For the first time in a thousand years, the Moon Ring Marking Trial had been awakened.
It was a sacred ritual, reserved for moments when the legitimacy of a Luna was in question—when bloodlines clashed and fates unraveled.
And tonight, I stood at its center.
The Moon was full. The Elders circled the sacred altar in silver-robed silence. I stood alone on the rune-stone, draped in my grandmother’s battle cloak. One hand rested gently over the swell of my stomach.
No one spoke for a long time.
Then, the High Elder finally did.
“Isabella,” he said coldly. “Do you acknowledge that your original mate bond has been severed?”
“I do,” I replied.
“Do you acknowledge that the child you now carry is of uncertain lineage, untested by Alpha trial?”
“He is my child,” I said calmly. “He owes no o
