never completed the third! The Trial of Unity! You transformed before stepping into the circle, before answering the Guardian's question! That means the transformation is INVALID! You're the Silver Wolf, yes, but you're not SANCTIONED by the Moon Goddess! And do you know what happens to unsanctioned Silver Wolves?"The Guardian's voice filled the cavern, heavy with sorrow. "She's correct. Xavier, by transforming before completing the Trial of Unity, you've created a paradox. You have the power but not the blessing. You're the Silver Wolf, but you're not... complete. Not whole. Not truly born.""What does that mean?" I demanded."It means," Victoria said triumphantly, "that he's vulnerable to the one thing that can kill a Silver Wolf—silver blessed by the Moon Goddess herself. And I just happen to have a weapon made of exactly that."She pulled something from her coat with her free hand. A dagger, small but r







