Trial by fire

Elara followed Rhea down a dimly lit corridor, her heartbeat a steady drum in her ears. The air inside the Sanctuary was thick, charged with something ancient—something that called to the thing inside her she barely understood.

She wasn't the only one who noticed it.

Lucien walked beside her, his usual smirk absent. His silver eyes flickered to her every few moments, like he was watching for something.

Kieran stayed on her other side, his posture rigid, his presence grounding in a way she didn't want to acknowledge.

"Where are we going?" she finally asked.

Rhea didn't glance back. "To the Hall of Echoes."

Elara frowned. "That sounds dramatic."

Lucien grinned. "Oh, it is."

Kieran shot him a glare, but Lucien ignored him.

Elara exhaled sharply. "And what exactly happens in this Hall of Echoes?"

Rhea stopped in front of a towering wooden door. Symbols had been burned into the wood, spiraling outward in jagged patterns. They looked ancient—familiar, even.

Her stomach twisted.

"You're going to face a test," Rhea said. "One that will tell us what you are."

Elara's throat dried. "And what if I don't like the answer?"

Rhea's expression didn't change. "Then you'll have to decide what to do with it."

The door groaned as Rhea pushed it open, revealing a circular chamber bathed in moonlight. The ceiling was open, the sky vast above them. A pool of black water sat in the center, still and silent.

Elara's instincts screamed at her.

She knew this place.

She just didn't know why.

"What is this?" she asked, stepping forward.

Kieran's voice was quiet. "A memory well."

Elara glanced at him. "A what?"

Lucien leaned against a pillar. "It pulls from your bloodline. From your past. Whatever is inside you, this place will showit to you."

Elara hesitated.

She wasn't sure she wanted to see.

Kieran took a step toward her. "You don't have to do this."

Rhea folded her arms. "But if you don't, you'll never know the truth."

Silence stretched between them.

Lucien smirked. "I vote she does it. What's the worst that could happen?"

Kieran shot him a look. "You know what could happen."

Elara swallowed.

She could walk away.

But she was tired of running from herself.

Before she could change her mind, she stepped forward.

The moment she placed a hand over the water's surface, the world shifted.

A pull, deep in her bones—

And then darkness swallowed her whole.

The VisionWhen Elara opened her eyes, she wasn't in the Sanctuary anymore.

She was standing in the middle of a forest, firelight flickering through the trees. The scent of blood clung to the air.

Screams echoed in the distance.

Elara turned, her breath quickening. She knew this place.

It was a memory.

Not hers.

But it belonged to her blood.

Figures moved through the trees—wolves, but not like the ones she knew. Their bodies shifted too fast, caught between human and beast, their eyes burning with something unnatural.

A woman stood at the center of the chaos, her long white hair tangled with blood.

Elara's heart clenched.

She knew that face.

She had seen it before, in old photographs.

Her mother.

Elara stepped forward, but her body wouldn't move.

The memory wasn't hers to control.

She could only watch.

Her mother lifted a hand, and the ground shook. The wolves hesitated, their bodies twitching, fighting against themselves.

"Stop," her mother whispered. "You are more than this."

But the wolves didn't stop.

Because they couldn't.

Elara saw it then—something was controlling them.

A shadow loomed in the trees, its presence wrong, its form twisting like it didn't belong in this world.

It whispered something, and the wolves screamed.

Elara's mother took a step back, her silver eyes flashing.

And then the shadow lunged.

Pain exploded in Elara's chest.

She gasped—

And the vision shattered.

Back in the SanctuaryElara's body slammed onto the stone floor.

She gasped, choking on air, her chest burning.

Kieran was beside her in an instant, gripping her shoulders. "Breathe, Elara."

Lucien crouched next to her, his expression unreadable. "That looked fun."

Elara shoved herself upright. Her body ached, but the pain wasn't physical. It was deeper. In her bones.

She pressed a shaking hand to her chest.

The vision was already fading, but she remembered.

She remembered the wolves. The fire. The shadow.

And she remembered her mother.

Her throat tightened.

Kieran's voice was softer now. "What did you see?"

Elara swallowed hard. "The past."

Rhea studied her closely. "Yours?"

"No." Elara shook her head. "My mother's."

Kieran stiffened. Lucien's smirk disappeared.

Elara's hands curled into fists.

"My mother wasn't just a werewolf," she said, her voice hoarse. "She was something more."

And so was she.

Silence filled the chamber.

Then Rhea exhaled. "That explains why they want you."

Elara's chest tightened. "Who?"

Rhea's gaze darkened. "The Forsaken."

Lucien sighed. "I was really hoping we wouldn't have to say that name again."

Kieran's jaw clenched. "It makes sense now. They're not just hunting you because of what you are. They're hunting you because of your bloodline."

Elara's stomach twisted.

Because if that was true…

It meant this had never been about her.

It had always been about the secrets her mother took to the grave.