Wasting time hunting others was a fool's game. The finish line was the only thing that mattered. It was madness to be hunted -or worse, cornered-by not one, but two unhinged Alphas. Suddenly, something moved to my left. A low growl. The snap of twigs. Someone was there. Phina, my wolf, snarled against my skin , desperate to fight. "A wolf's sensed us," she warned. I dropped low, tucking myself behind a fallen log as cover. The Alpha barreled past, too focused on his own prey to notice me crouched in the shadows. I waited for a beat. Then I moved again. Every breath was a battle, every step a gamble. I was faster than most of them in human form. If I shifted, I'd be quicker still-but it wasn't worth the risk. Someone sharp enough might see the lie in my shape. And right now, one mistake meant death. I stopped for a moment, catching my breath as my eyes darted to a weathered map tacked to a gnarled tree trunk. The finish. line wasn't marked, but I knew where it lay. Past the old creek, where the cursed forest thinned and the crumbling ruins of the Academy's ancient watchtower stood like a skeletal hand against the sky. I fixed the image in my mind like a beacon. But just as I turned to move forward, a massive wolf landed in front of me, snarling. I froze. Black eyes ? It was not Ronan. Not Dante. Then who was hel The wolf snarl, teeth bared at me . Damn it. It challenged me to fight but there was no way I was shifting! I dropped low, grabbing a thick branch and swinging it upward when he least expected it. It cracked across the Alpha's face with a sharp crack. He reeled back, blood spraying. Before he could recover, I spun and sprinted deeper into the trees. I didn't look back while the mist thickened and the sound of howls of the wolves in the distance. Fighting. Struggling. But the path ahead of me was strangely clear. And when I glanced back there was no one. Phina grew alert in my mind. How was it possible that no one was coming? But what was this feeling of being watched? Branches whipped at my face. Thorns bit into my And then a very strange noise froze me. What was it? A wet, sickening crunch somewhere ahead . arms. For some reason my heart stuttered and every muscle tensed . It wasn't a wolf's snarl. Not a fight. It was something else. Elesh meeting earth. Bone splitting. My instincts screamed for me to turn back to find another route but the path ahead was the short cut that led to the finish line The terrain chewhere was too thick, the mist too blinding . If I hesitated now, I'd lose my lead Swallowing hard, I crept forward, keeping low to the ground, my senses sharp, alert, Then a stench hit me. Coppery. Metallic. Heavy with death. Then the clearing opened before me. Limbs. Scattered like broken dolls. An arm hanging limp from a branch, a booted foot severed mid-calf resting beside at jagged rock. The earth slick with blood, mud turning to crimson paste. And there at the center of it all….. Danie Chewing the flesh. Jordan's My stomach lurched violently. Dante. he was eating his own friend. He was not even in his wolf form, he was human …. Jordan's glassy, unseeing eyes stared at the misty canopy overhead, mouth forever parted in a silent scream. Watching Dante eat his own friend, my whole body grew cold. How could he do this? Eat a person. The Alphas weren't supposed to kill each other. It was a trial. A test of endurance, hunting, and survival. But this this was… I could not name this monstrous act. Dante's broad frame was dappled in blood, some of it his, most of it not. His dark hair hung damply over his forehead , a tail of blood ran down his mouth to throat Then his eyes lifted, finding me through the mist. For a heartbeat. I forgot how to move. He found me and then… smiled. My wolf froze in my mind at that smile. It wasn't the usual twisted mask of hatred he wore whenever he looked at me. No sneer. No cold disdain . It was… different Slow. Dark . And bloodthirsty. The corners of his lips tugged up in a way that made every hair on the back of my neck rise, a quiet, deadly thing that spoke of too many emotions I couldn't name. And in that moment, it terrified me more than the blood in his mouth. I immediately spuri. Leaves and earth scattered beneath my boots as I bolted down the side path, branches clawing at my arms. I didn't get far before I bumped into a solid wall of muscle. I stumbled and almost fell when a hand reached out and grabbed my hand. I found myself in the mid air , and looked up to the person Bare-chested. He was Ronan. His pants soaked and streaked with crimson, his hands slick with blood. A wolf's severed head dangled carelessly from his other hand , its glassy eyes dull and lifeless. Behind him, two bodies lay crumpled, one half-shifted mid-transition, the other's throat torn clean through. My lungs clamped tight. He he too and way more brutal than anything had ever seen. I pulled my hand back and took a step back, my large eyes staring at his blood splashed handsome face. He was a beast. And this wasn't a trial . The Academy-the place I thought was built to test, to mold future Alphas and the place to win that unclaimed throne of hundred years wasn't made of stone and sweat. It was a graveyard And the predators were standing right in front of me.. Chapter 10 The Hunter's Trial I felt my stomach knot, bile burning at the back of her throat + Pearts Ronan's gaze slid down my body, noting the tension in my frame, the horror in my wide eyes. His bloodstained lips twitched way that wasn't quite a Then, with a lazy flick of his wrist, he tossed the wolf's head aside. It landed with a dull thud. Before I could react, he stepped closer, has chest nearly brushing mine. I gasped as the coppery scent of blood and earth clung to his skin, hit my nose. I pulled away and dropped instinctively into a fighting stance, my fingers curling, ready to strike, to claw, to rip if I had to But Konan didn't lift a hand. He reached out, his blood-warm palm wrapping around my wrist. His grip was firm, unyielding but not cruel And then he pulled me back to his chest, his voice dropped, low and rough threading into the fog around them as he asked in a whisper. "Why don't you shift into your wolf?" Send Gifts