Page 76 of The Onyx Covenant

“Shh! Gods, do you want to scream it for the whole world?” She glances around nervously, but no one is paying attention to us.

“What happened? Why?” I lower my voice to an urgent whisper. “What about Orion? You were crushing on him for months!”

“I don’t know.” She shrugs, unable to meet my eyes. “Kieran is… he’s not what I expected. He’s actually amazing, and he flirts so well, and then we had to spend the night in the woods to rest. We caught fish and he found these mushrooms to make tea with, and maybe the mushrooms were a bit special, or the serum from that dinner was still in our system, but…” She glances around once more, then leans in close. “We fucked in the woods while the others slept!”

I gasp, though I’d already guessed as much. Aria looks simultaneously embarrassed and pleased with herself, her eyes bright with a new energy despite her exhaustion.

“He’s your enemy, you know that,” I remind her, though I can hardly throw stones, given my own situation. “In this game, at least.”

“So is Theron,” she counters, one eyebrow raised in challenge.

“Yeah, but at least he’s my partner for the ritual.”

“Well, we talked about it, and we’re going to help you and Theron win,” she says, surprising me.

“You talked about it?” I stare at her, not quite comprehending. “And what do your actual ritual partners think about this plan? Or the fact that you’re okay with Umbra wolves winning? As the Alpha, Theron will win, and we Elios will be second again…”

Her expression grows serious. “So, what’s your plan? To make Theron lose?”

The question pauses me. I frown, suddenly unsure.

“I don’t know. I’m torn. I don’t want Elios wolves to always come up second best, disadvantaged… but Theron…” I glance over at him, remembering the things he told me in the cave last night. His sister’s execution. His mother’s disappearance. His father’s murderous ambitions.

“But it’s a risk,” I continue slowly. “If he wins, he might be able to remove his father from leadership and find evidence of his crimes. But in the meantime, am I gambling with the lives of Elios, who struggle more each year? The lack of help from the Covenant, the unfairness, the attacks on our people that we can’t hold his father responsible for because the Covenant never takes our side…”

I feel almost sick, the weight of the choice crushing down on me.

“What if… what if I help you win instead?” The words taste like a betrayal on my tongue. I’d be betraying Theron… after everything we’ve shared.

Aria studies me for a long moment, her lips pressed into a thin line. Then she sighs. “For a priestess, you have remarkably little faith in the moons.”

“What?”

“You’re always trying to control everything, plan for every outcome,” she explains, her voice gentler now. “Maybe it’s time to trust that the moons have a path laid out, even if you can’t see it yet.”

I start to open my mouth to respond?—

“Attention!” Melian stands at the center, her black robes making her seem like a piece of the night sky given form. “The Harvest Ritual trial is beginning. Everyone outside, please. Leave your belongings behind and only take what you’re wearing. Pair up with your partners.”

A ripple of tension passes through the gathered wolves as we file out of the tent into the cool evening air. The rain has slowed to a gentle drizzle, more mist than proper precipitation now. Above, the clouds have thinned enough to reveal glimpses of the twin moons—Umbra dark and full, Elios veiled in partial shadow.

We gather before the enormous gates that mark the entrance to the trial grounds. I hadn’t paid them proper attention before, too consumed with worry for Aria. Now, I stare in awe at the intricate construct—towering gates of intertwined thorns, branches as thick as my arm woven together in complex patterns that seem simultaneously natural and deliberately crafted. The thorns themselves are enormous, wickedly sharp, and faintly luminescent in the gathering darkness.

My skin ripples with goose bumps. There’s old magic here, powerful and wild, neither Umbra nor Elios but something more primal than both.

Tarek and Melian take positions before the gates, their ceremonial robes now adorned with elaborate headdresses that echo the lunar cycles.

“Before we begin,” Tarek announces, his voice carrying easily across the field. “Let us acknowledge those who did not complete the journey.”

A moment of silence falls as he names Zephyr and Maddox, offering a traditional prayer for their spirits. I lower my head, grief for my pack mate a dull ache beneath my breastbone.

“The journey to this point has tested your strength, your courage, your resourcefulness,” Melian continues once the prayer concludes. “The final trial will test something else entirely—your understanding of what truly matters.”

She gestures toward the entrance, which remains firmly closed.

“Behind these gates lies the true Bloodmoon Field—a labyrinth of choices and consequences. Each team will enter through a different path, but all paths may eventually converge. Your goal is to locate any of the five Moon Shrines hidden within and use the clues they provide to find the Onyx Moonstone.”

“The first team to retrieve the stone and return it to the Sacred Circle at the labyrinth’s center will win the leadership of the Onyx Covenant for the next ten years,” Tarek adds. “Their pack will guide both Umbra and Elios until the next Harvest Ritual.”

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