BENEATH THE MOON'S BITE

LUCA The cavern was a giant, gaping mouth of stone, and I was standing on its tongue. Torches flickered on the walls, throwing wild shadows, all around, on ledges and balconies carved from the rock, were the Kindred Rogues. Hundreds of them. Men, women, their eyes reflecting the firelight, watching me in complete silence. They smelled of pine, wet earth, and a wild, untamed magic. In the center of the cavern floor was a wide circle drawn in pale, glowing dust. That was where I stood, the Moon Trial ring. Kael, the rogue leader, stood just outside the circle. He was a big man with scars across his face. "The circle is charged with lunar ash." he said, his voice echoing. "It will amplify what is in you, if you are what you claim to be, the moon's power will answer, you will make the ash glow with your own light, you have until the moon reaches the shaft above." He pointed upward. High in the cavern roof, a narrow shaft was cut, a perfect beam of cold, white moonlight shone straight down, inching slowly across the stone floor toward the edge of my circle. It was a timer. My heart was trying to beat its way out of my chest, I had to fail. I had to let the light reach me and do nothing, that was the deal. Fail, and Rafe lives. I looked for him, desperate. I couldn't feel the bond clearly in here, with so many other wolves and the strange energy of the ash. Then I saw him. A commotion at the far entrance, rogues parted. Caleb walked in, looking pleased with himself, and behind him, two rogues shoved a figure forward. Rafe. His hands were bound behind his back, a bruise colored his face, but his head was high, his eyes scanning the cavern until they found me. They locked onto mine. A rogue beside him held a long, wicked-looking silver knife, not at his throat, but resting against his shoulder. The threat was clear. Caleb stopped near the circle, just outside the ring of watching rogues, he gave me a small, cold smile. A reminder. Fail, and he lives. Kael followed my gaze, his expression unreadable. "The Alpha son is here to witness, but it does not change the trial." He raised his voice. "Begin." Nothing happened, i just stood there, my hands at my sides, I tried to look confused and weak, I let my shoulders slump. See? Nothing here, Just a broken Omega. The moonlight crept closer, but the ash circle remained dull. From the balconies, a low murmur started. Doubt. I kept my eyes on Rafe, it's okay, I tried to tell him with my look. I'm doing this for you. But his face was cold, he shook his head, just once. A sharp, clear motion. No. He knew. He knew what deal I'd made. The moonbeam touched the outer edge of the ash circle. The moment it made contact, the ash didn't glow. It burned. A line of silver fire raced around the entire circle, sealing me inside with a ring of cold flame. A wave of energy slammed into me. It was the moon's power, pure and demanding. It didn't ask for my magic. It clawed at it, trying to rip it out of me. I gasped, doubling over, it felt like hooks in my bones,were pulling dangerously. "The circle seeks the truth!" Kael called out. "It will pull what is hidden into the light!" The pain was incredible, it wasn't physical. It was deeper. It was in my soul. My wolf howled inside me, terrified. The silver pool of my power, which I'd kept so still, began to churn violently, forcing it's way to the surface. I couldn't hold it back, the circle was too strong. A whimper escaped my lips. My body started to glow, a faint, unstable silver light flickering under my skin, the ash around my feet began to brighten. The rogues above leaned forward, a collective breath held. "No." I choked out, fearfully. I couldn't pass, I had to fight it, I tried to shove the power back down, to clamp a lid on it. Resisting the pull was worse. It felt like tearing myself in two. A scream ripped from my throat. The light flared brighter against my will. I looked at Rafe, tears of pain and frustration in my eyes, I was losing. The circle was going to force my power out, and I would pass the trial, and Caleb would kill him. Rafe's eyes were blazing, he was straining against the rogues holding him, the bond strained and muffled, suddenly screamed with a single, clear emotion from him. Not fear for himself. Pride. And then, a command, not through the bond, but through the sheer force of his will, his lips forming the words across the distance. "LET GO." He didn't want me to fail for him. He wanted me to fight. The moonbeam hit my boots. Extra agony exploded, the circle's pull became all-consuming. My control shattered. With a cry that was part sob, part roar, I stopped fighting. I stopped thinking about deals and threats. I thought of Rafe. Of the bond. Of the cedar-and-storm scent of him. Of the feel of his hands on me. Of the way he looked at me like I was everything. I reached for that feeling, that connection, and I threw it into the circle. Not my power. My love. The effect was instant. The silver light didn't just flare. It erupted. It burst from me in a silent, shockwave of pure, radiant moonlight. The entire ash circle blazed like a fallen star, so bright the torches seemed to dim. The light shot up the shaft in the ceiling, a pillar of silver connecting earth and moon. The cavern was dead silent, then erupted into noise. Gasps. Howls of awe. Kael took a step back, his scarred face stunned. The pain vanished, the pulling stopped. I was panting, glowing, standing in the center of a beacon. I had passed. Spectacularly. My triumphant horror snapped to Caleb. His smug smile was gone, replaced by cold, furious shock. His eyes cut to the rogue with the knife at Rafe's shoulder. He gave a sharp, almost invisible nod. "No." I screamed bitterly Time seemed to slow. The rogue's arm tensed. The silver blade lifted.