And before disobedient longing could further drive me mad, I heard rustling, the tell-tale crunch of more boots in snow.
I turned towards the tree line opposite where Sera’s team had first emerged.
Shadows spilled out first-and those shadows formed into another team.
My jaw tightened.
I should have known. Should have recognized that the precarious, maddening dance I’d been forced to endure in the real world would mirror itself in the Trials.
Because the next team I had to face was Celeste’s.
CELESTE’S POV
Every step of this cursed Trial had been an exercise in frustration.
If I had known better, I would have studied my teammates in preparation for the LST. Learned who these nobodies I’d been saddled with were-their strengths, their flaws, the chinks in their armor.
But I hadn’t. I simply assumed my presence, as their Alpha’s sister, would be enough; naturally, I thought they would orbit me, pulled by my gravity as the moon pulls the tide.
I’d been wrong.
Each of them grated at me in their own way-Callum’s brash temper, Lisa’s cutting remarks, Dylan’s passive aggressiveness, Elara’s blatant dismissal.
What galled me the most was the realization that they didn’t admire me. They didn’t respect me. Fuck, they barely even acknowledged me.
Sure, I had been away from the pack for ten years and barely knew them, but that should not have fucking mattered. They should have instantly warmed up to me and treated me like the royalty I am.
And I should have been the leader of the team.
Not fucking Elara.
Worst of all? She had made it her mission to undercut me at every opportunity.
Every time I thought of the way she’d belittled me in front of Sera’s team, anger rose so potent and vile in my throat I thought I was going to throw up.
I blamed Ethan.
He’d been adamant against my joining the LST, but I would be damned if I let Sera draw any more attention by participating in the trials.
I’d managed to convince him, but he’d violently slammed the door on my claim to leadership, refusing to budge on the matter.
No, fuck his sister. He’d rather give the role to his worthless Gamma, who, for some unfathomable reason, hated me.
She had never been warm towards me. Where my pack had adored me while growing up, all I’d ever gotten from Elara were cold shoulders and blank stares.
The infuriating part? She’d redirected all that warmth to fucking Seraphina of all people.
And even now, when my sister used her underhanded favors to get through the Trials, what did Elara do? She flocked straight to Sera’s side, like a moth to a flame.
And I was left out in the cold.
Well. Elara would regret it. Every shitty member of this shitty team would regret it.
Once the Trials ended, I would have a word with Ethan. Despite the presently rocky state of our relationship, I knew my brother still valued me. He wouldn’t hesitate to dismiss Elara once I explained how divisive and cruel she had been, how she had schemed to tarnish my image among the others.
No one crossed Celeste Lockwood without consequence.
But first-victory.
Sera’s pathetic little team was somewhere in this vast expanse of snow, and I would beat them to the Gatekeeper Boss if it were the last thing I did.
With any luck, though, they would freeze to death before they even had a chance to try.
We topped a ridge of stone and snow, the air thin and sharp enough to sting my lungs. And there he was.
Golden fur gleaming beneath the sunlight. Eyes like molten amber. Muscles coiled, tense, so majestic, my eyes hurt.
Kieran.
My heart jolted.
For a moment, I forgot the chill in my fingers, the ache in my legs. He looked magnificent in Ashar’s towering form, the very image of strength and authority.
Delight sent a thrill down my spine.
This was it-my chance to prove myself!
Surely, surely, Kieran wouldn’t make this difficult for me.
I was his future Luna, the love of his life. Surely he wouldn’t savage me here in front of the others. No, he would hold back. He would let me shine.
And when my hands closed around that talisman at his throat, I would be the hero of our team.
Elara would choke on her disdain, and the others would regret their animosity. They would finally see me for what I was.
Luna material.
“Is that-?” Callum whispered.
“Yes,” I breathed, unable to keep the delight from my voice. “Alpha Kieran Blackthorne.”
Lisa groaned. “Great. Just great.”
I rolled my eyes as a wave of unease rippled through my team. Small-minded fools. They didn’t understand that this was opportunity disguised as challenge.
I straightened my shoulders, adjusted the collar of my coat, and marched forward with renewed determination. “Stand back. I know how to handle him.”
Elara grabbed my arm, her iron grip stilling me. “Excuse me, where the fuck do you think you’re going?”
“He’s my fianc?,” I declared proudly. “They might as well have handed us the talisman on a silver platter.”
Elara scoffed. “You think that matters here? What-you’re just going to waltz over to him and he’ll give it up? How dense are you?”
I fought the urge to slap the look of contempt off her face. “Watch and learn.” Bitch.
I wrenched free of Elara’s grip and strode ahead, each crunch of my boots into the snow a declaration of certainty.
“Kieran!” My voice rang clear across the expanse, crisp as the cold.
I lifted my chin, letting the wind whip strands of hair around my face in what I imagined was a rather striking picture. “It’s me, baby.”
For the briefest heartbeat, his golden gaze flicked toward me. Recognition-surely, that was recognition-lit in those molten eyes.
“Kieran,” I said again, softer this time, taking another deliberate step forward. “There’s no need for this charade. Just let me take the talisman, babe.”
Ashar’s massive form shifted, muscles tightening. The ground trembled with the subtle scrape of his claws on stone. His breath billowed in hot clouds that rolled toward me like a warning.
Still, I pressed forward. Kieran would never hurt me. “I’m your future Luna,” I reminded him sweetly. “Imagine the honor I’ll bring to us when I win the LST.”
That was when the growl came. Low, reverberating, so deep it rattled my bones.
The hair on my arms stood on end. Ashar’s lips peeled back, revealing fangs longer than my fingers.
My steps halted.
The growl rose into a snarl as he lunged, faster than my eyes could follow. The sheer force of his ascent knocked the air from my lungs, though he hadn’t yet touched me.
But he would be on me in an instant, claws gleaming, teeth flashing-
I was shoved sideways, sent sprawling into the snow.
Elara stood in my place, braced, eyes blazing. “Are you insane?” she shouted at me, even as she parried the strike with her blade. Sparks flew where steel met claw. “He was about to rip you in half!”
“He wouldn’t have!” I cried, scrambling upright, but my voice cracked around the edges.
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