The views aren't encouraging honestly 😔 please refer your friends too
Aria's POVSometimes the best strategy is the one nobody expects. Like standing your ground when everyone assumes you'll keep running."Hayes," I said quietly, "how structurally sound are these tunnels?""What do you mean?""I mean, if someone were to cause significant damage to the support beams, what would happen?"He looked around at the aging stonework and exposed pipes. "Depending on the location and extent of the damage... partial collapse. Maybe complete collapse of this section.""Would that block pursuit?""It would block everything. Including us.""Not if we time it right."Caspian caught on immediately. "You want to bring down the tunnel behind us while we escape ahead.""I want to give our enemies something more pressing to worry about than chasing us.""That's incredibly dangerous.""Everything we've done tonight has been incredibly dangerous. This is just more focused danger."Lyra was studying the tunnel structure with the kind of attention that suggested she was thinkin
Aria's POVThe thing about being backed into a corner by people who want to kill you is that it clarifies your priorities remarkably fast. Survival became my only objective, and everything else—fear, doubt, the chains holding Riven—became obstacles to overcome."You know," I said, taking a step closer to Elder Kalliope despite the guards flanking her, "I've learned something important during my time at this Academy.""And what's that?" she asked, looking amused by my apparent bravado."That people in positions of authority often make the mistake of confusing compliance with weakness.""Meaning?""Meaning you've spent months watching me pretend to be a cooperative student, and you think that's who I actually am."I let my voice drop to the tone I'd learned from watching my father command his warriors. "But I'm not a student, Elder Kalliope. I'm the daughter of an Alpha. And daughters of Alphas don't die quietly."Before anyone could react, I grabbed the nearest guard's weapon—a ceremon
Aria's POV"Before we proceed with the tragic accidents," Elder Kalliope said, settling into a chair like she was hosting a dinner party instead of planning multiple murders, "I think our young infiltrator deserves to know the full scope of what she's stumbled into.""Is that necessary?" Aldrin asked."Educational. She's shown such dedication to learning Academy secrets. The least we can do is satisfy her curiosity before we eliminate it."I wanted to tell her exactly where she could put her educational lecture, but staying alive long enough to find an escape route seemed more important than satisfying my anger."The Academy," she continued, "was never intended to be a simple educational institution. From its founding, it has served as a selection mechanism for future leaders of the Lycan world.""Selection for what?" Caspian demanded."For compliance with necessary changes in Lycan governance. The old ways—independent packs, territorial autonomy, resistance to centralized authority—t
Aria's POVThe room filled with Academy personnel faster than I could count them. Guards, faculty members I recognized, and a few I didn't. All of them blocking our exits, all of them looking like they'd been expecting us."You really thought we didn't know you were coming?" Professor Aldrin asked, his tone almost conversational. "We've been monitoring your little investigation for weeks."Hayes stepped forward, his hand moving toward his weapon. "Professor Aldrin, by the authority vested in me by Academy security protocols—""Commander Hayes," Elder Kalliope interrupted smoothly, "your services are no longer required."Two guards moved to flank Hayes, and I saw his expression shift from authoritative to trapped."This is a mistake," he said. "The regional Authority has been contacted. They have copies of the evidence.""Evidence that will be dismissed as fabricated documents created by unstable students," Aldrin replied. "Tragic, really. The psychological pressure of Academy life can
Aria's PovSunday morning arrived with all the subtlety of an execution notice. I'd spent the night rehearsing my performance, running through every possible response Aldrin might give, preparing for every scenario except the ones where I ended up dead or disappeared.Hayes escorted me to breakfast with his usual efficiency, apparently unaware that his charge was about to attempt the most dangerous con job in Academy history."You seem nervous this morning," he observed as I pushed food around my plate without eating."Just thinking about my upcoming assignment.""Academic pressure can be challenging. Perhaps you should speak with your instructors if the workload is becoming unmanageable."If only he knew what kind of assignment I was really preparing for."I'll manage, sir. Thank you."The morning crawled by with supervised classes and training sessions. But finally, during the lunch break, I found my opportunity."Commander Hayes," I said, approaching him with carefully manufactured
Aria's POVThe documents spread across Caspian's desk painted a picture so horrifying I almost wished we'd never found them."This can't be real," I whispered, staring at a memorandum with the Academy's official seal."It's real," Lyra said grimly. She'd slipped back into our room through the window—apparently Silverclaw pack training included basic infiltration skills. "We found three full filing cabinets of this stuff."The elimination list was just the beginning. What we'd discovered was documentation of a systematic conspiracy that went far beyond Professor Aldrin or even the Academy itself."Look at this," Caspian said, pulling out a letter with an unfamiliar pack seal. "Correspondence between Academy administration and pack leaders across the Lycan territories."I read over his shoulder, my horror growing with each paragraph."They're coordinating," I said. "The Academy isn't working alone—they're part of a larger network.""A network that's been identifying and eliminating pote