When Sage tells me it was my brother who reported us, I feel like I've been punched. Marcus has always ignored me, but I never thought he would actively work against me. Yet somehow, it makes sense. He's always been competitive. He's always wanted to be the best. And if I'm training to be stronger, if I'm becoming a warrior, then maybe he sees me as a threat.
"How did Marcus find out?" I ask.
"He followed you," Kira says. "Three nights ago, he was coming back from somewhere and saw you heading to the training grounds."
"What did he do?" I ask.
"He went straight to your father," Mira says. "Told him that his little sister was breaking pack rules and disrespecting the Beta by training illegally."
I feel anger rise up in me like a fire. All these years, I've forgiven Marcus for ignoring me. For letting me be bullied. For being a coward. And this is how he repays that forgiveness. By stabbing me in the back.
"So what do we do now?" I ask Sage.
"We train harder," Sage says. "We stay more careful. And we get ready for the trials. They're in three weeks."
"My father will never allow me to compete," I say.
"Then we don't ask permission," Sage says. "The trials are open to anyone who wants to enter. We register you without telling him."
"That's insane," I say. "He'll kill me."
"He might," Sage agrees. "But at least you'll be alive and free, not dead inside like you've been for your whole life."
Over the next few days, I watch my brother more carefully. The way he interacts with Kane and their other friends. The way he talks about being the next leader of the pack. The way he looks at me when he thinks I'm not paying attention—like he's satisfied that he's put me in my place.
It becomes clear that Marcus isn't just threatened by my potential. He's threatened by the idea that I might become something important. Something separate from him. Something that doesn't rely on his approval.
During school, things have shifted again. More people are friendly to me now. They want to talk to me. They want to sit with me at lunch. It's not real friendship—it's the kind of interest that comes from seeing someone gain power—but it's still different.
Tessa is gone, but her absence has created a vacuum. Smaller bullies are trying to fill her spot, but they don't have the same power she did.
One day, I'm walking through the hallway when someone pushes me against the lockers. I turn around ready to fight, and it's Kane, my brother's best friend.
"You need to stay away from Sage," he says. "She's going to ruin this pack, and if you're with her, you'll go down too."
"That's not your decision to make," I say.
"Maybe not, but it's the warning I'm giving you," Kane says. "Choose your side before it's too late."
After he leaves, I realize that the adults are starting to pay attention. They're starting to worry. And that means Sage's plan is working, even if she hasn't done anything obvious yet.
When I tell Sage what Kane said, she just smiles.
"Good," she says. "Let them worry. Fear means they're starting to understand that things are changing."
The night before we're supposed to register for the trials, my father calls me into his office for the third time in two weeks.
"There are rumors," he says, watching me carefully, "that you might enter the Warrior Trials."
I don't say anything. He continues.
"I'm telling you now, that will not happen," he says. "You are not a warrior. You're a Beta's daughter, which means you should be preparing for a good match, planning your future in the traditional way."
"What if I don't want that?" I ask.
He looks up from his desk like I've just spoken a language he doesn't understand.
"What you want doesn't matter," he says coldly. "What matters is the future of this pack and the honor of this family. Your brother will be the next leader. You will find a suitable mate and support that leadership. That is your role."
"That's not fair," I say.
"Life isn't fair," he repeats, the same thing he's said to me a hundred times before. "You of all people should know that."
I want to scream at him. I want to tell him that his system is broken. That he's broken. That his hatred of me isn't my fault, and I won't spend my whole life suffering for it.
Instead, I say, "I'm going to enter the trials."
The silence that follows is heavy. My father stands up slowly from his desk.
"If you do this," he says quietly, and his voice is somehow worse than if he yelled, "you are no longer welcome in this house. You will no longer be my daughter. Do you understand?"
"Yes," I say.
"You will have nothing," he continues. "No pack protection. No family support. Nothing."
"I understand," I say.
"Get out of my sight," he says.
I leave his office and go straight to my room. I pack a bag with clothes and my most important possessions. Then I leave through my window one last time and head to the location where Sage told me to meet her if something like this happened.
It's a small cottage on the edge of pack territory. Kira and Mira are already there. Sage is waiting for us.
"He kicked me out," I say.
"I know," Sage says. "Kane told your father about the cottage. Your father sent him to make sure you knew the consequences of defying him."
"My own father," I say, and my voice breaks. "He actually did it. He actually chose pride over his own daughter."
"He chose the system over you," Sage says. "And the system is what we're going to break."
That night, the four of us sleep in the cottage. It's small and not very comfortable, but it's ours. It's free from the pack's control.
The next morning, we register for the Warrior Trials. The registration is done through the Alpha King's office, which is located in the Neutral Zone. A person comes specifically to process our applications. They ask for proof that we're trained fighters, and Kai writes us letters of recommendation.
Everything is done officially, which means my father can't do anything about it legally. The Warrior Trials are controlled by the Alpha King, not by individual pack leaders.
When the registration is complete, it feels like a point of no return. There's nothing my father can do now except wait for me to fight.
"What happens if we win?" Mira asks.
"We get offered positions as Elite Warriors," Sage says. "We get protection from the Alpha King himself. We get power that no pack leader can take away."
"And if we lose?" Kira asks.
"Then at least we tried," Sage says.
The next two weeks are intense. We train every single day. Raven comes to coach us through different fighting styles and strategies. Kai teaches us about the other fighters we might face.
There's also something else happening. Kai is spending more and more time with Sage, and their connection is becoming harder to hide. They sit close together. They touch casually. They look at each other like nobody else exists.
One night, when I catch them alone together, Kai is telling Sage something about his family history.
"My father was exiled from his pack," he says. "He was accused of betraying the Alpha, but it was never proven. He died never knowing why. I've never known the full story."
I watch Sage's face carefully. She knows. She knows that it was her father's fault. That Kai's father and her father were part of the same betrayal story, but in different ways.
But she doesn't tell him. She just holds his hand and listens.
After he leaves, I ask Sage about it.
"I'm going to tell him," she says. "But not yet. Not until the trials are over."
"What if he can't forgive you for not telling him earlier?" I ask.
"Then I'll deal with that," Sage says. "But right now, I need him focused. I need all of us focused."
The week before the trials, a letter arrives at the cottage. It's from my brother, Marcus. I'm surprised he even knows where to send it.
*Sister,* the letter begins. *I made a mistake. I should have warned you instead of reporting you. I was afraid of what you were becoming, but I realize now that I was wrong to be afraid. I was wrong to be jealous. I want to support you at the trials. I want our family to be whole again. Please come home. Father may not forgive you, but I will.*
I read the letter over and over. Part of me wants to believe that my brother has suddenly realized he loves me and wants to repair our relationship. But another part of me knows it's too convenient. It's too perfect timing.
"Don't go," Sage says when I show her the letter. "It's a trap."
"You don't know that," I say.
"Your father is afraid," Sage says. "He's afraid that you're going to win at the trials. He's afraid that you're going to prove him wrong. So he's using your love for your brother to try to get you back under his control."
Maybe she's right. Or maybe my brother really is sorry.
Either way, I don't go home. I stay in the cottage, and I focus on training.
The night before we leave for the trials, we sit together in the cottage, the four of us.
"Whatever happens tomorrow," Mira says, "I'm grateful I found all of you."
"We're going to make history," Kira says.
Sage just looks at me. "You ready?"
"No," I say honestly. "But I'm going anyway."
That night, I dream about my father. About the moment he disowned me. In the dream, I'm standing in front of the entire pack, and he has to look at me. Really look at me. Not with disappointment, but with acknowledgment of what I am.
When I wake up, it's time to go.