00012.

Ravenna’s POV.

I sat by the window for hours, barely moving, the sun slowly slipping away behind the trees while my mind refused to rest. The words of the elders repeated in my head like a loop that wouldn’t stop playing, grinding against the walls of my thoughts until it felt like my head would explode.

My mother was still behind bars, locked away like she was the criminal, and the only path left open to me now was one I never imagined I would even dare to walk. The pack competition.

I stared down at my hands, the same hands that had never lifted a sword, never drawn blood, and never done anything that would be considered brave or strong or worthy of notice. But those same hands were all I had now. That competition was more than just an event, it was the only chance I had.

They had made it painfully clear—fight and win, or my mother would rot behind bars, forgotten by a pack that had never shown us mercy. I hated them for it, but hate wasn’t going to free her, becoming strong and f