Chapter 21 The Bloodbound Rite Day 2: The Truth
Selene arrived home tired. She had been looking for her boyfriend and her sister for hours, but she couldn’t find either of them. She knew something was wrong because she hadn’t received the claim. Selene shook her head in disbelief.
“I think Christopher is up to something, which is why your sister did not participate in the rite,” her wolf said.
Selene let out a quiet chuckle and placed her bag on the sofa before sitting down.
“Let them be. It’s not like we can do anything about it. If they want to do something for themselves, then they have the freedom to do so. Let’s remain as innocent and as loving a girlfriend as Christopher believes me to be,” Selene replied to her wolf. “Besides, how would we know everything if we don’t put up with this?”
Before she could continue, the living room door swung open and her aunt entered the house.
“Good evening, my dear.”
“Good evening, Aunt. Where were you?” Selene asked.
“I went to the hall to process something. How about you? Did you just get home?” her aunt asked as she sat beside her.
“Yes, ma’am. The first trial was so intense and amazing.”
“Oh? Speaking of that, who did Kai challenge? I was dying to know,” her aunt said.
“Kai was with me the whole time, but she didn’t challenge anyone,” Selene replied.
Her aunt looked shocked, her eyebrow lifting in surprise.
“My, my. I always thought she would challenge someone. What changed her mind?”
Selene shrugged. She didn’t know what Kai was up to either.
“Right. Where is she? I want to ask her myself.”
“I’m not sure. After a few challenges, I didn’t see her anymore. I looked for her for hours but couldn’t find her. Maybe she went out with her friends.”
Her aunt hummed softly, fingers tapping against her knee.
“Friends,” she repeated. “On a night like this.”
Selene offered a small smile. “Kai doesn’t like staying in one place for too long.”
“That she doesn’t,” her aunt agreed, though her eyes remained sharp. “Still, it’s unlike her to disappear during the Rite. This isn’t just entertainment. It’s a chance to claim ground.”
Selene leaned back against the sofa, fatigue settling deeper into her bones. “That’s what bothers me too.”
A brief silence stretched between them, heavy but not uncomfortable. The clock on the wall ticked steadily, grounding the moment.
“You did well today,” her aunt said at last.
Selene blinked. “I didn’t even step into the circle.”
“You watched,” her aunt replied. “Observation is a skill many wolves overlook. Strength without awareness leads to ruin.”
Selene smiled faintly. “You sound like you’ve seen that happen before.”
Her aunt chuckled quietly. “More times than I care to count.”
She shifted her posture, turning slightly toward Selene. “Tell me what you noticed.”
Selene considered her words carefully. “The strongest weren’t always the ones who won. The ones who waited, who didn’t rush… they were the ones who controlled the fight.”
Her aunt nodded. “Dominance isn’t about who strikes first. It’s about who knows when to strike.”
Selene hesitated, then added, “The field reacted to them. It felt like it was listening. Watching.”
“It was,” her aunt said calmly. “The Bloodbound Field remembers everything. That’s why the next trial is feared far more than the first.”
Selene’s fingers curled slightly. “Truth.”
“Yes,” her aunt said. “Truth doesn’t bruise the body. It strips the soul.”
A chill settled over Selene’s spine.
“I wonder how many of them are ready for that,” Selene murmured.
“Very few,” her aunt replied. “And fewer will walk away unchanged.”
Later that night, Selene slept lightly. Her dreams were filled with silver light and unanswered questions, voices whispering just beyond her reach.
When morning came, the air felt different.
The grounds were quieter as Selene returned, the usual excitement replaced by tension. Groups gathered in hushed clusters, laughter rare. Even the confident ones avoided eye contact.
The emcee stood once more at the center of the circle.
“The Second Trial,” he announced. “Truth.”
A ripple of unease moved through the crowd.
“This trial will not test your strength,” he continued. “It will test what you hide. Lies will not survive the Rite. Silence will not protect you.”
Selene felt her wolf stir, uneasy. The crowd tightened as the emcee raised his hand. The word settled heavily over the arena.
Unlike the First Trial, there were no cheers. No eager murmurs. Only the scrape of boots against stone and the low hum of the runes as they brightened, silver lines threading with red beneath the participants’ feet.
“The Rite will call you forward,” the emcee continued. “You will answer when summoned. One question will be asked. You may not lie. You may not evade. You may not refuse.”
The emcee paused between the lines, “Failure will be immediate.”
Selene stood near the back of the gathering, arms folded loosely, posture calm even as her wolf shifted uneasily beneath her skin. She felt the difference now. The Bloodbound Field no longer felt like a battlefield. It felt like a courtroom.
Judging.
The first name echoed across the grounds.
