All Chapters of THE ALPHA ACADEMY: THE REJECTED HEIR: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

"Who," Lira said, the single word barely more than a breath.Veyra hesitated, and for the first time since Lira had met her, something that looked genuinely like fear crossed the older woman's composed features."Say it," Lira pressed. "Whatever you're afraid of, saying it out loud isn't going to make it worse than it already is.""You'd be surprised," Veyra said quietly. "His name is Malachai Rook. He is, or was, the last surviving heir of House Rook, another bloodline the Culling supposedly extinguished, alongside your mother's and my own.""Another survivor," Lira repeated. "Like you. Like me.""Not exactly like us," Veyra said. "House Rook's bloodline carried a different gift than the First Alpha's line. Where your blood commands loyalty and unity, House Rook's blood commanded something considerably darker. Domination through fear. Control through corruption of will.""And he's the one summoning the Hollow Ones.""I believe so," Veyra said. "I don't have absolute proof, not yet. B

The terrain shifted dramatically as they pushed further northeast, gentle hills giving way to rocky, ascending ground that made travel considerably slower than any of them had anticipated."How much farther," Lira asked, on their third day of climbing, her breath visible in the increasingly cold mountain air."According to my markers, perhaps half a day more," Veyra said, checking the position of the peaks around them against some internal calculation Lira couldn't quite follow. "The specific location I traced correspondence to sits within a valley just beyond that ridge.""You're certain," Kael asked, not for the first time."As certain as I can be without having stood there myself," Veyra said, an edge of frustration creeping into her voice. "I've answered this question four times already, Crown Prince.""Forgive me for wanting certainty before we potentially walk into an ambush," Kael said."There's no certainty in any of this," Veyra snapped. "There never has been. I'm doing the b

"Run!" Kael's voice cut across the mountainside as he broke cover, already sprinting down the ridge toward them."Lira, move!" Veyra grabbed her arm, hauling her back up the slope. "Now!""He's not attacking directly," Lira gasped, even as she scrambled up the rocky incline. "Look, they're holding position!"She was right. The Hollow Ones had emerged, dozens of them, but they remained clustered near the compound, watching, waiting, rather than surging forward the way they had at the border."A demonstration," Ashen said, reaching them as Kael arrived from the opposite direction. "Not an attack. He's showing us what he's capable of.""I don't particularly want a demonstration," Dorian's voice, absurdly, called out from somewhere further up the ridge, and Lira turned to find him cresting the rise on horseback, considerably out of breath."Dorian? You were supposed to stay at the Academy!""Change of plans," Dorian said, swinging down from his horse. "Rurik got word from a border scout t

"Rewriting bloodline magic," Ashen repeated slowly, as though saying it aloud might reveal some hidden flaw in the claim. "That's not simply ambitious. That's nearly impossible, according to every text I've ever studied on the subject.""Nearly," Maren said. "Not entirely. And House Rook's original gift was never fully understood, even by scholars before the Culling. My brother told me, before he lost too much of himself to explain things clearly anymore, that House Rook's bloodline was considered dangerous specifically because it could theoretically alter the fundamental nature of another wolf's connection to their own magic. Malachai's spent eighteen years trying to scale that ability up considerably beyond anything his ancestors ever attempted.""Using the Hollow Ones as some kind of conduit," Veyra said, working through the implications with visible dread. "That would explain the summoning pattern. He's not simply using them as weapons. He's using them to gather and store power fo

"Say that again," Rurik said, already halfway into his boots. "Slower this time, because I want to be very sure I heard you correctly.""Malachai's forces are moving south," Ashen repeated. "Toward your capital. Considerable numbers, Hollow Ones mixed with what appear to be compelled followers.""That's my home," Rurik said. "That's my people.""I know.""How long do we have?""Scouts estimate three days, maybe less if he pushes the pace."Rurik was already moving toward the door. "Then we don't have three days to sit around a war table refining diagrams.""Rurik, wait." Kael caught his arm. "Running in blind gets people killed. Yours included.""Staying here gets my capital burned," Rurik snapped, then caught himself, exhaling hard. "Sorry. That wasn't fair.""It's fine," Kael said. "You're right to be afraid for them. Just don't let that fear make the decision for you.""Then what do we do?""We move," Lira said, already gathering her things. "Fast, but together. All four Houses, ex