The Luna Trials by Marissa Gilbert

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Cleghtern
It seemed like people forgot how to breathe. Everyone started to look around, searching for the one to whom the claim belonged.
“Mate...” This time Aspen’s words sounded like thunder on a clear day. Savannah was shocked because he was looking in her
direction. She knew, however, that it couldn’t be her. She already had a mate and had met Aspen before. So, she looked at her
right and left until she noticed how pale Brigit
was.
“Mate,” Aspen stepped forward, ignoring his startled king and everyone else in the room. His voice was barely a whisper now,
and Savvy noticed how Brigit’s lips trembled. “Mine...”
The white bear shifter did not say a word, but her eyes glistened with unspilt tears.
The red-haired northerner smiled as he approached her, not knowing what to do since she did not
move or say a word.
“What is your name?” Brigit asked, and Savannah got an uneasy feeling rising in the pit of her stomach hearing her tone.
Something was off.
“Aspen,” the Lycan smiled. “Aspen Morr.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Celia, who finally got over her shock, hissed at her brother. “We are being
filmed, and she is a contender at the Luna Trials!”
But her sibling did not seem to care. Elene wanted to intervene, but Kai motioned for her to stop.
“Aspen Morr,” Brigit smiled, but that was a sad smile. “I Brigit Borg, the daughter of the Alpha of the White Claw pack, reject you
as my....”
“No!” Aspen growled loudly, and everyone around them gasped. “4, Brigit Borg, the daughter of ...” She started again, and this
time Aspen growled even louder. “No, Brigit! I decline your rejection!” He clenched his fists and was breathing heavily now,
desperation

LT
and frustration evident on his face.
“Brigit, are you sure?” Savvy whispered to her. “Don’t make rush decisions. You have just met each other and ....”
“,”the white bear shifter started again. She had teary eyes, yet not a single drop spilt yet. For some reason, she was full of
determination. “Brigit Borg...”
“No!” Aspen Interrupted her again. “I am not ...” His voice broke, and one could tell by just looking at him that he was in pain.
“Just... just give me a chance before rejecting me ...”
“I came here to represent white bears and participate in The Luna Trials!” Brigit looked him in the eye and pursed her lips. “I will
not throw everything away for a mate I just met. I came here to win!”
Aspen’s eyes glowed red. Now he was furtous. He now had his loyalties torn between his mate and his
king, his Alpha. It was the worst situation to be in.
Sawy knew it wasn’t her time to speak, but her heart clenched for the two.
“You do know you may not win this,” she whispered to Brigit and saw Chloe rushing the cameras to get closer. Even now, she
didn’t want to miss a good shot. “Leave this decision for after the Trials.”
“She can’t,” Penelope sighed sadly and looked up at them as though she cared. “If she has a mate, she should already be
disqualified ... Unless Aspen accepts her rejection, of course.”
Brigit pressed her lips so tightly together that they formed a thin white line. For some reason, the Trials were more important to
her than anything else.
Kai strode to them, and Savvy looked in his eyes pleadingly. In all honesty, she had to be happy that the white bear was out.
Brigit was a strong competitor. It would be easier without her around.
“She can reject him in the finale if she wants to.” This time it was Petra who spoke, and they all looked in her direction. “I am
sorry,” the girl mumbled.
“No.” Sawy decided to continue this thought. “She is right. Brigit can’t be the Luna if she has a mate, but if that’s done before the
finale, then....

She stopped talking too. It was exactly like her own situation; they all knew Brigit was done. The North was never going to accept
her whatever happened next. But Brigit wasn’t going to be the Luna. It was Savannah’s place, and she had Kai’s love. All she
was giving the she-bear now was a chance to show
herself and think more about her mate.
“So be it,” Kai agreed, looking at Aspen. “Brigit Borg can compete. She will have to talk to her mate after each Trial and make her
final decision before the final event. The North is a fair place.”
Aspen didn’t seem happy about it, but at least he wasn’t breathing heavily anymore. That meant that he had his wolf under

