Chapter 19 Part 2: The Bloodbound Rite Day 1
He was tall, broad-shouldered, his jaw set with determination. Selene recognized him. He was an upper year from the Northern Wing, known for his strength and ambition. He placed his palm over his chest and bowed his head toward the moonlit sky.
“I invoke the Bloodbound Rite,” he declared, voice steady. “I challenge the claim of dominance over the Delta rank.”
A murmur rippled through the crowd. The runes beneath his feet flared once, it was bright and sharped and then dimmed.
“Invocation accepted,” the emcee announced and almost immediately, another student stepped forward. Then another.
A she-wolf with eyes blazing ambition. A quiet male who had always stayed in the background. Each one spoke their intent aloud, naming claims, positions, and bonds they sought to contest. With every declaration, the ground responded and runes lighting, torches flaring, the air growing heavier.
Selene watched carefully.
Some invocations were met with cheers. Others with uneasy silence. A few challengers hesitated, voices wavering as they spoke.
This was the first phase of the rite, the declaration. Truth spoken aloud carried weight under the Moon.
When the final student stepped back into the crowd, the emcee raised his hand once more.
“The invocations are sealed,” he said. “Those who have stepped forward are now bound to the Rite.”
He paused, allowing the weight of that statement to sink in.
“Next comes the second calling—the Acknowledgment.”
Faculty members moved swiftly, calling out names. One by one, those who had been challenged were summoned forward. Some walked with heads high. Others with visible tension, jaws clenched, eyes darting.
Each was asked a single question.
“Do you acknowledge the challenge set before you?” Some answered without hesitation.
“I do.”
Others swallowed hard before nodding and a few refused. Those refusals echoed loudest.
“Refusal acknowledged,” the emcee said evenly when it happened. “The claim is forfeited.”
Gasps followed. Power shifted instantly. Positions lost without a single blow exchanged. Selene’s fingers curled slowly at her side.
“Interesting”, she thought. “So fear alone is enough to strip someone of everything.”
Then came the third and final step.
“The Binding,” the emcee announced.
Those who had both invoked and acknowledged were asked to step forward together, the challenger and defender facing one another beneath the open sky. A thin line of silver light formed between them, shimmering briefly before sinking into their skin.
“The Rite now recognizes you,” the emcee said. “From this moment forward, withdrawal is impossible.”
The crowd was silent. Only when the last binding was completed did the emcee lift his head, his voice ringing clearly across the grounds.
“Now, hear the rules.”
Every eye turned to him.
“The Bloodbound Rite consists of three trials,” he said. “Dominance. Truth. And Will.”
He lifted one finger.
“The First Trial, Dominance, “ He paused, “tests physical and instinctual strength. No weapons. No outside interference. Submission or incapacitation ends the match.”
A second finger rose.
“The Second Trial. Truth. This trial will strip away deception. Lies spoken under the Rite will be punished. Silence will not save you.”
A third finger.
“And the Final Trial. Will. Will tests devotion. What you are willing to sacrifice to win. This trial ends more bonds than blades ever could.”
A chill swept through the arena.
“The order of trials is final,” the emcee concluded. “Failure in any trial results in immediate defeat.”
He stepped back, raising his voice once more. “Are you all ready?”
The shouts of the students echoed, “Yes!”
“We begin now… with the First Trial.”
The stone platform trembled as the first pair was called forward. From the stage, the Bloodbound Field revealed its full presence.
What had once looked like a simple clearing now felt alive and awake. The Rite Circle lay at the heart of the grounds, a wide expanse of pale stone carved seamlessly into the earth. Ancient runes spiraled outward from its center, etched so deeply they seemed fused with the land itself. They glowed faintly now, silver threaded with red, pulsing in a slow, deliberate rhythm. As if the ground had a heartbeat of its own.
Around the circle stood weathered stone markers, uneven and jagged, each one bearing lunar symbols and pack sigils older than Red Moon University. Crimson flames burned atop them, unnatural and smokeless, their light casting long shadows that twisted across the ground like living things. The air within the circle felt heavier, denser, as though stepping into it meant crossing a boundary that could not be uncrossed.
This was not just a field. It was a witness. It remembered every claw strike, every broken bone, every whispered surrender. The ground inside the circle was darker than the rest, scarred with faint grooves where bodies had been forced to kneel and rise again—over and over, across generations.
Once you stepped inside, the Moon watched.
The first pair moved forward.
The challenger with broad-shouldered, muscles tight with barely restrained aggression and rolled his neck once, eyes burning with hunger for dominance. Across from him stood the defender, leaner but quicker, his posture coiled, eyes sharp and calculating.
The emcee’s voice rang out. “Step into the circle.”
The moment their feet crossed the boundary, the runes flared brighter. A ripple of power surged outward, knocking loose dust from the stones. The torches burned higher, their flames snapping violently as if eager.
“Now, this is interesting.” Kai said with a hint of excitement in her tone.
Selene felt her wolf rise fully now, attention locked onto the circle. Her pulse synced with the rhythm of the runes. Every instinct screamed awareness.
This was real.
“Begin!” the emcee shouted.
The challenger lunged first.
He moved like a battering ram. It is fast, brutal, and unrestrained. His claws extended mid-stride as he aimed straight for the defender’s throat. Gasps erupted from the stands.
The defender barely twisted out of the way. The challenger’s claws grazed his shoulder, tearing fabric and skin alike. Blood splattered onto the stone, and the runes reacted instantly. Flaring brighter, drinking it in.
The defender retaliated, sweeping low, slamming his shoulder into the challenger’s ribs. The impact echoed across the grounds. Bones cracked. The challenger grunted but didn’t fall. They collided again.
Fists. Claws. Elbows.
No hesitation and no mercy.
The challenger caught the defender by the collar and drove him backward, slamming him into the ground hard enough to send a shockwave through the circle. The defender coughed, spitting blood, but twisted at the last second, rolling free before the challenger could pin him.
Selene leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowing.
“Is he still alive?” She blurted out.
“Of course, he is! Besides, if he is not? It is his fault for being weak.”
Selene looked at Kai in disbelief, her sister is too heartless.
The defender feinted left, then struck right. An uppercut to the jaw that snapped the challenger’s head back. Cheers erupted. The challenger staggered, shook it off, and roared.
He shifted partially, fur rippling along his arms, strength surging. The ground beneath him cracked.
“Careful,” someone whispered from the stands. “He’s losing control.”
The defender didn’t retreat.
He waited.
The challenger charged again, reckless now, power overwhelming precision. The defender sidestepped, hooked his leg, and slammed him down face-first into the stone.
The impact was brutal.
The challenger struggled, snarling, trying to rise but the defender was already on him, knee pressed into his spine, arm locked around his throat. The runes beneath them burned hot, reacting violently to the submission forming.
“Yield!” the emcee called.
The challenger resisted, teeth bared, pride warring with survival. The defender tightened his hold. The challenger’s movements slowed.
His hand struck the stone…twice.
Submission.
The runes flashed blindingly bright, then dimmed.
“Winner,” the emcee announced, voice unwavering. “By submission.”
The crowd erupted with cheers, howls, stunned silence all at once.
The defender released his hold and stepped back, chest heaving, eyes still sharp with adrenaline. The challenger lay on the ground for a moment longer before being escorted away, his ambition crushed as swiftly as it had ignited.
Selene exhaled slowly.
Dominance.
Not strength alone but control.
Her gaze drifted instinctively through the crowd.
Kai stood still, watching intently, eyes alight. She is not afraid nor shocked but excited.
Selene’s lips curved faintly.