Chapter 3 The Trial

Amber's POV I closed my eyes and wiped both of them with the heels of my palms, then slowly opened them again, staring in disbelief at the sleeping Alpha on the bed. My whole body shaking with fear. "I must've imagined it," I muttered to myself, my breathing still coming in short, uneven gasps. The door opened before I could steady myself, and the Queen Mother, Naomi Darkwood, entered the room. She carried her royal staff in one hand, a golden crown resting on her head. Every step she took, announced exactly who she was. On either side of her walked two other virgins, both dressed in white like me. They were led forward until they stood flanking her. I instinctively drew back a step, my head bowed slightly out of old habit, the habit of a girl who'd learned long ago to make herself small in rooms full of people who despised her. The two new girls moved into position beside me, all three of us now facing the sleeping Alpha together. The newcomers turned toward me and smiled, victorious, as though they'd already won something I hadn't even entered the race for. "Pay attention," Naomi's voice rang out, cold and commanding. "The one Ronan's wolf accepts today becomes his Luna Princess." Unlike me, whose face wore nothing but naked fear, the two new virgins looked entirely different - more courageous, their chins lifted, as if each of them had seen some private vision promising they were the ones destined to be chosen. Before today, three other virgins who'd tried and failed had all been torn apart by the Alpha's wolf. And now, hearing the sheer weight of what had already happened in this room, I could only pray silently that I'd walk out of it alive. "Luna Princess," the girl on my right repeated, staring at the Queen Mother with open excitement dancing in her eyes. "Status. Wealth. Everything a girl could ever want." The one on my left exhaled slowly, smiling with the same hungry confidence. "A future worth killing for," she said. My breathing turned fierce and shallow beside them, fear pooling through every inch of my body until I could barely hold myself upright. "Begin the trial," Naomi ordered. She lifted her staff and brought it down hard against the floor, the sound cracking through the chamber like a verdict already passed. The three of us stepped forward together, drawing closer to the sleeping Alpha. Almost instantly, something like dark smoke began pouring out from beneath the bed, curling and thickening into the shape of a massive beast beside him. The smoke solidified into a great, dark creature with eyes like burning red coals, fire flickering somewhere deep inside them. It let out a roar that shook the walls and leapt down from the bed, prowling toward the three of us. All of us flinched backward as one. My breath caught so hard in my throat I nearly choked on it. "You first," Naomi said, pointing her staff at the girl standing on my right. The girl released a shaking breath, her whole body trembling, then stepped forward on legs that clearly didn't want to carry her. Slowly, she raised her right hand toward the beast. But before her fingers could even brush its fur, the creature let out a wild, deafening roar and lunged, slamming into her with a force that sent her flying backward through the air. She hit the far wall with a sickening crack and slid down it, landing on the floor with blood already gushing from her mouth, her body still. The second girl, the one who'd been standing on my left, began gasping for air the moment she saw what had happened, her whole frame shaking violently until her knees simply gave out beneath her. She collapsed where she stood, unconscious before she even hit the ground, falling backward with a heavy, hollow thud that echoed through the silent room. The Queen Mother released a breath, shaking her head disappointedly. "Now you," Naomi said, turning her cold gaze on me, standing there trembling, my breath coming in fast, ragged gasps I couldn't seem to control no matter how hard I tried. I turned my head slowly, my frightened eyes settling on the fierce beast now stalking closer, its jaws parting just enough to reveal long, gleaming teeth, poised and ready to tear into me the same way it had torn into the girl before me. "I'm so dead," I whispered inside myself, my whole body shaking, my hands gripping the fabric of my gown so tightly. The beast's eyes locked onto mine, and for a moment, the entire room seemed to hold its breath along with me. Naomi stood watching from the side with the same cold patience she'd shown for every girl who'd come before. Her staff rested steadily in her hand, as though this were nothing more than routine to her, another Tuesday in a long line of Tuesdays spent watching young women fall. My mind raced through everything that had brought me to this moment - the window that had flown open on its own, the jump I shouldn't have survived, my fated mate fucking my sister in the garden, Serena's smug little smile. All of it had led here, to this room, to this beast now closing the last few feet of distance between us with slow, deliberate steps, as if it wanted me to feel every second of what was coming. I thought of my father's cold eyes, the way he'd never once looked at me with anything but disappointment since the day my mother died bringing me into the world. I thought of the years spent being called bad luck under my own breath by people who claimed to be my family. Perhaps this was simply how my story had always been meant to end - wolfless, unwanted, devoured in a stranger's bedroom while a queen watched without blinking. The beast drew closer still, its massive head lowering slightly, red eyes burning brighter as though sensing my fear had reached its peak. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the pain I was certain would come, my whole body braced for teeth I couldn't see but could already feel closing in around me. Somewhere behind me, I heard Naomi shift her weight, the faint clink of the staff against the floor as the Queen Mother leaned forward slightly, curious, almost eager to see how quickly this one would fall compared to the others. I could feel the weight of that gaze pressing into my back, cold and clinical, the way a butcher might study a piece of meat before deciding where to make the first cut. There was no pity in it. There never had been, not from Naomi, not from my father, not from anyone who'd ever looked at me and seen only the wolfless daughter of a cursed birth. I thought, absurdly, of my mother - a woman I'd never known, never even seen a photograph of, because my father had burned every single one the week after the funeral. I wondered if my mother would have been proud of me for jumping out that window instead of waiting quietly to be taken, or if she would have begged me, the way everyone else in my life always seemed to, to simply stay small and survive by disappearing. The beast's breath rolled hot across my skin now, close enough that I could feel it stirring the loose strands of hair at my temple. My fingers dug deeper into the fabric of my gown, my whole frame rigid, every muscle was locked in place. And still, it did not strike. A full second passed. Then another. My eyes remained shut, my breath held so tightly in my chest it began to burn, but no claw came, no teeth sank into me, no wall rushed up to meet my spine the way it had met the first girl's. Somewhere at the edge of my hearing, I thought I heard Naomi's staff go still against the floor, the Queen Mother's confident posture faltering by some fraction too small for anyone else in the room to notice yet. I didn't dare open my eyes. Not yet. Slowly, I began to open my eyes, praying inside me to remain alive when I finally took in what was before me.