Chapter 4

After three days of burning fever, I dragged my ravaged body into the Joint Assembly Hall. Sienna was being awarded the Leadership Medal by the academy for her "outstanding efforts in helping fellow students evacuate during the blizzard."

The moment I walked in, every eye turned to me.

"Look, the leech is still alive."

"Heard she faked being sick that night to get Lucas's sympathy, but he didn't even look at her."

I kept my face blank and shuffled to the farthest corner seat. The fever was making my vision swim.

On stage, Sienna stood in her high-level Alpha ceremonial dress, basking under the spotlight. The host's voice boomed through the hall:

"When the blizzard struck, student Sienna assisted Alpha heir Lucas in evacuating her peers and has been awarded the Academy's Leadership Medal!"

Thunderous applause. Lucas stood at the side of the stage, holding the silver medal of honor.

Then Sienna took the microphone, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "I couldn't have earned this award without Elena. During the blizzard, she gave up her own access card, which gave me the chance to use Lucas's spare card and step up into this role. In the spirit of pack inclusivity, I'd like to invite Elena up here to personally place this medal on me."

Laughter erupted from the audience. Everyone was waiting to watch me squirm.

Having the discarded waste present the winner's award—that was humiliation in its rawest form.

I stayed in my seat. My voice came out cold. "No."

The temperature in the room dropped.

Lucas's face darkened. He strode over, leaned down, and hissed under his breath, "Elena, haven't you caused enough trouble? Sienna's trying to help you. Do you have any idea how bad your situation is right now?"

I looked at him. "And who made it that way?"

Lucas looked at me like I'd lost my mind. He grabbed my wrist and warned in a low voice, "Listen to me, Elena. You need to build your own connections in this pack. Stop expecting me to fight your battles for you. Got it?"

I stared at the boy I'd grown up with, and something almost made me laugh.

This was Lucas.

In his eyes, my pain was drama. My pride meant nothing. And Sienna's mockery was "helping me."

"Bow my head?" I said, my voice hoarse and barely above a whisper. "Fine, Lucas. I'll go up."

I yanked my wrist free and walked up to the stage, past every stunned face in the hall.

Sienna was already smiling, tilting her head down, waiting for me to place the medal around her neck.

I walked right past her. Straight to the microphone.

I pulled out the Silvermoon Crest I'd always worn as a pendant—the one that belonged to my father. The medal given to heroes who died protecting the pack's Alpha.

Gasps from the crowd.

"That's the Silvermoon Crest—exclusive to hero warrior Carol Underwood! How does that waste Elena have it?!"

I turned to Lucas in the crowd. His face had gone white.

His lips parted. "Elena..."

When I was little, he'd made me hide my identity. Kept me from telling anyone my father's name, afraid the enemies would come for me.

Right there, in front of hundreds of wolves, in front of the Elders' Council, I pulled the Silvermoon Crest from my collar—the symbol of a hero's daughter.

Under the Elders' stunned eyes, I summoned every last shred of power left in my ravaged body.

CRACK—

The crest of supreme honor shattered in my hand.

Metal fragments rained down like ashes.

"I, Elena Underwood, hereby declare—"

I lifted my chin high, my clear gaze locked on Lucas's ashen face, every word cutting through the silence.

"As of today, I formally renounce my membership in Silvermoon Pack. I voluntarily withdraw and am transferring out of this academy."

"From this day forward, I owe Silvermoon nothing."

Dead silence.

Days until I left this rotten place—zero.