2

“Leave Ronan out of this,” I said firmly.

Something inside me was already rising the old fire that had once taught these bullies to stay away.

“Oh? Still can’t shift?” Fisher mocked, looking straight at Ronan.

The moment his attention moved to her, I regretted speaking. We were already close to the pack house, but no one even glanced our way. And even if they did… no one would step in to help us.

Which meant there was no reason to fight clean.

I moved first.

My foot shot forward in a sharp kick, hitting Fisher right where it hurt most. He cried out and stumbled back. Ronan let out a frightened whimper as Theron and Aria rushed toward me at the same time.

Aria didn’t bother pretending to be fair. She grabbed a fistful of my long white-blond hair and yanked hard, forcing me to stay upright while Theron’s punch slammed into my stomach.

Pain exploded inside me.

I would have bent over, gasping for air, but Aria’s grip held me in place.

So instead… I twisted.

“Fine,” I growled through clenched teeth. “Let’s play.”

My hand shot up, tangling in her bright red hair. Now we were both trapped, locked together like enemies refusing to fall first. Hatred burned openly in Aria’s eyes. Her fangs began to lengthen, half-shifted as she tried to dominate me.

We stared at each other, silent but fierce a battle of will.

She was the first to break eye contact.

Victory flickered through me for one brief second… until I realized she was looking past my shoulder.

At Theron.

He didn’t hesitate. He punched me from behind with brutal force. Pain tore through my lower back, so sharp I knew I would be paying for it later.

“Go!” I shouted at Ronan.

She didn’t argue. She pedaled away toward the gathering as if her life depended on it.

I had taken beatings before.

I could survive another.

Some small, bitter part of me even felt proud that it took all three of them working together to bring me down. A heavy kick struck the back of my knees, and I collapsed onto the hard ground. Instinct took over. I curled in on myself, raising my arms to protect my face a habit formed from too many fights like this.

Blows kept landing.

Fists. Feet. Pain.

But inside my head, I imagined something different. I imagined I was the one standing. The one kicking. The one laughing while they lay helpless at my feet.

It wasn’t real… but it was how I endured.

How I had always endured.

By pretending I was stronger than I truly was.

“A useless half-breed like you doesn’t deserve to be at tonight’s gathering,” Aria spat coldly.

Their kicks and punches didn’t stop.

I curled tighter on the ground, using my arms to shield my face and stomach as best as I could.

A heavy boot slammed into my back, and Fisher’s laughter rang in my ears.

“She doesn’t even have the pack mark,” he mocked.

In our pack, every wolf received a mark from the Alpha after their first shift a sign that they were accepted and protected by the pack bond. But I had never shifted. I had never taken the oath.

Which meant I had no protection… and no rank.

Tears blurred my vision, but I bit down hard on my lip and refused to scream. Voices began to gather around us. Wolves were watching now. Still, no one stepped forward to stop it.

The blows began to slow.

Not out of mercy but because something had caught their attention.

That was when I forced myself up onto my hands and knees, desperate to escape.

And then I froze.

A pair of cold eyes stared down at me.

Darius.

The Alpha’s son.

Tonight’s center of attention.

“Let her crawl the rest of the way,” he said with a cruel smirk.

He didn’t even need to use his Alpha command. His authority alone was enough. The three bullies instantly stepped back.

“Yes, Alpha,” they muttered.

Darius looked at me like I was something dirty on his shoe.

“Crawling is probably the closest you’ll ever come to shifting, half-breed.”

His words hurt more than the kicks.

Still… I told myself this was better. Bruised pride healed faster than broken bones.

“Of course, Alpha,” I whispered, just loud enough for his sharp wolf hearing.

My mixed blood made my body stronger than a human’s. With luck, tomorrow I would only wake up with bruises instead of something worse.

Under his heavy gaze, I began to crawl toward the pack house. It felt like the entire pack was watching, whispering about me the useless half-breed who didn’t belong.

Only when I finally turned the corner behind the building and disappeared from their sight did I struggle to stand. Pain shot through my body as I straightened, making me wince.

Carefully, I pressed a hand against my ribs… testing how much damage had been done.

