The house of wolves.
You can't kill a system.
Not if it was built to resurrect itself.
Not if it feeds on the people who try.
Two days after the Trial of Silence, I received a second invitation.
Delivered under my pillow.
No envelope. No seal. Just a strip of cloth with a symbol inked in black:
The symbol was a triangle crossed almost in the middle. It was the alchemical symbol for air, or in Row lore: "The Breath Before the Bite."
Below it:
"House of Wolves. Midnight. Entrance behind the graveyard wall. Come alone."
The graveyard was real. It just outside the abandoned east wing of campus. Half the student body didn't even know it existed.
I slipped out at 11:54 p.m. sharp, heart drumming in time with my steps.
Behind the wall, exactly where the letter said, was a small door.
Metal. Rusted. Covered in vines.
It opened with a creak that sounded like it hadn't been touched in decades.
Inside: a spiraling stone staircase that plunged underground.
I followed it into the dark.
The air changed as I descended.
Thicker. Older.
The deeper I went, the more I felt like I was walking through a throat carved from bone and brick.
At the bottom: torchlight.
And a chamber.
A circular room filled with Row initiates in masks, different from the ones we wore before.
These were made of bone. Real or fake, I didn't want to know.
On the floor, a massive mosaic of a wolf with its mouth open, stars painted inside its jaw.
In the center of the room stood Isla.
No mask. Head high. Eyes full of secrets.
When she saw me, she didn't smile.
She only said one word:
"Late."
A figure stepped out beside her.
Tall. Hooded. Face entirely covered in silver mesh.
The Adjudicator.
The one who oversaw the Final Vote.
He raised a hand. The crowd silenced instantly.
"Every decade," he began, "the Legacy is reborn.
They are not chosen by chance. They are bred, shaped, refined by fire.
And when the time comes, they must choose the future of the Row.
Tonight, we prepare you for that choice."
He turned toward me.
"Nova Reed. Daughter of Evelyn.
Will you listen?"
I nodded once.
They brought forth three books. Ancient. Bound in black thread and red ribbon.
Each a piece of the Row's genesis.
The Adjudicator gestured to the first.
"Book One: The Founding. Written by the original five. Your mother's signature seals this one in blood."
Second.
"Book Two: The Trials. The systems. The silence. The sins."
Third.
"Book Three: The Vote."
I stepped forward.
The third book was locked.
"Only the Legacy can open this," he said. "And only if you pass the second trial."
"Second?" I asked. "What is it?"
"We call it the Betrayer's Choice."
The crowd pulled back.
Two masked students were dragged into the center of the circle. Bound. Gagged.
One of them was Cam, the shy guy from Lit class who once lent me his notes.
The other…
My blood ran cold.
Ezra.
Bruised. Alive.
His eyes locked on mine. No fear. Just… sadness.
The Adjudicator raised a knife.
"You must choose one to save.
The other dies.
This is the only way to unlock the Vote.
One betrayal, one revelation."
My heart thrashed.
This wasn't just a test.
It was the Row asking me:
"How far will you go to win?"