Where Power Answers to Desire
Ariana barely slept.
How could she?
Kian was breathing steadily now—alive, awake, recovering—but every time she closed her eyes, she felt the echo of their connection like a second heartbeat inside her chest. His wolf pressed against hers, a presence that felt both protective and devastatingly intimate.
She had never felt anything like it.
She didn't think anything human could feel like this.
At some point she drifted, curled on the fur-lined bench beside his stone platform. The faint warmth of dawn light seeped through cracks in the cavern ceiling. When she blinked awake, the chamber felt… different.
Charged.
Alive.
Watching.
Kian was no longer lying on the stone.
He was sitting up—bare-chested, leaning forward, elbows on his knees, eyes fixed on her.
Golden.
Predatory.
Devastating.
Ariana swallowed. "You're awake."
His gaze softened, but only slightly. "Because you stayed."
"You needed me," she said quietly.
He nodded once, a slow acknowledgment filled with meaning she didn't yet understand.
"You should eat," Ariana said, rising.
Kian rose too.
And suddenly the difference in height felt dangerous.
He stepped closer—too close—his heat washing over her like wildfire. His scent—pine, frost, something ancient—flooded her senses.
"Aria," he murmured, brushing a knuckle along her jaw, "you don't understand what you did."
Her breath hitched. "I anchored you."
"You did more than anchor me."
His thumb grazed her cheek.
"You called my wolf."
The air thickened.
Her pulse thudded wildly.
"I—I didn't mean to."
Kian leaned down, lips inches from her ear.
"You think a bond answers to meaning? It answers to truth. To instinct. To desire."
Her knees almost buckled.
Before she could reply, a sharp knock echoed through the chamber.
Roran stepped inside with zero shame, zero hesitation.
"Alpha—"
Kian growled low. "Knocking means waiting, Roran."
Roran lifted a brow. "Considering the state of the den last night, I wasn't sure if it was safe to enter."
Ariana flushed. Hard.
Kian straightened with a warning stare, then turned to Aria.
"The pack is gathering for your trial," Roran continued.
Ariana froze. "My… what?"
Kian rolled his shoulders, expression going dark and serious. "The Bond-Trial. Every outsider who forms a mate connection with an Alpha must face it."
"But I didn't choose the bond!"
"That doesn't matter," Kian said softly. "It exists. And the pack will want proof you can stand with me… or die beside me."
She swallowed hard.
"Die?"
Roran gave a sympathetic half-smile. "Not literally. Probably."
Ariana glared. "That's not comforting."
Kian stepped closer and cupped her face gently. The look in his eyes softened the roughness of his words.
"I won't let anything happen to you."
"I believe you," she whispered.
He hesitated—then pressed his forehead to hers.
The warmth between them pulsed.
Her magic stirred.
His wolf answered.
Roran cleared his throat loudly. "You two can continue staring into each other's souls after the trial. The pack's waiting."
---
THE TRAINING ARENA
The arena was a massive cavern ringed by tiers of stone. Dozens of wolves—some in human form, some half-shifted—watched as Kian led Ariana down the center path.
Whispers followed her.
She's the outsider.
She woke the Alpha's wolf.
She caused the power flare last night—did you feel it?
Ariana's throat tightened.
Kian squeezed her hand. "Ignore them."
Easy for him to say.
He's the Alpha.
She's the girl who almost exploded the den.
At the center, a towering woman with braided midnight hair approached. Muscles carved like stone. Eyes sharp with intelligence and something much harsher.
Kaelara—the Den Warden.
"Alpha," she said with a bow.
Her gaze shifted to Ariana.
"And the human."
Ariana bristled. "I have a name."
"Then survive the trial," Kaelara said. "Earn the right for the pack to speak it."
Ariana exhaled a shaky breath. "What do I have to do?"
Kaelara stepped aside, revealing the center arena.
A circle of glowing runes.
Silver.
Alive.
Waiting.
And in the middle—
A massive wolf.
Black fur streaked with crimson.
Eyes burning like coals.
"A Bloodfang sentinel?" Kian snarled. "That's what you're putting her against?"
Kaelara lifted her chin. "She awakened the Alpha's bond. She can handle this."
"She's untrained!"
"She survived the bond surge. That means she's either exceptionally powerful…"
Kaelara smiled without warmth.
"Or exceptionally lucky."
Ariana stepped forward, voice shaking only slightly. "What do I have to do?"
Kian grabbed her wrist. "Aria—you're not ready."
Ariana looked up at him, something solid forming in her chest.
She wasn't going to be the fragile outsider.
She wasn't going to cling to him like a shadow.
"I need to do this," she whispered.
"For me?"
His voice was low, rough.
"For myself."
His expression shifted—pride, fear, desire, anger—so many things tangled that he didn't speak for several seconds.
Finally he let her go.
Ariana stepped into the circle.
The runes flared.
The Bloodfang sentinel snarled, muscles rippling.
The den went silent.
Kian's voice broke the quiet—commanding, powerful, but trembling at the edges:
"Aria. Whatever happens—listen to your magic. Listen to me."
The sentinel lunged.
The bond flared.
And the trial began.