Chapter two: Midnight trial
1540 Words
The estate didn’t feel like a home. It felt like a cage with better furniture.
Elena sat on the edge of a bed that was bigger than her entire old bedroom. Silk sheets. Blackout curtains. A moonlight chandelier that threw silver light across the marble floor.
Marcus had left her with one line: “Do not leave.”
Right. Because she had anywhere else to go.
She had two hours left until midnight. Two hours until this “Council trial” Selene mentioned. Two hours until the pack decided if her blood was worth spilling.
Her fingers shook as she touched her lip. It had stopped bleeding, but she could still taste copper.
Fated.
Damien’s voice echoed in her head. _Impossible._
Humans didn’t get fated mates. That was wolf nonsense. Bedtime stories Alphas told their pups. She was human. Broke, stubborn, human. She didn’t believe in destiny. She believed in rent, hospital bills, and not dying.
She stood and paced. The room was too big. The silence was too loud. Every shadow looked like a wolf waiting.
Fifty million naira. That’s what she kept telling herself. She signed for money. Not for him. Not for a bond.
Her phone was gone. Her clothes were gone. All she had was this black dress and the memory of his thumb on her mouth.
Her stomach twisted. Not hunger. Panic.
A knock. Soft, hesitant.
“Ms. Carter?”
Elena stopped pacing. “Yes?”
The door opened a crack. A woman in white nurse scrubs peeked in. Early 30s, kind eyes, dark curls pulled back. No weapons. No sneer.
“I’m Dr. Kiera,” she said quietly. “Pack healer.”
Elena blinked. “Damien said no one was supposed to touch me.”
Kiera slipped inside and shut the door. “And I’m not supposed to be here. But you’re pale, and you smell like fear. May I?”
She held up a small kit.
Elena hesitated, then nodded. “Fine. But if he kills you, it’s not my fault.”
Kiera smiled, small and sad. “He won’t. He’s… distracted.”
She took Elena’s wrist, checked her pulse, then her eyes with a small light. “Your heart rate is high. You haven’t eaten since you arrived. When did you last sleep?”
“Does it matter?” Elena asked. “I’m human. I’m temporary. Right?”
Kiera’s hands stilled on her wrist. “The bond doesn’t care what you are.”
Elena pulled her hand back like she’d been burned. “There is no bond. I’m not a wolf. I don’t shift. I don’t howl at the moon.”
Kiera didn’t argue. She just left a tray of food and a bottle of water on the table. “Eat. You’ll need your strength. The Council chamber is cold. And Elder Rowan likes to see humans shiver.”
She paused at the door. “For what it’s worth… he looked at you like you were the only thing in the room.”
Then she was gone.
Elena stared at the food. She wasn’t hungry. But she ate anyway. Because Kiera was right. If they were going to test her blood, she couldn’t faint.
---
*11:40 PM. The Council Chamber.*
It was underground. Stone walls slick with damp. Iron torches spitting smoke. A circle of twelve high-backed chairs, all filled.
Twelve elders. All wolves. All staring.
Elena walked between Marcus and another enforcer, barefoot because they took her shoes “for safety.” The stone bit her feet. Cold.
Her contract dress was simple black. No jewelry. No armor. No lies to hide behind.
At the front, on a raised obsidian seat, sat Elder Rowan. Old. White hair. Eyes like chipped ice.
And to his right, Damien.
He wasn’t looking at her. His face was stone. Arms crossed. Suit jacket gone, sleeves rolled to show forearms corded with tension. A vein ticked in his temple.
Selene sat two seats down, red dress replaced with silver. Smug. She met Elena’s eyes and mouthed, _Told you._
“Bring her forward,” Rowan said. His voice echoed.
Marcus stopped. Elena stepped alone into the circle.
The air was freezing. Every breath hurt.
“Elena Carter,” Rowan began. “Human. You signed a contract with our Alpha without Council consent.”
“I signed for money,” she said. Her voice didn’t shake. Much. “I didn’t know about clauses or trials or glowing blood.”
“Lies,” Selene said sweetly. “You knew exactly what you were doing. Scenting him. Trapping him. Humans are clever that way.”
