CHAPTER 27: THE LAST TRIAL
Maya’s POV
“Wh-what is happening?” Leo stammered.
Sebastian held out his palm and a crystal orb shimmered into existence above his hand, suspended midair like a summoned moon.
Shock cracked through the hall like splintering glass. Mouths parted. Spines stiffened. The air turned electric. The room reacted as one, staggered, breathless, disbelieving.
“The Crystal of Truth!” Princess Hannah choked out. “That hasn’t been summoned in — … ”
“Centuries,” one of the elders whispered.
The orb pulsed softly, illuminating the hall with a cold, otherworldly glow. Within its core, mist swirled, slow at first, then violently, as if sensing a lie in the room.
“I heard that the crystal materializes only to protect the truth!”
“Even the greatest kings have tried to summon it but the Crystal of Truth has its own will and lifeforce. It is rarest to rare to witness its existence!”
“The Lycan King is truly great! He managed to achieve a miracle.”
“Surely, the omega is doomed now.”
“Yes. The crystal appeared so that the Lycan King did not get duped by her.”
“What if Alpha Leo is wrong?”
“Not possible. Why would he lie? He has a complete family with a beautiful Luna and adorable kids.”
“Still? What would happen? We can’t punish guests in our palace.”
“Let’s see what the crystal says first. I am sure the omega will see her fall.”
Quinn looked at me smugly. Leo, on the other hand, tried to keep a straight face. I had to hand it to him that even at times of adversary, he could act innocent and lie through his teeth. The people loved him. He was their hero while they despised me.
But there was only one person who kept his trust in me and he was the only one who mattered.
Sebastian didn’t look away from Leo.
“The Crystal will now show what words alone try to hide,” he said calmly, yet his voice carried like judgment itself. “Do you object, Mr. Maxwell?”
Leo’s throat bobbed. He said nothing.
“Speak, or be seen as guilty by your silence,” Sebastian warned.
“N-no, Your Majesty,” Leo croaked. “I… I have nothing to hide.”
The mist thickened.
A ghostly sound filled the air like a breath exhaled from ancient lungs. Then, images bloomed inside the crystal.
Leo.
Towering over me.
Grabbing me.
Trying to mark me without consent, without bond, without permission.
My body struggling. My voice silent.
Gasps and murmurs rose like a storm from every corner of the room.
“It cannot be—”
“He forced the mark—”
“That’s forbidden magic—”
Sebastian remained perfectly still.
But his aura had shifted. Something primal stirred beneath his skin, pushing the edges of control.
“Enough.” His voice cut through the chaos like a blade and the crowd fell silent, shaken.
The orb dimmed, then vanished.
Sebastian turned slowly to Leo, gaze sharpened to a killing edge.
“You tried to force yourself on a woman. Tried to mark her,” he said, voice low and lethal. “Without her will. Without a bond. Without her consent. Do you understand what that means?”
Leo trembled. “I— I was confused. She seduced me—”
“Silence.”
The command hit like a blow. Leo’s knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the floor.
“You dared brand her like a possession. Like a thing. When she was no longer yours to speak to, let alone touch.”
Sebastian stepped forward once.
Just one step — and the temperature in the room dropped.
“You broke the ancient law. You harassed a contestant of the Luna Trials. You tried to claim someone who could be mine.”
His gaze turned to Princess Hannah and Quinn.
“And you,” he said coldly. “Conspired to protect a crime.”
The two women fell to their knees.
“Your Majesty, we didn’t know—”
“You lied in the presence of the Crystal,” he interrupted. “There is no greater insult to the throne.”
He raised his hand again.
“No, Your Majesty! Please, I plead for mercy,” Quinn screamed, hugging the King’s feet. “Leo was seduced! He did not know what he was doing. Your Highness, Leo would never do this deliberately.”
“The orb has spoken. I have no control. You will be justly punished for your crimes,” Sebastian said and the ground beneath Leo cracked with a thunderous rumble. Chains forged of spectral silver erupted and latched onto his wrists and ankles, yanking him backward in front of the King’s feet.
“Do you want to say anything before the judgement?” Sebastian softly asked me.
I signed and he knitted his eyebrows.
“I think I miscomprehended. I thought you just said that ‘Forgive them,’ but I request you to write down your wish.” Sebastian said and ordered his attendant to pass a scroll and pen to me.
I wrote: Forgive them.
The Lycan King grimly read my note and shook his head.
“I can not forgive them, doctor. You might be kind but the crystal is not. It will see through the punishment of the perpetrators till the end,” he informed and true to his word, the crystal shone, snatching the powers of the guilty trio.
“NOOOOOO!!!!!” They screamed as their wolves were snatched away and they lost their supernatural powers for life.
Leo screamed louder and longer as the crest of his pack burned off his skin in a flash of white fire.
And just like that …
He became a mere human, a no one. An Alpha with no wolf with a hideous Luna with no wolf either. Their looks shrivelled up to drooping skin and premature wrinkles while their hair discolored to dirty grey.
“Wh-why did it punish me?” Princess Hannah gasped, trying to come to terms with her new state.
Sebastian turned to her slowly, his voice low but edged like a drawn blade.
“Because you knew.”
Hannah's eyes widened in disbelief.
“N-no! I never—”
“You silenced the guards who tried to intervene. You allowed lies to breathe in my court. You protected a monster. And you dared to twist the Luna Trials into a weapon by throwing out an innocent woman from the palace without listening to her side.”
“I was only—”
“You were warned. By me. By the code. By the very magic that protects this kingdom. And still, you chose to lie. I am so disappointed in you, Hannah. You are my sister and I can not bear to see you like this. You will retain your royal duties but forgo your royal priviledges. I am sorry but this was all your doing and you know that I can not fight the Crystal of Truth.”
Hannah’s lips trembled as she looked down at her trembling, wrinkled hands, no longer marked by royal blood, but pale, empty and mortal veins.
Sebastian turned from her, disgust barely veiled beneath his regal poise. His gaze landed on the crumpled form of Leo, still chained, still screaming, though the sound had turned hoarse. Broken.
The King’s voice was calm. Too calm.
“You might still be the Alpha of your pack but I will strip off all your powers. You will not walk as a man of honor. You will live as a shell, a reminder of what happens when power is abused.”
Sebastian’s jaw clenched, but his next words came soft, almost mournful.
“This kingdom may forgive mistakes. But it does not forgive monsters.”
He turned back to me.
The moment our eyes met, the weight of the room vanished. His gaze steadied me. Anchored me.
He took a slow step forward.
“And you, Maya.”
I straightened, the cloak still heavy across my shoulders. My heart thundered, unsure of what would follow.
“The trials do not deserve you.” His voice was raw. Honest. “None of this does.”
He dropped to one knee.
Gasps erupted again but this time, they were stunned in a different way.
A king. Kneeling. Before an omega.
“But I do.” He looked up at me, voice hoarse with emotion. “I only ask for the chance to prove it.”
My breath caught. I had no words. Just the burning behind my eyes and the aching truth that maybe, just maybe, my story didn’t end in ruin.
Maybe it was only beginning.
And just like that the Crystal of Truth delivered its final judgement.
In the presence of hundreds of men and women, it landed in the Lycan King’s open palm and turned into a ring with a huge sparkling diamond in the center before sliding into my ring finger!
“The Crystal of Truth chose our Luna!”