Chapter 5: The Grand Unleashing (Elara’s POV)

With all teachers and students now present at the Academy, a final event was held, the grandest of them all. The Academy grounds had transformed into a spectacle.

Banners came undone in the wind as nearly every student and faculty member gathered for the Grand Training Demonstration which was a grand welcome to mark the full resumption of classes.

It was literally everyone. The Academy was more crowded than ever. Everything was just getting started.

The Seven God Alphas sat in the raised viewing box like gods among mortals, their presence alone enough to command silence. Lila and her clique occupied prime seats near the front, having all the fun. Lecturers, including Professors Thorne and Elowen, took another block around the arena.

As for me, I always knew where I belonged. I lingered in the background as Lila’s attendant, arms loaded with her supplies—water skins, extra weapons wraps, and towels. Invisible. A ghost in plain sight.

The President of the Academy, an imposing Elder named Valerian with silver-streaked hair and piercing eyes, stepped onto the central platform. His voice boomed across the field.

“Welcome, warriors of the future to the Alpha Academy, home of the strongest breed. This Academy trained your parents and their parents before them and now, the baton is to be passed to you! This academy exists for one sacred purpose: to forge the most powerful werewolves our world has ever seen. And when the Devourer rises as the ancient prophecies foretell, hell, we will be ready. We will defend our packs, our lands, our very existence. And that is why we have this festivity today. Today, let us witness the strengths from among us that will save us all!”

Cheers erupted. I adjusted the heavy bag on my shoulder, sweat already trickling down my back. Lila glanced back at me with a sneer. “Don’t just stand there drooling, human. Fetch me fresh wraps. And try not to embarrass me.”

Her friends laughed. “Still playing servant to that cursed thing?” One of them, Persene, called loudly enough for nearby students to hear. “Pathetic.”

The degradation burned, but I pushed it down. I’m here to protect her, I reminded myself fiercely. No matter what she does, I’ll watch over Lila. That’s my duty. I’d been repeating it like a mantra since I arrived. That was the only reason I was here in the first place.

I slipped away to a quieter corner of the supply tents to drop off the heavier items. My arms ached. Just as I set the bag down, a shadow fell over me.

Kairos.

He moved like lightning, grabbing my arm and slamming me back against a wooden post. His golden eyes blazed with pure disgust and scorn. “You,” he snarled, voice low and venomous. “Harlan tricked me. Promised me a prize worth claiming—a powerful mate. And what do I get? A useless, worthless human!”

I gasped, pain shooting through my arm. “What are you talking about? Let go! Explain—”

“Explain?” He laughed bitterly, releasing me only to strike me hard across the face with the back of his hand. The blow sent me sprawling to the ground, my cheek throbbing. “There’s nothing to explain, you pathetic human. Stay out of my sight before I end this farce myself.”

Kane, his loyal attendant, appeared at his side. Kairos stormed off with him, muttering, “I’ll have at Harlan for this deception. Mark my words.”

I curled on the dirt, tears stinging my eyes as I touched my swelling cheek. What just happened? Prize? Mate? None of it made sense. My heart shattered under the weight of his contempt. Why did his words hurt so much more than the hit? That strange pull I felt toward him twisted like a knife.

Wiping my face, I forced myself up. I couldn’t fall apart now. Lila needed me—whether she deserved it or not.

I returned to the arena’s edge just as the elite drills intensified. The crowd roared as warriors clashed. I tried to act like I was just alright, hoping no one would notice how quickly my chin was already swelling as I trembled within my dress.

Just focus on the show. I wept inwardly. You will find answers to what just happened later.

One of the advanced trainees was having a demonstration, spinning some ball skilfully, and it was apparently fun to see… Then suddenly, he lost control of the volatile energy—a forbidden technique meant to simulate Devourer-level threats. It spiralled wildly, hurtling straight toward Lila in the front row. The energy crackled with annihilating force, the kind that could vaporize flesh and bone in seconds.

“Lila!” I screamed. I wasn’t the only one screaming.

Without thinking, pure anger and protective instinct carried me forward. I leaped into the arena center, faster than I’d ever moved in my life.

Time seemed to slow.

A surge exploded from deep within me, something I could not explain, a force... All I could see was a dash of light.

Raw power flooded my veins. My body partially shifted in a majestic burst: silver-white fur rippling across my arms and shoulders, eyes glowing with lunar energy that lit the arena. I was lost in it all. Strength unlike anything I’d known coursed through me. I slammed into the orb with superhuman force, shattering it mid-air in an explosion of sparks. The backlash energy I redirected with instinctive precision, blasting it harmlessly into the sky.

Lila stumbled back, crashing to the ground. And in one swoop, it was all gone. Silence fell across the entire academy. Deep silence. The whole world came still.

And there I was… at the centre, breathing heavily, my partial form slowly receding but the glow still faintly clinging to my skin. Confusion crashed over me.

What did I just do? How? I stared at my hands, trembling. How? How? How???

All eyes were on me! All! The Seven God Alphas were on their feet now, lecturers stunned, students staring with their mouths agape. Lila’s face was a mask of shock alongside her friends as she lay on the ground, turned to me.

Kairos stepped forward from the edge of the arena, his gaze locked on mine with such intense, conflicted heat that it stole my breath. The crowd parted for him as he approached. He stopped close enough that only I could hear his whispered words, his voice rough with something primal.

“She’s not just any human…” He whispered in a deep growl as if to himself alone. “She’s not just any human…” He repeated as if trying to convince himself as well. “She’s a wolf.”

I gasped.

“And she’s mine!”