Beneath the Moon’s Judgment
The stars shimmered above the ancient grove, each one watching like a silent sentinel from the heavens. Rowan could feel the weight of history pressing down on him—the earth beneath his feet steeped in centuries of blood, triumph, and betrayal. This was no ordinary trial. This was a reckoning.
Beside him, Caleb stood with his shoulders squared and his jaw set. There was fear in his eyes—of the unknown, of pain—but there was something stronger beneath it: resolve. Rowan had never seen him like this before. No longer the fragile omega he had once underestimated. Caleb had fire in his veins now, and it burned steady, bright.
The pack elders circled them in a wide ring. Torches crackled in their hands. At the center stood the Trial Stone, carved with the ancient
