CHAPTER 10
I sat upright on the edge of the bed—my body still heavy, my breath uneven.
I had just woken up one day in a place I didn't recognize and found out the family and mother I had been living with for the past sixteen years were not my blood. That a woman from nowhere was my real mother.
Everything felt too quick, too soon—like a dream I couldn't wake from.
Aerie stirred inside me but said nothing. He hadn't spoken since the vision. Since the moment everything cracked open.
"Aerie, are you okay?" I asked, concerned by his silence. The wolf spirit I'd never believed in… now he felt more real than anything.
Then, he suddenly spoke.
"Rory, I'm sorry I've been quiet. I'm still confused about the memory we just… I don't know if it was a vision or something else. But I think there are other memories we need to unravel—many more. And I have a feeling those visions you've been having… they might not be visions at all. They might be memories."
His confusion echoed my own.
"Rory," a woman's voice called from beyond the door. "The Council is ready for you."
The Council.
The word tasted like iron in my mouth.
I looked down at my hands. Still scratched. Still trembling.
Somewhere in me, the wolf whimpered—but it wasn't fear. No. Aerie was angry. Quiet, simmering. Like he already knew what they were about to do.
I stood slowly, ignoring the ache in my bones and the fire in my veins. The silver had worn off, but its memory clung to me like a bruise beneath the skin.
The woman who was said to be my mother was nowhere in sight. Part of me wanted her here.
The other part didn't know if I could look her in the eye.
When I opened the door, two guards waited, dressed in black. One of them—a tall woman with a scar down her cheek—nodded once.
"This way."
We walked in silence. The halls were cold stone, lit by torches that flickered with an unnatural light. As we passed, I heard whispers. Werewolves. Watching. Judging.
"She's the one they found outside the human city."
"They say her wolf doesn't match."
"She doesn't smell right."
I kept my chin up, even though my insides screamed. I wasn't like them. Not completely.
And now, they were dragging me in front of their Council to prove it.
After what felt like hours, we reached a set of iron doors. Symbols were carved into them—moons, claws, stars.
Something deep in my chest pulsed. Aerie tensed.
The guard pushed the doors open.
The chamber was circular. Cold.
Six high-backed thrones stood at the far end, five of them occupied. Shadows clung to the elders' robes like living things. Their eyes followed me as I entered.
A woman in silver-gray stepped forward from the side. Her voice crisp.
"Rory," she said. "By order of the Council, you are to undergo a trial. To determine your nature… and your threat level."
I swallowed. "Threat level?"
She nodded. "We've never seen a wolf like yours. The spirit within you… it doesn't belong to any known bloodline. Some believe you are a danger to the packs."
"And if I fail this trial?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
One of the elders leaned forward, his voice gravel.
"Then you'll be contained. Or destroyed."
Aerie growled.
My hands clenched.
But the woman raised a hand. "You'll be taken to the Stone Circle. The Trial of the Moon will begin at first light."
The chamber fell quiet.
And then one of the elders—the only one with glowing eyes—spoke softly.
"She has his eyes," he murmured, almost to himself.
The others snapped their heads toward him. The woman stiffened.
But the doors closed behind me before I could ask—
Who his was