The summons arrived at dusk.
Not by messenger.
Not by wolf.
By fire.
The pack was gathered for evening patrol rotations when the air in the center of the clearing shimmered unnaturally.
Then—
Blue flame erupted from the earth.
Wolves leapt back, snarling.
Leila's heart pounded as the fire twisted upward, forming symbols she did not recognize.
Ancient runes burned in midair.
Dominic stepped forward calmly.
He did not bow.
He did not kneel.
He watched.
A deep voice echoed from within the flame.
"Dominic of the Cursed Bloodline."
The clearing fell silent.
"You are summoned before the Moon Council."
The words vibrated in Leila's bones.
"The marked Luna shall accompany you."
Gasps rippled through the pack.
Not requested.
Not invited.
Summoned.
"The trial of balance shall begin at the next full rise."
The flame flickered violently.
"Failure to appear will be considered an admission of corruption."
The fire vanished instantly.
Darkness returned.
No one moved.
Then murmurs erupted.
"They'll kill him."
"It's a formality."
"They've been waiting for an excuse—"
"Silence."
Dominic's voice cut through the panic like a blade.
The wolves obeyed immediately.
He turned slowly to face them.
"No one panics. No one flees. We prepare."
But beneath his control—
Leila felt it.
Tension.
Not fear of death.
Fear of injustice.
She stepped forward.
"I'm going."
Several wolves protested instantly.
"It's a trap!"
"They'll blame her!"
Leila lifted her chin.
"They summoned me. If I don't stand beside him, they win before the trial even begins."
Dominic's gaze locked onto hers.
There was a war in his eyes.
Not about the Council.
About her safety.
"You don't owe me this," he said quietly.
Her reply came without hesitation.
"I don't stand beside you because I owe you."
A long pause.
"I stand because I choose to."
The bond between them pulsed.
Stronger than before.
Dominic gave a single nod.
"Then we prepare."
Cracks in the Pack
Preparation meant strategy.
And strategy meant trust.
Which meant discovering who didn't deserve it.
Before midnight, one of the outer scouts failed to report in.
Then another.
Dominic's beta replacement, Arik, approached him grimly.
"We found tracks."
"Kael?" Dominic asked.
Arik shook his head.
"No. One of ours."
Leila's stomach dropped.
Traitor.
Dominic didn't explode.
Didn't rage.
He simply said, "Bring them."
They found him before dawn.
A younger wolf.
Nervous.
Sweating.
He didn't fight when dragged into the clearing.
Instead—
He fell to his knees.
"I had no choice!" he shouted.
Dominic's expression was carved from stone.
"Explain."
The wolf swallowed hard.
"Moonfall pack approached me weeks ago. They said if I gave them information, they would grant me protection when the Council erased us."
Gasps.
"So you betrayed your pack," Arik growled.
"I was trying to survive!"
Leila stepped forward slowly.
"Survival at the cost of others isn't survival," she said quietly.
The wolf looked up at her, desperation in his eyes.
"They said you were unstable. That your power would destroy us all."
Silence followed.
The doubt lingered in the air like smoke.
Dominic's gaze shifted to Leila briefly.
He saw it.
The flicker of uncertainty.
Just for a second.
Was she dangerous?
The traitor continued trembling.
"They promised safety."
Dominic finally spoke.
"You were already safe."
His voice wasn't loud.
But it carried finality.
"You chose fear."
The wolf lowered his head.
"Please."
Dominic turned to Arik.
"Exile him beyond our borders. Alone."
Exile.
A worse fate than death for some wolves.
The traitor was dragged away, sobbing.
The clearing remained heavy long after he was gone.
Leila stared at the ground.
"They're afraid of me," she murmured.
Dominic stepped closer.
"They're afraid of power they don't understand."
She looked up at him.
"And what if they're right?"
His jaw tightened.
"About what?"
"That I'll destroy everything."
For a moment—
He didn't answer.
Then he reached out, brushing his fingers lightly against the mark on her neck.
"If destruction was your nature," he said quietly, "you would have let me kill Kael."
Her breath caught.
"You stopped me," he continued. "You chose mercy."
His voice softened, just slightly.
"Monsters don't hesitate."
The doubt in her chest eased.
Not gone.
But quieter.
Journey to Judgment
The night of the full moon arrived too quickly.
Dominic and Leila stood at the border of the Cursed territory.
No escort.
The Council demanded only the accused.
Arik approached one last time.
"If this is a trap—"
Dominic shook his head.
"Then it ends there."
Leila stepped beside him.
"Or it begins."
They shifted simultaneously.
His wolf — massive, dark, intimidating.
Her wolf — smaller, silver-white with faint shadows along her spine.
Together, they ran.
Deep into forbidden forest.
Toward the ancient stone circle where the Moon Council gathered.
The air grew colder as they approached.
Older.
Power thrummed beneath the earth.
When they reached the clearing—
Five wolves already waited.
Each enormous.
Each ancient.
They shifted slowly into human form.
The Moon Council.
Scars etched their skin.
Eyes glowing faintly with moonlight.
At the center stood the eldest.
White-haired.
Eyes pale as winter.
"Dominic," he said calmly.
"You were born beneath the Blood Moon."
Dominic didn't deny it.
"Yes."
The elder's gaze shifted to Leila.
"And you were born beneath the Silver Eclipse."
Her breath caught.
She had never told anyone that.
"How—"
"The moon remembers," the elder replied.
Murmurs echoed among the other Council members.
"Shadow and eclipse," one muttered.
"Impossible pairing," another whispered.
The eldest raised a hand for silence.
"The trial is simple," he said.
"Prove that your union restores balance."
He looked directly at Leila.
"Or prove that it corrupts it."
The ground beneath them began to glow faintly.
Ancient symbols forming a wide circle around them.
Power surged upward violently.
Leila staggered slightly as silver light burst from her mark.
Dominic's eyes flared red.
The trial had begun.
And this time—
There would be no mercy.