Mag-log inStage Two of the Ascension Trials was combat evaluation.The arena was already crowded when I entered. Students from all four houses filled the viewing galleries, their voices mixing with the sound of boots against stone and the occasional cheer from the competitors warming up.The rules were simple. Three opponents. Three consecutive fights. No weapons, no killing blows, and no outside assistance.The panel would evaluate technique, control, adaptability, and endurance.I had trained for this.I knew exactly what the judges expected from me, and I knew most of the competitors had studied my previous performances. That meant I couldn't depend on the same techniques twice.The first opponent was a Ferox brawler who relied on brute force. He charged the moment the signal sounded, swinging hard enough to crack bone.I stepped aside, caught his arm, and used his momentum against him. He stumbled forward, and I drove my elbow into his back before sweeping his legs out from under him.He hi
The Iron Circle closing ceremony was a Dominion social event.Formal dress. All four houses in attendance. The kind of occasion where political positioning happened during dinner and everyone pretended it was just a celebration.I arrived with Ronan. He'd handed me the suppressant compounds that morning with one quiet instruction: cycle properly."Ready?" he asked as we walked through the doors."No.""Good. Me neither."I almost smiled.Ronan adjusted the collar of his formal jacket as we entered the assembly hall. "Remember what Jane said. Don't take more because you're nervous.""I'm not nervous."He gave me a look."Fine," I admitted. "I'm nervous.""That's different.""How?""At least now you're being honest."I shook my head and followed him inside.The assembly hall was packed.Solas sat on one side. Vesper on the other. Ferox and Umbra filled the back. The tables were draped in Dominion colors, the candles burning low.The entire room looked polished and expensive, but beneath
The Umbra wing was quiet at this hour.I moved through the corridors alone, deliberately without Cassian or Val. Two people from Solas visiting Umbra at night drew more eyes than one. One person could be anyone. The Umbra dormitory was different from the others. Darker. Older. The students here kept to themselves, their doors closed, their eyes averted. This was where alphas came when they had something to prove or nothing left to lose.I kept my hood low as I walked, though I wasn't sure it would have made much difference if anyone recognized me.Ronan Calloway wasn't exactly a stranger at Vesper, but Umbra operated by different rules. People here noticed outsiders. They noticed footsteps, faces, and who visited whom.More importantly, they noticed secrets.That was why I had come.I found Jane's room at the end of the hall.She opened the door before I knocked. Small, sharp-eyed, with the kind of watchful stillness that came from years of surviving in the shadows of the academy's h
The picture was not good.If Cain had been suspicious before, he now had something concrete to work with. He might not know exactly what the bond meant, but he knew there was something unusual between Cassian and me. That alone was dangerous."We need to talk," Cassian said, sitting across from me on the bed."We're talking.""I mean really talk." He leaned forward, his grey eyes sharp. "What does he know? What doesn't he know? What does the bond information give him that he didn't have before?"I ran the implications."He knows there's a connection between us. A strong one. He doesn't know what I am. He doesn't know I'm omega. He doesn't know I'm female.""But he suspects.""He always suspects." I pressed my palms against my knees. "The bond confirms something is being hidden. It gives him a direction to look."Cassian's jaw tightened."And the assessments?""He can probably connect those too. The scent exercises, the resonance tests, the way the results changed whenever I was near y
I asked Raven to meet me in Vesper's common room.She came, which meant she already knew what this was. She was dressed perfectly—dark green sweater, silver earrings, hair swept back like she had stepped out of a portrait. She sat across from me without a word, her hands folded in her lap.I didn't waste time."This is over, Raven."She didn't flinch. Didn't look surprised. Just watched me with those sharp eyes, waiting for more."It has not been what it should have been for longer than I've admitted," I continued, keeping my voice level. "You deserve someone who isn't performing. Someone who actually shows up. I haven't been that."Her fingers tightened slightly against each other, but her expression remained controlled."For how long have you known?" she asked."Known what?""That you were going to say this."I looked at her for a moment. "Long enough."Raven gave a quiet laugh. "That's not really an answer.""It's the only honest one I have."She leaned back in her chair and studie
Five days to the hearing.I ran the testimony preparation alone in the training yard at dawn, my breath fogging in the cold air. The sun hadn't risen yet, the sky still grey and uncertain. I practiced answers to the hardest questions—the ones about specific pack events, bloodline ceremonies, family members I'd fabricated.I had done this before. I built this identity from scratch. I could rebuild the parts the council was targeting.I just needed to not shake while I did it."Name.""Val Rhen.""Pack.""Ashgrave.""Father's name.""Alpha Marcus Rhen.""Mother's name.""Elise Rhen.""Date of your father's ascension.""Third moon of the year I turned ten.""Who presided?""Elder Marius. He died two years later."The questions continued. I answered each one. My voice was steady. My hands were not.I stopped pacing and pressed my palms together, trying to keep them from trembling."Where was the ceremony held?""The eastern hall.""Who stood beside your father?""His beta, Theron.""How m
The training grounds were alive with tension. Everybody seemed uneasy on the field. They were about to be introduced to something they've never undertaken so their worry was expected. But weakness was not tolerated.Dominance challenges weren’t just a tradition at Dominion Academy—they were law. I
The great hall buzzed with conversations. It seemed everybody was curious about who they were about to be sharing a room with.And from the look of things, I wasn't the only fresher. There were some people with bags. Obviously they didn't have to run away from their homes to be here.Students gathe
The night swallowed me whole.The moment my feet hit the dense forest beyond my father’s estate, I forced myself not to look back. Every instinct screamed at me to run, to put as much distance between myself and my former life as possible. But I couldn’t afford reckless speed. Not yet.I kept my st
The grand hall was suffocating.Rows of wolves in formal attire stood along the edges of the large room, their whispers moving through the air like a curse I couldn't shake. My father, Alpha Rhen, stood tall at the head of the room, his sharp gaze scanning the gathered pack members before settling







