Chapter 17 – The Trial of Stone and Blood
The Temple of the First Moon groaned like a living beast.
As Hunter stepped forward, the first stone Sentinel swung its massive arm down with crushing force. The ground shattered beneath the impact, sending dust and ancient debris into the air.
“Move!” Beta Clay shouted.
The warriors scattered just in time.
Hunter didn’t retreat.
Instead, he met the strike head-on.
A violent shockwave erupted as Alpha power clashed with ancient magic. The Sentinel staggered—but it did not fall.
Wren watched from behind a broken pillar, her heart racing.
This wasn’t just a battle.
It was a trial.
The temple was testing them.
Suddenly, the second Sentinel awakened.
Then the third.
Three towering guardians surrounded them, their glowing rune-eyes locking onto Wren.
The air shifted.
The Moonstone was calling to her.
Wren pressed a hand to her chest as the curse mark beneath her skin burned violently.
A pulse of light shot through the ruins.
The temple… responded to her bloodline.
Hunter turned instantly.
“Wren—don’t move!”
But it was too late.
The ground beneath her cracked open.
Wren fell.
The Descent
She didn’t hit stone.
She fell through light.
Through memory.
Through time.
Wren landed inside a vast underground chamber illuminated by a floating lunar core—a crystal heart pulsing with silver energy.
The Moonstone Amulet.
It hovered above an ancient altar, untouched for centuries.
And waiting.
A voice echoed through the chamber—neither male nor female, but ancient.
“Heir of Wolfhart blood… you have returned.”
Wren staggered back.
She tried to breathe, but her curse tightened around her throat like chains.
Then she saw it.
A reflection in the Moonstone.
Not her cursed self.
But something else.
A wolf.
Sealed inside her soul.
Above, Hunter fought desperately against the Sentinels. Each strike grew more violent, more desperate.
He felt it instantly.
The mate bond snapped violently.
“Wren!” he roared.
But the temple walls blocked everything.
Hunter’s golden eyes darkened.
“This place is taking her.”
And for the first time—
The cursed Alpha lost control.
Deep Below the Temple
Wren approached the Moonstone trembling.
The crystal reacted instantly, its light wrapping around her like a living force.
Her curse mark burned brighter.
Cracks formed across it.
The sealed wolf inside her stirred.
And somewhere deep within the temple…
A forgotten magic began to wake.
