Seventy two hours

Seventy two hours

Dawn broke over the Midnight peaks in a bleed of ice blue and bruised purple.

I stood at the edge of the lower courtyard, the biting morning air stinging my lungs with every deliberate breath. I had bound my wrists in thick leather strips and pulled my hair back tight off my face. Ember was humming near the surface of my skin, coiled like a spring, waiting for the horn that would signal the start of the Trial of the Crescent Moon.

Across the courtyard, the Elders sat in a cold, unyielding semicircle on the stone dais, their heavy velvet cloaks draped over iron-backed chairs. Selene stood among them, her arms folded over her chest, watching me with the icy satisfaction of an executioner waiting for the blade to drop.

Zayn stood in the center of the ring, his Alpha aura radiating outward in suffocating, invisible waves. His golden eyes locked onto mine, holding a silent, fierce promise.

"Are you ready, Raven?" his voice echoed in my mind through the thread of our link.

I lifted my chin, matching his gaze. "Raise the gate."

But before Zayn could speak the opening command, the heavy iron gates of the courtyard were thrown open with a deafening crash.

A Midnight Pack scout stumbled into the ring, his breath ragged, his dark leather armor shredded across his chest and dripping with fresh blood. He dropped to one knee before Zayn, gasping for air as the entire courtyard fell dead silent.

"Alpha..." the scout rasped, clutching a deep claw wound at his ribs. "Obsidian Moon... Jaxon’s enforcers ambushed the eastern convoy at the border pass. They’ve torched the supplies and seized the ridge. Blood has been spilled on Midnight soil."

A collective gasp rippled through the courtyard. The Elders surged to their feet, their heavy velvet cloaks rustling as mutters of outrage and panic broke out among the spectators. On the dais, Selene’s icy satisfaction dissolved into a triumphant smirk, her gaze snapping straight to me as if I had personally wielded the blade that drew the scout's blood.

"Insolence!" an elder bellowed, stepping to the front of the stone platform, his voice booming across the arena. "Jaxon Bloodworth dares attack our supply lines under the cover of dusk? This is an open declaration of war!"

Zayn didn't flinch. His jaw set into a hard, dangerous line, and the temperature in the courtyard seemed to drop ten degrees as his Alpha pressure flared, instantly silencing the chaotic uproar.

"Silence," Zayn growled. The single word slammed over the court like a thunderclap.

He closed the distance between himself and the wounded warrior in two long strides, dropping to one knee to assess the gash on the scout's ribs. "How many enforcers?"

"A dozen at the pass, Alpha," the scout choked out, wincing as a pack medic rushed forward to tend to his side. "They knew the supply schedules. They hit us fast and took the ridge. If we don't reclaim it by nightfall, the entire eastern border will be wide open to their vanguard."

Selene stepped down from the dais, her silk robes sweeping over the flagstones as she aimed a finger at me. "You see what her presence brings, Alpha? Before the sun has fully risen on this ridiculous trial, our wolves are bleeding. The Elders demand this matter be settled! We cannot waste resources hosting a trial while our borders are burning!"

"She is right, Zayn," another elder added, his voice cold and uncompromising. "By ancient decree, no sacred Trial of the Crescent Moon may take place while pack soil is actively breached. The trial is suspended."

My stomach dropped into a cold abyss. Ember let out a low, frustrated snarl in my chest, clawing at the walls of my mind. They're trying to push me back into the dark, she whispered. They want to give Jaxon time to choke us out.

I stepped forward, my hands clenched tightly in their leather wraps. "I am ready to face the trial now! Do not use Jaxon's cowards as an excuse to deny me—"

"Raven, hold," Zayn’s voice cut through my protest, not with anger, but with absolute command.

He stood up, turning to face the Elders. The shadow of his wolf seemed to tower over the courtyard. "The trial is not cancelled. It is postponed. By law, a territorial breach demands the Alpha’s immediate presence on the front line. I will ride for the eastern ridge now and clear Jaxon's filth from our land."

Zayn’s golden eyes swept over the Elders, locking onto Selene last with a look that made her step back half a pace.

"The Trial of the Crescent Moon will commence in three days' time," Zayn declared, his voice echoing off the stone walls like a vow. "That gives our Elders  time to summon the official witnesses, and gives us time to secure our borders. When I return, Raven will enter the arena."

A low murmur of discontent passed through the Elders, but none dared challenge the Alpha’s authority while his aura was flared so hot.

Zayn walked toward me, his heavy boots crunching against the gravel. He stopped just inches away, towering over me, his golden eyes burning into mine. The sheer heat radiating off him made my pulse hammer against my ribs.

"Three days, Raven," he said, keeping his voice low enough that only I could hear through the hum of our link. "Three days, Raven. I hate leaving you here alone when the tension is this high. Keep your guard up until I get back."

"I can handle cold looks, Zayn," I whispered back, lifting my chin. "I've handled worse my whole life."

"Keep your guard up anyway," he warned, his voice low and tight. "I'll be back by nightfall, then your training starts."

He gave me one last sharp look before turning on his heel, barking orders to his lieutenants as he swept out of the courtyard to ride for the burning border.

I stood alone under the cold morning sun, feeling the hostile glares of the pack settle on my shoulders like lead weights. Three days. I had seventy-two hours before the trial and I was going to spend every second preparing for war.