Chapter 22 Chapter 22: Three Days.

Chapter 22 Chapter 22: Three Days.
The loudspeaker crackled to life just as I stepped out of the dining hall, coffee still warm in my hand.“Attention all Trials participants. Due to recent events and in the interest of student safety and academic continuity, the preparatory phase will commence immediately. All selected students must report to the arena annex at 1800 hours tonight for orientation and initial assessments. Failure to attend will result in immediate disciplinary review and potential forfeiture of scholarship status.

This is not a request.”The voice—calm, cultured, unmistakably Voss—cut off with a soft click. Three days had just become tonight. I froze mid-step. Coffee sloshed over the rim, scalding my fingers. I didn’t feel it. Around me, the quad erupted into murmurs—students exchanging wide-eyed glances, legacy kids already pulling out phones to text family, human scholarship kids looking like they’d just been told the sky was falling and they were the only ones without wings.I pulled my hood lower. Walked faster. The group chat lit up before I reached the dorm. Ivy: Tonight??

Dex: They’re not even pretending anymore.
Rowan: Meet. Now. Tunnels.
Lyra: On my way. Sage? I typed back with thumbs that felt numb.Coming.The tunnel air was colder than yesterday, damp stone leaching heat from my skin the second I stepped inside. Flashlight beams crisscrossed like searchlights. Everyone was already there—Rowan pacing, Ivy leaning against the wall with arms crossed, Dex hunched over his laptop, Lyra sitting on a crate with her knees drawn up.
They looked up when I entered. Rowan spoke first. “You heard.”“Everyone heard.”Dex didn’t look away from his screen. “I pulled the announcement metadata. It was drafted three hours ago. Sent campus-wide at exactly the moment the loudspeaker went live. No delay.

They were waiting for something.”“For me,” I said. Five pairs of eyes snapped to my face.I pulled my hood down. The bruise was still there—yellowing, smaller—but visible enough in the flashlight glow. Lyra stood. “Sage—”“I’m fine.” I wasn’t. But saying it out loud made the lie feel less thin. “Voss knows something’s different. He felt it. Or someone told him. Langford’s death. My… survival. The fact that I didn’t crawl into a corner and disappear after.”Ivy pushed off the wall. “So he’s accelerating. Testing loyalty. Yours. Kieran’s. Everyone’s.”Dex turned on his laptop.

“Security footage from the arena annex is already locked down tighter than the dean’s office. But I got partial feeds from the outer paths. Enforcers moving in patterns—two at every entrance tonight. They’re expecting resistance.”Rowan cracked his knuckles. “Or they’re hoping for it.”Lyra’s hand drifted to her ribcage—where the tracking rune sat under her shirt. “I have to report in before orientation. Standard check-in. If I don’t…” She didn’t finish. We all knew. The rune would burn. I looked at her. “Tell him what he wants to hear. We’re compliant. Nervous. Following orders.”She nodded. Slow. “I can do that.”I turned to the group. “Plan?”Dex answered first. “I stay here. Keep digging. Langford’s files had encrypted attachments—medical logs, dosage schedules.

If I crack them before tonight, we might know exactly what he was prepping girls for.”Ivy: “I’ll watch the enforcers. Legacy access gets me closer to the arena without raising flags. I’ll text movement.”Rowan: “My family’s council contacts are already asking questions about Langford. I’ll push harder. See if anyone’s heard whispers about Voss cleaning house.”Lyra: “I’ll be inside orientation. Eyes open. If Voss shows himself…”She trailed off.I finished for her. “If Voss shows himself, we get proof. Anything. A name. A ritual reference. Something we can use.”All eyes came back to me.“And you?”
Rowan asked. I exhaled. “I go. I listen. I don’t give him anything he can use against me.”Ivy studied me. “You sure you’re ready for that?”I touched the faint bruise on my cheek. “I’m ready to stop being the one who gets carried out.”No one argued. We broke apart after that—quick, quiet plans, promises to text updates. Rowan clapped my shoulder once—gentle, brief. Ivy squeezed my wrist. Dex gave a small nod. Lyra lingered last.

She didn’t hug me. Just leaned in close enough that only I could hear.“You don’t have to do this alone tonight.”“I know.”She searched my face. “If it gets bad—”“I’ll signal. Or I’ll fight.”Her mouth curved—just a fraction. “That’s my girl.”She left. I stayed in the tunnel a minute longer. Let the cold settle into my bones. Then I climbed back into daylight.

The rest of the afternoon passed in fragments—classes I barely heard, hallways I walked through on autopilot, snow that kept falling like it was trying to bury the campus before the night could begin.I didn’t go back to the dorm. I went to the woods instead. The clearing was silent, snow thick on the fallen log. I sat. Closed my eyes. Let the wolf rise. It came easier now. No coaxing. Just permission.Eyes first—gold flooding in. Canines lengthening. Fur rippling along arms, neck, and shoulders. Claws sliding free. The shift wasn’t painful anymore; it was a release. I held it longer than yesterday. Three minutes. Four.

My heartbeat slowed. Synchronized with the forest—wind in pines, distant owl, rabbit pulse fifty yards off. I felt… steady. When I let it go, the recoil was sharp but manageable. I stayed on my knees in the snow, breathing hard, steam rising from my skin. The silver charm Kieran had left on my windowsill last night was around my neck now—small, rune-etched, cool against my collarbone. I touched it. He’d come again after midnight—slipped through the cracked window like smoke.

No words at first. Just stood there, snow melting in his hair, eyes fixed on the bruise that was already fading. Then he’d stepped closer. Brushed his thumb across the yellowing mark—barely touching.“I should have been faster.”I hadn’t answered. He’d leaned in. Forehead to mine. Breathed one word against my skin.“Mine.”Not possessive. Not demanding.Pledge.Then he’d pulled back. Left the charm on the sill. Disappeared into the dark. I hadn’t slept after that. Now, in the clearing, I stood. Brushed snow from my jeans. Tonight wasn’t about surviving. It was about showing them I could bite back.1800 came too fast.

The arena annex loomed at the edge of campus—stone and iron, half-buried in evergreens, floodlights cutting harsh white beams through falling snow. I arrived early. Hood up. Hands in pockets. Other participants were already gathering—legacy kids in expensive coats, scholarship students trying not to look terrified, a handful of upperclassmen who’d survived previous cycles and now watched the rest of us like we were already dead. Kieran stood near the entrance. Black coat open. Arms crossed. Eyes scanning the crowd. They found me instantly. He didn’t move toward me. Just tilted his head—once. Acknowledgment. I nodded back.
The doors opened at 1755. We filed in. The arena floor was sunken, circular, dirt-packed. Bleachers rose in tiers above us—empty except for a handful of enforcers and one silver-haired figure in the dean’s box.Voss.He stood at the railing. Smiling down like a father proud of his children. My stomach turned. Kieran moved to stand near the wall—close enough to reach me if needed, far enough to maintain distance. Voss’s voice carried without a microphone.“Welcome. Tonight marks the beginning of what will separate the strong from the weak.

The worthy from the forgotten.”His eyes swept the group. Landed on me.Held.I didn’t look away. Gold flickered in my vision—brief, bright. Voss’s smile widened.“Assessments begin now.”He raised a hand. The lights dimmed. A low hum rose from the floor—magic, old and thick. The wolf inside me snarled. I smiled back.Small.Sharp.Let them come.I was done waiting.