Chapter 3 ~ What?

{Ava’s POV}

~ The Next Day ~

I had never considered myself proud.

But yesterday… I made an exception. A very necessary one.

Lima— the arrogant combatant with the pretty face and the ego of a mountain, needed humbling, and I had volunteered. The results? Swift. Clean. Almost embarrassingly easy.

I landed him on his back in under two minutes. One strike. One fall. Done.

He’d laughed at first, loud and taunting, but when he actually tried to hit me? I dodged every attempt until he was panting and frustrated. Then I tapped him once and ended the match. Simple.

Apparently too simple for him to handle, because the scowl on his face afterward suggested I had stolen his birthright and set it on fire.

But what shocked me more than his rage were the reactions around us after I had won; no cheers, no impressed shouts. Just gasps… and whispers. 

Everyone had stared at me like I had sprouted horns. And it was strange enough that I had left the field immediately.

Edna and I couldn’t even stay at the Academy afterward. Our room wasn’t ready, and since we didn’t have enough coin for a bigger space, we spent the night at a small inn outside the Pack border. We barely slept— mostly from the stiff mattress, partly from replaying the weird stares.

Now we were on our way back to the Academy at dawn, and the only reason we were moving this fast… wasn’t because of the Lima.

It was because of the Royal Family.

The Alpha King, Queen, and Prince were visiting the Academy today, something I had dreamed about since childhood. I had sat through years of DarkClaw’s suffocating walls wondering what the Royals even looked like. Today, I might actually see them with my own eyes.

This was what held my anticipation for today, and then there was a tiny part of me that was also preparing for my “humbling mission, part two.” 

I planned to tease Lima just a little— nothing cruel, just enough to finish the lesson I started. No harm in guiding someone toward humility, right?

“What do you think he’ll look like?” Edna asked, bright-eyed.

“The Prince?”

“Of course the Prince. Who else?” she teased.

I shrugged. “Probably gorgeous. Aren’t Royals always gorgeous?”

“Yes!” Edna squealed like she’d already seen him. Meanwhile, my excitement simmered quietly also. I had always admired the Royals— their strength, their discipline, their flawless reputations. They were everything I wasn’t allowed to be.

“What do you think it’ll be like when we see them?” she pushed.

“I don’t know, Edna. This is my first time too.”

“You’re such a mood killer.”

I laughed softly but didn’t answer. Silence settled… until Edna nudged me again.

“Speaking of mood, how’s your smile doing?”

I flushed. “Edna—”

“Don’t pretend. You know I’m talking about Dylan.” She winked.

Right. My boyfriend. My quiet comfort. My “smile.”

— Eight months hidden from the world, stitched together with stolen moments and careful hopes. 

Before leaving DarkClaw, I’d told him about going to Moonspire. He had promised to visit me, to stay committed, and to mark me one day.

This was our plan and he was one of the good things— maybe the best thing in my life. 

I hadn’t mentioned him before now because our relationship is secret— only known to Edna, and so I don’t talk about him as a result.

“Dylan is fine,” I muttered.

Edna smirked. “Lover girl.” She muttered and then her gaze stretched.

She pointed ahead. “We’re here!”

I turned to look. 

The Academy’s walls rose through the trees, tall and imposing. My heartbeat kicked.

Moonspire— again.

**

If yesterday felt crowded, today felt suffocating.

People were everywhere; students, warriors, guards, spectators. And the moment Edna and I stepped through the gates, dozens of eyes snapped toward us. 

Whispering. Staring. Picking me apart in their heads.

My skin crawled.

“Ava,” Edna whispered, “I need to go check on our room before the visiting ceremony starts. If we don’t secure it now, we won’t have anywhere to sleep tonight.”

“No, Edna don’t leave me,” I blurted out. “I don’t know anyone here and I can’t stay alone!”

She squeezed my arm. “You’ll be fine. You know someone here. Lima. You said you wanted to tease him again, remember?”

I grimaced. That confidence had lived in yesterday’s version of me. Today’s me felt like a tiny speck dropped in an ocean of strangers.

But Edna kissed my cheek and hurried off, leaving me alone in the rising tide of voices. I took in a shaky breath.

The Royal Family wasn’t here yet, but the crowd was already buzzing. I tried to slide toward the Hex building for shelter, but even the interior was packed… and then I saw him.

Lima.

Not at the center of the Hex, but near one of the pillars— surrounded by an orbit of admirers and curious faces.

Of course he was popular.

Two men close to him wore Royal Guard insignia, which confused me, but my brain brushed past it. Royal Guards traveled here because the Royals were coming. That’s all it meant.

I didn’t move closer at first to Lima. I just… watched him. And the longer I watched, the more I realized something ridiculous:

Of all the strangers here, he was the one person I felt least nervous approaching.

So when I blinked and suddenly realized he wasn’t standing where he had been a moment ago— but walking directly toward me, I panicked but I committed.

I stepped forward.

“Hi.”

He didn’t notice me.

“Lima, right?”

He heard me now so he froze, turned and stared. His expression shifted from startled… to thundercloud.

“You,” he said sharply.

“Yeah, me.” 

“You have some nerves coming up to me.” He scowled.

“Hm.” I kept my tone polite enough, but my nerves fluttered. “You walked up to me, actually. And judging by your scowl, I’m guessing you still remember yesterday.”

His jaw flexed. “How dare you—”

“You know,” I cut in, “it’s strange you’re this fierce now when your fighting yesterday wasn’t. You fought like a girl and now you’re trying to sound like a man.”

His eyes widened. Rage shot through them.

Maybe I pushed too far… but honestly, he wasn’t helping. I had planned to keep things friendly, but… well, plans fail.

The moment Bree tense between but then the cheers hit.

They rolled through the Hex like a wave— loud, reverent, electrifying.

The Royals had arrived.

Perfect timing.

“I’d planned to tease you gently,” I told him, stepping away, “but you chose aggression, so this is what you get— the savage version of me.”

His fits clenched and his chest rose. 

“Pride comes before a downfall, Lima.” I added, raising my voice just enough. “But no hard feelings. Failures make good stepping stones of the.. the success ladder.” I said and continued away swiftly. 

Gods.

What the fuck is “stepping stones of the success ladder”?

Gosh.

I escaped before he could reply, practically speed-walking out of the Hex and into the sunlight where the Royal convoy had entered the field. The King and Queen rode at the center of a formation of elite warriors, and the crowd surged around them, mesmerized.

No one looked at me anymore.

Good.

I needed to inform Edna that the royals were here. And so I wove through bodies until I finally spotted her scanning frantically for me. She looked tense.

I rushed toward her. “Hey, you!” I said breathlessly while she instantly turned to me.

“Ava!” She grabbed my arms tightly, eyes wide. But I didn’t register her panic— I was too excited.

“Guess what,” I butted in. “I talked to Lima. Finished the job. You should’ve seen his fac— priceless! He couldn’t even speak—”

“No, Ava, listen—”

“And the Royals are here! I saw the King and Queen… and they’re breathtaking!” I grinned, scanning the crowd once again now. “But I haven’t seen the Prince anywhere. Maybe he stayed behind or—”

Edna suddenly crushed my wrist in her grip.

“Ava,” she hissed, her voice cracking, “that’s because Lima is the Prince!”

Everything inside me stopped working.

And then my face squeezed. “W-What?”