Chapter 1: The Only Way Out Angela’s POV

I stared at the glossy, expensive poster pinned against the crumbling brick wall of our school. Accademia Alpha.

The gold lettering mocked my miserable reality. It was a fortress of a school, built strictly for elite werewolf alphas. Once a year, they allowed a single, brilliant human student to join their ranks on a full scholarship. I scoffed, crossing my arms over my faded jacket. It was an impossible dream. I was nineteen, stuck in a dirt-poor town outside Naples, and worst of all, the academy strictly accepted only males. A nobody like me didn’t stand a chance.

"Looking for your daddy on that poster, Angela?" a harsh voice sneered from behind me.

I stiffened. I didn’t have to turn around to know it was Marco. He and his shadow, Enzo, stepped into my peripheral vision, blocking the warm afternoon sun.

"Back off, Marco," I muttered, keeping my eyes glued to the paper.

"Or what?" Marco stepped closer, his cheap cologne burning my nose. He leaned in, his voice dropping into a dirty, teasing whisper. "Your mother always likes it when men get close. Maybe you’re just like her. Is that how you plan to pay for college? On your back, just like Grazia?"

My blood boiled. The sheer humiliation burned my chest. Everyone in this miserable town knew about my mother, Grazia. They knew she slept around, mostly with married men, and they never let me forget it. As for my father, he was a ghost, a mystery I wasn't even allowed to ask about.

"I said shut up," I warned, my voice shaking with rage.

Enzo laughed, a cruel, grating sound. "Why so sensitive, sweetheart? We all know she's a whore. And let's be honest, you've got her curves. Give it a year, you'll be doing exactly what she does to pay the rent."

I didn’t think. I just reacted.

I dropped to my knees, grabbed a fistful of the coarse, dirty sand from the courtyard floor, and spun around. I hurled it straight into Marco’s grinning face.

"Ah, you crazy bitch!" Marco screamed, clawing at his eyes as the dirt scratched his corneas. Enzo cursed, stepping back in shock.

"Don't you ever talk about me like that!" I yelled, my chest heaving.

Before I could grab another handful, a sharp, cold voice cut through the courtyard.

"Angela! In my office. Now."

I froze. Preside Giovanna stood by the heavy oak doors, her arms crossed, her eyes glaring at me with absolute disgust. My stomach dropped to my shoes.

I followed her in silence. The moment the heavy office door clicked shut behind us, the air in the room grew suffocating. I stood awkwardly in front of her massive desk while she sat down, smoothing out her expensive skirt.

"I am done with you," Preside Giovanna said flatly.

"What? Preside Giovanna, please, he provoked me! He was saying horrible things about........."

"I don't care," she interrupted, her voice sharp as glass. "I don't care what he said. You are violent, disruptive, and a stain on this school's reputation. I am officially expelling you."

My heart stopped. "Expelling me? No, no, you can't do that! I have good grades! I’m months away from graduating!"

"I can, and I will," she sneered, leaning forward. The professional mask slipped, revealing the raw, ugly hatred underneath. "Do you really think I want the daughter of Grazia walking my halls? Do you think I don't know what your mother is? What she did?"

I swallowed hard, stepping back. "My mother has nothing to do with my education."

"She slept in my bed, Angela!" Giovanna slammed her hands on the desk, her eyes wide and manic. "She spread her legs for my husband! She ruined my marriage, made me a laughingstock in this pathetic town. And every time I look at your face, I see her. So no, I will not let you graduate. You are expelled. Pack your things and never come back."

"Please," I begged, the tears finally spilling over. "Please, I need this diploma. If I don't have it, I have no future. I'll have nothing."

Giovanna sat back down, a cold, satisfied smirk playing on her lips. "Then you have exactly what you deserve. Get out."

I stumbled out of the office, my vision blurry with tears of anger and defeat. My education was gone. My ticket out of this town was gone.

The walk home felt like a death march. The dirty streets and peeling paint of the buildings seemed to mock me. I had nothing left. I pushed open the creaky wooden door of our small, rundown apartment, wiping my face to hide the tears.

I stopped dead in the narrow hallway. Voices were coming from the kitchen. My mother, Grazia, and my uncle Tonio. Tonio was a violent, dirty mobster. He only ever came around when someone owed him money or when someone was going to get hurt.

I held my breath, pressing my back against the chipped plaster of the wall, listening.

