Brock Silver POV
"Get back!" I lunged forward, swinging a burning branch at the bone-faced wolves circling us.
The masked creatures hissed and retreated into the darkness, their red eyes glowing like embers. But they didn’t leave. They stayed just beyond the firelight, watching. Waiting.
"Why aren’t they attacking?" Lily whispered behind .
I kept the flaming branch raised, my wounded ankle throbbing with each movent. "I don’t know. But I’m not whining."
The lead wolf with Emma’s bloody band around its neck tilted its skull-masked head. "We can wait, Alpha son. The storm traps you here with us. When your fire dies, the choice will be made."
Then, like smoke, they lted back into the darkness of the cave. Gone, but not really gone. I could still sll their wild scent and hear the soft click of claws on stone sowhere in the dark.
"Are they really gone?" Lily asked.
"No." I lowered the branch but kept it burning. "They’re still here. Waiting for us to get tired or let our guard down."
Lily fed more wood to our fire, making it burn higher. Smart. The bigger the fire, the more it would keep those things away.
"How long until dawn?" she asked.
I looked toward the cave mouth where snow was still falling thick and fast. "Six hours. Maybe seven."
Her face went pale. "We can’t stay awake that long. And we don’t have enough wood to keep the fire going all night."
She was right. We had maybe three hours of wood left, and I was already trying to keep my eyes open. The adrenaline from the attack was wearing off, leaving tired.
"I’ll take first watch," I said. "You sleep."
"With those things out there? I couldn’t sleep if I wanted to."
Lily sat down across from , the fire sparking between us. In the orange light, I could see she was trying to look brave, but her hands were shaking.
"I’m sorry," I said suddenly.
"For what?"
"For everything. For the test. For bringing you out here." I stared into the fire. "My father told you weren’t strong enough to be Luna. That you’d panic when things got scary."
"And you believed him?"
I looked up at her, this small oga girl who’d saved both our lives today. "I wanted to believe him."
"Why?"
The question hit like a punch to the gut. Why had I wanted her to fail? Why had I been so determined to prove she wasn’t worthy?
"Because if you’re not strong enough," I said slowly, "then my brothers won’t choose you. And if they don’t choose you..."
"What?"
"Then maybe one of them will see that I..." I stopped, heat rushing to my face.
Lily’s eyes widened. "You what?"
I’d never said it out loud before. Never even admitted it to myself completely. But sitting here, probably about to die, the truth ca spilling out.
"I’ve been watching you for years, Lily. Long before the Triple Moon mark appeared. When you worked in the nursery, when you collected herbs, when you sat alone at pack etings." I couldn’t et her eyes. "I told myself it was just because you were different. Quiet. But really..."
"Really what?"
"Really, I think I was falling for you. And that scared more than any rogue or bone-faced wolf ever could."
The silence stretched between us, broken only by the crackling fire and faraway sound of wind howling outside.
"But you’re an Alpha’s son," Lily said finally. "You could have any girl in the pack. Why would you notice soone like ?"
"Soone like you?" I laughed, but it ca out bitter. "Lily, do you know what it’s like being the middle brother? Aiden’s the future Alpha - everyone respects him. Caleb’s the smart one - everyone goes to him for help. But ? I’m just the strength. The enforcer. Good for fighting and not much else."
She frowned. "That’s not true."
"Isn’t it? When’s the last ti soone asked my opinion about anything important? When has anyone ever looked at and seen more than just a pair of fists?"
"I do."
The words were so quiet I almost missed them.
"What?"
"I see more than that." Lily’s voice grew stronger. "I see the way you check on the younger wolves during training, making sure they don’t get hurt. I see how you always walk Luna ho from parties even though she’s an to you, because it’s the right thing to do. I see how you read stories to the pups when you think no one’s watching."
My throat felt tight. "You noticed that?"
"I notice everything about you, Brock. I always have."
