When The Moon Hides Her Crown novel Chapter 162

Chapter 162 Every Word A Trial

SERAPHINA

My heart plummeted into my stomach.

Impossible. How could Asher know I was a woman? If he truly knew, the entire Academy would have known by now and I’d be expelled without hesitation. No, there was no way. He couldn’t know.

Only that’s when I felt it. The shift.

The air around us thickened, heavy, unnatural. Silence pressed against my ears, suffocating. I didn’t dare move, but my eyes darted across the room. The crowd of Alphas had already settled into their seats, and in two different corners of the library sat Ryker and Ronan motionless as statues, their gazes locked on me and Asher.

Ronan’s eyes were sharp as blades, while Ryker’s blank stare carried the eerie calm of a storm just before it broke. Even Finn, who had entered a bit late, was watching with an unreadable expression. The weight of their stares sank into my chest, and my heart raced unnaturally fast.

I pulled away from Asher’s touch smoothly, naturally as if nothing was wrong. “Thank you, Alpha Asher. You saved me from mockery,” I said with a casual smile, forcing my steps to remain steady and unhurried. When inside, my heart was in chaos.

Asher…he didn’t know my secret, right?

I scanned the rows of desks. To my surprise, most already had names marked on them. Assigned seats? Since when? With everyone else seated, I found mine in the middle of the third row. My eyes flicked, just for a second, back toward Ronan then to Ryker. But I quickly forced my gaze forward, only to catch both Finn and Asher looking at me once more from different directions.

Their stares were more nerve–wracking than the silence itself. And for the first time since I’d arrived at the Academy…none of us were sitting together.

Murmurs spread like wildfire.

“First the brutal forest training, then the task, and now this. What’s the Academy plotting next?”

Speculation buzzed through the room, but none of it reached me. My focus sharpened only when Alpha Jude entered.

The noise died instantly.

He strode in with his usual arrogance, dropping into his chair and propping one leg up on the desk. His eyes swept across us, sharp and amused. “Did anyone see the leaderboard?”

“Is it updated?” someone asked eagerly. “How many made it through the task?”

Alpha Jude’s mouth curved dryly. “Nah, because my math is good.”

A ripple of laughter swept through the room, cut short the moment the humiliated Alpha shot a glare sharp to his friends.

“Out of thirty–nine Alphas, thirty successfully completed their task,” he leaned back, smirk tugging his lips. “Even our instructors didn’t expect this. We thought half of you would be eliminated, but here you are. Thirty strong Alphas. This year’s batch might just be worthy of the Supreme Alpha race.”

Chests swelled with pride. Smirks were exchanged across the rows.

Someone dared to ask.

Chapter 162 Every Word A Trist

Before an answer came, the air shimmered. A swarm of glowing butterflies streamed through the library windows, scattering like starlight. Gasps filled the room as they circled, then landed on our desks. My lips parted when the butterflies before me folded inwards, melting into a single sheet of paper Seth Darven was scrawled across it.

Phina’s voice whispered in my mind, “Isn’t that the same paper we found during the task?”

“Yes, it looks identical,” I muttered.

Alpha Jude’s voice cut through. “Turn it over.”

We obeyed. On the back, questions were scrawled in crisp black ink.

“So,” Jude said, standing, strolling between rows, “you just answer the questions. Then you leave.”

Confusion rippled through the room.

“That’s it?” someone asked.

“That’s it,” he repeated, a meaningful smile tugging at his lips.

I pressed my lips together. Nothing in the Academy was ever simple.

I reached for the pen at my side when Alpha Jude added, almost lazily, “Ah, I forgot to mention…”

I froze. My eyes snapped to him.

Here it comes.

The corner of his mouth curled. My pulse stuttered.

“Every word you write on that page will decide your position in the next trial.”

The pen tightened painfully in my grip.

“Now start. You have two minutes.”

Two minutes?! My mind reeled, but my body moved. I scanned the first question-

“Your name.”

My chest tightened. The letters blurred. That one line mocked me. My entire disguise shook under the weight of those two words.

Behind me, I didn’t notice Ronan’s eyes flick to my stiff back. He had already seen the question.

I forced a deep breath and scribbled: Seth Darven.

Seth’s age, origins, details I had memorized by heart.

I filled them in without hesitation. Only the fourth question was different from the normal questions.

Who do you trust?

My pen scratched before thought caught up: No one.

The next: Who do you not see as your Alpha?

I didn’t even hesitate: Cassius.

2

And then the last one.

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