One

KAMARI POV

You know the saying your life can change in the blink of an eye.

All it takes is a second. A single moment, and everything you’ve ever known goes down the drain.

I should have known. I should have sensed it.

It wasn’t like Father to summon me away from my usual lessons this early in the morning.

I’d barely finished preparing the healing herbs when one of the guards appeared at the entrance of the Healing Quarter.

“The High Lord requests your presence. Immediately,” he said

The mortar nearly slipped from my hands.

Father? At this hour?

He had never interrupted my lessons before. In fact, he was the one who insisted I complete my healer’s training, no matter how busy pack life became. He believed every leader should know how to preserve life before taking it.

So why now?

A knot settled in my stomach as I wiped my hands clean and removed my healer’s apron. The scent of lavender, rosemary, and crushed moonleaf clung to my skin, a familiar comfort that did little to quiet the unease growing inside me.

The healer overseeing today’s lesson offered me a reassuring smile.

“Go,” she said softly. “Whatever the High Lord needs must be important.”

I forced a nod, though my heart had already begun to race.

As I stepped out of the Healing Quarter, the peaceful sounds of apprentices grinding herbs and tending to injured wolves faded behind me.

With every step toward the High Lord’s manor, the feeling only grew stronger.

Something was wrong.

I reached the stone corridor leading to High Lord Raelan’s office. My stomach tightened with every step.

The guards stationed outside stood rigid, their expressions carefully blank. Neither of them met my eyes as they pushed the heavy wooden doors open.

“You’re sending her to die!”

A familiar voice thundered from inside, stopping me in my tracks.

Zena.

She was the only person reckless enough to raise her voice at the High Lord and live to tell the tale.

A muffled reply came from Father before I reached for the door handle. Taking a steadying breath, I stepped inside.

“She doesn’t stand a chance!” Zena shouted, her back turned to me.

“I do not have a choice,” Father replied, his voice heavy with exhaustion. “She has to go.”

“You do have a choice!” Zena snapped. “You’re the High Lord. Use your authority.”

Her gaze landed on me, and all the color drained from her face.

“Look at her,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “She’s barely begun her healer’s training. She’ll be torn apart within a day. She could die.”

Die?

My pulse stumbled.

What in the Moon’s name were they talking about?

“You sent for me, Father?” I asked quietly.

Father held my gaze for a long moment before motioning toward the chair across from his desk.

“Sit.”

I glanced at Zena, hoping she’d offer some explanation, but she had already turned away, pacing the length of the room with her arms folded tightly across her chest.

“I’d rather stand,” I said.

A muscle feathered in Father’s jaw.  “As you wish.”

Silence settled over the room. The kind that gives off negative energy. I looked from Father to Zena and back again.

“Will someone tell me what’s going on?”

Father exhaled slowly. “This morning, a royal decree arrived from the Grand Academy.”

“The Grand Academy?” I frowned.

It was impossible not to know of it.

Every child in the realm grew up hearing stories about its brutal trials, impossible standards, and the Lycans who emerged from its gates bonded to the Ancient Beasts.

It wasn’t a place healers spoke about. It wasn’t a place I had ever imagined for myself.

Father reached for a parchment resting on his desk and slid it toward me.

The parchment was thick, its edges trimmed in gold. At the bottom sat a crimson wax seal pressed with the crest of the Academy, a pair of wings surrounding a full moon.

My name was written across the front.

Kamari Walder.

A strange chill swept over me.

“Open it,” Father said.

I broke the seal with unsteady fingers.

My eyes skimmed the first few lines.

Then I read them again.

“It can't…” The word escaped in little more than a whisper. “This has to be a mistake.”

“It isn’t,” Father replied.

“They’ve summoned me?” I looked up at him, utterly bewildered. “Why?”

“We weren’t given a reason.”

“They don’t summon healers.”

“I know.”

“Being a healer was best disguised we had, Father.”

“I know.” father said, rubbing his temples.

“I can't attend Grand Academy. I can't be in Wolfstone.”

“I know, Kamari.”

Each answer only made my heart pound harder.

I looked back at the letter, searching for some sign that another name had been meant instead of mine.

There wasn’t one. Every line pointed to me.

Every word felt like a sentence.

“You don’t understand,” I said, my voice beginning to shake. “Those trials are meant for Lycans. Half of them don’t even  survive the first year.”

“I understand.”

“No, Father.” I shook my head. “You don’t. Am human; I would die there”

The room fell silent again.

Then Zena laughed bitterly. “Tell her the rest.”

Father closed his eyes for the briefest moment.

When he opened them again, they settled on me with a weight that made my stomach twist.

“You aren’t being invited to the Academy, Kamari.”

He paused. “You’re being commanded to attend.”

The blood drained from my face.

“And if I refuse?” I whispered.

Father’s expression hardened. “You can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because no one refuses a summons from the Grand Academy.”

My heart hammered against my ribs.

“If you don’t report to Wolfstone…” His voice was calm, but each word landed like a blade. “…they will brand you a traitor to the realm.”

He stepped closer. “And the moment they begin asking why a  High Lord’s daughter refused to attend, they’ll uncover the truth.”

His eyes locked on mine. “They’ll discover you’re human.”

The room seemed to tilt beneath my feet.

“And when they do…” His voice dropped to almost a whisper.

“They won’t just kill you. They’ll execute every person who helped keep your secret.”His jaw tightened.” rOur entire family dies with you.”