The Pack Elder frowned at me. “Maeve, the Academy slot you earned by ripping through three rounds of death matches soaked in your own blood, why is someone else’s name on it?” I found out on the last day of the posting. My Royal Guard Academy recommendation, the one I’d torn my body apart to earn, had been signed over by Silas. To Lyla Voss. An Omega with no combat record. I found Silas outside the main hall, leaning against the stone wall, arms crossed. “Lyla’s pack was wiped out,” he said without looking at me. “She has nothing. No protection, no rank. Without the slot, she’s dead.” “You’re strong enough to fight your way in through the The Blood Trials” I stared at him. Silent. Jaw locked. He frowned, reached into his jacket, and pulled out a leather pouch heavy with gold coins. He tossed it toward me. “Fine. I’ll fund your training for the next four years. Private instructors, weapons, potions, all of it. Consider it me buying your slot. Happy now?” I looked at the pouch on the ground between us. So that was it. The slot I’d bled for. The midnight hunts. The shattered bones that healed wrong. The hours sparring until my muscles tore from the bone. In his eyes, it was just a bag of coins. A charity toss to a stray. My inner wolf snarled. I forced her down. I didn’t pick up the pouch. I turned and walked away. Outside, it started to rain. Silas’s voice went cold behind me. “What the hell is your problem now? You scavenge leftover bones at that meat shop every day for scraps. I’m handing you gold and you’re acting like you’re above it?” My steps slowed. I turned my head. Looked at his face through the blur of rain. Fifteen years of loving him. Fifteen years of thinking he was mine. It all rotted through in that single moment. So I smiled. “Sure. Think whatever you want.” … I’d barely made it back to the meat shop when Bree’s voice crackled through the mindlink. Maeve, I just heard about the roster. How the hell is Lyla on it? Did Silas do this? I let out a bitter laugh. I talked to him. What did he say? He said he bought my slot. Silence in my head. Then Bree’s voice came back, raw with rage. He’s a piece of shit. I said nothing. What are you doing right now? Skinning elk. Stop skinning elk! Go to the Elder Council and raise hell! That slot is yours! Do you not remember what you sacrificed for it? I shook my head, kept working the knife. It won’t matter. How can it not matter? It’s a royal decree! If Silas can override it once, he can override it again. His father is the Alpha. The Elders won’t go against them. More silence. Finally Bree said, I just heard from the other females. Silas booked the grand feast hall for Lyla. Full celebration. The whole pack is invited. Okay. Maeve… I gotta go. Customer just walked in. I shut the mindlink. A wolf in human form walked into the shop with a fresh kill that needed butchering. I grabbed the carcass and got to work.
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.
At the final combat trial before the Open Assessment, I placed first overall. Silas placed dead last. He crumpled his scorecard and tossed it into the fire pit. “Doesn’t matter. I’m not fighting in the Assessment anyway.” Lyla was right there, gazing up at him with worship in her eyes. “Silas, you’re so amazing.” He grinned, pinched her cheek. “Obviously. I’m inheriting the pack. Why would I need to fight?” I walked past them. Silas called out. “Maeve.” I stopped. “Still pissed about the slot?” I didn’t answer. “I know it sucked for you. But you saw Lyla’s situation. She needed it more than you did.” He walked up to me, voice softening. “Take the gold. I left three hundred coins with the vault guard under your name. Just tell him who you are and it’s yours.” He actually believed money could fix everything. Could erase what he did to me. Could buy back what I lost. “I don’t need it,” I said flatly. “Here we go again.” Irritation crept into his voice. “When are you going to drop this pathetic pride thing? You earn, what, scraps at the shop? I’m offering you more than you’d see in a lifetime.” Lyla walked over, tugging at his sleeve. “Silas, don’t say that to her. She’s just… not used to it yet.” She turned to me, pity dripping from her eyes. “Maeve, I know you resent me. But I was truly desperate. My old pack, they… they left me to die.” Her eyes went red again. The scent of distressed Omega poured off her. I watched the performance. All season, I’d watched it. Over and over. She always played the wounded pup in front of Silas. And I was always cast as the big bad wolf. “Silas promised he’d make it up to you,” Lyla said, like she was the Luna of the pack making an announcement. “Whatever you want, just tell us.” I felt the corner of my mouth twitch. I actually laughed. First time in days. Silas blinked. “What’s funny?” “I’m laughing because you two deserve each other. A match made in hell.” I said it, turned, and walked away. Silas shouted behind me. “Maeve! Get back here!” I didn’t look back. That night, Bree sent a messenger with a sketch from the feast. Silas and Lyla at the grand feast hall. He was standing at the head of the table, raising a goblet. She was curled up against him, beaming. In the background, pack members held up a banner made of stitched hide. It read: Congratulations Lyla on the Royal Slot! Long live Silas and Lyla! A note from Bree was tucked behind it. Don’t look at this. She’s not worth it. I tossed the sketch into the fire. Let the silence fill the room. Picked up my training blade. Started running drills, one strike at a time. Drowning in the work was the only way to stop thinking.
