Goddess Of War

Seraphina POV

The first time my father told me I was a disgrace, I was twelve years old.

Tonight, I'm standing outside the training arena with blood dripping from my split knuckles and I finally understood what he had been trying to tell me that year, he wanted me gone. "Seraphina!"

My head snapped toward the voice as one of the guards was running across the courtyard, his face pale. "Your father is looking for you."

Soon the wooden doors of the training arena swung open behind me and a boy stumbled out, clutching his ribs.

He was seventeen, the son of one of the Pack's strongest warriors and I had just put him on the ground. "Where is he?" I asked.

The guard swallowed. "In the great hall."

My stomach tightened. "Why does he want me?"

"He said to bring you there immediately." The guard answered fearfully.

I wiped my bloody knuckles against my trousers and started walking.

My father had forbidden me from training with the warriors years ago because girls of our Pack were meant to learn how to become good mates and not warriors but I had never been good at obeying especially when it meant becoming someone I wasn't.

I pushed open the doors to the great hall and dozens of eyes turned toward me.

My father sat at the head of the long table and beside him sat his new Luna, Lydia.

Her hand rested on his arm and beside her was Celeste, her daughter and my now replacement.

Celeste looked at me first then at my bloody hands and a slow smile appeared on her face. "Oh," she whispered. "You did it again."

My father slammed his hand against the table. "Seraphina."

The room went completely still as I walked forward. "What?"

His eyes hardened. "What were you doing in the training arena?"

"Training."

"You were ordered never to enter it."

"I remember."

"Then why were you there?"

I stared directly at him. "Because I want to be a warrior."

A few people exchanged uncomfortable looks as my father stood up. "You want to be a warrior?"

"Yes."

"You sound exactly like your mother."

The words struck hard but I straightened. "Is that an insult to me?"

His expression changed. "Your mother died because she refused to understand her place."

My fingers curled into fists. "She died protecting this Pack."

"She died because she was reckless."

"No."

My voice shook. "But you weren't there."

The room became even quieter because now my father had stepped down from the platform. "You know nothing about what happened that day."

"I know she fought while everyone else ran like a coward."

His jaw tightened. "Enough."

"No."

I took another step toward him. "Tell me why you're ashamed of her."

His eyes flashed. "Because she chose the battlefield over her family."

I stared at him. "She chose to protect us."

"And look where it got her."

His voice cracked across the hall. "Dead."

I flinched but then Lydia sighed softly. "Lucian, she's still young and she doesn't understand."

I looked at her as she gave me a sympathetic smile.

"Perhaps," she continued, "you should stop trying to fill your mother's shoes."

My chest tightened. "I don't want to fill her shoes."

I looked at my father. "I want to be better than everyone who stood by and watched her die."

Lydia's expression stiffened and Celeste suddenly laughed. "Who do you think you are?"

I turned toward her as she rose slowly from her chair. "You can barely control your wolf and you don't have an Alpha's strength."

She stepped closer. "Without your father's name, you're nothing."

My father didn't correct her and that hurt more than her words.

Nobody defended me then I noticed something, on the table beside my father was a document, the crest of the Alliance Academy was stamped across it.

My heart started beating faster because I knew that crest. The Alliance Academy was the greatest warrior institution in the kingdom.

Only the strongest wolves were accepted, I stared at the letter and my father noticed. "No."

I hadn't even spoken but he already knew what I was thinking. "I didn't ask."

"You were about to."

I looked at him. "Is that an acceptance letter?"

He picked it up. "Yes."

My heart jumped. "Then why do you have it?"

"Because they made a mistake."

My excitement died instantly. "What?"

"They sent an invitation to the Pack not to you."

I stared at him as he placed the letter back on the table. "You are not going."

"But..."

"You heard me."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

My wolf stirred beneath my skin. "I'll go anyway."

A dangerous silence followed and my father's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't dare."

"I will."

Father moved so quickly I barely saw him, his hand closed around my wrist and pain shot through my arm. "You will not embarrass this Pack."

I looked at his hand. "Let go."

His grip tightened. "Your mother was stubborn too."

"Let go."

"She thought strength was everything."

"And she was right."

His eyes flashed gold and his power filled the room. Everyone lowered their heads, except me.

Soon, his grip loosened and I pulled my hand free. "Don't ever touch me again."

Then I turned and walked out, I didn't stop until I reached my room and slammed the door behind me.

My breathing came fast as my wrist throbbed, I looked at the red mark his fingers had left behind then I looked at the small wooden box beneath my bed.

I dropped to my knees and pulled it out, inside was a knife that belonged to my mother, my grandfather had given it to me years ago.

"Your mother carried this into her first battle."

I remembered his voice. "She told me that if the world ever told you that you were weak, you should never believe it."

Tears burned my eyes but I quickly wiped them away.

I opened the bottom of the box, there was one more thing inside, a small piece of parchment, I unfolded it and read the content, "If your father refuses to let you become a warrior, leave."

My heart stopped as I read it again, my grandfather had written it months ago.

I looked toward the window and the Pack was quiet because everyone was asleep.

I packed quickly and climbed through the window, the moment my feet touched the ground, I heard a voice. "Going somewhere?"

I froze and turned, Celeste stood beneath the tree smiling and my heart sank. "Move."

She stepped closer. "You really think you can become a warrior?"

"Yes."

"You'll fail."

I walked past her but she grabbed my arm and I spun around. "Don't."

Her smile vanished. "You're going to regret this."

I leaned closer. "Maybe."

I pulled my arm free. "But I'd rather regret trying than spend the rest of my life regretting that I never did."

Then I ran without look back, by sunrise I had left the Vale Pack behind.

I'm going to become a warrior but I have to disappear first and make a deal with a witch.