LOGINCalla's POV The Grand Assembly Hall buzzed with low voices as everyone started to leave. The elder had spoken. Tanya had won the first trial. My body still ached from the run through the snow. My clothes were torn and wet. Snow melted on my boots, leaving small puddles on the marble floor. I felt tired, sad, and angry all at once.But I was not done.I stepped forward and raised my voice loud enough for the whole hall to hear. “Wait! Everyone stop!”The wolves paused. Heads turned. Blade and Brynne stopped near the dais. Tanya, already halfway to the door, turned back with a frown.I pointed straight at the young wolf who had been with my group. The one who had disappeared right before we reached the grove. He stood near the back, trying to slip away with Tanya’s remaining supporters.“Him,” I said clearly. “He was the spy planted in my team. He told Tanya where we were going. He betrayed us so she could reach the sacred grove first. That is how she won.”The hall went quiet. All
Calla's POV I stood up fast. The fire was almost dead. My body still ached from the cold and honestly I hated being in the wild. I just wanted to snuggle with my soft daughter and rest, but my mind was clear now. The sacred grove was the real goal. “Lwt us go now,” I said. My voice was urgent. “We have to move toward the deepest part of the woods. The place where the old stories say the Moon Goddess spoke to the first Luna. That is where the trial ends. We have to get there before Tanya does.”The wolves rose quickly. Their faces showed new energy. Lira stood beside me. Torin checked the injured ones. We packed the last bits of food and water. We stepped out into the night. The snow fell harder. The wind howled through the trees. My boots sank deep with every step. My legs burned. My scratched leg throbbed. But I pushed forward. We had to hurry.“Stay close,” I whispered. We moved fast. The snow made it harder to breathe and at this point I couldn’t even feel my toes. Every ste
Third Person POV Calla walked beside Lira through the deep snow. The cold bit at her skin, but the heat from Blade’s tongue still lingered on her neck like a brand. Her thighs felt damp and uncomfortable under the layers of her clothing. Every step sent a small jolt through her body. She could still feel the twins watching from the shadows. If not that the other wolves would have found her weird the urge to raise her finger at them was incredibly strong:They reached the small camp. The other wolves were resting near the weak fire. Some slept while the others kept watch of what was going on. Lira helped Calla sit on a log covered with a spare blanket. The warmth from the fire was small but welcome.Calla paused. She stared into the flames for a long moment. Something felt wrong. The encounter with the twins had been too strange. Why haven’t they captured her? They had not dragged her back to the monitors. They had simply left. Wasn’t that the whole purpose of this trial in the
Third Person POV Calla sat alone on the frozen log, the cold biting through her thin coat like teeth.The snow fell steadily, blanketing the clearing in white silence. Her breath came out in small clouds. Her fingers were numb inside her gloves. She had been here for over an hour, staring into the dark trees, waiting.She knew they were there.“Come out,” she said, voice steady despite the cold. “I can feel the two of you.”For a moment, nothing happened. Then she heard someone chuckle. From within the trees.From the left, one wolf emerged, sleek and powerful, silver-gray fur dusted with snow. From the right, the other stepped forward, almost identical but with a softer, more feminine grace in her movements. They shifted as they approached.The twins stood before her now … tall, devastatingly handsome in their human forms. Blade on the left, silver hair falling over one eye, sharp jaw and piercing blue eyes. Brynne on the right, the same strong features but with a slightly softer
Third Person POV Tanya Knox stared into the dying flames. The small fire gave almost no heat now. The night had grown darker and colder. Her remaining wolves sat close together, their faces pale and tired. The expensive coat she wore was still mostly clean, but her hands shook with barely contained rage.She looked at Ronan, her voice sharp as broken glass. “Push them harder. I want a bigger pack. I want them to tear into Calla’s group tonight.”Ronan’s face was already slick with sweat. He wiped it again, his breath visible in the freezing air. “Your highness, please… I can only beg. If I push too hard…”Tanya stepped forward and grabbed the front of his coat. Her nails dug into the fabric. “Do it. Now. Tell them Calla’s wolves are weak. Tell them there is fresh blood and easy meat. Make them go after her. I do not care how.”Ronan swallowed hard. He stepped away from the fire and raised his hands. His lips moved in the old, whispering words. His fingers traced strange patterns
Third Person POV Tanya Knox stood deep in the frozen woods, hidden behind a thick wall of snow and rocks. The small fire in front of her was weak and low. Her ten wolves sat around it, looking tired and cold. Tanya’s expensive coat was still clean. Her dark hair was neat under her hood. She looked like she had not suffered much.One of her wolves, a tall man named Ronan, stood near her. He was one of the strongest in her group. Tanya turned to him with sharp eyes.“Did any of them get killed yet?” she asked. Her voice was cold and impatient.Ronan shook his head quickly. “No, your highness. None of Calla’s wolves have died yet. They fought off a small pack of monsters earlier, but they all survived.”Tanya’s face twisted with anger. She clenched her fists. “But didn’t you say it was part of your family gift to control these creatures?”Ronan started sweating even in the freezing air. His face turned pale. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “That… that is not what I
Calla’s POVAdele went down for her afternoon nap without a fight.That alone told me how exhausted she still was. Under normal circumstances, getting my daughter to sleep in the middle of the day was a negotiation that could stretch anywhere between twenty minutes and an eternity. Today she had
Calla’s POVThe safe house was a narrow brownstone on a quiet street that didn’t appear on any map Tyson had ever shown anyone.That was what he told me as he pushed open the front door and stepped aside to let me through. I didn’t ask how he knew that. I didn’t ask much of anything. I was running
Calla’s POVI ran.The shadow touched my feet and my body made the decision before my mind caught up and I burst out from between the vans and sprinted for the loading dock with everything I had left.I almost made it.A hand closed around my arm from behind … an iron grip, brutal and sudden, yanki
Calla’s POVThe cab rolled to a stop at the edge of Central Station and I had the door open before the wheels had fully settled.“Thank you,” I told the driver.He didn’t respond. His eyes were already back on the road, his radio already being switched to a different station. Whether that was guilt







