Luna Everleigh's POV
***
Kael's challenge came swift and unexpected.
"If she wants to prove she's one of us," he declared, his silver eyes flashing with doubt, "then she should fight for it."
A circle of warriors had gathered in the training grounds, the air thick with tension. The pack murmured among themselves, watching as I stepped into the ring. I could feel their uncertainty, their skepticism.
I wasn't one of them. Not yet.
Kael stood across from me, rolling his shoulders as if this was just another training session. But I saw the challenge in his gaze—the test.
"I'm not afraid of you, Kael."
A smirk curved his lips. "Then show me why you belong here."
The moment the fight began, I realized I was at a disadvantage. Kael was fast, his movements precise and deadly. He struck with the fluidity of someone who had been trained since birth to fight.
I dodged his first attack, but barely. The second came faster. A sharp kick aimed at my ribs. I twisted, countering with an instinctive swipe at his shoulder.
He blocked easily. "You're hesitating."
I gritted my teeth. He was right.
But something inside me knew how to fight. I could feel it stirring beneath my skin, something ancient, something powerful.
Kael lunged again. This time, I didn't hold back.
I moved without thinking, my body responding with a speed that wasn't my own. I ducked beneath his strike, twisting behind him before delivering a forceful kick to his back. He stumbled, eyes widening slightly in surprise.
Then—something snapped inside me.
A surge of energy flooded my veins, wild and untamed. My vision sharpened, my hearing magnified. The air around me crackled with an unseen force.
Kael charged again. I lifted my hand to block—
A pulse of silver-blue light erupted from my palm.
The force sent Kael flying backward, crashing into the ground with a stunned gasp.
Silence fell over the training grounds.
I staggered back, my breathing ragged. My hands trembled as I stared at them. The glow was already fading, but the power still hummed beneath my skin.
The warriors around us exchanged uneasy glances. Some looked awed. Others—afraid.
I turned, searching for Rhydian.
He stood at the edge of the ring, staring at me as if he had just seen a ghost.
A truth settled in my bones, undeniable now.
I wasn't human.
I never had been.
Just as that realization hit me, Rhydian stepped forward, his expression unreadable.
"If you are a Lunar Guardian," he said, his voice low and weighted with something unreadable, "then we were never meant to be."
My breath caught. "What are you saying?"
He hesitated, his golden eyes flickering with something broken.
"Our bond…" His jaw clenched. "It might be a curse."
The world around me tilted.
A curse.
Not fate. Not destiny.
But something doomed from the very beginning.
***
(To be continued…)