Chapter 2

The next morning, I went to the pack hall to file my paperwork for the The Blood Trials

In the corridor, I ran into Silas and Lyla.

Lyla was clinging to his arm. The second she saw me, she ducked behind him like a scared pup.

"Silas, I'm scared."

He stepped in front of me, brow furrowed. "Maeve, don't intimidate her."

I moved to walk around them.

He grabbed my wrist. His Alpha aura flared, pressing down on me like a stone wall.

"What's your attitude? Lyla didn't do anything wrong. She didn't have a choice! Do you have to make a scene and embarrass the whole pack?"

I yanked my hand free. My wolf bristled under my skin.

"Move."

My voice was sharp. Wolves in the corridor turned to look.

Lyla's tears spilled over.

"Maeve, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. If you're still angry, you can hit me. I deserve it."

She stepped toward me, arms open, chin tilted up to expose her throat. A textbook Omega submission pose.

Silas yanked her back into his chest, glaring at me.

"Look what you've done to her! Maeve, when did you become this cruel?"

Whispers started around us.

"That's the she-wolf from the meat shop, right?"

"I heard she was supposed to get the Royal Academy slot, but Lyla got it instead."

"I mean, look at her face. Cold as ice. Who'd want her in their pack?"

"Lyla's so sweet. If I were Silas, I'd pick her too."

I ignored them all. Looked only at Silas. "I'll say it one more time. Move."

He didn't. He shoved me instead.

"You're apologizing to Lyla. Right now."

I stumbled back two steps. Hit the stone wall.

Pain shot through my spine.

I looked up at him.

He looked back. Not a trace of warmth in his eyes.

We grew up together.

He was twelve when his father sent him from the capital to this border pack. A young Alpha pup with too much pride. Got jumped by a group of older wolves his first day.

I was the one who grabbed a silver-tipped blade and scared them off.

After that, he followed me everywhere.

He hated the blood and grime on my hands. But whenever someone mocked my hearing, my dead right ear from a childhood injury, he'd bare his fangs and fight until they submitted.

He said: "Maeve, I've got you from now on."

"You can't hear out of one ear? Fine. I'll be your other ear."

"When I become Alpha, you'll be my Luna. We'll rule this pack together."

Now he was shoving me into a wall. For an Omega he'd known for one season.

Lyla sobbed harder in his arms. "Silas, forget it. Let's just go. It's all my fault."

He rubbed her back, voice going soft. "It's not your fault."

He shot me one last look, pure warning, Alpha dominance rolling off him in waves, then walked away with his arm around her.

I stood there for a while.

Then straightened up and kept walking.

On the way to the Elder's office, I passed the announcement board.

Lyla's portrait was pinned in the center.

Below it, the recommendation read: Exceptional potential. Orphaned Omega. Remarkable resilience.

I almost laughed.

I remembered what it was like, going back to the meat shop.

My father, reeking of moonshine, hand already out.

"Where's the money?"

I ignored him. He grabbed a fistful of my hair and slammed my head into the wall.

"I'm talking to you! You deaf?"

My right ear heard nothing. My left ear rang from the impact.

"I don't have any."

"Bullshit. That Alpha pup is loaded! You're always hanging around him. What's a few coins? You hiding it from me?"

He slapped me across the face. Started digging through my pockets.

I shoved him off.

He kicked me in the stomach. Hard. Even crippled, even with one leg half-gone from the border wars, he was vicious.

"You ungrateful bitch!"

I curled up on the floor. Felt my organs twist.

He was still screaming.

"Worthless! Just like your dead mother! She-wolf trash, both of you!"

He reached for the iron hook on the wall.

That's when Silas showed up.

He kicked my father off me. Pulled me up. Checked my injuries. His wolf was growling low in his chest.

"Where'd he hit you?"

I shook my head.

He took off his cloak. Draped it over my shoulders.

"Don't be scared. I'm here."

That night, he didn't leave. Slept on the floor of the shop.

The next day, he had the pack enforcers drag my father to the holding cells.

He said: "Maeve, I'll take care of you from now on."

I believed him.

I really believed he'd be the one person I could count on forever.

Turns out, that kind of thing can just disappear.