Green’s POV.Her eyes didn’t waver when I said it, and that was the problem. There was no fear in her, no hesitation, only that slow, deliberate smile that always seemed to see right through me. She was still standing too close, her body a breath away from mine, her scent curling around me like a rope.“Then don’t hold back,” she murmured, tilting her head as if she had just dared me to prove myself.My pulse was too loud in my ears, and I felt the pull — that deep, wild instinct clawing at me to close the gap between us. My Lycan’s voice was relentless, urging, coaxing, and promising the kind of release that would burn through every inch of restraint I had left. My hands almost moved on their own, my body leaning before my mind caught up.I stepped back, the movement stiff and unnatural. “Enough, Ravenna,” I said, my voice low but uneven. “You don’t understand what you’re doing.”Her eyes glinted. “I think I do.”I clenched my jaw, forcing my gaze away from her mouth, away from the
Ravenna’s POV.I could see it, the shift in him.He walked through the hall that morning like everything was fine, like he was still in control, but I saw through it. The slight way his fingers curled when I entered a room, the way his jaw stayed clenched a little longer than usual, how his eyes would find mine and then quickly dart away like they weren’t supposed to.I was getting to him.I knew I was.It gave me a strange kind of thrill, the kind that made me walk taller, think clearer, and plan better. I had been at the bottom before, crawling through rejection and hopelessness, but now, every time he avoided looking at me, every time he stumbled over his words, it felt like I was taking back some of what I lost.By the time noon came, I already had a plan in place. He always allowed students to come in one by one to ask about their projects, and I made sure to be the last.I walked into his office with my notes clutched to my chest, eyes wide like I was nervous, but every step I t
Green’s POV.The hours after returning from the campus every weekday used to be sacred, quiet, and predictable, the only time I didn’t feel like I was holding myself together in front of someone else, but tonight, that peace was shattered the second I opened the door.Ravenna stood outside like she had been waiting, her arms folded, eyes fixed on mine, the breeze playing with the strands of her hair. I didn’t say anything at first, just looked at her, hoping she would realize what kind of line she was crossing, but she didn’t flinch.“I forgot to bring something up earlier and thought about stopping by,” she said, her voice calm, too calm for what she was about to do, “it’s about the study group, some of the students are struggling with the current schedule, it overlaps with other courses and I thought it would be better to mention it in person and show you all about it.”I stared at her, not moving. “This could’ve waited until tomorrow.”“I live nearby,” she added, tilting her head a
Ravenna’s POV.I woke up with a quiet determination burning beneath my skin. The heaviness from the night before hadn’t left entirely, but it had settled into something sturdier, something with weight and meaning. I lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling while the light from the morning sun crawled slowly across the wall.Everything had changed, and yet nothing had. My mother was still locked away. I still didn’t have a wolf. I still had no idea how I was supposed to stand in a ring against people who had been training for this their whole lives. But I wasn’t going to let those thoughts pull me under. I couldn’t afford to.I rolled out of bed and stood in front of the mirror again. My eyes were still puffy from crying, and my hair looked like it hadn’t seen a brush in days. But my reflection didn’t scare me like it used to. I was starting to see something new in the way I looked back at myself. Not strength exactly, but a kind of quiet promise.I would go to school today. I
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
Ravenna’s POV.The silence that followed after the call ended and the words still echoed in my head even as I walked away from the hospital, each word sinking deep into my chest like a heavy stone. It didn’t matter how much I begged or how desperate I sounded, they wouldn’t lift a finger to help us, not over the phone. But I knew I couldn’t stop there, I just couldn’t go back to sit at home waiting for my mother to rot behind bars while I cried in a corner feeling sorry for myself. I had to go to the pack court, I had to look them in the eye and make them see that my mother did not deserve this.I didn’t even go home to change my clothes or wash my face, I just stormed out of the hospital and made my way across town, walking fast with so much anger boiling in my blood that I didn’t even feel the heat of the setting sun or the stares of people as I passed. When I got to the pack court, the guards at the gate immediately moved to block me, like I was some criminal trying to break into