All Chapters of Three Alpha's, One Reckoning, (Wake by the Ancient): Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Sable's POV---The first thing I learned at Ravencrest Alpha Academy was how to disappear.Not literally. I'm not that lucky. But I learned how to make people's eyes slide right past me, how to become furniture, how to exist in the spaces between important people so they forget I'm there at all.It's a survival skill. The only one that matters.My eyes snap open at 4:47 AM. Three minutes before my alarm. My body doesn't need the extra sleep anymore. It's been trained out of me.I slip out of bed, careful not to make the old springs creak. The servant's quarters attached to Odette's suite are small. Barely big enough for a cot and a dresser. But it's mine. Sort of.First task: Odette's uniform.I pull the pressed blazer from the closet, checking for wrinkles. There's one on the sleeve. I smooth it with my palm, then hang it on the hook by her door. Next, the skirt. The blouse. The tie. Everything in order.Her skincare products come next. Cleanser, toner, serum, moisturizer. In that e

Sable's POV---Garrick's question hangs in the air like a blade waiting to fall.What the hell are you?I don't answer. I can't. My wolf is still roaring inside me, her power thrumming through my veins like electricity. The three Alphas are standing between me and the tree line, and I can feel their wolves pressing against mine, testing, probing.I need to run.I bolt.I don't make it three steps before Garrick's hand closes around my wrist.The moment his skin touches mine, everything explodes.My wolf surges so violently that I feel the ground crack beneath my feet. A shockwave ripples outward, throwing all three Alphas backward like ragdolls. Garrick hits a tree with a sickening thud. Merrick lands in the stream. Stellan somehow stays on his feet, sliding back but not falling.I don't wait to see if they're okay.I shift.The transformation is faster this time, less painful. One moment I'm human, the next I'm something else entirely. Something massive. Something with fur as black

Sable's POV---Two days. That's all I have.Forty-eight hours to learn how to control a wolf that's been sleeping for eighteen years and is now wide awake, hungry, and far too powerful for my body to contain."Again."Garrick's voice cuts through my thoughts like a blade. I'm on my back in the dirt of the training grounds, my ribs aching, my breath coming in ragged gasps. He's standing over me, not even winded."I said again.""I heard you." I push myself up, my arms trembling. "I'm not deaf.""Then stop fighting like you are." He circles me, his eyes cold. "You hesitate. Every time. You see an opening and you wait. Why?""Because I don't want to hurt you.""Wrong answer." He lunges, and I barely dodge. "You hesitate because you're scared. Scared of your own power. Scared of what you might do."He's right. I hate that he's right."So what do I do?""Stop being scared." He throws a punch. I block it, barely. "You could kill me with one swipe of your claws. You know that?""Yes.""Then

Sable's POV---I don't sleep.The dream of my mother plays on repeat behind my eyes. The wolf of rage. The wolf of ice. The wolf of sight. They are bound to you. Bound. Like chains. Like destiny. Like something I never asked for.When dawn breaks, I'm already dressed. I don't bother with breakfast. I don't bother with anything except getting out of this room. The walls are closing in. The silence is suffocating.I need air. I need space. I need to think.The academy grounds are quiet this early. Most students are still asleep. The ones who aren't avoid me. Word has spread about the council meeting. About what I am. About what I did at the Trials.I'm not invisible anymore.I walk to the training grounds. The same place where Garrick pushed me until I couldn't stand. The dirt is still marked with our footprints. The memory makes my chest ache."You shouldn't be out here."I turn.Garrick is leaning against a tree, arms crossed, watching me. He looks like he hasn't slept either. Dark c

Sable's POV---The wolves come like a wave, and for one terrible moment, I think this is how I die.Hundreds of them. Massive. Snarling. Eyes glowing in the darkness. They pour from the tree line, a flood of teeth and claws and death.Garrick shifts first. His black wolf launches at the nearest attacker, tearing into fur and flesh. Merrick follows, cold and precise, his brown wolf cutting through the chaos like a blade. Stellan shifts last, his white wolf almost glowing in the moonlight, moving with an eerie grace that makes him look like a ghost.I don't shift.I can't.The power is still too raw. Too wild. If I let it out now, I might destroy everything. Including them."Sable!" Garrick's voice cuts through the chaos. "Run!""No.""You can't fight like this!""I'm not running." I feel the power pulsing beneath my skin. "Not anymore."Alpha Whitmore stands at the edge of the battle, watching. His face is calm. Patient. Like he's waiting for something."You can feel it, can't you?" h