The stone beneath Ryan's hands pulsed with cold light. Every breath he took misted in the silver air, though there was no wind, no true sky above him—only an endless vault of shifting moonscapes. Shadows writhed along the horizon like living smoke, whispering words he couldn't understand.
His mark blazed on his palm, tethering him to the circle of symbols etched into the ground. He tried to steady himself, but the world itself seemed to thrum with a heartbeat not his own.
The voices came again. Who are you to bear the crest?
Ryan's claws slid out, the instinctive response of prey forced into the open. His throat was tight, but he forced the words out. "I'm Ryan. I didn't ask for this, but I won't run from it either."
A deep growl rolled across the void, overlapping with hundreds of other tones, all carrying the weight of years. None ask. The Moon chooses. The chosen must prove worthy, or be broken.
Figures began to emerge from the silver mist—wolves, massive and spectral, each taller than the old pines that lined the mountains back home. Their eyes glowed like twin moons, cold and unblinking. Scars ran across their ghostly hides, echoes of battles fought long before Ryan had even been born.
One stepped forward. Larger than the rest, its mane shimmered like strands of starlight, and its voice carried the weight of judgment.The First. The True Alpha. Do you claim this title?
Ryan's chest tightened. "I didn't claim anything. The mark came to me—I didn't choose it."
Then prove you deserve it, the Alpha thundered.
The ground beneath Ryan cracked, and the silver void shifted. The wolves formed a circle around him, their shapes bending and stretching into an arena of light and shadow. The symbols at his feet blazed brighter.
[System Alert: Prophecy Trial – Phase One.][Objective: Face the Echoes. Endure their judgment.][Failure Condition: Identity Collapse.]
Ryan grit his teeth. "Fine. Let's do this."
The first wolf moved. A blur of silver and claw, it lunged straight for his throat. Ryan barely ducked, rolling across the stone floor as sparks of moonlight scattered from the impact. His instincts screamed at him—this wasn't a spar, this wasn't play. This was survival.
He slashed upward, claws meeting the wolf's chest. Instead of flesh, his strike passed through mist that burned like fire. Pain lanced through his arm, his mark pulsing wildly.
The wolf's voice echoed. Power without control devours itself.
Ryan stumbled back, chest heaving. "Then I'll learn to control it!"
The second wolf was already upon him, jaws snapping. Ryan caught its fangs with both hands, muscles screaming as it shoved him backward. Its breath was icy, and in its eyes he saw the reflection of every fear he'd ever tried to bury: the accident, the old man's hunger-strained face, Vaelrion's crimson gaze.
"You're not real," Ryan growled, forcing it back. "You're echoes. And I'm done letting ghosts define me!"
He twisted, driving his claws into its throat. The wolf dissolved into a burst of silver dust, scattering like stars.
The circle of watching wolves rumbled, some voices approving, others doubtful.
[System Update: Phase One – Progress 33%.]
Ryan didn't have time to breathe before three more shadows leapt forward together.
Meanwhile, in the dorm room, Aria still stood where Ryan had vanished. The shimmer had died, but the mark of it clung to the air, faint and cold. She paced the room, fists clenched.
"This isn't how it's supposed to happen," she muttered. "He's not ready yet."
The sketch her brother had drawn—the scarred wolf crowned in lunar fire—flashed in her mind. The prophecy was moving faster than she'd anticipated. Too fast.
Her instincts screamed at her to follow him, but she couldn't. This was his trial, not hers. All she could do was wait—and hope.
"Don't break," she whispered into the empty room.
Ryan's body was screaming at him. His claws dripped with starlight, his chest burned with every breath. The wolves pressed him harder and harder, each strike carrying not just physical force but fragments of memory: howling armies, broken packs, moons rising and falling over centuries of war.
Each wolf was an echo of an Alpha before him. Each one carried their triumphs—and their failures.
The third one nearly crushed him. Its paw slammed him into the stone, cracking it beneath him. His vision swam, the system flashing warnings across his sight.
[Warning: Vital Stability at 48%.]
[Warning: Identity Collapse Imminent.]
The wolf's growl thundered over him. You are too small. Too weak. A boy pretending at power.
Ryan's mark blazed, searing agony up his arm. His vision blurred—yet beneath the pain, a single thought sparked.
He wasn't fighting against them. He was fighting with them.
These weren't enemies. They were trials, yes—but also teachers.
He forced his claws into the ground, hauling himself upright against the crushing weight of the wolf. "I'm not pretending," he snarled. "I'm still here, aren't I? Every fight, every scar, every breath—I'm still standing. And if the Moon chose me, then I'll damn well prove it chose right!"
The mark exploded in light. The wolf froze, then dissolved into silver flame that poured into his chest.
[System Update: Phase One – Progress 67%.]
Two wolves remained.
They came together, one striking high, the other low. Ryan's body moved on instinct now, guided by something deeper than training. He ducked, twisted, let their momentum carry them past him, then slashed wide with both claws.
Silver burst. The arena shuddered.
Silence fell.
Only the largest wolf remained, the one with the starlight mane. Its eyes locked onto his, unreadable.
You endure. You bleed. You rise. But endurance is not enough.
Ryan's claws flexed. "Then what is?"
The wolf stepped closer until its vast shadow swallowed him. A True Alpha does not lead by claw alone. A True Alpha carries the weight of every life bound to him. Do you accept this burden?
The weight of the question crashed into Ryan harder than any strike had. His chest ached, not from wounds, but from memory. The old man who'd taken him in despite his poverty. Ethan's easy smile. Aria's quiet resolve. Even the strangers at school who looked at him like he was something more.
If he said yes, their lives were tied to his. Their safety, their futures, their hope.
If he said no, he would break the prophecy.
Ryan's throat tightened. He wanted to run, to shout that he wasn't ready. But deep down, he already knew the answer.
"I accept," he whispered.
The wolf's eyes blazed. Then rise, True Alpha.
It lunged—not in attack, but in embrace. The silver fire engulfed Ryan, burning but not consuming, filling every vein, every nerve, every scar. His mark flared, brighter than ever, then settled into a steady glow.
[System Update: Prophecy Trial – Phase One Complete.]
[Identity Stabilized.]
[New Skill Unlocked: Alpha's Resonance.]
Ryan gasped as the world shattered into light.
When he opened his eyes, he was back in his dorm room, sprawled on the floor. Aria knelt beside him, her hand hovering just above his chest. Relief washed over her face when he blinked.
"You're back," she said softly.
Ryan groaned, sitting up. "Barely."
Her gaze flicked to his mark. "It's different."
He looked down. The crest was no longer flickering wildly. It pulsed with steady silver light, calm but strong, like a second heartbeat.
Ryan exhaled slowly. For the first time since the Blood Moon Festival, he didn't feel like he was running from the mark. He felt like he was carrying it.
But the relief was short-lived.
The system chimed again.
[Main Quest Update: Vaelrion is aware of your Trial's success.]
[Warning: Enemy escalation imminent.]
Ryan met Aria's eyes. Her expression said everything: the hunt was far from over.
And Vaelrion was coming.