Chapter 2

MAEVE POV

“Reeve?” Uncle Garson whispered, disbelief thick in his voice. “I thought you were feeling unwell tonight.”

A smile tugged at my mouth. “As you can see, Uncle, I feel very, very refreshed.”

I copied Reeve’s tone, arrogant and sure of itself. “Or are you disappointed I can still stand?”

“Ah, I…” Uncle Garson took a step back. “All right. We will be waiting for you in the hall.”

He left quickly, irritated and unsettled. I knew he had not expected to run into something this strange. I shut the door, sealing in the suffocating quiet of Reeve’s room.

I did not have much time. Reeve’s body had to be hidden, secured somewhere no one would find it. Because I knew Uncle Garson would come back and investigate.

I had barely dragged Reeve into a more concealed spot when the door handle turned again. My heart jumped, and my hand snapped to the hilt of Moonglow on the table.

“Alpha Reeve, we need to hurry—”

Two men rushed inside, then froze mid-step.

It was Baron William, the Beta, who had once been the commander of my father’s loyal guards. And Lord Eamon, the kingdom’s chief Elder advisor, his hair white with age.

William, with his sharp sense of smell, wrinkled his nose. “What is that scent? It smells like…”

Eamon did not blink. He stared straight at me. “Maeve?”

I could not avoid their eyes on me. They would notice immediately that the real Reeve would not look this thin and pale.

“Maeve? What are you doing in your brother’s clothes?” Eamon stepped forward, his voice trembling with restrained fury. “Where is Alpha Reeve? The academy envoys are already waiting downstairs.”

My lips would not form words. My shaking hand pointed toward the space behind the canopy bed.

William moved first. He sprang to the side of the bed, and a strangled sound of grief tore from his throat. Eamon followed, and I watched the old wolf nearly collapse as he saw Reeve’s body, bluish from poison.

“Moon Goddess, this cannot be,” Eamon whispered, his face turning deathly pale. “The pack’s heir… our Alpha… he is gone.”

“Uncle Garson,” I said, my voice quivering with hate and vengeance. “He poisoned Reeve on purpose because he wants the pack throne. He is waiting for us to fall apart.”

The silence in the room felt like a death sentence while time kept moving.

William clenched his fists, sorrow and bitter disappointment on his face. As Beta, he felt he had failed to protect his Alpha. He had just watched the last hope of our pack go out.

“We are finished,” Eamon said, despair cracking his voice. “If the envoys downstairs find out Alpha Reeve died before he even entered the academy, then Lord Garson will mobilize his forces tonight.”

“And the throne will fall into his hands legally. The pure Nightwhisper bloodline will be slaughtered,” William added. “So that is why he was so determined to marry you off, Maeve.”

“That is not going to happen,” I snarled. “I am going to the academy.”

Both men turned to me at once. Their faces made it clear they did not believe me, like I had just told a cruel joke.

“Maeve,” Eamon’s tone softened, the way you speak to a child who does not understand. “We respect your courage. But this is Lycan Spirit Academy. That place is full of monsters.”

My eyes locked with Eamon’s. “I can survive.”

“You cannot even shift, child…”

William cleared his throat. “And you are a woman,” he added, brutal but honest. “That academy is for men only, Maeve.”

I stared at William, who was watching me with hard intensity.

“The pheromones there will destroy you the moment you step through the academy gates,” William said.

“But Reeve is dead,” I said, fighting down grief and rage. “Do either of you know someone who looks like Reeve and can replace him?”

They fell silent.

“This is suicide,” William argued. “And you have to prove you are pure Nightwhisper blood, Maeve. If Moonglow does not shine, you are not worthy.”

I did not know where the impulse came from, but my hand shot out and grabbed the hilt of the heirloom sword, Moonglow. The blade Reeve was supposed to carry tonight.

Moonglow could only be drawn by the true Alpha of our bloodline, the Nightwhisper Pack. Anyone who was not the rightful heir would burn the moment they touched it.

“No!” Eamon warned sharply.

The instant my fingers closed around the hilt, there was no fire. Instead, Moonglow let out a low hum.

The metal vibrated softly, a dim silver light blooming from the grip and creeping along the blade to the tip. My eyes widened as Moonglow reacted the same way it had in Reeve’s hand.

“What?” William gaped. “That sword… it accepted you, Maeve!”

I lifted it slowly, and it felt right in my grasp. Like it had been waiting for me too, not only for Reeve.

“Blood does not lie,” I said, watching my reflection ripple along the blade. “I might be a ‘defective’ werewolf, but my father’s blood runs through me. That should be enough to fool the academy.”

William stared at the glowing blade for a long moment, then looked at me. Something new sparked in his eyes. No longer pity for a “defective” girl, but respect for a warrior.

“Before we go to the hall, there is something we have to take care of,” William said, nodding at me.

We moved Reeve’s body into the cold storage cabinet, so no one would find him. After that, Eamon handed me a pheromone-suppressing draught.

“This will hurt,” Eamon said bluntly. “We have to cover your real scent. Your body will smell like scorched carrion and forced masculinity.”

I did not have time to hesitate. I swallowed the drink, and bitterness exploded across my tongue. Bitter, with an iron aftertaste like blood. The most disgusting thing I had ever tasted.

I took Moonglow and gripped it tight. It was time to go.

Eamon looked straight at me, and for the first time in my life, he touched my cheek gently. “You are strong. I know you are,” he said hoarsely.

For eighteen years, my relationship with Eamon had been nothing but formal politeness. Today, I felt real concern from him.

“Remember this, Maeve. In there, you have no name and no gender. You are Reeve, your older brother. If you fail, there will be no Nightwhisper Pack left,” Eamon warned.

I nodded once.

We walked toward the Great Hall, and with every step, my heartbeat thundered louder. Two academy envoys were already waiting inside, with Uncle Garson, of course.

“Alpha Reeve Nightwhisper,” one of the envoys greeted, his voice flat and cold. “Before we escort you, the procedure must be followed. Prove your claim to Nightwhisper blood.”

Uncle Garson wore a thin smile at the edge of the room. He knew the real Reeve should have passed this easily. He also knew he had poisoned his own nephew.

My father’s younger brother was waiting for the moment this “Reeve” would fail and burn beneath his own weapon.

“Draw your sword, Reeve,” Uncle Garson challenged. “Let our guests see the true light of your father’s bloodline.”

I pulled the hilt, and the hiss of metal rang through the silent hall.

The blade began to vibrate softly in my hand, a low hum rising from it. Dim silver light flowed from the grip to the tip, illuminating my face beneath my short hair.

“That is enough.” The envoy nodded, satisfied. “We will wait out front. We leave tonight, Alpha Reeve.”

I walked past Uncle Garson. His face was flushed red, and his jaw tightened as his murder plan failed completely, or so he believed.

“You are not saying goodbye to your little sister?” Uncle Garson asked, not even looking at me.

“She already said goodbye to me.” I met his gaze, sharp and cold. “I am not letting you use her as a pawn in your marriage scheme, so I told Maeve to run. I opened the gate for her myself.”

“You—”

I brushed past him and kept walking toward the castle’s main doors. William and Eamon were already waiting at the threshold.

“Walk with your chin up, Alpha,” Eamon ordered, his eyes shining with tears.

I had made it out of the castle alive, but I knew the real battle had only just begun. I stepped toward the vehicle that would take me into a warzone, a place with no mercy for anyone deemed weak.

And I was heading straight into the Alpha’s nest.

Lycan Spirit Academy.