Page 6 of Traitor Wolf (Bonded by Fate Duet #1)

Chapter Five

W hen I stepped back into the stadium, I peered again at the cluster of over a hundred wolfkin in their wolf forms. Some were already fighting each other, trying to get closer to the front row for a better view.

The wolves were just behind the semi-circle of weapons.

Each weapon stood atop a flat stone. I saw swords, axes, maces, and daggers.

They all looked pretty deadly. But I knew the magic they held was the only source of magic I would have in this competition, so I’d need one to choose me that was really powerful.

Around the half-circle of weapons and wolves sat the Elite.

They towered high above the arena as Corvessa, the magistrate, sat in a regal chair on the dais, presiding over it all.

“First, we will have our initiates choose a random dice with a number. The person who gets number one will go first and have the ability to get the most powerful weapon.”

A steel box was passed around, with each initiate grabbing a die out of it. When it was my turn, I pulled number four.

“Not bad,” Cassian said beside me under his breath.

“Please line up according to your number. Then we will begin!” the magistrate announced, and the crowd went wild.

I had the sudden, eerie feeling I was being watched, and glanced over my shoulder to see that white wolf staring right at me. Chills ran down my spine. I scrambled to get into order at my place, fourth in line.

“Mercy Solvaris, you are one lucky woman,” Corvessa trilled at the person in the number one place. Her daughter or niece, probably someone she’d had trained since birth for this, all to bring her more magic.

Mercy grinned, rolling the number one dice in her palm. “I want the King Killer!” She pointed to a sword at the very end of the half-circle. Everyone laughed, Corvessa included.

“So do I, darling.”

I peered at Cassian, who stood by my side as all the sponsors stood at the side of their initiate.

“King Killer?” I whispered .

Cassian nodded. “Forged by the Creator himself, a weapon of untold power that hasn’t been wielded in centuries.”

Mercy stepped forward, following the little path in an arc in front of the circling wolves, and passed the first weapon.

“Will Whisper Fang choose her?” Corvessa spoke into her amplifier. “A silent and deadly weapon rumored to be cursed.”

Mercy winced as she passed it, but nothing happened.

When Mercy got to the second weapon, it glowed a buttery yellow, and she growled in disappointment.

I looked at Cassian. “The weapons are laid out in ascending order according to power,” he explained. “She just got a pretty weak weapon.”

I glanced at Corvessa, who appeared annoyed that her initiate had chosen poorly. I wondered if now a lower-ranking wolf would choose her?

Three wolves broke away from their pack and lunged for Mercy. I gasped when they fought with each other to get to her. Mercy gripped the glowing weapon, and a flash of light blinded me for a second. Then she planted her feet and kept her left arm outstretched.

“Ahh, Dawn Cleaver has chosen her,” Corvessa said, sounding bored. “Said to have split night from day. It carries decent sunlight magic.”

“Why is Mercy standing like that?” I asked Cassian.

He looked at me like I should know, but how could I? They barely told us anything in the Dregs. I knew what the trials were, but not the entire inner workings.

“The first wolf to bite her arm will bond her. If she survives it.”

Oh… a bite. I hadn’t known that, but I guess it made sense.

In the snarling pack of three wolves, one was dead on the ground, and the other limped away.

The victorious wolf, a gray medium-sized one, lunged into the semi-circle of weapons and clamped her jaw around Mercy’s wrist. The young Elite screamed as she was nearly brought to her knees, but stayed standing.

The wolf held on, meeting Mercy’s gaze. Mercy growled at the wolf until the wolf bowed its head.

“The wolf has to submit to you in order for the bonding to seal itself. That was a very quick submission,” Cassian noted. I peered around, seeing other sponsors chatting with their initiates as well. The idea of a wolf having to submit to us felt backwards, but I wasn’t going to question things.

“Is a quick submission bad?” I asked .

He shrugged. “It just means the wolf who chose Mercy is weaker, low in pack rank.”

Pack rank? Submission? I was starting to get nervous now. The weapon choosing would be easy. That, I had little control over. But getting a wolf to submit to me?

Impossible.

I peered out at the group of wolves, the dead one just lying on the ground, blood pooling around it as if an afterthought…

There in the middle of the “pack,” that white wolf watched me.

His intense gaze made me uneasy. Every time I glanced his way, he seemed to be watching me.