My elbows and arms were badly scraped, but luckily nothing felt broken.

I brushed the dust off my clothes and quickly wiped the tears from my face before anyone could see them.

One day, I promised myself, I would learn how to take a beating without crying. Not because I was strong… but because I refused to give them the pleasure of seeing me weak. Deep down, I wished I could fight back and finally make them pay for everything.

But as the pack’s rankless half-breed, the best victory I could hope for was denying them that small satisfaction.

“Maybe I should just leave,” I muttered under my breath.

The thought sounded brave… but it wasn’t realistic. Even if I wanted to run away from Bloodfang, I had nowhere to go.

People said there were human towns scattered across the state. Still, everyone knew wolves and humans didn’t mix. I didn’t even understand how someone like me half human, half shifter had ever been born. Sometimes I imagined that if I reached a human town, I could pretend to be fully human. After all, I couldn’t shift anyway.

But that dream felt impossible.

To get there, I would have to cross either the wildlands or another pack’s territory. In Evergreen, every pack guarded its borders fiercely. Strangers were treated like threats. If another pack caught me, they would only send me right back here… where punishment would be waiting.

Lone wolves were feared and distrusted. Anyone who abandoned their pack was believed to have no loyalty at all.

That was why parents always warned their pups,

Obey the Pack Alpha… or you’ll be sent to the wildlands.

The land between pack territories was called the wildlands for a reason. Without an Alpha’s rule, there were no laws there only danger. Wolves who lived alone roamed freely, each one following their own dark intentions.

Worst of all were rogue Alphas.

Powerful, ruthless, and without a pack to answer to.

In that lawless place, only the strongest or smartest survived. And with their overwhelming Alpha dominance, rogue Alphas could force weaker wolves to submit to them without a fight.

In every pack, rank was everything.

That was what we were taught from the time we were old enough to run.

A strict order kept wolves under control especially powerful Alphas. If everyone knew their place, the pack stayed united and strong. Lower wolves gave their loyalty and obedience, and in return, the Alphas gave protection.

At least… that was how it was meant to be.

We were also told we should feel proud to belong to a pack as feared and respected as Bloodfang. My adoptive mother had reminded me of that more times than I could count.

But standing there now, bruised and humiliated, pride was the last thing I felt.

I took a slow, shaky breath and forced myself to stand straighter. My mother was probably somewhere in the crowd already. The last thing I wanted was for her to see how badly I had been shaken.

Keeping close to the shadows, I walked around the pack house until I reached the gathering on the opposite side.

Ronan was waiting for me, guilt written all over her face.

“I’m sorry, Sele,” she whispered, her eyes fixed on the ground.

I hated when she did that acting like she was beneath me. We were both at the bottom of the hierarchy.

“I’m okay,” I said quickly.

Nearby, a few wolves shifted back into their human forms and began digging through their sling bags for clothes. None of them spared me a glance. It was like I wasn’t even there.

But one person did notice me.

My adoptive mother, Aurora.

The moment our eyes met, she smiled warmly and lifted her hand in greeting. I forced a small smile and waved back, pretending everything was fine.

I didn’t want her to see the scratches or the bruises. I couldn’t stand the look of pity she always tried to hide. Even as a low-ranking wolf herself, she had done everything she could to raise me. I was grown now. I needed to handle my own fights.

Grabbing Ronan’s hand, I pulled her through the thick crowd of half-dressed shifters, using their bodies to block my mother’s view. We moved deeper into the gathering, toward the stage a place our attackers wouldn’t dare cause trouble.

As we got closer, I spotted Darius.

He stood above everyone else, already at the front where he believed he belonged. In the short time it had taken me to recover, he had pushed his way through the crowd and taken his rightful place.

A large wooden platform had been built for the ceremony. Exotic orchids and rare plants flowers that would never survive in this cold northern land decorated the back of the stage.

Tonight, Darius and his future mate, Alpha Elara, would publicly pledge themselves to each other. After their official union, our powerful Bloodfang pack and her pack would become allies.

One step closer to becoming true mates.

One step closer to changing the future of both packs