Orientation was held in a massive hall that could easily fit five hundred wolves. I sat in the back, trying to make myself invisible among the sea of male students. They were all bigger than me, broader, radiating the kind of confidence that came from being born into power.
I'd never felt more like an imposter.
The headmaster, Alpha Cornelius Bloodstone himself, stood at the podium—a massive, scarred wolf with silver hair and eyes like steel. His presence alone made every student in the room sit straighter, quieter.
"Welcome to Bloodstone Academy," he began, his voice carrying effortlessly through the hall. "You are here because you have been deemed worthy of alpha training. But let me be clear—not all of you will graduate. This academy has a thirty percent failure rate. Some of you will wash out. Some of you will be expelled. And some of you will die."
A ripple of unease went through the crowd.
"We do not coddle weakness here," Bloodstone continued. "We forge strength through trials, through combat, through the kind of challenges that will break lesser wolves. If you survive, you will leave here as elite alphas, capable of leading packs, of commanding respect, of shaping the future of our kind."
His eyes swept the room, and for a terrifying moment, they seemed to linger on me.
"Your first trial begins tomorrow at dawn. Combat rankings. Every student will fight in the arena. Your performance will determine your ranking for the semester—and your ranking determines everything. What classes you take. What privileges you receive. Whether you even get to stay."
My stomach dropped. Combat rankings. Tomorrow.
"Dismissed," Bloodstone said, and the hall erupted into nervous chatter.
I slipped out before anyone could try to talk to me, heading back to the dorm. My mind was racing. I'd trained for this, but fighting in front of hundreds of students, with judges watching every move? One mistake and they'd see through the disguise. See that I fought like an omega trying to imitate an alpha.
When I got back to the room, Kade was there, doing push-ups in the middle of the floor. Shirtless.
I froze in the doorway.
His body was ridiculous—all muscle and tanned skin and power. Scars crisscrossed his back, evidence of past battles, and I could see his wolf just beneath the surface, restless and strong.
He looked up, not even breathing hard despite having done at least a hundred reps. "Hey. How was orientation?"
"Terrifying," I admitted, tearing my eyes away and focusing very hard on my desk.
He laughed, standing and grabbing a shirt. "Yeah, Bloodstone doesn't mess around. You worried about the combat rankings?"
"Should I be?"
"Depends. Can you fight?"
I met his gaze. "I can hold my own."
"Good. Because they pair you randomly—you might end up against someone twice your size." He pulled the shirt over his head, and I tried not to feel disappointed. "Want to spar? Help you warm up for tomorrow?"
Every instinct screamed at me to say no. Getting that close to him, touching him, fighting him when my omega wolf wanted nothing more than to submit and present herself to her mate—it was a disaster waiting to happen.
But refusing would be suspicious. Weak.
"Sure," I heard myself say.
We headed down to the practice mats in the basement—a large, padded room with mirrors on one wall. A few other students were there, but they mostly ignored us, focused on their own training.
Kade moved to the center of the mat, rolling his shoulders. "No shifting, just hand-to-hand. First one pinned for three seconds loses. Sound good?"
I nodded, taking my position across from him. My heart was pounding, my wolf pacing anxiously. I could do this. I'd trained for this.
"Ready?" he asked.
I dropped into a fighting stance. "Ready."
He moved fast—faster than I expected. One second he was across the mat, the next he was on me, his fist heading for my ribs. I blocked, barely, and countered with a strike to his solar plexus that he deflected easily.
We circled each other, trading blows, testing. He was stronger, but I was faster. I used my size to my advantage, ducking under his reach, going for weak points.
But then he caught my wrist mid-strike, yanking me forward. I stumbled, and he used the momentum to sweep my legs out from under me.
I hit the mat hard, the air rushing out of my lungs. He followed me down, pinning my wrists above my head, his body covering mine.
And the mate bond exploded.
I gasped, my wolf surging forward, desperate and wild. His scent surrounded me pine and leather and something uniquely him and I could feel the heat of his body through our clothes, could hear his heartbeat racing as fast as mine.
His eyes widened, gold bleeding into the amber. "What..."
I bucked my hips, throwing him off balance, and rolled out from under him. My hands were shaking, my whole body on fire from that brief contact.
"Good match," I said, my voice rougher than usual. "You got me."
He stood slowly, staring at me like he was seeing me for the first time. "You felt that."
It wasn't a question.
"Felt what?" I kept my expression neutral, even as my wolf howled in protest.
"Nothing. Never mind." He shook his head, but I could see the confusion in his eyes, the way his wolf was pacing just beneath his skin. "You're fast. Faster than you look."
"Like I said ...size isn't everything."
He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Yeah. You definitely proved that."
We trained for another hour, but he didn't try to pin me again. Kept his distance, like he was afraid of what might happen if we touched.
Smart wolf.
When we finally headed back to the room, exhausted and sweating, I knew I was in trouble. The mate bond was awake now, simmering between us, and it was only going to get stronger.
I had to find a way to shut it down. To keep Kade Thorne at a distance, no matter how much my wolf screamed for me to claim him.
Because if he ever found out the truth that his roommate was actually a female omega, his fated mate, and a hunted white wolf princess it would destroy everything.