"It's a done deal, Grazia," Tonio’s gravelly voice growled. "The Branco Ovest pack. They are looking for a human mate for the alpha's son. He likes them soft. He likes them young. Angela fits the bill perfectly."

My blood ran ice cold. Branco Ovest? They were the most brutal, savage werewolf pack in the region. They treated humans like toys to be broken and thrown away.

"Are you sure, Tonio?" my mother asked. Her voice wasn't worried. It was calculated. "She's feisty. She might fight back."

"Let her fight," Tonio chuckled, a dark, nasty sound. "The alpha's son loves a struggle. It turns him on. He’s possessive, filthy, and he pays well. I get fifty grand for delivering her, and I'll cut you in for ten. It clears your debts, and you don't have to feed the brat anymore."

"When?" my mother asked. Not 'how could you', not 'I won't let you'. Just when.

"Tomorrow night. Have her packed and ready. If she complains, drug her."

I clapped both hands over my mouth to stifle the scream building in my throat. My own mother. My flesh and blood. She was selling me to a monster for ten thousand euros. This wasn't just a bad situation; this was a death sentence. The Ovest pack would tear me apart. Becoming a plaything for a cruel, possessive alpha would be worse than dying.

I slowly backed up, placing my feet carefully on the quietest parts of the floorboards. I slipped out the front door and ran down the alleyway, my chest tight with panic.

I needed an escape plan. Now.

I ran aimlessly for blocks, my mind racing. Where could I go? I had no money, no friends, no family who wouldn't sell me out to Tonio in a heartbeat. If I just ran into the city, Tonio's men would find me before morning. He had eyes everywhere.

Then, like a spark in the dark, I remembered the gold lettering.

Accademia Alpha.

It was a crazy, desperate idea. But it was the only place Uncle Tonio wouldn't dare set foot. Werewolf territory, elite, highly guarded. If I could get in there, I would vanish. I would be protected by the school's massive walls.

But it was an all-male school.

I stopped walking, staring at my reflection in a dirty shop window. I was tall, flat-chested, and had sharp, strong features. If I bound my chest and chopped off my hair, I could pass for a young boy. I had to. It was life or death.

I turned around and sprinted back toward the school. My lungs burned, but I didn't stop until I reached the heavy front doors.

Preside Giovanna was walking out, keys in hand, ready to lock up. She saw me and her face twisted in immediate annoyance. "I told you never to return."

"I want the scholarship application," I panted, blocking her path. "The one for Accademia Alpha."

She stared at me, then burst into a mocking, vicious laugh. "Are you out of your mind? That school is for elite alphas! The human scholarship is for geniuses, and more importantly, it is strictly for boys. You are a girl, Angela. A stupid, expelled girl."

"I don't care," I said firmly. "I'm applying. Put the paperwork through."

"It's illegal," she snapped. "And it's impossible. They will see right through you."

"Put my name down as Angelo," I demanded, stepping closer. I didn't care about respect anymore. I was fighting for my life. "You want me gone, don't you? You want me out of this town so you never have to look at my mother's face in mine ever again. If I get this, I disappear forever. You win."

Giovanna paused, her keys dangling in the air. The hatred in her eyes shifted into a cold, calculating gleam. She realized I was right. If I actually pulled off this insane stunt, she would be free of me permanently.

She unlocked the door, walked to her desk, and pulled out the thick envelope with the golden crest. She grabbed her pen, scribbled her signature of approval on the principal’s recommendation line, and shoved it hard against my chest.

"Take it," she hissed. "Write whatever fake name you want. When those alphas find out you lied, they will rip you to shreds. And I will sleep perfectly fine knowing it."

"Thank you," I spat, snatching the papers from her hand.

I left the office, my heart pounding a frantic rhythm against my ribs. The sun was setting, casting long, dark shadows over the town that had given me nothing but pain.

I gripped the application tightly in my fist. I was bitter. I was defiant. I cursed my uncle for treating my life like a cheap commodity to be traded to a monster. I cursed my mother for looking the other way and counting her bloody money while her daughter was sold into nightmares. I cursed Preside Giovanna for her petty, cruel vengeance. And most of all, I cursed this ugly, unfair world that had left absolutely no place for someone like me.

But as I walked into the darkening streets, I held the envelope closer to my heart. I was clinging to this one desperate, unlikely chance at Accademia Alpha as my only means of escape. I was going to become Angelo. I was going to survive.