“I didn’t—”
“Silence.” Rowan raised a hand. The chamber went quiet. “Clause 7.3 is clear. If a bond activates, the human is pack property. If the bond is false, the human is a threat and must be removed.”
Removed. Elena knew what that meant. Death. Exile. Something worse.
Her heart slammed against her ribs. She thought of her aunt’s clinic. Of the red notice on her door. She couldn’t die here. Not now.
“Test her,” Rowan said.
Two wolves stepped forward with a silver bowl and a ceremonial dagger. The blade caught the torchlight.
Elena’s breath caught. “What are you—”
“A drop of blood,” Marcus said quietly behind her. “That’s all. Don’t fight it.”
Damien finally looked at her. His eyes were black. Not silver. Black, like he was holding the beast back by a thread and losing.
“Don’t,” he said. One word. To her. Only her.
But Rowan was already gesturing.
The blade pricked her palm before she could pull away. Sharp. Clean. A red bead welled up and dripped into the bowl.
The chamber held its breath.
For three seconds. Nothing.
Elena closed her eyes. _Please be nothing. Please._
Then the bowl began to glow. Faint. Silver. Like moonlight trapped in liquid. It pulsed once. Twice.
Gasping. Murmurs. Chairs scraped. Selene shot to her feet.
“Impossible,” Rowan whispered. “A human… with a true mate mark.”
Elena stared at her blood, glowing. “What… what is that?” Her voice cracked.
“The mate bond,” Kiera said from the shadows. “It’s real.”
Damien was on his feet in one motion. The chair behind him clattered. “Enough.”
“Alpha,” Rowan said, standing too. “If she is truly bound to you, pack law says she cannot leave. She must be claimed. Publicly. Before the full moon sets.”
Elena’s knees nearly gave out. “Claimed? Like… bitten?”
Damien’s gaze locked on hers. For a second, everything else vanished. The elders. Selene. The dagger. The glowing bowl.
“Yes,” he said. Low. Final. His throat moved. “The bite. In front of the pack.”
Selene laughed, furious. “You can’t! She’s human! She’ll die from the bond! The pack will never accept a human Luna!”
“The pack will obey,” Damien said. He stepped into the circle, closing the distance between them in two strides.
He took her bleeding hand in his. His skin was burning hot. Too hot.
Elena tried to pull back. “Damien, I didn’t agree to this—”
“You signed,” he said. “And your blood just answered.”
He lifted her hand to his mouth. His canines were fully down now. Longer. Sharper.
Elena’s heart hammered so hard she thought it would crack. This was it. The bite. The claiming. In front of twelve elders who wanted her dead.
His breath was hot on her skin. “I won’t hurt you,” he said, so low only she heard. “But I won’t let them take you either.”
She believed him. God help her, she did.
His lips brushed her palm.
“Alpha!”
The chamber doors crashed open.
Alpha Kael.
Rival pack leader. Tall. Scarred cheek. Grinning like he’d been waiting for this exact moment.
“Sorry I’m late for the show,” he said. “But I have news. The Southern packs will not recognize a human Luna. And if you claim her, Damien, we challenge you for territory. Tonight.”
The room erupted.
“Traitor!”
“Seize him!”
“You have no right—”
Elena’s eyes went wide. Kael’s men filled the doorway, armed with silver-tipped spears.
Damien didn’t let go of her hand. If anything, his grip got tighter. His eyes never left hers, even as chaos broke out.
“Get her out,” he said to Marcus, voice deadly calm. “Now.”
Marcus grabbed Elena’s arm. “Come.”
Damien looked at her one last time over his shoulder. Black eyes. Beast fully out now. No more hiding.
“Run,” he said.
And the first sword was drawn.
Marcus yanked her toward the side tunnel as shouting filled the chamber. Elena stumbled, barefoot on stone, her glowing blood still wet on her palm.
Behind her, Damien stepped between her and Kael. No weapon. Just rage.
“Touch her,” he growled, “and I end you.”
The last thing Elena saw before Marcus pulled her into darkness was Selene’s smile.
She looked pleased.
- Writer