Sothing warm spread through my chest - warr than the fire, warr than anything I’d ever felt. My Triple Moon mark, the one that had appeared when Lily’s did, began to pulse against my skin.
"Why didn’t you ever say anything?" I asked.
"Because you’re an Alpha’s son, and I’m just an oga. Because girls like don’t get boys like you." She looked down at her hands. "Because I was scared you’d laugh at ."
"I would never laugh at you."
"Really? Even knowing I used to write your na in my diary? Even knowing I used to pretend we were mates when I was alone in my cabin?"
My heart hamred against my ribs. "You did?"
She nodded, blushing bright red. "Pretty pathetic, right?"
"No," I said furiously. "Not pathetic at all."
I wanted to move closer to her, to tell her how I felt, but a sound from the darkness made us both freeze. The bone-faced wolves were moving again, circling us just beyond the firelight.
"The fire’s getting lower," Lily whispered.
She was right. We’d been talking so long that the flas had died down to half their original size. In another hour, they’d be nothing but flas.
"There’s sothing else," I said, knowing I might not get another chance. "Sothing I haven’t told you about the test."
"What now?"
"My father didn’t just want to make you fail. He wanted to..." I swallowed hard. "He wanted to scare you enough that you’d give up the Triple Moon mark completely. Run away from Silver Peak and never co back."
Lily’s face went white. "Why would he want that?"
"Because he’s afraid of what you represent. Change. The old ways coming back. Ogas having real power again." I t her eyes. "He’s afraid you’ll make the pack better than it is now."
"That’s crazy. I’m nobody special."
"You’re everything special," I said. "And that terrifies him."
A low growl echoed from the darkness. The bone-faced wolves were getting antsy, and our fire was dying fast.
"Brock," Lily said suddenly, "what if the test wasn’t really about at all?"
"What do you an?"
"What if it was about you? About whether you’d follow orders or follow your heart?"
The thought hit like lightning. My father had always said I was too sensitive, too quick to act on feelings instead of logic. What if this whole thing had been ant to test my loyalty to the pack versus my feelings for Lily? "If that’s true," I said slowly, "then I failed the minute I told you the truth."
"Or maybe you passed the minute you chose to protect instead of following orders."
A bone-chilling howl rose from sowhere deep in the cave. Our fire flickered dangerously low.
"They’re coming," I said, taking the last piece of unburned wood.
But before I could throw it on the fire, Lily caught my arm. Her Triple Moon mark was glowing bright silver through her sleeve, pulsing in beat with sothing I couldn’t see.
"Wait," she whispered. "Listen."
I strained my ears. Beyond the growls of the bone-faced dogs, I heard sothing else. Footsteps. Human footsteps, going through the snow outside the cave.
"Soone’s coming," I breathed.
"Who?"
Before I could answer, a familiar voice called from the cave opening.
"Brock! Lily! Are you in there?"
It was Aiden. My brother had found us.
But as relief flooded through , I saw the bone-faced wolves erge from the shadows, their red eyes blazing with anger. They’d been waiting for this mont - for more victims to add to their collection.
"Don’t co in!" I shouted. "It’s a trap!"
Too late. Aiden erged at the cave mouth, and behind him were Caleb and three other pack mbers. They were ard, but they had no idea what they were going into.
The lead bone-faced wolf raised its head and howled - a signal that brought answering calls from outside the cave. More masked wolves surrounded the entrance, cutting off any exit.
"Well, well," the thing rasped. "The Bearer’s other mates have co to join the party. How perfect."
My blood turned to ice as I realized the horrible truth. This had all been planned. The bone-faced wolves had wanted us to call for help. They’d been guiding us toward this mont all along.
Now they had not just and Lily, but Aiden and Caleb too. All three brothers, all possible mates to the Triple Moon Bearer, trapped in one place.
"Choose now, Bearer," the lead wolf ordered, its voice echoing off the cave walls. "Which brother lives, and which two die? The moon will not wait, and neither will we."
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