Chapter Seven - Trial of Loyalty
1176 Words
The third trial came without warning.
No bells, no summons, no whispered clues in the halls.
Just the creak of her bedroom door swinging open in the dead of night—and a single figure silhouetted in gold and shadow.
Theron.
Kaelin sat up from bed, heart thudding. “It’s past midnight.”
His voice was a low growl. “Come. Now.”
She grabbed her boots and followed without a word.
No guards trailed them this time. No advisors, no scribe to document her performance. Just the two of them walking side-by-side through the darkened halls, the only sound the whisper of snow beyond the windows and the soft echo of their boots on polished stone.
When they stepped outside into the frozen woods behind the palace, Kaelin narrowed her eyes.
“This isn’t the grove.”
“No,” Theron said. “This is mine.”
They crossed a frost-covered bridge toward a hidden glade lit only by moonlight, surrounded by ancient oaks and the scent of magic. At the center, a stone circle was carved into the earth, rimmed with runes that pulsed like embers.
“What is this?” she asked.
“The Trial of Loyalty,” he said. “The final test.”
“To what? To you?”
“To yourself. To what you claim to fight for.” He turned to face her. “But yes. Also to me.”
Kaelin’s eyes narrowed. “If you want blind obedience, find another omega.”
“I want the truth,” he said simply. “And the truth requires blood.”
He lifted one hand.
The runes flared.
And two people appeared in the circle—bound, gagged, and unconscious.
Kaelin’s heart stopped.
No.
No, no, no—
One of them was Lysa.
The woman who’d raised her like a mother when her own pack had abandoned her. Her mentor. Her only family.
And the other—
Kaelin’s hands curled into fists.
Darian.
Her ex-mate.
The man who’d rejected her, humiliated her, and left her to die.
Kaelin’s breath steamed in the cold air as her wolf surged to the surface, snarling.
“What is this, Theron?”
“This is the choice,” he said, voice cold as steel. “One of them is accused of treason against the crown. Aiding rogues. Leaking border intel to enemy packs.”
Kaelin’s heart pounded. “Which one?”
“I don’t know.”
“Liar.”
He stepped closer. “No. This isn’t a test of guilt. It’s a test of you.”
Kaelin stared at him.
“You want to be in this court?” he said. “You want a place among alphas who rule by tooth and claw? Then show me what loyalty means to you. Choose one to save. The other will be taken. No questions. No second chances.”
Kaelin’s wolf raged inside her. No. We don’t do this.
“I won’t play this game.”
“You already are.”
She looked back at Lysa—head bowed, arms trembling, a cut on her cheek.
And then to Darian—still unconscious, lips parted in a soft snore like he didn’t even know the fire he’d be waking into.
“I should let them take him,” she whispered. “He deserves it.”
Theron didn’t move. “Then say the word.”
She swallowed hard.
But something twisted in her chest.
Darian had hurt her. Humiliated her. Left scars that still ached when she touched them too hard.
But Lysa… Lysa had saved her life more than once.
But what if it was Lysa who betrayed the crown? What if the woman who’d taught her everything had been lying all along?
Kaelin looked Theron in the eye. “I need to speak to them.”
He shook his head. “You don’t get time. Or mercy. This is the crown’s trial. Not your personal redemption arc.”
“Then I refuse.”
He raised a brow. “Then you fail.”
She clenched her fists so hard she felt her claws dig into her palms.
She took a breath. Another.
Her thoughts twisted like a storm—too fast, too loud, too full of memory and fear and pain.
Then something inside her went very still.
She looked at Theron. “Tell me something.”
“What?”
“If I walk away—right now—do I lose everything?”
A long silence stretched between them.
Then he nodded once. “Yes.”
Kaelin nodded too.
Then turned and walked toward the captives.
Her boots crunched over the ice. The runes glowed beneath her feet. As she stepped into the circle, the magic surged around her—testing her, tasting her wolf, pricking her skin like thorns.
She stood between them.
One she loved.
One she hated.
She crouched before Lysa and looked into her eyes.
The woman flinched.
Kaelin’s stomach dropped.
And that was her answer.
Lysa couldn’t even meet her gaze.
She whispered, “It was you.”
A single tear slipped down Lysa’s cheek.
“I taught you to survive,” she mouthed.
Kaelin’s heart broke cleanly.
Then she stood and walked to Darian.
He groaned, finally stirring.
“What—where—”
Kaelin didn’t speak.
She turned to Theron.
“Take Lysa,” she said hoarsely. “Let him live.”
Theron’s eyes burned. “You made your choice.”
He raised his hand.
The magic blazed.
Kaelin turned away as Lysa vanished in a flash of light and silence.
No scream.
No goodbye.
Just gone.
---
Later, she sat in silence at the edge of the glade, arms wrapped around her knees, watching snow fall like ash.
Theron approached, a heavy cloak in hand.
She didn’t look at him.
“Don’t comfort me,” she said. “Don’t pretend you’re proud of me.”
“I’m not here to comfort you,” he said, wrapping the cloak around her anyway. “And I’m not proud of what I made you do.”
She glanced up.
His eyes were darker than usual. Troubled.
“You hated her,” he said.
“No,” she whispered. “I loved her. And I’ll grieve her for the rest of my life.”
“Then why save him?”
Kaelin looked up at the stars, her voice raw. “Because I’m not like him. Or you. Or any of them. And I refuse to become the monster that made me.”
Theron crouched beside her.
“You passed,” he said softly.
She laughed bitterly. “At what cost?”
He didn’t answer.
Just sat beside her, shoulder to shoulder, neither of them speaking as the cold closed in and the night stretched long.
---
When she returned to the palace, the court bowed low.
The final trial was over.
She had bled, burned, broken—and survived.
She was one step from the crown.
And one breath away from falling in love with the Alpha who could destroy her.
---
- Writer
