She jumped 19

The announcement echoed through the castle like a death knell. Every Luna Bride candidate stood frozen in the Grand Hall, their faces pale as winter moonlight.

“The Trial of Sacrifice,” High Matron Ivera’s voice cut through the silence like a blade. “Each contender must surrender something precious—an heirloom, a memory, or a source of power. Only through loss can true worthiness be proven.”

My blood turned to ice. Around me, the other candidates exchanged terrified glances. This wasn’t just another test—this was systematic dismantling of everything that made us who we were.

“Luna Bride Lyssira.” Ivera’s eyes locked onto mine with predatory satisfaction. “You will sacrifice your Luna Seal. Complete magical suppression.”

The words hit like physical blows. Without my seal, I’d be powerless—stripped of the very essence that connected me to the ancient bloodlines, to the magic that had awakened in my veins.

“And Lord Hector,” Elder Thane stepped forward, his voice dripping with malicious pleasure. “You will surrender your Alpha title. Forever.”

Hector’s jaw clenched, muscle ticking beneath his skin. His heir’s ring caught the torchlight—the signet bearing House Veylor’s crest, given to him at birth, the symbol of everything he’d fought to build.

“Choose,” Ivera commanded. “Sacrifice or forfeit the Games entirely.”

The hall fell silent except for the thundering of my heart. If I agreed, I might survive—but I’d be nothing more than human flesh, vulnerable and exposed. If I refused, the bond would flare again, revealing more of what I was to those who wanted me destroyed.

Think. There had to be another way.

“I accept the terms,” I declared, my voice carrying across the stone walls.

Gasps echoed from the candidates. Even Ivera looked surprised by my quick agreement.

But I had a plan.

The ritual chamber reeked of ancient magic and fresh blood. They bound me to a stone altar carved with suppression runes, silver chains burning against my wrists. The Matrons surrounded me like vultures, their hands weaving spells of binding and silence.

“Begin the extraction,” Ivera commanded.

Pain exploded through my body as they began to tear the Luna Seal from my skin. I bit back screams, tasting copper as my teeth cut through my lower lip. The crescent moon on my shoulder began to fade, the ancient runes on my thigh flickering like dying stars.

But hidden beneath my left palm, pressed against the stone, lay a moonstone I’d carved with desperate precision. As the visible marks vanished from my skin, I channeled every ounce of power into that small crystal—not destroying the seal, but transferring it. From flesh to stone, from surface to soul.

“It is done,” Ivera announced as the last sigil disappeared. “The Luna Seal has been removed.”

They released my chains, and I staggered upright, the moonstone burning hot against my palm. To their eyes, I appeared powerless—just another broken candidate. But the magic still pulsed through my veins, hidden and waiting.

In the adjacent chamber, Hector faced his own sacrifice.

They demanded his heir’s ring—the gold signet that had marked him as Alpha-born from his first breath. The symbol of House Veylor’s legacy, the key to everything he’d built.

“Hand it over,” Elder Thane commanded, his ancient fingers extended like grasping claws.

Hector stared down at the ring, his face carved from granite. Then, without warning, he closed his fist around it.

The sound of crushing metal echoed through the chamber like breaking bones. Gold fragments scattered across the stone floor, the proud crest of House Veylor reduced to glittering dust.

“I destroy what I cannot keep,” he said, his voice steady as stone. “But I keep what cannot be destroyed.”

The Elders recoiled as if struck. They’d expected submission, not defiance. Expected him to hand over his power like a chastened child.

Instead, he’d shattered it himself—choosing the manner of his loss.

Hours later, Sariah found me in my tower chamber, her face white with terror.

“They’re planning something,” she whispered, glancing over her shoulder. “I overheard the Council meeting. There’s a secret agreement—if you lose one more trial, they’ll force an immediate bond ceremony.”

My stomach dropped. “With who?”

“Whoever they choose. Darius, Marcus, doesn’t matter. They want to bind you before you can grow stronger.” Her grip tightened on my arm. “Lyssira, you can’t lose another trial. Not one.”

The weight of it crashed over me. Every test from now on was life or death—not just for me, but for any hope of changing this twisted system.

The moon garden glowed silver in the darkness when I found him there. Hector stood among the night-blooming jasmine, his hands clasped behind his back, shoulders rigid with tension.

“You came,” he said without turning around.

“You knew I would.”

We stood apart—five feet of charged air between us. Close enough to see the exhaustion carved into his features, far enough to maintain the illusion of distance.

“They took your seal,” he said quietly.

“They took what they could see.” I pulled out the moonstone, its surface glowing with captured starlight. “But they can’t take what lives in here.” I pressed my other hand to my chest.

His eyes found mine across the garden. “And your sacrifice?”

“My ring meant nothing. It was just metal and pride.” His voice carried the weight of kingdoms. “But they can’t strip what I choose to be.”

The jasmine released its perfume into the night air, sweet and intoxicating. We breathed it in, breathed each other in, fighting the pull that drew us together like gravity itself.

“They want us to choose power,” he said, his voice rough with suppressed longing.

“And what do you choose?”

“I already chose you.”