Lillian’s POV“This year's Warrior Selection Competition now officially… starts!” The host announces, and loud music plays in the background, accompanied by live drums.The open arena roars with excitement.Dust coils in the air with every stomp of a boot on the arena, and the sound of metal clashing in quick, sharp bursts creates a series of sounds that mimic music.On the side, the spectators shout out names and scores as the competition progresses.Making bets is also legal, and it adds energy among the crowds, making the wild cheers from the stands echo around the area, giving the contestant either a will to fight or humiliation that makes them want to dig a hole and hide. But all in all, the energy is electric, sparking through the arena like wildfire.Maddox and I, who are still on the waiting list, stand near the edge of the battling arena. Side by side, we start our stretching in sync and wait for our names to be called soon.And to my dismay, not far from us, with her arms f
Lillian’s POVI divert my eyes before Keegan can and cling my arm around Maddox, pulling her with me to the registration area as she is joining the competition as well.The ground of the Warrior Selection Event is held in the central park of the neighbouring city, and it is way more lively than we had expected.Vibrant banners ripple overhead, each bearing the badge of a different pack that has a representative in the competition.Countless tents line the perimeter of the central arena where the registration, medical support, vendors, and even recruiter stations are set up. From the crowded bleachers to the grassy commons, the entire place buzzes with energy. Weapons aside from guns are cluttered around for training, and the warriors who have come early have already started warming up. I can even hear some of their General Gammas, who come with the other warriors, talking to them like a makeshift coach as they brainstorm their strategies in whispers, as if it were some trade secret.
Lillian’s POVIt’s been a week since we found my mother… or the woman I grew up thinking was my mother. The day after that, I visit the Moonstone pack once again to ask her more questions, but her lips are tight shut, and I can’t get anything out of her.Like he promised, Keegan hasn’t severely punished her yet, which could lead to her death. She’s given food, but nothing satisfying, and her holding cell is worse than that of a dog.Aside from that, I haven’t seen her or Keegan again.And the days feel like… It’s just drifting meaninglessly. Empty and uninteresting.Each day, if I am not sleeping and locked in my room, I’ll be in the front yard of my house, training like hell is coming after me. In my mind, I keep thinking that if I keep sweating and moving, then maybe the sharp emptiness that is clinging to my chest like frost will finally crack and melt away.But every night when I crawl back into my bed alone, the silence wraps around me tighter than any blanket. And in that silenc
Keegan’s POVThe scent of Lillian’s suppressed tears lingers in the air like invisible shards that sting my heart. My fists ball into a tight clench while I stare at Raquel, who completely shattered Lillian’s every last bit of her already broken heart from the pain I have brought to her.Raquel dares to call herself a mother and grieves for the son she has lost, and yet she treats another child whom she could have treated well like a punching bag to vent all her grief.I can still see the pain in Lilian’s eyes. Her beautiful eyes bears raw betrayal, paralyzing confusion, and that silent, bleeding sorrow she tries so damn hard to hide. She hasn’t crumbled yet. And she never does. She is that strong.After all, if she isn’t, she probably will never be able to survive living in my pack with no one standing by her side.But damn, she doesn’t deserve this.She doesn’t deserve a mother like Raquel, even if she is just her adoptive mother… And she sure as hell doesn’t deserve the man I am b
Lillian’s POVMy knees go weak, and I almost fall. Both Craig and Keegan stretch their arms out to help me, but it is Craig who successfully manages to steady me.But as soon as I manage to stand up again, I hold my hand up to them.I am not done yet.I don’t care how mad Keegan is, but it certainly won’t be able to suppress mine. Turning back to look at her, I ask in a hollow voice, “You provoked Keegan’s mother and told her my child isn’t worthy…”“Why?” I ask, as if I haven’t heard her words enough.Her expression hardens as she hisses and repeats more clearly, “Because you were about to have everything… Everything and more of what I lost! A Luan title and a pup! I cannot let you win. I cannot let the one who caused me pain and caused my child’s death be at the top while his bones rot six feet below the ground!”Every word he utters crashes through me. It isn’t an accident. She intentionally wants me to lose my child.An act of revenge. Revenge for something I don’t even know abou
Lillian’s POV“You were never my daughter.”I stagger backwards upon hearing her words, every word echoing nonstop to my ears and slicing through me like a blade.“W-what… What do you mean?” My voice comes out almost like a whisper as I stare back at the woman who raised me, but I can barely recognise her. She becomes smug and looks at me with that annoying grin and cold eyes as she flatly repeats, “You were never my daughter.”Leaning forward, her elbows on her knees with her thumb and index finger holding her chin, she adds, “And I never wanted you to be.”If I am in disbelief earlier from her words, I am left speechless now. It’s as if all my vocabulary has been erased from my brain and vanishes into thin air.I just look at her with my pounding heart, all the past flashing back into me. But despite the long years of how badly she treats me, what repeats on my mind over and over again are those good days we had with each other.With my breathing hitch, I swallow the lump in my thr