The next initiate stepped forward and got a pretty powerful weapon called the Blood Drinker. It had some blood magic that sounded terrifying.

He then bonded a strong wolf, which took over a minute to submit to him, and nearly tore his arm off. Then it was number three’s turn.

The weapon named Soul Render chose him. He bonded with a wolf with reddish fur. They stared at each other for an uncomfortably long time before the wolf bowed his head and released his arm.

Suddenly, it was my turn.

Creator help me.

“Oh, this will be very interesting,” Corvessa announced. She was acting somewhat like a game show announcer and comic relief, and it was really starting to annoy me. This was serious. Was she going to be like this during the trial? Was this entertainment for them?

“I wonder what happens if no weapon chooses her at all?” she mused.

Everyone laughed, including Cassian, but I now knew he was doing so in order to seem like he agreed with them.

I peered at Cassian, and he flicked his head towards the weapons. “Start walking,” he muttered under his breath.

I swallowed hard, stepping forward, and began to walk the red brick path that arced out in a half-circle.

I passed the first weapon, Whisper Fang, and slowed.

Please pick me , I begged the bulky mace with spikes hanging off of it. But not a glow, not a thing.

I passed the empty slots for the next few weapons and then stood before a small but beautiful gold dagger, walking ever so slowly past it.

Please, please, please, pick me , I muttered in my head.

Nothing.

I inched to the next weapon and the next. Then murmurs and laughter began.

“Well, it looks like the ancient, most powerful weapons known to our kind are not interested in accompanying a magicless Dreg rat into the trials,” Corvessa stated. “Are we surprised?”

More laughter.

This was mortifying. I’d really thought I had a chance. I thought that when this mark was imparted on me that I could make a difference for my family. I was almost near the end of the weapons walk when something white caught my eye.

I snapped my head up to see the white wolf tracking me. He was walking with me, just outside the line of weapons in the center of the arena as if… stalking me.

Fear spiked through my chest just as I reached the second-to-last weapon. It was a beautiful double axe with a gold-inlaid hilt.

“Ahh, the Void Piercer. Can cut through shields and wards. No one is safe at the end of its blade. Surely you want it, but will it pick you?” Corvessa taunted.

I stood before it, begging the blasted thing to glow.

But it didn’t.

An embarrassing amount of time passed, then Corvessa clapped her hands. “Alright, move along. You’ll have to enter the trials without?—”

I stepped away from the Void Piercer and moved toward the final weapon. A lethal sword awaited me, its blade sharp and gleaming dangerously beneath the arena lights. An intricate silver wolf adorned its hilt.

The detailed form suddenly blazed with a fiery glow.

The weapon erupted with power, glowing fiercely as if forged from pure sunlight itself.

Golden hues merged with fiery oranges and molten yellows, engulfing the entire blade until it seemed made of living flame.

The brilliant glow intensified, spilling vibrant waves of light across the arena, bathing every shadowed corner in dazzling warmth.

I raised a hand, shielding my eyes from the blinding radiance, my heart racing as I realized the weapon wasn't simply glowing… it had awakened. It had chosen me.

“No! Impossible,” Corvessa growled.

I heard growling to my left as the wolves began to move.

“Grab it!” Cassian shouted across the space.

“This is a mistake. Do not touch that blade!” Corvessa boomed, throwing her hand out.

I didn’t think, I just acted. I dove forward, grasping the blade, and a shockwave blew out from the weapon. Screams filled the space as I was brought to my knees, my teeth clanking together painfully with the force. But I held on to the sword, not daring to drop it.

“This Dreg rat holds the King Killer.” Magistrate Corvessa’s gaze swept over the gathered crowd, settling finally on the blade now blazing in my grip.

“Forged by the Creator himself. It has not chosen a master in a thousand years. A blade whose mere name makes rulers tremble. It is whispered to have toppled kingdoms, ignited rebellions, and reshaped entire realms. Once awakened, it becomes a bloodthirsty companion to those daring enough to wield it. Surely this is a mistake.”

She seemed as if she were almost talking to herself.

I peered over at the wolves to see nearly every one bowing their head, moving away from me. All except the white one. He passed by them, head held high, yellow eyes locked on mine.

What in the Hades? They didn’t act like that with any of the other initiates.