control.
“So, we are already late!” Elene clapped her hands, bringing the attention back to her in an attempt to change the subject, “Each
contender will now travel to her designated starting point. Before the Trial begins, you will be checked so that we are sure you
don’t have anything on you that can help you. You will all start the next challenge simultaneously, and the distance to the centre
of the Forgotten City is the same for all of you. Drones will be following you on your journey to record everything. And, of course,
cameras are installed everywhere. We always keep an eye on the maze but will not interfere.”
The contenders were walking out of the hall in a straight line while the guests were cheering for them. Savannah turned her head
back to steal one last glance at Kai and their eyes locked at once. He smiled at her without trying to hide his feelings for her, and
she did the same.
Savvy was sitting in her car, waiting for the guards to let her out. It was taking a while, and she was eager to start the challenge
as soon as possible. So, when the car door opened, she jumped out without thinking and right into the northern King’s hands.
“Kai?” She gasped as she didn’t expect to see him until this was over.
“You didn’t think I would let you go without a proper goodbye,” he murmured and crashed his lips into hers, taking her face in
both his palms and caressing her cheeks in the process.
This was the boost she needed so much. A reminder of why she was doing this. He was her peace in this cruel world, and she
was his. This was worth fighting for.
“My king.” one of the guards cleared his throat, making them stop and tear away from each other.
“What?” Kai snapped his head at the lycan who, to his honour, didn’t flinch.

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“It’s time for Princess Savannah to go into the forest.”
“Finel” the king growled, still holding her face. He turned back to her, breathing ragged. “I love you, Savvy,” he whispered. “Stay
safe there.”
“Kai,” she let out a little laugh. “Out of the two of us, you are the one with the most dangerous
mission. Give Gideon my letter and try to make him believe in your feelings for me. This is the only way. When we meet again, I’ll
handle it from there.”
“Sawy,” he growled softly, placing his forehead on hers and closing his eyes. “In the Forgotten City, pay attention to...”
“Stop.” she placed her index finger on his lips. “Unless every other contender knows this, I don’t want to know. Elene evened out
our chances by showing me the map already.”
“Nothing is what it seems there,” he told her. “Don’t rely just on your memory. Look around.”
“I will,” she placed a soft kiss on his lips quickly. “Let’s go do this, kai”
He gave her a simple nod, and his lips curled into a reassuring smile. Drones appeared in the sky, ready to film her, and she
promised to herself to give them a good show,
“Let Fenrir protect you,” Kai said, and warmth spread over her chest. “And let the Moon Goddess show you the way,” she
answered and winked at him before turning
away.
It was time.
Savannah started running. She knew one thing – the Forbidden forest had to be crossed as soon as
possible to avoid any kind of trouble from the white bears who resided not far from here. Since they were at war with the lycans,
even if it wasn’t announced yet, it would make sense for them to appear now. Killing off Kal’s potential Lunas would be a great
way to make him look weak. Somehow Bjorn’s words about how Kai would lose everything he had were replaying in her mind.
She did not plan to look for food because she didn’t plan to stay here for long. Picking up speed, she was sure she’d be near the
Forgotten city walls quite soon when she heard sounds that made her stop

They were ...sobs. Moreover, the pitch of the voice seemed famillar.
“For the love of.” Savannah was ready to swear. She knew she had glven her word to protect Petra but didn’t expect it to happen
so fast. Why was she in trouble already?1 The challenge had just started.
Groaning, the western princess changed her direction and sprinted to the sound of Petra’s voice. She found the girl in what
looked like a freshly dug hole. It wasn’t that deep, and technically she was supposed
to be able to get out on her own.
“Petra, what happened?” Savvy furrowed her brows, looking at all that mess.
“Princess Savannah?” The she-wolf looked up, scrunching her nose and stilling another sob. She wore a tight black outfit today
like everyone else but stayed true to herself by tying a blush pink scarf over her neck. Her pink hair was made into two tight buns
today. “I met Mikaela,” she said, lips trembling “She
Petra pointed at her knee, and Savannah noticed it was all bloody and swollen. From the looks of
things, the knee cap was broken, which would require some healing time, especially for a werewolf
Sawy looked around and found a large old tree branch. She took it and lowered it into the hole where Petra was
“Grasp it,” she commanded. “I am getting you out. Use your healthy leg to help yourself”

“Why?” the girl asked but accepted the help anyway.
Slowly, Savvy managed to pull her out, and Petra collapsed onto the ground, whimpering from the
pain
“I gave my word to Evelyn.” The princess explained, turning her to her back. “You have a wonderful mentor.”
“I know,” Petra tried to smile. “She is like the aunt i never had. Or better say mother.”
“Let me have a look at this.” Savvy pointed at the knee and started checking it quickly. Her prediction was correct. The knee cap
was in pieces, and it would require a few good hours for something like that to heal on a werewoll.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” Petra tried to stay strong to the best of her abilities.

