Chapter 5 THE SERAPHINA TRIAL

ISABELLA

“Holy crap, that ravine scared the shit out of me!” Thera panted, all worked up, tongue hanging out.

I was slumped in a corner of the maze, exhausted beyond belief, my ankle swollen like a damn ham.

The cold fog hid me a little from all the watchful eyes up in the stands.

“Shh… fuck, that hurts,” I muttered, wondering how I was supposed to get up now that all the adrenaline was fading.

“That bitch almost left us locked in the bathroom!” Thera kept ranting, and us being pissed was exactly why we’d ended up in this situation.

The goal was to finish near the top, not drag all the attention right onto us.

But back in the locker room, where we’d left our stuff and they handed us our workout clothes, I got another little welcome gift.

When I went into a stall to change, someone blocked my door from the outside.

I knew damn well it was Miska.

Her intense, suffocating Alpha scent clung to every inch of the bathroom.

She didn’t even bother to hide it.

I got tired of yelling for help and no one ever came.

I couldn’t squeeze out under the door, and if it weren’t for this tiny high window, I’d still be stuck in there.

I climbed out with way too much effort, ran to the course, and decided to teach that idiot a lesson. I’d already had enough crap in my life.

I wasn’t about to let some stranger humiliate me too.

“Too bad we can’t beat her, but shoving her toward that drop almost gave me an orgasm,” Thera kept chattering while I struggled to push myself up.

I heard a few gasps.

That Alpha had probably reached the finish line, but before I could stand, the hedge wall beside me started shaking violently.

Thera went rigid, sniffing in that direction, every instinct screaming danger and submission.

Rough hands tipped with claws tore a hole through branches and roots, and the hard, cold face of the Lycan prince appeared in the opening.

“You planning on hiding in this corner forever?” his voice was harsh and sharp.

My whole body shook from head to toe.

“N-no, sir, I was just…” My brain was spinning as I forced myself to stand.

A hiss of pain slipped out when I put weight on my foot, and the grimace on my face probably said the rest.

“You’re hurt,” he said, eyes dropping to my leg.

“Yeah… I had to stop and rest. I wasn’t hiding. I’m sorry,” I muttered, staring at the grass, cold sweat breaking out across my skin.

I could feel him looking me over. I had no idea if he believed me.

What the hell was he even doing here? Was he looking for me?

“Go right and you’ll get out of the maze. Can you walk, or do you need help?”

“I can walk. Thank you.” My voice sounded barely there.

Without daring to meet his eyes, I took the path that curved to the right.

In my mind, I could feel my wolf’s curiosity, and the outline of a huge gray wolf took shape in my thoughts.

Was that the prince’s wolf?

“Mmnn, looks like it. And he’s huge. Mysterious and kind of hot,” Thera answered thoughtfully and, of course, the world could be ending and she’d still be calculating how many centimeters she could handle.

My mouth twisted and I limped toward the exit in wobbly steps.

Where the hell had the Goddess found a wolf as perverted as mine?

I squinted when the outside light hit my eyes, making me blink.

This was the end of the obstacle course.

Suddenly, applause and whistles broke out.

I jumped a little, realizing they were for me, coming from the stands.

I looked up.

It was true, they’d been cheering for me the whole time, especially that blond Lycan who was now whistling from the royal box.

He was my target. I’d ask to be his Seraphina.

He looked like the most approachable, friendly one.

A smile tried to creep onto my lips at his shamelessness, but it froze in my chest.

“You planning to make me wait all day?”

I stiffly lowered my head and found myself staring straight into the blue eyes of that arrogant jerk.

He was standing a few meters away, right at the finish line, and off to the side, that Alpha was shooting me a death glare.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled again, tense, forcing myself to walk toward them even though I didn’t want to.

More footsteps sounded off to the side and two men came down from their boxes.

Their dark, formal outfits made them look like Academy professors.

I figured there’d be some kind of welcome ceremony later and they’d introduce themselves.

“Your Majesty, what did you think of the Selection?” I heard one of them ask respectfully.

