Chapter b272 /b

ra’s POV

“Step into the circle.”

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The elder’s voice cracked like dry wood. The council chamber was empty of benches, empty of rails, only stone carved into a ring. A bowl of me burned in the center, bright enough to sting my eyes.

Mira’s hand touched my arm. “Last chance to refuse.”

“I do not refuse,” I said.

Thorne stood near the doorway, arms crossed, jaw set. He looked like he wanted to drag me out by force. Cael sat on a bench brought for him, pale but upright, his gaze steady.

I walked forward. The heat pressed my skin. The elder lifted a rod dipped in oil and touched the mes. Sparks jumped and hissed across the stone ring.

“The Moon me sees truth,” he said. “If your spirit fractures, the fire will swallow what body remains.”

I stepped inside.

The world narrowed. Smoke curled into my mouth, into my eyes, into my chest. My knees buckled. I was falling though the stone had not moved.

Darkness. Then light. Not firelight. Moonlight. Silver spread across an endless in.

A voice rose, soft and sharp together. “Why do you seek the seat?”

“I do not seek,” I said. My voice shook. “I hold it because my people stand or fall by me.”

Figures formed in the moon haze. Wolves, tall as towers, eyes like stars. Their teeth gleamed. One stepped close. Its breath burned like heat without me.

“You are not Alpha blood,” it said.

“No,” I whispered. “I am Gamma blood. And I made it enough.”

It bared its fangs. “Gamma guards. Alpha rules. Break the order and the chain shatters.”

“Then the chain was weak,” I said. “I am here to forge stronger links.”

The wolf lunged. Its teeth sank into my arm. Fire zed through me. I screamed.

I was back in the chamber, knees on stone, sweat pouring. The bowl me roared higher. Mira’s voice cut

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faintly, far. “She is burning.”

I staggered but stayed inside the ring.

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Darkness again. This time my father stood before me. Not as I remembered, but younger. Strong. His eyes hollow.

“They forged my name,” he said. “They bled me with lies. You will fall the same.”

“I will not,” I said. “Because I know the trick.”

He stepped closer. “And when they forge yours?b” /b

“Then I burn the paper before it stains,” I said.

He raised his hand. Fire licked from his palm. He pressed it to my chest. Pain tore through me. I screamed again.

The chamber flickered. Vessa shouted, “She cannotst!”

Cael’s voice, weak but cutting. “She must. Do not break the circle.”

–

The vision shifted again. I saw Mi. She stood in a throne room, crown crooked, eyes wild. Wolves knelt to

her.

“You cannot stop me,” she said. “I learned to smile while they cut. You will choke on mercy.”

I lifted my chin. “Then choke first.”

She lunged with a de. bI /bcaught it bare–handed. The metal bit, blood spilled. I forced the knife down until her face broke like ss and scattered into stars.

I gasped, back in the chamber, palms bleeding, knees raw. The me steadied. The elder’s rod struck the ground once. Twice.

“Rise,” hemanded.

I pushed up, shaking, burned, but upright.

The fire lowered. Smoke thinned. The chamber filled with silence,

The elder raised both hands. “The Moon me has judged. She did not fracture. She did not fall. She stands.”

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The bowl me split into two smaller fires, each curling toward me like living things. They burned silver- white, not orange. They wrapped around my arms, hot but not consuming.

The elder’s voice carried. “From this night, she is Luna of Two Moons. Regent by trial. me by right.”

The guards knelt. Mira’s shield hit stone. Vessa bowed her head. Even Garron bent one knee, though his eyes stayed sharp.

Cael’s mouth curved, faint and proud. Thorne’s eyes never left mine.

I breathed smoke and iron. My hands trembled. Still, I raised my voice.

“Stand. We march at dawn. Under two moons, not one.”

The chamber echoed with boots and voices. The chant rose, ragged then strong.

“Luna Gamma. Luna of Two Moons.”

I closed my eyes. I let the sound bind me tighter than any crown.

“Now,” I said, opening them again, “show me the next fire to put out.”

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