Chapter 6 First Lessons and Tests
I didn’t sleep.
Not really.
I drifted somewhere between exhaustion and awareness on a couch far too soft for a place built by predators, wrapped in a blanket that smelled like pine, smoke, and him. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw molten gold eyes and felt that unbearable pull snap tight around my ribs.
Mate.
Null Blood.
Extinct.
Protected.
Owned, no, claimed, even if he’d sworn I still had a choice.
By the time pale dawn light began creeping through the tall windows of Raelthorn Estate, my nerves were shredded and my patience nonexistent.
Raelthorn rose from the mountains like something grown rather than built, black stone veined with silver runes, ancient towers carved directly into rock. It wasn’t just a residence. It was a stronghold. A throne wrapped in stone and teeth.
I stood at the window when the door behind me opened without a sound.
“You’re awake.”
Thane’s voice slid down my spine like heat. I didn’t turn.
“That implies I slept.”
A ghost of warmth brushed the bond, something like amusement. “You were supposed to.”
“Next time someone calls me extinct and fate, bound, I’ll pencil in a nap.”
He exhaled quietly, something between a laugh and a sigh. When I finally turned, he stood in the doorway in black combat pants and a fitted shirt that did criminal things to restraint.
I swallowed.
Focus, Alenya.
“Where am I?” I asked.
“My home,” he said. “Raelthorn. Alpha seat of the Stormfall packs.”
Of course it was.
He gestured toward the door. “Come. You need to meet the inner circle.”
My stomach flipped. “Do I get a warning label first?”
One corner of his mouth tilted. “They already know what you are.”
That did not help.
-----------------------------------------------
The council chamber was circular, carved into the mountain’s heart. A long obsidian table dominated the space. Wolves sat around it, some in human form, some not bothering to mask the predator beneath their skin.
All eyes locked onto me the moment I entered.
Not hostile.
Assessing.
Like I was a weapon they weren’t sure how to sheath.
Layla stood first. “This is Alenya.”
That’s it? No titles? No disclaimers?
A broad, shouldered man with storm, gray hair leaned back in his chair. “Human doesn’t smell right.”
“I smell very right, actually,” I muttered.
Thane’s aura flared just enough to make the table hum.
“This is Cael,” Thane said. “Beta. That’s Maeven, our seer. Orrik, sentinel chief. And Rowan....”
“Tracker,” Rowan cut in. Her eyes glowed faintly as they dragged over me. “And the one who’ll know if she’s lying.”
Great.
Maeven rose slowly. She was elderly, eyes milk-white and unfocused.
“Null Blood,” she whispered. “The silence in the weave. We thought the line ended.”
Her fingers brushed my wrist.
Nothing happened.
I felt it, the absence.
Her breath hitched. “No resonance. No echo. Gods be damned.”
“She’s immune,” Thane said. “Which makes her both priceless and a target.”
All conversation stopped.
I crossed my arms. “No offense, but this feels like the part where I should ask if I’m allowed to leave.”
Thane looked at me, not commanding. Not demanding.
Honest.
“The gods will come,” he said. “Rival packs already feel the bond forming. You will be tested.”
“Tested how?”
As if on cue, the chamber doors blasted open.
A man strode in flanked by wolves bearing a different crest, iron claw over red.
Rival faction.
His smile was sharp. “Alpha Thane. We heard you brought a human relic home.”
My skin prickled.
Thane stepped forward instantly, between us, shielding without touching.
“She is under my protection.”
“That’s what we’re testing,” the man said smoothly. “If she’s truly Null Blood…”
He raised a hand, and released magic.
Silver fire slammed toward me.
I didn’t move.
I didn’t need to.
The energy hit my skin and died.
Snuffed out like it had never existed.
A gasp rippled through the room.
The rival’s smile vanished.
I stared at my hands, heart pounding. “I didn’t do anything.”
“You didn’t have to,” Thane said quietly. “Null Blood negates divine influence.”
The rival took a step back. “Impossible.”
Thane’s voice turned lethal. “Get out. Before you decide to test how far my restraint goes.”
They left.
Silence followed.
“Well,” I said weakly, “that was… illuminating.”
Thane turned to me, eyes burning, not with anger, but fear barely leashed.
“That was dangerous,” he snapped.
“You brought me here,” I shot back. “You said tests.”
“That was a probe,” he said. “Next time won’t be.”
The room cleared slowly, giving us space. The bond thrummed, tight, loud, undeniable.
“I don’t want to be important,” I said quietly. “I don’t want war or packs or gods.”
Thane softened. “I know.”
He stepped closer, stopping just short of touching me.
“But you are,” he continued. “And the more you deny the bond, the louder it will become.”
My heartbeat stumbled.
“I feel it,” I admitted. “And that scares me.”
His voice dropped. “It terrifies me.”
That surprised me.
“You’re… scared?”
“For you,” he said simply.
The bond warmed, gentle this time. Not demanding. Not consuming.
Just… present.
And that somehow made it worse.
The lessons had begun.
And I was no longer invisible...