A week before the Open Assessment, the training grounds closed for the sacred hunt festival. Everyone else was out feasting. Or cramming in last-minute sparring at private dens. I was still at the meat shop. One afternoon, Silas showed up. He shifted back to human form right outside the front door. Still breathing hard from the run. He leaned against the doorframe and waved me over. “Maeve, come here.” I didn’t look up. He frowned, walked over. “I’m talking to you.” He reached for my hand, saw the dried blood under my nails, and pulled back. “Go wash up. You’re coming with me.” “Where?” “Lyla wants to visit the coastal pack. You’re coming too.” I straightened up. “I’m not going.” “Throwing a tantrum again?” He clicked his tongue. “I came all the way here to get you. Don’t be ungrateful.” “I said no.” “Why?” “I need to train.” “Train?” He laughed like I’d told the funniest joke he’d ever heard. “You could skip training entirely and still crush half the candidates.” He paused, then added, “Come on. Think of it as a break. Lyla said she wants to make peace with you.” “There’s nothing to make peace over.” Silas ran out of patience. “Maeve, I’m asking you one last time. Are you coming or not?” “No.” He stared at me for a few seconds. Then he smiled. “Fine. Have it your way.” He pulled a leather pouch from his belt and threw it at my feet. Gold coins scattered across the dirty floor. “That’s your wages for the month. I already paid your boss. Take it and stay out of my sight.” I looked at the coins on the ground. Didn’t move. “Not enough?” He tossed another pouch. “How about now?” Old Frank, the shop owner, came out from the back. He saw the scene and rushed over. “Alpha Kensington, what’s going on here? Let’s all calm down.” Silas didn’t even glance at him. He kept his eyes locked on me. “Pick it up.” I still didn’t move. Lyla climbed down from the carriage behind him. She hurried to Silas’s side, tugging his arm. “Silas, stop. You’re scaring her.” She crouched down, picking up the coins one by one. “Maeve, please don’t be mad at Silas. He’s just doing this because of me.” She held the gold out to me, tears shining in her eyes. “Please come with us. I don’t want to be the reason you two are fighting.” I looked at her. Then at Silas. There was no guilt on Silas’s face. Not even a flicker. He thought he was doing me a favor. He thought he had the right to decide everything for me. Including my dignity. I stepped around them both and walked into the back room. Silas’s voice followed me, dripping with contempt. “See? That’s her problem. Give her an inch and she spits in your face.” Then the sound of paws hitting dirt as he shifted and ran. Gone. Frank came in, sighing. “Kid, don’t take it to heart. That’s just how he is.” He picked up the coins from the floor and pressed them into my hand. “Keep it. Your situation at home, you need the money.” I held the gold. It still smelled like Lyla’s rose oil. I walked to the basin, turned on the pump, and scrubbed my hands over and over. Until my skin turned raw and red. Then I stopped. That night, my father showed up again. He took the gold. Smashed the drying racks and the salting barrels. I sent word to the pack enforcers. They came and dragged him away. Again. On his way out, he jabbed his finger in my face. “You ungrateful little bitch! Reporting your own father to the enforcers! You’ll rot in the earth!” I watched them haul him down the road. My heart was perfectly still. So this is what it feels like. When everyone in your life turns their back on you.
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