Chapter 49
Lila
The morning air was tight with anticipation. I felt it before I heard the announcement–something electric weaving through the halls, sharp as static before a storm. Word spread faster than usual.
By the time I entered the common hall for breakfast, the other candidates were already whispering
“Did you hear?” one asked.
“A personal trial,” another breathed, eyes wide. “Something… private.”
I took a seat near the window, spooned porridge and berries into a bowl, and pretended not to care. But my curiosity was peaked. For both the new unplanned trial and for whatever had taken place at Vanessa’s meeting with Damon last night.
Ronan entered mid–meal, the room snapping silent with his presence. He rarely addressed us outside of trials, which made his sudden appearance feel like some sort of trial itself.
“You’ve proven yourselves capable,” he began, voice low and clipped. “But titles are earned in layers. Power. Wisdom. Presence… and connection.
The pause he left between each word rang louder than the speech itself.
“The next trial is not scored on physical strength or diplomacy. It’s simple. Five of you will be invited to a private audience with the King. A personal dinner. You’ll converse and he’ll get to know you beyond your tested skillset.”
Whispers broke out again.
A trial disguised as a date. Or a date disguised as a trial. I wasn’t sure which was better.
Ruby stirred. He’s choosing. Just like you told him you
wanted.
Or he’s making a statement that he doesn’t choose me. Only five of us get this invitation. More than ever I was dying to know what went on between Damon and Vanessa. I was sure she would be the first invitation offered.
I kept my face neutral. Calm. I didn’t need to look around to feel the way the others watched me.
They’d seen Damon and me share glances, felt the shift in the room when he passed too close. After the last trial, after what I said to him in the garden, I was sure I’d burned whatever bridge we’d built.
I’d peeled myself open and offered the truth: I didn’t want to be ruled or used or chosen like a weapon. I wanted to be loved. And he had said nothing.
No invitation would come for me. Not after that.
The rest of the day crawled. Even training was suspended–an unspoken acknowledgement that everyone was too pre some mystery invitation.
pied to focus on anything but
Some women spent hours preparing just in case, rehearsing how they’d act if called. I just spent time in the library ready up on medicinal herbs in case Henry pulled my mother’s treatment.
By sunset, the tension was unbearable. A page would be delivering the letters directly to each candidate’s quarters, or so the rumor went. Five letters. Five names.
I curled up in the chair by my window, arms around my knees, and tried to block it all out. The scent of cedar still clung to my skin from the earlier trial. Faint. Fading. Like everything else I had allowed myself to feel.
You should sleep, Ruby said.
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Chapter 49
I stared at the door instead. “I’m not expecting anything.”
Maybe that’s why it’ll come.
A soft knock echoed down the hall
I held my breath. Footsteps. Paper sliding against stone. Then silence.
No shuffling down the corridor. No second knock. Just one note.,
I rose slowly, every muscle stiff. When I opened the door, the hall was empty. Only a folded envelope lay on the floor at my feet, the seal a dark crimson imprint of a wolf’s paw.
Ruby’s voice was immediate, warm and strong. He chose you.
“He can’t,” I whispered. Not after what I said. Not with Vanessa watching. If I go, she’ll destroy me.
If you don’t, Ruby countered, you might destroy yourself.
My hands trembled as I picked up the note. The anticipation of it was unbearable.
He’s asking for a chance, Ruby said. You’re allowed to want it.
I pressed the envelope to my chest, the paper warm from the heat of my palm.
I didn’t know if this was another game, or something real. But either way, I’d just been invited to walk back into the wolf’s den.
I stared at the letter for a long time after the sun went down. I hadn’t opened it, but Ruby’s nagging at what it might say the past hour forced my hand.
I sat on the edge of the bed, twisting the envelope between my fingers like it might dissolve if I held it long enough. Tearing it open, my heart raced as read the hand–written note:
Elena,
You said I don’t see you. Maybe you’re right. But I want to.
If you still have anything left to say,, I’d rather hear it from you than imagine it in silence.
Come to the conservatory. No trial, just you, and me, and the truth between us.
Dinner will be waiting.
-Damon
You need to go, Ruby said, sharper now.
“I shouldn’t go,” I murmured. “If Vanessa finds
〃
She already knows, Ruby snapped. Or suspects. And you know what? It doesn’t matter. She’ll come for you either way. That’s what people like her do.
I pressed my knuckles to my lips.
But if you don’t go, Ruby continued, softer now, you’ll never know what might’ve changed. What might already be changing.
“I’m not ready,” I said.
Neither is he, she replied.
That struck something deep. Because it was true.
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Chapter 49
Damon hadn’t said a word in the garden. Not when I’d laid my truth bare. Not when I’d practically begged him to prove he was more than a King who expected affection to be obedient.
But then he sent this. Not a command or public spectacle. Just a quiet request. A question in the form of an invitation.
That was the part I couldn’t get past.
“I don’t want to want this,” I whispered.
Yes, you do. He is our mate.
I closed my eyes, heart thudding, throat tight. My entire life was built around choosing carefully, calculating risk. But this…felt like instinct
It felt like need.
I stood slowly and crossed to the vanity. My reflection looked tired, guarded, nothing like the elegant candidates who spent the day painting and My braid had loosened; my cheeks were flushed from thinking too much. And still…
I looked like myself.
Not Elena. Not a future Luna. Just me.
That was who he’d invited. Whether he realized it or not.
When I finally changed, I didn’t reach for anything extravagant. A soft, dark blue dress that fell to my ankles, with sleeves just sheer enough to catch the light. No corset. No crown. I left my hair half–down, brushed out in waves, with only a simple silver pin tucked behind one ear.
Not Natalie’s. Just mine.
As I reached for the door, a flicker of fear caught in my chest.
Henry. Vanessa. If they knew where I was going–what this could mean–I’d be walking into my own grave. Or maybe throwing a match onto the powder keg they’d built beneath me.
But as I touched the handle, Ruby said, This isn’t about them. This is about our mate bond.
I opened the door.
The corridor was empty. Only moonlight painting silver streaks on the stone floor as I walked, quiet and alone, toward the private stairwell that led to the east wing. I knew the way. I didn’t need an escort.
I didn’t even need courage.
Just the willingness to show up, even if I was scared.
And gods, was I scared. But the note still pressed against my chest, hidden between fabric and skin, said Damon might be too.
So I walked one step at a time toward whatever this night might… or night not become.
AD