“Lorian of the Eastern Wing.”
A ripple moved through the crowd. Lorian stepped forward slowly, his shoulders tense, jaw clenched. He had won his Dominance trial decisively the night before, overpowering his opponent with clean efficiency. Confidence still clung to him, though it wavered with each step into the circle.
The runes flared as his feet crossed the boundary.
“State your name and claim,” the emcee instructed.
“Lorian,” he said, voice steady. “I defend my position as Warrior.”
The emcee nodded. “The Rite acknowledges you.”
The air thickened.
Selene felt it immediately. The pressure of the circle tightened, as if invisible hands had wrapped around Lorian’s chest.
“One question,” the emcee said. “Answer truthfully.”
He lifted his hand.
“Did you sabotage the trial records last term to remove your rival from succession?”
A sharp intake of breath rippled through the crowd.
Lorian’s eyes widened. “No,” he answered quickly.
The moment the word left his mouth, the runes ignited.
Silver flared red.
Lorian cried out, clutching his chest as pain lanced through him, dropping him to one knee. The field rejected the lie instantly.
Selene’s wolf growled softly..
The emcee didn’t raise his voice. “You have spoken falsely.”
Lorian shook his head, teeth clenched. “I didn’t—”
The runes burned brighter, forcing the breath from his lungs. He gasped, collapsing forward, palms pressed to the stone.
Selene’s fingers curled slowly at her side.
“Answer again,” the emcee said. “Truthfully.”
Lorian swallowed hard. Sweat beaded along his brow. His voice cracked. “Yes.”
The runes dimmed slightly, though the red glow lingered.
A stunned silence followed.
The emcee nodded once. “Explain.”
Lorian squeezed his eyes shut. “I altered the records. I changed attendance logs and performance scores so my rival would fall below qualification. I knew he would be removed.”
Gasps erupted. Whispers spread like wildfire.
Selene scanned the crowd, watching faces twist in shock, realization, anger. Some students stared at Lorian with open disbelief. Others with grim recognition.
“Why?” the emcee asked.
Lorian’s shoulders sagged. “Because I was afraid. He was stronger. Smarter. I knew I wouldn’t win against him fairly.”
The runes pulsed once more, then faded to a steady glow.
“Truth acknowledged,” the emcee said. “Your claim is forfeit.”
A sharp sound echoed as the runes flared again, sealing the judgment. Lorian cried out as the bond snapped, the invisible weight of his position ripped away in an instant.
He collapsed fully this time, gasping, no longer a warrior. Just another wolf. Guards stepped forward and escorted him from the circle. The silence that followed was suffocating.
Selene exhaled slowly.
“So this is Truth,” she murmured.
Her aunt, who is standing nearby, inclined her head slightly. “And that was only the first.”
The next name was called.
A she-wolf from the Southern Wing stepped forward, her movements stiff, eyes darting. She had lost her Dominance trial but had not forfeited her claim.
The question she faced was quieter. Deadlier.
“Have you been feeding information about your pack’s patrol routes to an outside faction?”
She denied it.
The runes punished her instantly.
Her confession followed soon after, voice shaking as she admitted to trading secrets for protection.
Another claim forfeited.
Another bond severed.
The arena grew heavier with every truth revealed. Wolves who had once stood proudly now avoided eye contact. Alliances fractured silently in the stands.
Selene watched everything.
She noticed how the Rite chose its questions. It did not pry randomly. It struck precisely where the structure was weakest, where secrets already threatened collapse.
Her wolf stirred. They are bleeding themselves.
Selene’s gaze lifted to the emcee. She was reading from an old stone tablet held carefully in her hands, its surface etched with runes worn smooth by time. With each name called, the emcee’s expression shifted subtly, as though the question itself was changing before her eyes—revealed only in the moment it was meant to be spoken.
“Yes,” Selene thought quietly. “And they don’t even realize it yet.”
As another confession rang out, Selene’s gaze drifted across the crowd, searching instinctively.
She did not see Christopher.
Kai was absent too.
That absence weighed more heavily now.
Her aunt leaned closer. “Do you see it?”
Selene nodded. “The Rite isn’t just exposing lies. It’s reshaping the hierarchy.”
“Good,” her aunt said. “You’re paying attention.”
Another name echoed.
Another truth fell.
By the time the emcee raised his hand again, the crowd was taut with tension, nerves stretched thin.
“The Second Trial continues,” he announced. “Let this serve as warning. Nothing hidden survives the Rite.”
Selene’s spine straightened.
She felt it then, the shift. The subtle awareness that whatever was coming next would not spare anyone forever.
Truth had already claimed its first victims.
And Selene knew her turn would come when she would become the rune itself and claim the truth.