All Chapters of The Wolf's Game: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

AriaI wake before the bell.For a moment, I don’t know what pulled me from sleep. Maybe it was the whisper of dawn through the window, the low rhythm of Kael’s breathing beside me, or the steady thrum of something other in the back of my mind.It takes me a moment to realize what it is.Violet.The bond hits like sunlight through water. Warm. Familiar. And for the first time in too long, she isn’t silent.‘Finally awake, little one?’The voice ripples through me, threaded with a growl that feels like coming home.My throat tightens. ‘Violet?’‘Who else did you expect? You’ve kept me buried long enough.’Her amusement rolls through me, but there’s something else beneath it. Awe. Relief. The kind of wonder that comes after too many days of silence.I sit up slowly, turning toward Kael. He’s still asleep, one arm thrown over the edge of the bed, dark hair mussed, lips parted slightly. He looks human like this—unguarded, almost gentle. The mark on his chest glows faintly where the blank

KaelThe hall feels different now that Aria’s shadow has dissolved. It feels like the trial should be over, but that’s not how the Game works. The others are still fighting their shadows; none of them has figured out how to embrace them. Aria stands in the middle of the room, with her arms clutched around her chest, waiting for it to end. The mirrors are dark again, blank glass stretching endlessly in all directions. But the silence isn’t empty. It’s expectant and hungry. And I know exactly why.Aria stands a few feet away, her gaze fixed on me. Worried. Hopeful. She is brilliant and alive in a place meant to break every living thing.My chest tightens. Gods, she shouldn’t be here.“Kael,” she murmurs, stepping toward me, but I lift a hand.“Stay back.”Her brows draw together. “I can help you.”“No.” My voice echoes sharper than I intended.But she doesn’t understand what happens when my reflection emerges, what it can take, what it can reveal.Her shadow had been a whi

AriaThe castle feels too quiet after the Trial. It isn’t peaceful, it is expectant. Like the castle is waiting for something else or someone else to break. Kael hasn’t let go of my hand since we left the mirror chamber. His thumb strokes the back of it absently, as if reassuring himself that I’m still here. Still alive. Still his.The thought should frighten me. Instead, it settles into my bones with a heat that won’t cool. The need to claim him is becoming painful, like an itch that I can’t scratch. Violet paces in my mind, growing more and more restless. ‘Something’s coming.’I feel it too. I can’t shake the feeling that the Shadow Trial isn’t over. We reach the hall outside my room. Only torches flicker. There are no other players, no Herald, no echoes of screams, and no Bubbles.It is just us.Kael leans against the wall, running a hand through his hair. Exhaustion shadows his face, but he still looks at me like I’m the only thing anchoring him to this cursed place

AriaMy hands tremble as I hold the cloth my mother left for me. It is warm, the kind of warm that fosters magic. I step forward into the corridor, and a hidden door hisses open behind me. A thread of moonlight spills across the floor, beckoning me forward. It is the same shimmer that led me here.Violet rises inside me, tail lifting, alert. ‘Follow it,’ she whispers. ‘She never led us wrong.’I step back into the corridor. The moonlit cracks a pulse faintly along the walls, leaving a trail of silver veins that guide me out of the shadows. Every pulse feels like a heartbeat in tune with my own. It leads deeper into the castle. Not toward escape. I am not foolish enough to think that. No it is leading me back into the heart of the Game.The corridors shift beneath my feet, and doors melt away behind me. The torches sputter and flicker, struggling against the encroaching dark that follows me.I walk. Turning left, then right, and down another winding staircase. The air g

AriaThe moon-vein path pulses beneath my boots again, guiding me through the twisting corridors. My heart is still pounding from what I saw: the RECORD OF THE LOST, Dax’s slate, my own slate, and the whispered warning that sounded like my mother’s voice.“Find the heart, Aria.”I am trying, but each step forward feels heavier. Violet walks at the edge of my senses, with her hackles raised. ‘They’re close. I smell their fear.’I round another corner and stop dead. Elyra and Therin stand at the far end of the chamber. They are still alive, but clearly shaken. When I step into the light, they stare at me like I am a ghost. Therin’s hand flies to the hilt of his blade, and Elyra’s palms glow with magic. “Aria,” Therin breathes, relief warring with caution. “Thank the gods. We thought…”“You weren’t anywhere,” Elyra snaps, cutting him off. Her voice trembles with fury. “You were taken.”“I didn’t vanish,” I protest, stepping forward. “The castle moved.”“No,” Elyra hisses, and he