The day of the first trial came faster than I expected it.

After several weeks of training I thought that I would at least have a little more confidence than the first time I heard about the test, well, I was wrong.

My nerves jumped early in the morning when Lion came to pick me up to take me to the isolation room to get ready. He explained to me that it was a tradition that the candidate spent the hours before the hunt alone preparing his mind.

My mental preparation was nothing more than trying to reassure myself with pretty lies. I told myself how strong I was, how easy hunting was going to be after practicing so much with Artec. I even tried to repeat the gamma’s praises in my mind to remind myself that I could do a good job.

The problem was that I couldn't believe my own words, they were all meaningless, a speech that I had learned by heart but that my brain was not able to assimilate.

When the first two hours had passed I started pacing the room, shaking my trembling hands, and trying not to throw up my breakfast.

Waiting instead of helping me made me more anxious. I had nothing to distract myself inside a room that only had an armchair, a clock, food, and a bathroom. They could at least have left a book or a board game.

Who was the idiot who invented the rule? Probably Zaziel, I'm sure he did it to put even more pressure on the candidates.

A knock on the door put a temporary end to my mental torture.

"It's me and Darla, we’re going in." Artec's voice came from outside the room.

I ran to sit on the armchair and fixed my hair, I wasn't going to let them see my deplorable state. They had been more than kind to me during training and I could consider them the closest thing I had ever had to a friend, but I still wasn't ready to let my guard down with anyone.

"Ready to take the first trial?" Artec asked me, his smile was brighter than usual. "I can't wait for you to come back with the deer."

"You're overconfident in my beginner skills," I replied and winked.

Darla stood next to Artec and grabbed his arm. "He spent the whole morning promoting your victory with the rest, it's been a while since I've seen him bet so much on a candidate."

I stood up from my seat, surprised. "You bet on my favor?"

Artec pushed me and sat down. "Of course I did, what kind of trainer would I be if I didn't have faith in my little apprentice?" He grabbed Darla's waist and pulled her so she was sitting on his lap. "You're going to hunt that deer without any problems. You already managed to hunt others during training, it's the same thing, you only have to be more careful of the place.”

My stomach behaved strangely again at the mention of the Spirits' Forest.

"How dangerous is the forest?" I asked them, sitting on the ground in front of them, to hide my shaking legs. "No one knows much about it unless they've been in there and I've never met anyone who survived the trip."

Artec and Darla shared a look, the kind of look that made it clear that they had a secret they couldn't share with me.

"We can't tell you much about that," Darla said, looking away from me to the security camera. "The rules do not allow anyone to help the candidate unless it is to train them."

"Zaziel wanted to make sure no one had an advantage when taking the trials, but we can give you some general advice." Artec gave my leg a gentle kick. "Don't worry, Rosie, I know you can do it."

I gave them a smile. "Alright, I accept all the advice you can give me."

"I'm sure you already heard the rules for interacting with nature spirits when you were younger, always keep them in mind, they're not lying when they say that spirits can be very picky," Artec began.

I nodded. The cooks at my uncle's mansion had taught me about spirits, they liked to repeat stories they had heard in town all the time; In that sense I would have no problems.

"Always follow your sense of smell," Darla said. "I can't say much but once you are there you will see that there are scents that you will not want to follow, trust your instinct and stay away from them."

"Don't forget to mark the path, it's easy to get lost in the Spirits' Forest.”

"You two, your visiting time is up." Klaus' bored voice came from the speakers.

Darla stood up first and reached out to give my shoulder a squeeze.

"We'll be waiting for you to come back," she said.

Artec was a little more effusive and threw himself on me, giving me a hug. "Good luck. Go earn my money."

I remained on the floor while they opened the door to leave. Even though their visit was short, it helped me calm a lot of the insecurities that were eating me up inside.

I was ready to be alone again but someone surprised me.

"What are you doing on the floor?" Zaziel asked me, closing the door behind him.

"I'm resting since I have nothing else to do in this empty room." I opened my arms to point out the place.

"It's part of the protocol, if you don't like it you can leave." He sat on the armchair and spread his legs. "Come here, the floor can't be as comfortable as you like to pretend.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked, standing in front of him with my arms crossed over my chest.

“Sit,” he ordered me, patting his right leg.

I stayed silent, waiting for the answer that never came. Zaziel looked into my eyes like he was daring me to ignore his command, his presence was enough to make me want to give up, still, I didn't move.

“I have to teach you how to follow my orders, pup, it seems like you forgot who's the alpha here.” Zaziel grabbed my arm and pulled me until I sat on his leg. Then he moved my hair out of my neck and smirked. “Good, at least you didn't hide my mark.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked one more time.

He caressed my cheek and put his other arm around my waist. “I came to see how you were doing, also I brought you a gift.”

“I’m doing perfect, thank you.” I faked a smile.

"I thought I made it clear to you that your lies don't work on me. I don't even need to pay attention to your scent, your hands haven't stopped shaking since I got here."

"Can you blame me? I'm about to enter the most dangerous forest in the area by myself. And I don't even know what I will find there."

"Being nervous is normal." Zaziel moved his head closer to my neck. "But you have to control yourself or you won't be able to survive. Lucky for you I'm here to help."

"What could you do to calm my nerves?"

"This," he said and started rubbing his nose against my neck.

Zaziel's scent enveloped my body, he was scenting me. My muscles relaxed, suddenly all my fears were replaced by a feeling of absolute calm. I felt invincible as if Zaziel's scent protected me from all danger.

