Wasting time hunting others was a fool's game. The finish line was the only thing that mattered. It was madness to be hunted -or worse, cornered-by not one, but two unhinged Alphas. Suddenly, something moved to my left. A low growl. The snap of twigs. Someone was there. Phina, my wolf, snarled against my skin, desperate to fight. "A wolf's sensed us," she warned. I dropped low, tucking myself behind a fallen log as cover. The Alpha barreled past, too focused on his own prey to notice me crouched in the shadows. I waited for a beat. Then I moved again. Every breath was a battle, every step a gamble. I was faster than most of them in human form. If I shifted, I'd be quicker still-but it wasn't worth the risk. Someone sharp enough might see the lie in my shape. And right now, one mistake meant death. I stopped for a moment, catching my breath as my eyes darted to a weathered map tacked to a gnarled tree trunk. The finish. line wasn't marked, but I knew where it lay. Past the old creek, where the cursed forest thinned and the crumbling ruins of the Academy's ancient watchtower stood like a skeletal hand against the sky. I fixed the image in my mind like a beacon. But just as I turned to move forward, a massive wolf landed in front of me, snarling. I froze. Black eyes? It was not Ronan. Not Dante. Then who was hel The wolf snarl, teeth bared at me. Damn it. It challenged me to fight but there was no way I was shifting! I dropped low, grabbing a thick branch and swinging it upward when he least expected it. It cracked across the Alpha's face with a sharp crack. He reeled back, blood spraying. Before he could recover, I spun and sprinted deeper into the trees. I didn't look back while the mist thickened and the sound of howls of the wolves in the distance. Fighting. Struggling. But the path ahead of me was strangely clear. And when I glanced back there was no one. Phina grew alert in my mind. How was it possible that no one was coming? But what was this feeling of being watched? Branches whipped at my face. Thorns bit into my And then a very strange noise froze me. What was it? A wet, sickening crunch somewhere ahead. arms. For some reason my heart stuttered and every muscle tensed. It wasn't a wolf's snarl. Not a fight. It was something else. Elesh meeting earth. Bone splitting. My instincts screamed for me to turn back to find another route but the path ahead was the short cut that led to the finish line The terrain chewhere was too thick, the mist too blinding. If I hesitated now, I'd lose my lead Swallowing hard, I crept forward, keeping low to the ground, my senses sharp, alert, Then a stench hit me. Coppery. Metallic. Heavy with death. Then the clearing opened before me. Limbs. Scattered like broken dolls. An arm hanging limp from a branch, a booted foot severed mid-calf resting beside at jagged rock. The earth slick with blood, mud turning to crimson paste. And there at the center of it all….. Danie Chewing the flesh. Jordan's My stomach lurched violently. Dante. he was eating his own friend. He was not even in his wolf form, he was human…. Jordan's glassy, unseeing eyes stared at the misty canopy overhead, mouth forever parted in a silent scream. Watching Dante eat his own friend, my whole body grew cold. How could he do this? Eat a person. The Alphas weren't supposed to kill each other. It was a trial. A test of endurance, hunting, and survival. But this this was… I could not name this monstrous act. Dante's broad frame was dappled in blood, some of it his, most of it not. His dark hair hung damply over his forehead, a tail of blood ran down his mouth to throat Then his eyes lifted, finding me through the mist. For a heartbeat. I forgot how to move. He found me and then… smiled. My wolf froze in my mind at that smile. It wasn't the usual twisted mask of hatred he wore whenever he looked at me. No sneer. No cold disdain. It was… different Slow. Dark. And bloodthirsty. The corners of his lips tugged up in a way that made every hair on the back of my neck rise, a quiet, deadly thing that spoke of too many emotions I couldn't name. And in that moment, it terrified me more than the blood in his mouth. I immediately spuri. Leaves and earth scattered beneath my boots as I bolted down the side path, branches clawing at my arms. I didn't get far before I bumped into a solid wall of muscle. I stumbled and almost fell when a hand reached out and grabbed my hand. I found myself in the mid air, and looked up to the person Bare-chested. He was Ronan. His pants soaked and streaked with crimson, his hands slick with blood. A wolf's severed head dangled carelessly from his other hand, its glassy eyes dull and lifeless. Behind him, two bodies lay crumpled, one half-shifted mid-transition, the other's throat torn clean through. My lungs clamped tight. He he too and way more brutal than anything had ever seen. I pulled my hand back and took a step back, my large eyes staring at his blood splashed handsome face. He was a beast. And this wasn't a trial. The Academy-the place I thought was built to test, to mold future Alphas and the place to win that unclaimed throne of hundred years wasn't made of stone and sweat. It was a graveyard And the predators were standing right in front of me.. For a beat, my limbs paralyzed. How did he know I had not shifted even once? Had he been watching me? First he had already noticed that I had been hiding my scent and now he found out I was avoiding shifting. My throat squeezed shut. He had been suspicious of me. Panic flared hot in my chest, but I forced my face into a mask of defiance. "I don't need to shift to take you down," I bit out, jerking my wrist free and