me for too long. If anyone was even just pol

long, miserable drag, and high scho

trained. If I could just become a warrior, ma

s confrontation with Kaïa would mar

sa, and Marnie always found ne

ands and shred it in the hallway in front of everyone, or tear up my ten-

teacher-despite seeing the whole thing happen

of the story. He punished me for my "laziness," locki

ost: she would have snuck me something to

yreille left, he hadn't even pretended to care about wha

me against lockers, or slammed heavy bags into me as they walked by. I le

en so, my ribs had been cracked several times over; a simp

injuries, but she made sure the pain didn't linger. H

s she called Kaïa and her friends, sometime

students, especially the younger ones. She exploited

the reality of it: as long as they too

ed quickly, and that seemed to be enough to satisfy their cr

iced, my wolf and I had taken to hunting at night. Wheneve

ld manage on my own. The woods felt far m

ng, held every morning at five o'clock sharp. All high school students had to part

mediate for the patrols, and elite training for the warriors-Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas,

res from my brother, who couldn't stand seeing me there. As a born Beta, he had fre

I could exist outside of

ior and the daughter of an elite warrior. She showe

adership or fighters themselves; the Luna,

ature to my advantage. Opponents tended to underestimate a smaller

que didn't dare provoke me in front of the future Alphas or the

. I already ran the borders occasionally, slipping out before or after class just to escape the house. Attacks were rare,

my father's wrath that drove me to study. The classes themselves hardly in

meant signing a soc

a new recruit: a girl who had moved in with her aunt

ance, standing on the sidelines in high heels and a miniskir

. Tall and athletic, with long dark brown hair and striking honey-colored eyes

off her, which made me smirk: the

my gaze. Delta Kyle motioned for her to join our gr

straight

meet you," she said,

before my brain registered that

, awkwardly taking it. "I'm just..

n't have time to respond: the trainer i

fit to partner with her-given tha

nd had always granted me free access to the gym and the tra

taller, standing around five-foot-seven, while I barely scraped five-foot-one. Our heights weren't co

anned skin and every well-defined muscle. With thos

s my body was trained-but I pre

othing concealed the bruises and cuts, stopping people from

rarely lasted when it actually came time to take action. Most people preferred

arring sessions. During training, I usually stayed in the background

to withdraw-and I sensed

e a training partner was availa

ng set my day right quite like a good fight: the adrenaline, th

Kaïa and her accomplices had knocked me to

ger out on me rather than on someone

tter to suffer in silence than to give fodde