SERAPHINA
<b>“</b>No…” I touched my long hair in a panic, shooting up from the ground in horror. I had <i>to </i>leave this room <b>but </b>if someone from the Academy saw me like this, my secret and disguise would be exposed. Still, I had no time to mourn that fact.
Clenching the red dress tightly in my hand, I hissed, “I can’t let that happen.”
I could feel my strength returning, Phina healing me faster than ever before. I began to slip into the red dress. It was long, but slit high along both legs, with a daringly low cut in the front, and an open back that was almost entirely bare. It barely covered what it needed to but I had no other choice. I swiftly wrapped it around my body, tying it snugly at the waist. My fingers worked fast<b>, </b>shoving my hair into a messy knot, ignoring the rebellious strands that refused to stay tucked away.
Then I stormed into the corridor and stopped, stunned by the chaos.
Down the hallway, a storm of violence erupted. Alpha Jude’s wolf tore through the rogues like a phantorn possessed, blood streaking his fur like war paint. Better still he wasn’t alone. Beside him moved a beautiful white wolf,Grace. She matched him blow for blow, me to me. Behind them was a legion of wolves, more than thirty, all charging forward.
Phina stirred inside me, recognizing them instantly.
“They’re Cassius, Reed, and the other Alphas from Lupine Academy.”
They weren’t fighting for the trial anymore. They were fighting for what was right.
I turned toward the rest of the hallway, which reeked of rot, blood, and hopelessness. I marched down it, banging hard on every door. “Come out! We’re getting out of here!”
One by one, the she–wolves emerged. Some trembling. Some bruised. All with haunted, hollow eyes, startled to see me standing there.
“What’s going on?” one of them asked, her voiceced with fear.
“Gather all the she–wolves you can find,” I barked, “Everyone. Now! You’re all leaving this ce!”
Silence fell. Followed by a ripple of disbelief. But after a moment, desperation sparked into motion. A few she–wolves shakily ran off, but with determination, to wake the others.
Within minutes, they gathered in the corridor frightened, wide–eyed, some barely clothed.
“We <i>need </i>to leave,” I said, my voice hard as steel. “Quickly, before anyonees.”
They recoiled as if I had struck them.
“W…What? I can’t…I absolutely can’t…” a she–wolf broke into sobs.
“They’ll catch us,” another whimpered, eyes wide with terror.
“Believe in yourself!” I stepped forward, heart pounding but voice steady. I understood where their fear came from. “I’ll help you. We will escape this hell. <i>You </i>will-”
“You <i>don’t </i>understand!” a she–wolf jerked her hand out of mine, tears streaking down her bruised face. “I tried <i>to </i>run once and they punished me by letting a group of rogues rape me for an entire week.”
I froze in ce. My breath caught.
“They’ll kill us<i>,” </i>another cried, “There’s <i>no </i>escape from here.”
“We’re already ruined. We’re nothing now.”
<b>1 </b>
Chapter 118 No Longer Broken
<b>Their </b>voices echoed in the narrow hallway. Their fear <b>gripped </b>me like chains. For a split <b>second</b><b>, </b><b>the </b><b>memory </b><b>of </b><b>that </b>foul touch on my skin returned, vivid and vile. That moment where I lost control. <b>Where </b>I questioned <b>what </b>it meant to be a woman.
All my life, I chased a throne. I wore my Alpha blood like a crown. I’d been so proud, so determined <b>to </b>outshine my father’s chosen heir that I never once questioned the world beyond his protection.
Now I saw it clearly, this world didn’t care about bloodlines or crowns.
cage.
For women, life wasn’t a <b>title</b><b>. </b><b>It </b>was a
I finally understood why my father had wanted me to be the perfect Luna, the graceful queen, and ideal mother. He had hoped to keep me behind rose–tinted ss, wrapped in the illusion of safety and privilege.
Only that illusion was shattered now.
I had realized, iming the throne was never supposed to be about proving myself to my father.
It had to be more.
I looked at these women, battered, fearful, and broken, and said clearly, calmly, “I was nearly raped not long ago.”
They stilled.
“I know the kind of hell you’ve lived through. I truly do. But if you believe you’re already ruined…” My gaze swept over them, voice rising with every word, “Then what exactly are you still afraid of?<b>” </b>
A breathless silence settled over them.
“I don’t me you for what happened to you. It was never your fault for being women. It was their fault for being monsters,” I stepped closer, voice cutting through their fear like a de, “If your life means so little to you that you’re willing to die here, then tell me–why don’t you kill the monsters who stole everything from you?”
They looked at me like I was crazy. Or maybe like I’d just handed them the first spark of rage they’d ever been allowed to feel.
I took another step closer, my voice sharpening into a growl. “They became monsters because you let them see your weakness,” I paused, letting the weight of my words settle, “But if you’d be monsters too, they’d be the ones begging. Not you. If you die, then let it be with your ws bared, not on your knees!”
A silence fell. Only this time, it wasn’t from fear. It was something else. Something alive.
I reached for the scarf I’d wrapped around my hand and tied it over my head, concealing my face. Only my eyes remained visible, hard, wild, and unflinching.
“There are no heroes on a white horses in this world,” I said, my voice softer now, but charged with the storm building inside me, “There are only monsters. So be your own hero. Don’t die beneath a monster’s boot just because he’s stronger than you. Die for your honor! For your fury! For your name!
I paused as a chilling howl cut through the eastern corridor, the rogues screaming in terror where Ronan was tearing them apart. The scent of smoke and blood drifted down the hall.
Then I looked back at the women!
“Don’t be afraid of falling…” I said quietly, “because I’ll be behind every single one of you.”
My wolf surged beneath my skin. She rose in my eyes, as they all watched
Power. Untamed. Unbowed. Undeniable.
And something shifted.
The fear in the group vanished. Their shoulders straightened and spines stiffened One by one, <i>the </i><i>girts </i>
shifted, white, ash, golden, silver, sable wolves with scars and stories in their eyes. I <i>turned </i>to <i>the </i><i>group </i><b><i>of </i></b>
rogues charging towards us, and behind me was an army of broken girls that were no <i>longer </i>Broken
Wait! I Have Something to Say!