"Exactly like that, little mouse, just relax."

I didn't want to relax, I didn't want to fall into his clutches and become a prey again. Still, something inside me believed that Zaziel couldn't hurt me.

"Try to keep your mind clear, inside the forest you won't have time to hesitate," he said, straightening up. “Just focus on following the map.”

I looked up at him, frowning. “What map? Did I miss something, like some kind of special clue?”

He chuckled and squeezed my waist. With his other hand he took a piece of paper from his shirt pocket and offered it to me.

“That's a map of the forest, It's not customary to give it to candidates but for you, we can make an exception," he said. "Take it as a secret between us."

"What about the rules? Isn't Klaus listening?"

"Pup, I make the rules and I can make the exceptions too. And don't worry about Klaus, I told him to turn off the cameras and microphones." Zaziel slid the hand he had on my waist into my shirt. "It's a shame we don't have much time before the test starts."

I accepted the map and put it in my pocket. "This better not be a trap or you're going to regret it."

"I'd love to see what you can do, let's test who's stronger," he told me before kissing my neck over one of his marks. "It's not a trap, I'm making sure my little mouse comes back to me."

A knock on the door announced that we had run out of time.

"Everything is ready," Lion informed us before opening the door.

It was time, my chance to escape was already gone.

Zaziel slapped my leg. "Come on, they are waiting for us to start the ceremony."

I took a deep breath before standing up. I took a few steps before Zaziel grabbed my arm and put something in my hand.

"I almost forgot about this, it's a gift for good luck."

It was a knife that had rubies embedded in the handle. I turned it around a few times, feeling the weight of it in my hand.

"Thanks," I said, hiding it in my pocket.

×

The members of the rogues gathered in a clearing next to the edge of the Spirits' Forest. I waited standing on a flat stone; Zaziel and Lion were next to me.

I wasn't sure about what I had to do, all Zaziel had told me was to follow his lead and answer the questions. He had a thing for keeping everything a secret and bringing me closer to a heart attack, he said he wanted me to survive the challenge but if he kept acting that way I would be dead before even getting inside the forest.

"Today we meet for Roselyn's first trial," the alpha announced to the crowd that he was in front of us. "She expressed her desire to join us and she is willing to prove her worth through the three tests."

Lion dipped the fingers of his left hand into a bowl filled with blood. "Roselyn Comrar, is it your wish to participate in the trials?" he asked me.

"Yes," I responded as loudly as I could.

"Then I give you my blessing," Lion said and ran his bloody fingers across my forehead, leaving four lines as a mark.

Zaziel took Lion's place, he wet one of his fingers with blood and drew a half-moon on my chin.

"May the Moon Goddess protect you," he said and then turned toward the crowd. "The candidate is ready, let the hunt begin.”

The energy inside the Spirits' Forest was gloomy, it felt like all the heat had left my body, and my will to live was absorbed by the giant trees that surrounded me.

The ground under my four paws was rough and despite being in my wolf form I couldn't differentiate sounds well. The wind, the songs of the animals, and the running water reached my ears at the same time, disorienting me.

Remembering Darla's advice, I focused on my sense of smell, when she had spoken to me I didn't understand what she was referring to but after entering the forest everything made sense. There were places that smelled rotten and others smelled bitter, in the middle of them a sweet aroma was almost lost, it was as if they were covering it up on purpose.

Legends say that the spirits protected the sacred animals that live within the forest, they did everything they could to keep others away, and that was probably the reason for the existence of the strange smells.

My brown fur was camouflaged among the trunks as I followed the path marked on the map I memorized. If everything went well I would soon be in the deer area.

The sound of footsteps caught my attention. Slowly I snuck through the trees, careful not to make any noise. A short distance away from me was a deer eating grass.

After confirming that there were no others near him, I approached behind my prey with my head down. Then, I jumped on him and sank my fangs into his neck. The deer tried to escape, moving its legs desperately, but I clenched my teeth harder until it stopped moving.

I already had my trophy, I just needed to get out of the forest alive. The medium size of the deer made it easier for me to carry it on my back; if it had been a larger one I would not have been able to carry it. In my wolf form I was rather small but what I lacked in size I made up for in agility.

Half the way was behind me when I heard the sound of footsteps chasing me. Without looking back I quickened my pace to escape the shadowy presence that was about to overtake me. I jumped over the fallen logs as fear began to invade my mind.

"Keep running, we're almost at the border," my wolf told me.

The darkness jumped towards me and a claw grazed my hind leg, making me stagger. I did not give up and continued with my gaze fixed on the end of the forest.

You can't look at the spirits or they get stronger, one of the cooks had once told me. My only choice was to keep moving until I reached the end of the tree line.

The path I had taken to enter was no longer the same, there were more trees around me with large trunks that blocked my view, and new secondary roads opened in front of me, forcing me to choose one of them. It was as if the forest had turned into a labyrinth, with every step I took I could feel the spirit and nature closing on me.

Luckily I had followed Artec's advice and I could still see the markings indicating the right path.

My energy was fading, I wasn't going to be able to run much more. My prayers to Moon Goddess became stronger as I approached the exit.

Suddenly, the light of the clearing enveloped me. I was out of the forest.

"Pup, are you okay?" Zaziel asked me, approaching me.

My vision blurred, my strength faded and I fell to the ground.