Chapter 24 It’s Over

RONAN

+8 Pearls

“Alpha Ronan Volkstane,” one of the bAlpha /binstructors called out, marking my name on the list as I stepped into the wide clearing with a tiger draped over my shoulders. Its body was still warm, its weight pressing into me like the price of victory carved in flesh and blood.

The instructors stood like statues along the edges, arms folded, faces unreadable beneath the flickering glow of torchlight. They offered a single nod as I passed.

I didn’t stop

With a sharp motion, I hurled the tiger to the ground. Itnded with a dullb, /bfinal thud–its lifeless eyes staring up at the stars. already fading with the approach of dawn.

Done.

I straightened, exhaling slowly, band /blet my gaze sweep across the clearing.

It bwas /bfilling now.

bOne /bby one, the Alphas returned, dragging, carrying, or hauling their prey. Warriors, all of them. Bloodied, bruised, exhausted–and yet victorious.

My eyes remained fixed on bthe /bforest.I spotted a familiar figure off to the left–bFinn/b, bwith /bba /bcoyote slung across his shoulder.

He made it.

But not ‘him”

My eyes cut to the forest’s edge again.

Stillness.

The trees stood silent and unmoving. No figures. No movement. The same heavy silence I’d been watching for minutes now.

“Ronan, you’re finally back,” came Asher’s bvoice /bfrom behind.

I nodded once without turning.

His pace was slower than mine, but he carried ba /bmassive wild boar. He dropped it beside my tiger with a grunt and wiped sweat from his brow.

“What the hell are you staring at?”

I didn’t answer.

The wind stirred the leaves like whispers. Still, no movement.

That’s when Alpha Gideon stepped binto /bthe clearing. “What’s the report?” he demanded of the nearest instructor.

“Out of one hundred forty Alphas, only thirty have returned. Our bscouts /bbhaven’t /bsensed bmore /bthan ten from the designated. range. It’s likely the rest failed to secure their prey.”

I perked up instinctively at

“The sun will rise in less than twenty minutes,” Gideon growled, disappointment curling bthrough /bhis voice. “The weak will be weeded bout /btoday”

bAsher /bnced back toward the gathered bAlphas/b, then bfollowed /bmy bstare/b. “You’re expecting someone

“No.” I muntered.

He blinked. “Then maybe stop bring /bbefore your beyes /bbleed and you drop dead.”

I turned my bhead /bto him bslowly/b. “Wanna die?”

Chapter 24 It’s Over

+8 Pearls

Heughed and leaned against a nearby treeb, /beyes scanning the clearing where five more Alphas had just emerged.

“Reed and Cassius made it back. But I don’t see bthat /bbastard Seth bDarven/b, he muttered, a scowl darkening his features. “If he’s alive. I’ll kill him myself.

I didn’t respond.

Just nced at him once before returning to the treeline.

The morning crept in soft and patient. The sky began to bleed with the first colors of dawn, amber and violet streaks crawling over the horizon.

Time was slipping away.

“You’re definitely waiting for someone.” Asher said with certainty.

I reached for the water bottle near my feet. “Maybe”

His ears perked. “Who?”

I uncapped the bottle and raised it to my lips. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” I murmured, taking ba /bbslow /bsip.

That white wolf shed through bmy /bmind.

The one I’d seen in the woods. The one who looked at me like they feared neither death nor judgment.

Amber eyes

Beautiful, haunting eyes.

Eyes I couldn’t forget.

“Dante’s back,” Asher murmuredb. /b

I turned my head. Dante had just dropped a massive elk beside the others. His gaze locked with mine across the clearing, and something in it bwas /boff.

Before I could ce the feeling, ban /binstructor called out another name, snapping me from my thoughts.

I tilted my head, eyes drifting to the sky where the light was blooming.

“Morning’s almost here.” Asher sighed. “Let’s go, it’s overb.” /b

“It’s not over yet I didn’t move ba /bmuscle. There’s still five minutes left

Asher stopped mid–step. “What the hell could change in five minutes? Those capable of hunting have returned. I can’t sense a single Alpha still out there. No one’sing

“Over?” My gaze hardened on the trees. “Then why doesn’t it feel over?”

That’s bwhen /bthe bground /bshifted beneath us.

A subtle tremor.

Asher stiffened. “Did you feel that?!”

Every Alpha in the clearing froze.

“Was that an earthquake?” one of them whisperedb, /bvoice tight bwith /bpanic.

“Something’s not right,” I muttered, eyes fixed on the trembling earth.

Then came the bshout/b, sharp and urgent.

“Look! The forest

The forest erupted

The trees trembled.

The ground roared.

“Something’sing” someone screamed, pointing toward the entrance of the woods.

I squinted into the shadowed treeline, until a figure burst into view.

“It’s Seth!” Finn shouted, his face beaming with happiness.

Seth, covered in dirt and ash, raced from the forest with terrifying speed. But he wasn’t alone.

Behind him…

A stampede.

A hundred wild bison thundered through the trees in his wake.

“What kind of lunatic is he?!” an Alpha cried in horror. “He was supposed to bring one, not a damn army!”

Technically, the rules never said the prey had to be dead.

“MOVE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!” someone screamed.

Chaos broke out.

Alphas scattered like panicked ants.

But L

I stood there frozen, my heart taking a sudden race.

Seth’s eyes were locked on mine.

He ran straight for me, like I was the only thing he bcould /bsee.

The next second, his hand seized mine, and he pulled me hard. “Run“”

Together, we bolted.

“Climb!” he yelled, pointing to a massive tree just bahead/bb, /b

aledar in seconds, a breath away bfrom /bbeing trampled

The clearing shook beneath us, thunder rolling from hooves and dust choking the air. The world blurred in panic and sound.

Clinging bto /bthe thick branch, I turned.

Seth ut boude me, breath heaving bhis /bamber eyes catching the light

I stared into them.

Chapter 24 It’s Over

“Seth Darven.” I whispered, inching closer.

He tensed “What?”

+8 Pearls

My gaze dropped briefly to his blood–streaked lips before rising again to meet his beyes/b. I leaned in, just inches between us.

“I bsaw /ba white she–wolf in the bwoods/b,” I murmured, voice blow/b. “Did you see it too?”