جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 110

The Solas strategy meeting droned on.I sat at the head of the table and heard nothing. Just noise. Meaningless words about ranking assignments and upcoming trials. My wolf paced inside me, restless and hungry for something I refused to name.Had been pacing since the rooftop.Since the lab.Since the moment I said those words out loud and watched Val's face do that thing. Disbelief first. Then grief. Then longing, quick and bright, before she stepped back like I'd burned her.I told myself the distance was protection.My wolf told me I was a liar."Virex."I blinked. Headmaster Soren's voice cut through the haze."Your thoughts on the Iron Circle assignments?"I straightened in my chair. "The bracket needs restructuring. Ferox has three top-tier fighters in the same quarter. It's inefficient."Soren studied me. "Noted."The meeting dragged on another twenty minutes. I contributed nothing. Left as soon as Soren dismissed us, my legs carrying me toward the training yard before my brain

The dorm door clicked shut behind me without a sound.I moved through the academy's shadows like I'd been born in them. Eastern path. Past the training yard. Cut behind the storage sheds where the patrols never looked. Every route memorized, every timing calculated.The night air was cold against my skin. The woods beyond the wards hummed with old magic, a low thrum that vibrated through the ground and up into my bones.I kept my pace steady. Quiet.The last thing I needed was to draw attention and get hauled away for violating curfew. The abandoned greenhouse emerged from the trees like a ghost. Glass panes shattered. Iron frame rusted. The perfect hiding place for someone who didn't want to be found.I ducked inside."Silo."Nothing."Silo, I know you're here."A rustle from the corner. Then Silo's wiry frame materialized out of the shadows, his sharp eyes catching the faint moonlight."You're late," he said."I'm here.""Barely." He pulled a small pouch from his pocket and tossed

I walked into Professor Jacobs's leadership class and took a seat at the front.Three months ago, I'd have hidden in the back row. Made myself small. Invisible. The girl who spent most of her early days in school trying not to be seen had made a decision somewhere between the rooftop and this morning.Invisibility had a cost I was no longer willing to pay.I couldn't control the bond. Couldn't control Cassian's choices. Couldn't control the bloodline inquiry that was already circling me like a shark.But I could control how much space I took up in the rooms I'd earned the right to be in.Professor Jacobs entered the classroom, his sharp eyes scanning the students. They landed on me. Paused. Something flickered in his expression. Approval, maybe. Or surprise."Today," he said, "we're discussing crisis leadership. How to command when your authority is being actively questioned."He moved to the front of the room. His gaze found me again."Miss Rhen. Let's use you as an example."I sat u

The Iron Circle tournament opened on a Tuesday with the kind of organized chaos that reminded me why I both hated and needed this place.All four Dominions competed across three days of bracketed combat. The Lunar Combat Arena buzzed with restless energy, students packed into the stands like wolves awaiting blood. I stood at the edge of the Solas mid-tier bracket, high enough to draw attention, low enough that nobody expected much.I intended to use that like a weapon."The first bracket's posted," Cassian said, appearing at my elbow. He'd been back hovering around for a while, although he has been acting quiet and withdrawn, but he still found me before every match. "You're up against Vesper. Some tactician type.""Good.""Good?""I know how to fight tacticians." I rolled my shoulders, loosening the tension. "They read opponents. I'll give them something to read."Cassian studied me. "You're different.""I'm the same.""No. You're not." He shook his head. "You used to look scared bef

The Iron Circle finals arrived on Day Three with the weight of expectation pressing down from every everyone.I'd won every match leading up to this. Not cleanly. Not easily. But consistently. Through strategy, patience, and the specific advantage of being consistently underestimated.My final opponent was a Solas senior—tall, broad-shouldered, the kind of alpha who had never had to work for anything because his body was already built to dominate. He looked at me across the arena floor with the casual dismissal of someone who'd already written the outcome in his head.I intended to make him rewrite it.The common room watched on the academy feed. I knew because I could feel the collective energy from the stands, could hear the murmurs rippling through the crowd. Cassian watched from the arena itself, standing apart from Raven, who was seated in the Vesper section with her perfect posture and perfect smile and perfect attention fixed on him watching me.The horn blared.I moved before