Chapter 18 Spirit Alignment Ritual
Seara woke up because of a vibration in her ear. When she opened her eyes, Austin was blowing into her ear.
"What are you doing?"
"Waking you up, but not startling you." Austin grinned, his face as bright as the sun shining through his bedroom window.
Austin pointed to the purple bruise on Seara's hand, which was more than just a bruise. Thin black lines now spread from the center of the bruise, forming a spiral pattern that seemed to pulsate with her heartbeat.
Seara immediately covered the bruise with a blanket. She didn't want Austin to keep looking at it. Yesterday she hadn't had time to ask Healer Winona, and this afternoon she had to find out the answer from the bruise.
"It looks worse. You should go to the hospital after we have breakfast. I don't want you to get hurt."
"Yeah, I'll do that. Now can you go out first? I want to take a shower."
As she washed her face in the mirror, Seara heard the whisper again. She remembered Arach's warning about black energy residue. She never knew the effects of her healing power because Healer Winona never explained it in class.
Today she had to find out the answer.
Seara came out of the bathroom and saw Austin still standing at the door.
Seara gasped and began to think that Austin was back to being the seductive Alpha. Her eyes fell to her chest.
"What are you looking at?" Seara immediately covered her chest, which was already wrapped in a towel, with her hands.
"Future assets."
"There are many bigger future assets out there. Get out, I'm changing clothes."
A loud knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Austin immediately positioned himself to cover Seara's body as he told the person knocking on the door to come in.
Alex stood there with his usual stiff face. "Alpha Austin. The Elders are waiting in the Great Hall. Last night's announcement... they demand immediate proof and they also request Miss Seara's presence."
"Ugh, I was just about to eat. Why do they like to interrupt so much? Tell them I'll be down in 15 minutes."
"Yes, Alpha." Alex closed the door again.
"I heard Alex walking this way, so I stood at the door. You're just too sensitive, Seara."
"Alex came here because you were in my room. If you hadn't been here since last night, he would never have come. You dirty-minded pervert." Seara walked towards the closet, pushing Austin away.
"Fine, if you don't believe me. Just get your hand checked after the meeting with the Elder. I'm serious, Seara."
The last sentence did seem sincere to Seara. Austin's voice changed and his gaze remained fixed on her hand.
"His mood changes so quickly. Alpha is strange," Seara muttered very softly.
In the Great Hall, Elder Stroud stood in the middle of the room, holding a black dagger engraved with a howling wolf. Elder Vanya looked at Seara with sympathy, but she couldn't stop the traditional procedure.
"Alpha Austin has declared his intention to appoint you as Luna," Elder Stroud said, his voice echoing. "However, the Lycanisius cannot be led by someone who only has compassion. A Luna must have the strength to protect and the purity to heal. We demand a Feasibility Test—the Spirit Alignment Ritual."
Austin growled low. "She just saved me at Rain Hill. Isn't that proof enough?"
"That proves her healing abilities, Alpha. Not his soul's resistance to darkness," Stroud replied sharply. "If she carries a curse or weakness, this pack will be destroyed from within."
Seara stepped forward, hiding her left hand, which was throbbing violently, behind her cloak. She knew that if the Elders saw the black mark, they might immediately exile her for being contaminated by black energy.
"What should I do?" Seara asked firmly, even though her heart was sinking.
"You must touch the Ancestral Stone at the top of the hill when the moon reaches its peak tonight," Elder Vanya explained. "The stone will absorb your energy. If your heart is pure, it will glow white. But if there is darkness within you..."
"...the Stone will destroy the hand that touches it," Nolan interrupted, suddenly appearing in the doorway, leaning lazily with bruises on his shins from Seara's kick the night before. He stared at Seara with a look that was difficult to interpret, somewhere between a warning and a taunt.
"You again. Don't you have anything better to do than meddle in our affairs?" Austin grumbled loudly.
"I will continue to monitor you. It is my job to watch over you..."
"Stay 5 meters away, Nolan." Austin cut him off. "If you violate that, I will rip your throat out."
Nolan raised his hands without saying a word. At least that reassured Seara that the two of them wouldn't attack each other in front of the Elders.
Seara felt the coldness in her mind growing stronger.
\[Don't do it, Seara. The energy in your hands will react badly with that stone,\] Arach warned in a panicked tone.
Seara was in a huge dilemma. If she refused, Austin would lose his credibility as Alpha and the Elders might remove him from his position. But if she agreed, she could lose her hand.
"I'll do it," Seara finally said, looking at Austin, who looked anxious. Austin tried to grab her left hand, but Seara quickly dodged, pretending to smooth out her flannel shirt.
The Elders finally left the three of them alone. Seara cringed, even though a few minutes ago her courage had evaporated for Austin's sake. She had already imagined that she would fail the test.
Nolan left first after Austin rudely dismissed him. Now it was just the two of them staring at each other.
"Was the test difficult?"
"It's tradition. Even I, an Alpha, cannot sway the Elders. Our rules are too rigid. I often get annoyed myself."
"I'll try, but I'm also afraid." Seara felt she had to be honest with Austin.
Austin took one of Seara's hands. He didn't speak, but immediately pulled her towards Healer Winona's class. Austin only needed to nod his head to tell Seara to enter the class.
Seara looked for a seat. An empty seat next to a woman with braided hair and a nose piercing was a safe choice for Seara compared to the seat at the front.
She didn't want to attract attention because she was a candidate for Luna Lycanisius.
Just as she was about to sit down, Healer Winona called her to come with her to the senior Healers' room.
She watched Austin's back as he headed for the north wing where the pack leaders worked. She was alone now with bruises on her hands and the shadow of herself no longer having hands after the aptitude test.
Seara wasn't paying attention to the road when Healer Winona called her because she took a wrong turn.
"Sorry, I can't focus today. You must have heard, right? The fitness test?" Seara rubbed her thumb repeatedly.
"I heard. That's why I told you to come with me. We'll discuss this all day."
Seara knew today wouldn't be as easy as healing a wolf cub's twisted leg or a wolf's dislocated hand.
She had to prove she was a wolf healer with a pure heart.