Chapter 11 Rules?
SERAPHINA
“Why don’t you shift into your wolf?”
+8 Pearls
For a beat, my limbs paralyzed. How did he know I had not shifted even once? Had he been watching me? First he <b>had </b><b>already </b>noticed that I had been hiding my scent and now he found out I was avoiding shifting. My <b>throat </b>squeezed shut. He <b>had </b>been suspicious of me. Panic red hot in my chest, but I forced my face <b>into </b><b>a </b><b>mask </b>of defiance.
“I don’t need to <b>shift </b>to take you down,” I bit out, jerking my wrist free and stepping back.
His gaze narrowed, like he could see <b>straight </b>through the bravado to the storm beneath. The blood on his skin gleamed in the pale light, the stench of <b>death </b><b>and </b><b>earth </b>clinging to him like <b>a </b>second skin.
“You sure about that, little wolf?” His voice was silk over steel, a threat hidden behind something dangerously <b>close </b>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 <b>into </b>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 <b>attacking </b>me <b>but </b><b>a </b>blur of motion to <b>my </b>left made the <b>hairs </b>on <b>the </b>back of my <b>neck </b>rise.
A massive <b>wolf</b>, thick as a boulder and dark as storm clouds, burst through the trees.
Not just anypetitor. One of the most ruthless <b>bastards </b>Alpha in the Academy.
Phina recognized his scent and aura, “He was with Jordan the other day!”
<b>And </b>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 <b>for </b>Jordan being kicked out of the <b>academy </b>but if he only knew his friend had already been killed and eaten by Dante.
However I didn’t <b>have </b>time to think. His timing was horrible. <b>Ronan </b>was also here. <b>Now </b>I had to fight two <b>Alphas </b><b>at </b>once t that slowed me from crossing the finish line.
The wolf lunged. I ducked low, feeling his ws graze my shoulder, the <b>force </b><b>of </b>his <b>leap </b><b>rattling </b>my bones. I rolled, grabbing a jagged branch, and rammed it into his nk. Not deep enough to <b>kill </b>but enough to <b>make </b>him stumble.
I was on my feet in seconds but ready to counter another <b>attack </b><b>from </b><b>Ronan </b>wherever it wasing 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 <b>my </b>head up
There he was Perched on a rocky ledge <b>above</b>, <b>the </b>moonlight cutting shadows across <b>his </b>face. His <b>expression </b><b>was </b>unreadable.
Why the hell wasn’t he attacking? Was I not his <b>prey</b>? Was he not the hunter? Why <b>waste </b>time here, why not just cross the Inishing line?!
The wolf snarled behind me in rage. I turned <b>around </b>at lightning speed. He lunged again, jaws snapping, but I dodged left, <b>mming </b>my elbow into his snout andnding a hard <b>kick </b>to <b>his </b><b>ribs</b><b>. </b>I felt the <b>crack </b><b>through </b>my boot
Chapter 11 Rules?
But then Phina suddenly froze <b>in </b>my mind when we both felt it.
“More are closing in!” she growled in my mind.
I could feel the others. Predators circling.
“Why so many together?” Breathing hard. I murmured to myself.
Ronan’s amusing voice came. “Apparently this trial is no longer one on one.<b>” </b>
+8 Pearls
My muscles tensed, understanding the <b>other </b>wolves were actually aligning, others <b>breaking </b>ranks. Packs forming out of necessity, old grudges forgotten in the face of survival.
It wasn’t strength <b>alone </b>anymore.
It was strategy, <b>n </b>and simple.
They are going against the rules. Are they not afraid of being <b>kicked </b>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 <b>are </b>watching. Here in this cursed forest where not everyone <b>will </b>get out alive, no one is watching. No one cares. Everyone is just…he paused and looked at <b>me </b>up and down. “…hunting<b>,</b>”
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 <b>was </b>finallying. But suddenly he turned his direction slightly, intercepting a wolf that <b>had </b>been creeping toward my blindside. I turned in surprise. How had Phina not sensed this wolf? Ronan’s <b>ws </b>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 <b>look </b>of an ally.”
Not quite the <b>look </b>of a killer either.
Something darker,
Possession.
Then he started walking towards me. The look in his eyes <b>was </b><b>not </b>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, <b>that </b>was my chance.
I bolted deeper <b>into </b>the woods, letting <b>him </b>take care of that <b>wolf</b>. I did not <b>have </b>time <b>for </b><b>his </b><b>intentions </b>or <b>fights</b>. I had to cross the fish line.
My pulse pounding in my ears, branches <b>whipping </b><b>at </b>my face. I didn’t care. Didn’t dare look back.
<b>But </b>I could feel Ronan
Not chang
But there
His presence <b>was </b>sharp in iny veins, <b>like </b>a second heartbeat.
And I knew my escape had passed lum off.
Dad he expect that I would <b>stand </b>around and wait for him to fish <b>that </b>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
<b>but </b>I forced myself to keep moving.
This <b>wasn’t </b>survival anymore. It was endurance.
A ruthless <b>race </b>to see who would oust the others.
But then <b>what </b>came into <b>view </b>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 ce?” I stopped dead in my tracks.
There were ancient stone walls half–copsed, vines curling over broken archways, the bones of some long–forgotten ce. 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 <b>thick </b>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?
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