The Trial of Thorns Within

The council envoy did not smile. He never did. His face was carved from old stone, his robe dark as blood clotted under moonlight. When he stepped forward into the firelit circle, the pack went silent, every wolf bristling at the cold power that clung to him like smoke.

He held no weapon. He needed none. His voice was the blade.

“You’ve survived the pit.” His gaze slid over Lena, unblinking, measuring. “But strength of claw and fang proves little. Any beast can bite. Any brute can kill. The council seeks more than flesh. The moon does not crown savages—it crowns sovereigns.”

Kade bared his teeth, golden eyes burning. “Speak plain, envoy. What is it you demand this time?”

The envoy’s lips thinned, but his tone never wavered. “The second trial is the Trial of Thorns. She”—a flick of his hand toward Lena—“will be tested not by blood, but by her mind, her spirit, her soul. We will strip her bare until nothing remains but truth. If she cannot endure, then the bond fails, and both of you will pay the price.”

Lena’s throat tightened. “What price?”

The envoy’s gaze was merciless. “The council will take your life, girl. And his.”

The fire cracked. A low growl rippled through the pack, a tide of fury. Wolves bristled, hackles raised, but none dared lunge. The envoy’s power was not theirs to touch.

Kade surged forward, only to be met with an invisible force that stopped him dead. His boots dug into the dirt, chest heaving, a snarl ripping from his throat. “You dare—”

The envoy did not flinch. “The moon decrees balance. You are bound, Wilder. If she fails, so do you. That is the law written in claw and star.”

Lena’s heart thundered. Her skin burned where Kade’s bite scarred her neck, throbbing as if the mark itself rebelled. “And if I pass?” she forced out.

The envoy tilted his head, like a crow peering at carrion. “Then you will not only live. You will stand as wolf true-born, your humanity shed, your place among the packs unchallenged. No alpha may deny you. No council may unmake you.”

Gasps rippled through the gathering. Even Kade froze, his fury tangled with something darker—hope, fear, hunger.

The envoy extended a hand. His palm was pale, his fingers too long, and resting on it was a crown of living thorns, its barbs slick with fresh crimson. The scent of iron curled in the air.

“This trial begins now,” he said. His eyes bored into Lena’s. “Take the crown. Place it upon your head. And may your soul survive what comes.”

The fire roared higher, shadows stretching like claws.

Kade’s hand found hers, rough and unyielding, his grip a lifeline. His voice was low, almost broken. “Lena—”

But she already knew. The council would not wait. The trial would come, whether she chose it or not.

Her palm trembled as she reached for the crown. The thorns pulsed as if alive, whispering against her skin. When she lifted it, pain lanced her hand, sharp and hungry, drawing blood.

The envoy’s voice cut through the night, final as a grave. “Enter, then. The Trial of Thorns.”

The crown pressed down, and darkness swallowed her whole.

The world bled away.

No fire. No pack. No Kade. Only silence.

Then—whispers. Low, slithering, curling around her skull. They weren’t words at first, only sound, until they sharpened into voices she knew.

Lena.

She spun, but the forest around her was wrong. The trees leaned in too close, their bark slick with black sap. Vines of thorns coiled around her ankles, biting deep. The ground breathed like a living thing.

Lena.

The voice came again—her mother’s. Warm, broken, threaded with sorrow. “Why didn’t you come back? Why did you leave us? You abandoned me.”

Lena’s chest cracked open. Her mother stood before her, hair matted, eyes hollow. She wore the same hospital gown from the night she died, blood blooming at the chest like a rose.

“No.” Lena’s throat closed. “This isn’t real. You’re not real.”

Her mother’s face twisted, mouth stretching into a snarl. “You chose them. The wolves. Him. And now you’re nothing but his pet.”

Thorns lashed up her legs, tearing skin, sinking into bone. Pain screamed through her body, but she forced her jaw shut, biting down until iron flooded her mouth.

Fight it, her wolf growled inside her. This is not truth. This is poison.

But the vision shifted.

Now it was Kade.

His golden eyes burned—but they were cold, hollow, stripped of fire. His hands gripped her shoulders hard enough to bruise. “You think you belong, little human? You think you’ll ever be one of us? You’re just a distraction. A weakness. My mistake.”

Lena’s breath shattered. The bond scar seared hot, betraying her. Her wolf raged, clawing at her ribs, but the venom of the illusion seeped deeper.

“You marked me,” she whispered, voice breaking. “You swore—”

“And I regret it.” His mouth twisted into Cassian’s smirk. His teeth gleamed, dripping red. “You’ll never be more than prey.”

The world fractured. Shadows lunged from every direction—wolves with mangled faces, packmates snarling, tearing at her limbs, chanting in one terrible voice: Outsider. Outsider. Outsider.

The thorns closed around her chest, spearing through flesh, wrapping her heart in a cage of pain.

Lena screamed. Her knees hit the ground. Her wolf howled, tearing at the inside of her skull.

You’ll die here, the voices sneered. Better to surrender. Give in. Spare yourself the agony.

Something inside her cracked. Not from fear—but from fury.

Her vision blurred red. Her wolf slammed against the cage of her ribs, demanding release. She let go.

The thorns didn’t just pierce her skin—they burned. But fire coursed through her blood, scorching the lies. Her wolf’s voice thundered through her.

We are not prey.

Lena’s scream split the dreamscape. Her body arched, bones groaning, muscles tearing, fur erupting through her skin. The illusions shrieked, writhing, but her wolf tore through them, jaws snapping, claws ripping. Her mother’s shadow dissolved. Cassian’s smirk shattered. The pack’s snarls burned away like smoke.

She rose, not broken, but remade.

A wolf of silver-white fur stood where Lena had fallen, eyes glowing like the moon itself. The thorns recoiled, hissing, curling back into the earth. The forest shuddered and split apart, dissolving into darkness.

When the world snapped back, she was on her knees in the firelit circle, gasping, shaking. Her body was human again, drenched in sweat, her palms bloodied.

The envoy studied her, unreadable.

But the pack? They stared in silence—until one wolf howled. Another joined. Then another. Soon the night shook with the thunder of their voices, a symphony of awe and allegiance.

Kade moved before anyone else, dropping to his knees, his hands gripping her face as if she were the only thing left in the world. His forehead pressed to hers, his voice ragged.

“You did it. Moon help me, you did it.”

Lena’s lips trembled. She managed a whisper. “They tried to make me choose. To betray. To surrender. But I didn’t.”

Kade’s mouth crashed against hers, fierce, desperate, sealing the vow she had carved in fire. When he pulled back, his eyes burned wet gold. “Never again will they doubt. You are wolf. You are mine.”

The envoy finally spoke, his voice flat, though something flickered in his gaze. “The second trial is complete. She has endured the thorns.”

But he didn’t smile. He only turned, his robe whispering against the earth. “Prepare yourselves, Alpha Wilder. For the third will not test her alone.”