“It’s not great, but you’ll manage.” Savannah gave her a reassuring grin. Somehow she felt as if she was tending to a child.
“How embarrassing to be a contender who didn’t even get to the Forgotten City!” Petra chuckled bitterly as Savvy untied the
scarf on her neck.
“You’ll get there. We just need to fix your knee until you regenerate. That’s all.” The princess used the scarf and a few strong
twigs she found to create a splint. Things did not look good at all, but it was the best she could do in the given situation. The
rules of this part of the Luna Trials were that help would arrive only after at least one of the torches was lit. Unfortunately, giving
Petra first aid and leaving her here
wasn’t an option.
Swearing under her breath, Savannah helped the northerner up and gave her the branch she used to get her out for support.
“Here, wrap your arm around my neck,” she suggested. “We will walk as fast as you can. Use this as a staf
“You are seriously going to do this?” Petra’s eyes grew wide. “I know she is helping out your friend,
but is it worth it?”
“Friends and family are the only things worth it.” Savvy sighed, realising that she was losing time. If
she could shift now, she’d take Petra on her back. But it wasn’t an option. Shifting meant losing.
They managed to take up some kind of speed after a while, but it was still too slow.
The sun was in its zenith, and if Savannah’s calculations were correct, they were supposed to reach the Forgotten City in about
half an hour, Mikaela was probably already there, which wasn’t fair. But this was the whole point, wasn’t it? The Trials weren’t
fair. They were about survival.
Savannah tensed when she felt some movement behind them. And another one on their left.
“Long time no see!” Celia snickered, and Savannah rolled her eyes. Of course. The minions came to do their job.
Carefully, Savvy placed Petra with her back to a tree and pointed at her self-made staff. “Don’t move from here and use that if
you have to.”
Then she stretched her neck, slightly happy she had a way to let out her frustration. The pair couldn’t have come at a better time.

“What took you so long?” she smirked as the lycan and the werewolf circled around her, ready to
attack any moment,
“No disrespect to your kingdom,” Inga sneered. “We are just fighting for the best Queen for us.”
“That makes three of us,” Sawy chuckled. “But no worries. I understand you serve your Queen B. The one who graciously lets
you do the dirty jobs for her while she gets all the fame and recognition as always. Just tell me something... You are both Alpha-
females. Is it really enough for you to be her
flunkies?”
Both women gritted their teeth, and surprisingly, Inga was the first to attack. Celia soon joined her friend, and Savvy quickly
realised that they trained together because each of their attacks were in perfect sync. It wasn’t enough to intimidate her in any
way; they were still no match for her.
The princess was blocking their attacks with ease. Celia was more of a problem than Inga since she had more strength in her.
Yet she wasn’t a royal lycan, so Sawy knew the physical advantage was still on her side. She dodged blow after blow, thinking of
how to deal with the two. Celia was Aspen’s sister, and she didn’t want to hurt her too much out of respect for him.
Meanwhile, Inga tried to do a sucker punch to Savannah’s stomach, which she recoiled, shoving Celia away at the same time
after twisting her hand roughly. She didn’t have time for this, so she decided to end this fast. Shame there were no more holes
around to put these two in.
But when inga ran to Petra, realising the wounded girl was Sawy’s biggest weakness, the princess lost her patience Enough was
enough!
Grabbing the blonde’s hair, she spun her around and kicked her so hard that she flew backwards a
few good leet, slamming against one of the trees
Celia was back in no time, going for Savannah’s jaw, but her hand got caught in the process, and with a few swift moves, Savvy
nailed her to the ground. The lycaness growled and struggled under her.
“Claghtern!” Savannah shouted, and Celia froze under her. What was it? Some kind of a magical word? “How do you ...” the
Lycan groaned..

“Your brother told me!” She sneered, still having no idea what it all meant. “He told me to say it to you if I have to. I figured it’s
perfect timing.”
Savannah sensed Inga charging at her again and prepared to block the attack when someone stood in front of her at the last
moment, doing it for her...