He was a tall wolf with reddish hair threaded with gray and gold-rimmed glasses.

He looked seasoned and kind, but not like a kiss-ass.

“I thought it was well put together, Vice Principal Mortimer. I’m satisfied,” the prince answered in a rough voice, and the atmosphere immediately tightened.

His gaze returned to us.

My attention stayed fixed on how nice the grass looked and how hard it was getting to stay upright with my throbbing ankle.

Pain shot up my leg in sharp stabs that made sweat trickle down my back.

Beside me, I heard someone step forward.

“Thank you for choosing me, Your Majesty. I promise I’ll do my best to serve you…”

“Took that slut long enough,” Thera snorted, pissed, but it was honestly for the best.

“Miss Miska is one of the finest Seraphinas in the realm…”

“And who said I chose her?”

The prince’s cutting voice instantly killed all the praise aimed at Miska.

“Your Majesty… I was the winner. You said you’d already chosen…”

“I said I was satisfied with the competition, not that I was sure who my Seraphina would be,” he cut her off again, and none of this was making any sense to me.

Suddenly his shadow fell over mine and I shivered all over.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you,” he ordered, merciless, and how was I supposed to disobey that?

My neck creaked as I lifted my head, and my erratic gaze crashed into his fierce eyes.

“I’m putting both of you on a one-month trial. At the end, I’ll decide which of you I’m keeping,” he declared, blowing all my plans to pieces.

“But, Your Majesty…” I tried to protest, but one raised eyebrow shut me right up.

I bit my lower lip, swallowing my complaints.

Why the hell did I have to stay tied to him and keep going up against that dangerous Alpha?

“Did I do something to upset you?” Miska dared to ask in a shaky voice.

She looked about to cry, and the professors watched her with awkward expressions.

He kept drilling his gaze into my face, and I was this close to screaming at him to stop staring at me like that.

In the end, he turned to Miska.

“You only won because she got hurt. Letting an Omega jump over you is… honestly disappointing.”

I could almost hear the Alpha’s heart crack in two.

The way he said “Omega” also stung a bit, but my wolf couldn’t care less and was dying of laughter, mocking her.

I didn’t find any of this funny.

“I’ll meet with both of you later and lay down the rules. For now, go rest…”

“Sir,” I dared to stop him before he walked away, “what happens to the loser? Will she be passed to another Lycan?”

I needed to know. I couldn’t risk getting sent back home.

“Are you that desperate to go ‘comfort’ someone else?” his blunt question caught me completely off guard.

“N-no… no, I just… I like the Academy. I don’t want to leave…” I started to babble, upper lip damp with nervous sweat.

“Miss Olivan, you’ll be allowed to stay even if no Lycan chooses you. Your performance was very good.”

It was like the heavens just opened up when the Vice Principal answered.

“Thank you, sir,” I breathed out, relieved, just starting to relax when a low growl pinned me in place again.

“Don’t count yourself out so fast, Miss Olivan.”

The Lycan prince’s aura was like a hand closing around my throat.

“You sound awfully desperate not to be my Seraphina.”

“No, no, Your Highness, of course not, it’d be an hon…or…” he turned his back on me and walked away, leaving me with the word stuck on my tongue.

With an angry huff, he strode off, ending the conversation the second he felt like it.

Rude bastard.

At least we could all finally breathe without his suffocating presence.

I’m pretty sure the sigh of relief was collective.

“Go rest. We’ll take care of the other candidates.”

The redheaded man, the one identified as the Academy’s Vice Principal, dismissed us.

I was beyond grateful and only thinking about collapsing in the first corner I saw.

Limping, I headed toward what looked like one of the exits from the arena.

I’d barely set one foot into the hallway when claws wrapped around my shoulder and yanked me back.

Pain shot through my shoulder and ankle so hard I almost screamed, but I clenched my teeth and shook off her grip.

I knew exactly who it was, and this rivalry between us was only going to bring me trouble.

“What do you want from me?” I faced her without backing down.

“What you did today… you’re going to pay for it with your life.”

Miska’s threat was direct, her claws stretching out, ready to shred my face.