Kieran's POV
I wake up with silver fire burning through my veins.
Her words echo in my mind: I'm coming. And when I get there, you'll all learn what you rejected.
Nyx.
She's alive.
"Alpha!" My Beta Marcus bursts into my room. "You screamed. The whole pack heard—"
"Get out," I snarl.
He leaves quickly.
I stagger to the window, gripping the frame so hard the wood cracks. For two weeks, I've been dying. The bond rips at me constantly, my wolf howling for the mate I rejected.
But now... now there's something else.
Power. Raw and ancient, flowing through the broken bond.
She's not just alive.
She's awakened.
"What have I done?" I whisper.
Nyx's POV
We leave the cave at dawn.
Ember leads the way with Tobias close behind. I'm stronger now, but every step still hurts. The rejection wounds are healing slower than normal injuries.
"The First Temple is three days north," Tobias says. "Through the Deadlands, across the Bone Bridge, into the Whispering Valley."
"Those all sound terrible," I mutter.
"They are," Ember confirms cheerfully. "But if you survive, you'll be unstoppable."
"And if I don't?"
"Then we'll die trying to save the world from a demon priestess," she says. "At least it'll be memorable."
I can't help but smile. Ember has this way of making certain death sound almost fun.
We walk for hours through gray wasteland. Nothing grows here. Nothing lives. It's like the world gave up.
"Why is it called the Forsaken Lands?" I ask.
"Because the Moon Goddess forsook it," Tobias answers. "Three hundred years ago, this was the most beautiful place in the territories. Green forests. Clear rivers. The Omega Sovereigns lived here in peace."
"What happened?"
His face darkens. "Morvanna happened. When she started her war against the Sovereigns, she cursed this entire region. Drained the life from it. Now it's a graveyard."
I look around with new eyes. All this death. All this destruction. Because one creature wanted power.
"She won't win," I say quietly. "Not this time."
We're crossing a dried riverbed when I feel it.
A pull. Like invisible hands reaching for me.
"Do you feel that?" I ask.
Ember and Tobias exchange glances. "Feel what?"
The pull gets stronger. It's coming from the north, tugging at something deep inside me. Not painful. More like... recognition.
"The temple," I breathe. "It's calling me."
"Already?" Tobias looks shocked. "We're still a day away from where it should be."
"It's moving," I realize. "Coming to me."
The ground starts to shake.
"Run!" Ember yells.
But I don't run. I can't. The pull is too strong.
The earth splits open twenty feet ahead of us. From the crack rises a structure made of silver stone that glows in the dim light. It's beautiful and terrifying—covered in symbols I don't recognize but somehow understand.
The First Temple.
"Impossible," Tobias whispers. "It's been lost for three hundred years."
"It wasn't lost," I say. "It was waiting."
I start walking toward it.
"Nyx, wait!" Ember grabs my arm. "We don't know what's inside. Let me go first—"
"It won't let you." I can feel it in my bones. "This temple is for Omega Sovereigns only. Anyone else who enters will die."
"Then I'm coming anyway," Ember says stubbornly.
Before I can argue, the temple doors swing open.
A figure steps out.
Not a person. Not exactly.
It's made of silver light, shaped like a woman with flowing hair and eyes that burn like stars. She's the most beautiful and terrifying thing I've ever seen.
"Nyx Evermoon," the figure says. Her voice sounds like music and thunder. "Daughter of Elena. Last of the Sovereign bloodline. You have been called."
"Who are you?" I whisper.
"I am the Guardian. I protect the temple and judge those who seek its power." She looks at Ember and Tobias. "Your companions must stay. The trials are yours alone."
"No," I say immediately. "They've risked everything for me. They—"
"They are brave and loyal," the Guardian interrupts. "But they cannot walk this path. Only you can face what lies within."
Ember squeezes my shoulder. "Go. We'll wait here."
"But—"
"Three days, remember?" She grins, though I can see the worry in her eyes. "Clock's ticking. Go become the badass queen you're meant to be."
I turn to the Guardian. "What are these trials?"
"Three tests. Mind. Body. Soul." Her starlight eyes bore into me. "They will break you down to nothing. Strip away every lie you've told yourself. Every weakness you hide. Every fear you bury."
"And if I fail?"
"Then you die." She says it simply, like she's talking about the weather. "But if you succeed, you will claim your true power. You will become what Morvanna fears most."
I take a deep breath. Through the bonds, I feel my five Alphas. Kieran's pain. Cassian's guilt. Darius's self-hatred. Riven's breaking heart. Zane's terrifying visions.
In two days, they'll be possessed and killed unless I stop it.
"I'm ready," I say.
The Guardian steps aside. "Then enter, last daughter of the Sovereigns. Enter and become."
I walk through the silver doors.
They slam shut behind me.
Darkness swallows everything.
Then a voice—my own voice—speaks from the shadows.
"Welcome home, Nyx. Let me show you who you really are."
Lights flare.
I'm standing in the Lunar Temple on the night of my ceremony. But something's different.
This time, I'm not alone on the altar.
There are two of me.
One wearing white silk—the girl who wanted to be loved, who tried so hard to be perfect.
And one wearing black armor with silver eyes blazing—the queen who survived rejection and rose from the ashes.
"Which one are you?" both versions ask at the same time.
"I—I don't understand—"
"Choose," they say together. "Choose who you are. Because you can't be both."
I look between them, my heart pounding.
The girl in white reaches for me. "Choose me. Forgive them. Love them. Be the mate they need."
The warrior in black reaches for me. "Choose me. Make them pay. Show them your power. Be the queen they fear."
"I can't—"
"CHOOSE!" they scream.
The temple shakes. Cracks spread across the walls.
And I realize: this is the first trial.
I have to choose what kind of Omega Sovereign I'll become.
Merciful or merciless.
Forgiving or vengeful.
The mate who loves or the queen who conquers.
My hand trembles as I reach forward.
And through the bonds, I feel my five Alphas suddenly freeze, sensing that I'm about to make a choice that will decide all of our fates.