Blood Moon Deadline

The night I found out, I almost fixed it.

Almost.

My assignment had been changed to Everglades Academy. Two thousand miles south. Swamp territory. Three omegas died there last year.

I'd asked Kael to file my school preference. Silver Peak Academy. Together. The way we'd planned since we were twelve, lying in the snow making promises to the stars.Now the screen said Everglades.

I called him immediately.

He picked up on the second ring, relaxed as always. "Hey."

"My assignment," I said. "It says Everglades."

"Oh." Not guilt. Recalibration. "Lil came by while I was filing yours. She wanted to play a prank—switched it to Everglades for a laugh." He laughed. Light. Careless. "Deadline's tomorrow night. Just override it yourself. It takes thirty seconds."

"If I hadn't checked—"

"But you did check." That patience. "Fen. You always check everything. That's why she knew you'd catch it. It was just a joke."

Just a joke.

So my future was a punchline. My life, someone else's entertainment.

I said nothing. I packed my gear. I left for the transport hub on departure day.

Kael found me at the platform. His smile was gone.

"I told you to override it. You didn't change it back?"

"No."

---

I looked at the Everglades entry. The mortality rate embedded in the fine print. Three names I'd memorized without meaning to.

"She tampered with my future," I said. "That's not a joke. That's a crime. I could report her to the Academy Board."

The patience evaporated.

"Are you serious right now?" His voice dropped. Not cold. Worse—disappointed. The tone that had always made my chest cave in. "Fen. She's been here six months. She doesn't know anyone. I'm her only friend and you want to report her?"

"She changed my assignment—"

"Which you can change back in thirty seconds!" Now he was angry. Genuinely. On her behalf. "Do you hear yourself? This is exactly what she warned me about."

I went still. "What she warned you about."

"That you'd react like this. That you can't stand her being around." A breath. "Fen, I've explained this a hundred times. She's from the Southern packs. She doesn't know anyone here. She calls me brother because she's lonely, not because she wants to take anything from you."

The words landed one by one like stones dropped into still water.

"I'm your mate," I said.

"Which is exactly why I need you to stop acting threatened by a girl who just wants a friend." He exhaled. "Just fix the assignment. And maybe—think about being a little less hostile. For me."

He hung up.

I sat very still.

Twelve years. Age six, when he found me at the edge of pack territory, lost and bleeding from a fall, and carried me home on his back. Age ten, when my first shift broke wrong and he stayed the entire night, talking me through the pain with his hand wrapped around mine. Age sixteen, when a rogue crossed our border and Kael stepped in front of me without hesitation.

Age eighteen, last month. His forehead against mine. Silver Peak together. Always, Fen.

I put my hand on the mouse.

The override button was right there.

Thirty seconds, like he said.

I didn't move.