The first trial had nearly broken me completely. I was still catching my breath long after the race ended, hands on my knees, sweat soaking through my shirt. I'd pushed myself as hard as I could, given everything I had. Still, I finished second-to-last.
"Just barely made it," I muttered to myself, watching the last wolf be escorted away. He'd run out of time by mere seconds. I glanced at the others.
Most of them weren't even winded. Some were smiling, stretching like they'd just gone for a casual morning jog. Meanwhile, my lungs were still burning. This was only going to get harder.
The next morning, we stood at the edge of the garden for the second trial. The Trap Maze. Nine of us left now. The elders stood in a line, their faces unreadable, eyes watchful. Beta Aaron stepped forward, his voice cutting through the morning mist.
"The rules are simple," he said. "Inside the maze are crescent statuettes. Only five. Return with one before the hour is up, or you're out." No one spoke. The weight of his words settled over us like a shroud. "The maze is filled with traps. Caution and instinct will keep you alive. Recklessness will not."
I clenched my fists, trying to steady my nerves. No one knew the layout. The garden had been transformed overnight—walls of hedge towering above our heads, strange mist curling through the pathways, and unfamiliar turns that seemed designed to disorient.
"Why only five?" someone muttered behind me.
"Because four of us have to go," another voice replied grimly. The horn blew once again, and we all ran.
I sprinted into the nearest path. The hedges closed behind me like a door slamming shut, and I couldn't hear the others anymore. The maze was thick, quiet, and alive with tension. Every corner I turned looked the same. I slowed down, eyes sharp, senses straining.
Branches rustled above me, and I ducked just in time—thin ropes dropped from a tree, sharp hooks glinting on the ends. A trap. I stepped around it carefully, heart hammering.
Minutes passed. Or more. I had no idea. I whispered under my breath, "Come on, come on. Where are you?" I rounded a corner and stopped dead.
In front of me was a large oak tree, ancient and gnarled. At its base, half-hidden inside a hollow in the trunk, I saw it—silver, crescent-shaped. One of the statuettes. My heart jumped. I rushed forward and dropped to my knees, reaching inside the hollow. Fingers touched cold metal.
Then a growl. Someone else was there. I looked up. A wolf—partially shifted—stood above me, his eyes glinting yellow in the dim light, claws out, muscles coiled to strike. I didn't even have time to react before he lunged.
"Hey—!" He grabbed the statuette right from my hands and took off down a side path, vanishing into the fog before I could even think to chase him.
I sat back, stunned. I found one. I had it in my hands. And just like that, it was gone. "Of course," I murmured to myself bitterly. "He's shifted. I haven't."
I pulled myself to my feet and kept moving. The maze felt tighter now, the hedges pressing in. Every wrong turn made my heart pound harder. Time was running out—I didn't know how much I had left, but I could feel it slipping away with every breath.
Another dead end. Another hidden pit. I jumped back as the ground gave out under a carpet of moss, revealing a dark hole beneath. I turned and kept going. Then I heard something—breathing, labored and pained. I followed it.
A guy sat slumped against a hedge, his leg twisted at a horrible angle. He was pale, sweating, teeth gritted against the pain. Beside him, in the dirt, lay a silver crescent.
"Hey," I whispered, crouching beside him. "Are you—?"
"I'm fine," he rasped, not meeting my eyes. "Take it. I can't… finish." I hesitated for a breath.
“Are you sure? It wouldn’t be f—” I started, but he cut me off, in pain and annoyed at my stupid questions, evidently.
“Don’t be daft, who cares about ‘fair’?” His eyes locked on mine. “You were supposed to find the crescent. You did, I was just a bonus on the side. Just—” he grunted and winced. “Just take it.”
So I took it. The metal was slick with morning dew and something else—sweat, maybe blood. I didn't ask. I didn't look back. I ran.
The exit was harder to find than anything else. The maze shifted, or maybe it just felt like it did. Traps snarled at me from every corner—hidden nets, collapsing pathways, snapping thorns that bit at my skin and tore at my clothes.
I ignored the cuts. I ignored the ache. One trap nearly caught my leg—a wall that collapsed forward, slamming down like a guillotine. I rolled away just in time, feeling the rush of air as it crashed down behind me. Finally, I saw the light.
I broke into the clearing, the silver crescent tight in my grip. The horn blew behind me. I'd made it. Barely.
I dropped to my knees, gasping for air. The others stood around, some calm, some pacing—all of them had made it out before me.
A few already stood with their wolves just under their skin—yellow eyes, shifted bones. Their power pulsed in the air like a living thing. Mine didn't. I still hadn't shifted. Still hadn't heard a whisper from Hyde. I clutched the crescent to my chest, feeling more alone than ever.
"Rough run?" a voice asked behind me. It was Bren, one of the stronger wolves in the group. He'd finished the first trial near the top.
"Someone stole mine," I said. He raised an eyebrow. "He took it right from my hands."
"You should've fought him for it."
"I tried."
He looked down at me, something like pity flickering in his eyes. "You're still not shifting, are you? Is it on principle?" I didn't answer and he didn't press further.
The elders began to speak again, calling out the names of those who failed to return. Two didn't make it out in time—the guy I'd found earlier in the maze was brought out on a stretcher, another one could barely see where he was walking, his face covered in blood from a bisected eyebrow. Two more returned empty-handed.
Four gone. Only five of us left. The next trial would be the last. Tomorrow. One final test. One final chance.
If I failed, I wouldn't just be eliminated. I'd lose my place in the pack. Everything I'd fought for would be gone. And I didn't know if I had anything left to give.
Later that night, I sat by myself near the training field, holding the crescent in my lap. The moon hung low in the sky, pale and watchful.
"I need you," I whispered into the dark. "Hyde… if you're there, please. Say something." Nothing answered me. The silence was worse than fear.
"Everyone else can shift," I said, my voice cracking. "What's wrong with me?" I squeezed my eyes shut, trying desperately to feel his presence, trying to find that connection everyone else seemed to have without any effort. Still nothing.
I stayed there long after the others had gone to sleep, staring up at the sky, searching for answers in the stars. One more trial. That's all I had left.
I set the crescent down gently beside me and curled my knees to my chest. "Please," I whispered. "Just show up."