stepping back. His gaze narrowed, like he could see straight through the bravado to the storm beneath. The blood on his skin gleamed in the pale light, the stench of death and earth clinging to him like a second skin. "You sure about that, little wolf?" His voice was silk over steel, a threat hidden behind something dangerously close to amusement. I snorted, trying to ignore the chill trickle down my spine. "Capable enough to win without it." I could not let him get me. His lips twitched into a smirk, and I hated the way my pulse jumped at the sight. "I really want to see how it works…" I frowned, taking a step back ready to fight him as he seemed to be attacking me but a blur of motion to my left made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. A massive wolf, thick as a boulder and dark as storm clouds, burst through the trees. Not just any competitor. One of the most ruthless bastards Alpha in the Academy. Phina recognized his scent and aura, "He was with Jordan the other day!" And she was absolutely correct because his blood-red eyes locked straight onto me. No hesitation. No challenge. Just a predator zeroed in on his target. Me I secretly gritted my teeth, witnessing revenge in his eyes. Revenge for Jordan being kicked out of the academy but if he only knew his friend had already been killed and eaten by Dante. However I didn't have time to think. His timing was horrible. Ronan was also here. Now I had to fight two Alphas at once t that slowed me from crossing the finish line. The wolf lunged. I ducked low, feeling his claws graze my shoulder, the force of his leap rattling my bones. I rolled, grabbing a jagged branch, and rammed it into his flank. Not deep enough to kill but enough to make him stumble. I was on my feet in seconds but ready to counter another attack from Ronan wherever it was coming from but then I realised he was not there. My pulse thundered The air crackled, and I felt the weight of a gaze 1 whipped my head up There he was Perched on a rocky ledge above, the moonlight cutting shadows across his face. His expression was unreadable. Why the hell wasn't he attacking? Was I not his prey? Was he not the hunter? Why waste time here, why not just cross the Inishing line?! The wolf snarled behind me in rage. I turned around at lightning speed. He lunged again, jaws snapping, but I dodged left, slamming my elbow into his snout and landing a hard kick to his ribs. I felt the crack through my boot My muscles tensed, understanding the other wolves were actually aligning, others breaking ranks. Packs forming out of necessity, old grudges forgotten in the face of survival. It wasn't strength alone anymore. It was strategy, plan and simple. They are going against the rules. Are they not afraid of being kicked our of the academy?" After seeing what happened to Jordan, how could they dare to do something like this?, "Rules?" Ronan chuckled. "There are no such things as rules in this Academy. Rules are something that are only used when Alpha instructors are watching. Here in this cursed forest where not everyone will get out alive, no one is watching. No one cares. Everyone is just…he paused and looked at me up and down. "…hunting," My body reacted in a strange way to the way he looked at me. I cursed under my breath. Until Ronan moved towards me without warning. I grew alert, ready to fight. So it was finally coming. But suddenly he turned his direction slightly, intercepting a wolf that had been creeping toward my blindside. I turned in surprise. How had Phina not sensed this wolf? Ronan's claws tore through the wolf like paper, dropping him before the wolf even had a chance to yelp. I watched Ronan's actions while holding my breath. For a fraction of a second, our eyes met. Not the look of an ally." Not quite the look of a killer either. Something darker, Possession. Then he started walking towards me. The look in his eyes was not murderous but more dangerous than this. His intentions towards me screamed danger, not death. From the corner of my eye I saw a wolf leap out of the darkness. Ronan reacted towards his wolf, that was my chance. I bolted deeper into the woods, letting him take care of that wolf. I did not have time for his intentions or fights. I had to cross the fish line. My pulse pounding in my ears, branches whipping at my face. I didn't care. Didn't dare look back. But I could feel Ronan Not chang But there His presence was sharp in iny veins, like a second heartbeat. And I knew my escape had passed lum off. Dad he expect that I would stand around and wait for him to fish that w wolf so that he could attack me next! I kept running, dodging shapes in the mist, the sounds of starIS JULI HUWIS Sausing me but I forced myself to keep moving. This wasn't survival anymore. It was endurance. A ruthless race to see who would outlast the others. But then what came into view was not the finish line like I had been expecting. It was a structure rising out of the mist like a ghost. Ruins. "Shit! What is this place?" I stopped dead in my tracks. There were ancient stone walls half-collapsed, vines curling over broken archways, the bones of some long-forgotten place. My stomach twisted. "I followed the map, so how did I get lost and ended up here?" I stumbled toward it, slipping inside the shattered remnants of what had once been a temple, or a shrine. Symbols I didn't recognize were carved into the walls, but the air was thick with some mysterious power that felt a little scary. That's when I sensed someone's presence other than mine. "We are not alone," Phina whispered in my mind. A shadow shifted to my left. I spun, heart pounding. What was it? Send Gifts