LOGINChapter 132: Shattered IllusionsElena's POVFor a frozen moment, Elise and I simply stared at each other across the clearing. The silver fire had faded from my hands, but I could still feel its residue tingling beneath my skin, still seeing the afterimages of those visions burning behind my eyes.The girls' faces cycled through emotions so rapidly I could barely track them…shock, fear, understanding, and finally, it settled on something that made my blood run cold."So it's true," my sister breathed, taking a step into the clearing. Her hand rested on the hilt of her knife, not threatening but ready. "Everything they've been whispering about you. The power you manifested in the labyrinth. What you did at the training grounds." Her eyes fixed on the moss clutched in my hands. "You are one of them…. The old blood." Sarah said, her gaze burning with hatred."Elise…""Don't." She held up a hand, cutting me off. "Don't try to deny it. We just watched you summon visions from thin air, wat
Chapter 131: the final trial 2I knelt beside it, looking for Silverthorne Vine. It would grow near the water but not in it, probably on the banks where the soil stayed moist.There! A flash of silver-green, distinctive leaves with thorny stems. I approached carefully, mindful of the natural thorns the Master had mentioned.The vine was beautiful in a dangerous way, silver thorns gleaming wickedly along stems that twisted around a fallen log. I'd need to harvest it carefully, without damaging the plant or myself.I pulled out the small knife I'd been permitted to bring, using it to carefully cut several lengths of vine, wrapping them in cloth to protect my hands from the thorns. One herb down, two to go.But as I finished harvesting, I heard movement nearby. Another candidate, probably drawn by the same water source.I needed to move. Now.I headed deeper into the forest, away from the stream, looking for areas of deep shadow where Moonshade Root might grow. The forest grew darker as
The final trialElena povThe walk to the entrance hall felt both too long and too short. Other candidates were emerging from their chambers as well, all dressed in similar ceremonial robes. I saw Sara Blackwood, the Northern commander, her expression set and determined. Then Vivienne, who caught my eye and offered a small, uncertain smile that I returned out of courtesy.And finally, Elise.My sister looked magnificent in her royal purple robes, her hair arranged in an elaborate style that must have taken hours. She radiated confidence and power, every inch the alpha princess she'd been raised to be.When she saw me, her expression hardened. No acknowledgment, no sisterly recognition. Just a cold assessment, as if I were an opponent to be measured and dismissed.Fair enough. That's exactly what I have been to her from the start.We gathered in the entrance hall, the four finalists. Around us, nobles and pack leaders assembled, dressed in their finest for the spectacle to come. I spot
Chapter 129: The Dawn of JudgmentElena's POVI didn't sleep that night.How could I, when every time I closed my eyes, I saw the garden that was filled with with life? Burning in flames. Instead, I sat by the window, watching the stars wheel overhead, counting down the hours until dawn. Until the final trial day.The healing trial.The irony wasn't lost on me. They wanted to test our compassion, our ability to heal and help others, when I'd just spent the previous morning accidentally creating a paradise that had to be burned to ash to hide the evidence of what I was.*What I might become,* I corrected myself, remembering Dominic's words. The prophecy could go either way. I wasn't destined to destroy everything. Not yet. Not if I could learn control.But learning control took time, and time was the one thing I didn't have.As the sky began to lighten from black to deep purple, I heard movement in the adjoining chamber. Marcus, was already awake, preparing for whatever the day might
Chapter 128: revealing secrets The tension in the room increased by ten folds, after Dominik's words.“But not if she can control it.” Marcus chipped in from the door, the first time he ever spoke."But I don't know how," I protested, panic rising in my chest. "I can't control it. I could barely stop it from spreading further. If Kieran hadn't pulled me back..." I didn't finish the sentence, but they all understood the implication."That's why we need to train you," Kieran said firmly. "Why we need to help you learn control before the next trial. If you manifest like that during the healing trial, with other candidates around...""People could die," I finished. "I could kill someone without meaning to."“And not just that, the lycan kings would sniff you out even before you blink twice. They are already getting agitated, just a spark remains before the fire ignites,” Dominic said.I stood abruptly, needing to move, to pace, to do anything but sit still with this revelation pressing d
Chapter 127: revealing secretsElena povWe all spun to find Dominic standing there, his expression unreadable. He wasn't alone… two of his guards flanked him, both staring at the transformed garden with obvious shock."How long have you been standing there?" Kieran demanded, moving protectively in front of me."Long enough," Dominic said, walking closer. His guards remained at the entrance, hands on their weapons but not drawing them. "Long enough to see that what happened in the labyrinth wasn't a fluke or a trick of the wards."He stopped a few feet away, his eyes moving from me to the massive rose bush and back again."You're manifesting," he said quietly. "Faster than I expected. More powerfully than the old records suggested was possible.""Manifesting what?" I asked, though part of me wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer.Dominic studied me for a long moment, then looked at Kieran. "You haven't told her.""Told me what?" I looked between them, frustration and fear warring in
The Hidden PrincessElise's POVI stared at the ceiling of my bedroom and counted the cracks in the stone for the hundredth time. Seventeen. There were always seventeen cracks, spreading out like tree branches from the corner near the window.A wicked smile tugged at my lips. Elena thought there we
Elena's POVThe door closed behind Mira with a soft click that sounded like a prison lock sliding into place.Kieran stood in the center of my chambers, filling the space with his presence in a way that made the enormous room feel suddenly small. He wore black as always, but tonight the clothing se
Chapter 35: Shattered trustKieran's POV"A traitor!!"The word tore from my throat like a curse, and I watched Elena flinch as if I had struck her. Good. Let her feel a fraction of the pain that was currently ripping through my chest."Take her away," I commanded, turning my back before she could
CHAPTER 34: The Trap SpringsElena povI could not breathe. Hell I forgot how to breathe. Words failed to make sense to me, and the word “little liar” continued to ring in my head numerous times.But no matter how I tried to convince myself that I was in a dream, I knew that it was all true. His d







