MasukI'd seen a lot of things at Dominion Academy that I'd had to file away and not react to in public.This was different.The gap in the stone was narrow, but it was enough. Below us, the red-rune corridor stretched in both directions, wider than it had any right to be for a building that wasn't supposed to have this much basement. The doors were heavy and reinforced, each one sealed with the same carved symbol I didn't recognize from any bloodline text I'd studied.And between the doors, moving slow and deliberate along the corridor, were robed figures.Three of them. Hoods up. Pushing gurneys with the careful, unhurried efficiency of people who had done this many times before.The wolves on the gurneys were alive.I could tell from the movement small, involuntary, the kind a body makes when it's fighting restraints it doesn't have the strength to break. They were in human form, most of them. One was caught mid-shift, limbs wrong, joints at angles that should have been agony, wolf par
I threw the note at his chest the moment we got back to our room.He caught it. Looked at me."We have to do something," I said. "That's Lyra's blood on that paper. She knew something about Cain and now she's gone and Soren is standing at a podium calling it a voluntary withdrawal and nobody is doing anything—""We can't go to Soren," Cassian said."I know we can't go to Soren—""Then lower your voice." He set the note on the desk carefully, like it was something that could break. "Cain has been at this academy for six years. He teaches two mandatory electives. He sits on the academic review board." He looked at me. "He and Soren have worked together since before we were students here. If we walk into that office with a blood-smeared note and no proof of anything, Soren buries it in a day and Cain knows we're looking.""Then what do we do?" My voice came out thinner than I wanted it to. "We just — what? Attend classes? Keep our heads down while Lyra is somewhere in that building—""W
Roll call moved alphabetically.I wasn't paying particular attention until the pause."Dune, Lyra."Nothing.Soren's aide checked the list. Called again. "Dune, Lyra."The silence that followed had a specific quality to it. Not the ordinary quiet of someone distracted or late. Something heavier. The kind of quiet that the students around the gap could feel without being told why.I looked sideways down the Solas row to where Val stood.She had gone the color of the stone wall behind her.Her eyes were fixed on Soren's aide. Her mouth was slightly open, like she'd started to say something and forgotten how.I watched her hand come up and press flat against her sternum. Small, controlled movement. Like she was checking that her chest was still working.Soren stepped forward."Lyra Dune has withdrawn for personal pack reasons, effective last night. Her records have been transferred." He moved on to the next name without pause. "Fell, Jace—"Val stepped out of line.Not dramatically. Not
Lyra put her tray down across from us and said, "Good morning. Has anyone told you two that you look like you've been awake since the moon was invented?"Cassian looked up from his coffee."That's not a compliment," I said."It wasn't meant to be." She sat down and stole a piece of bread off my plate without asking. "You both need to eat something that isn't stress. Ronan, back me up."Ronan, arriving two seconds behind her with a full tray, said, "I'm staying out of this. I value my continued existence.""Smart man," Cassian said."I have my moments."Lyra pointed her stolen bread at Cassian. "You smiled. At Ronan. With your actual face.""I didn't smile.""The left side of your mouth moved upward. That's a smile. Val, back me up."I had been staring at him. I looked away. "I didn't see anything.""You were absolutely staring.""I was looking in his general direction.""She was staring," Lyra told Ronan."Noted," Ronan said, and started eating.Cassian's expression had gone back to n
"Her name is Sera Voss," Lyra said. "Alpha. She failed the second phase of the Iron Circle last week. Dropped eight points."We were moving inside, off the field, into the east wing corridor where the lights were low. Lyra kept her voice tight and quiet."I know Sera," I said. "She was planning a rematch challenge. She told three people in Solas.""Her roommate said the same thing." Lyra pulled her jacket close. "She was angry about the ranking drop. She said she wasn't done." She paused. "This morning her bed was made. Her study notes were stacked on her desk. Her shoes were lined up by the door."Val hadn't said anything yet. She was walking slightly behind us, arms crossed, listening."Administration?" I asked."Academic transfer. Immediate. Regional school closer to her pack." Lyra's jaw tightened. "Mid-semester. No goodbye. No message to her roommate. No request to forward her things."I ran the pattern again in my head. Failed trial. Ranking drop. Gone within forty-eight hours.
I shoved my bag down so hard it knocked the chair beside my desk sideways.Cassian looked up from his book. Took one look at my face."What happened?" he asked."Nothing." I picked the chair up. Set it back. "I'm fine.""You knocked over furniture.""It was in my way.""Val.""I said I'm fine."He closed the book. Slowly. Set it down on the desk with the particular patience of someone who had already decided they were going to win this conversation and wasn't in a rush about it."Your jaw does that thing," he said.I touched my jaw before I could stop myself.He didn't say anything. He didn't need to.I sat on the edge of my bed and pressed my palms flat on my knees. Raven's voice was still moving through my head, smooth and precise, finding the exact shape of the thing I'd been afraid of since the forest.Ask yourself what he wants. And what he'll do when he's done wanting it."Raven cornered me in the side corridor," I said. "After Bloodline History.""What did she say?""That boys
He smelled me.Not just the sweat or the dirt or the pack’s lingering musk after hours of training. No. Cassian’s eyes had locked on mine like he’d seen through me, and that quiet whisper behind his eyes—the wolf—recognized me.My chest burned from the inside out.I didn’t move for a second after h
He didn’t flinch.I stood over Val, staff still in hand, sweat clinging to his skin like a second layer. His chest rose and fell fast, but his eyes—those sharp, calculating eyes—never blinked. Didn’t back down.He was the smallest in the group, half the weight of the others, narrow shoulders, barel
Cassian growled.I heard it.Everyone heard it.And I knew exactly who it was for.Me.I stood there, heart pounding, staring into those eyes that burned hotter than the fire behind me. The whole room went quiet. Someone coughed. Someone else shifted in their seat. But all I could hear was that so
I should’ve walked away after the fight. Should’ve let it go once I pulled Val out of it, once I stood there like an idiot with my hand folded across his chest, heart hammering so loud it hurt my ears. But I didn’t.Couldn’t.The second I yanked the brute of him, something shifted. Not just in the







