: E

rs ea

ows across the training grounds. My father stood at the edge of the clearing, his presence as imposing as ever.

d, his voice shar

n my opponent-a wooden dummy scarred from years of practice blows. My muscles screamed as I launched into the sequence: a low sweep

heavy in the air. "If that were an ene

't the first time he had pushed me past my limits, and it wouldn't be the last. My fat

ainst a wooden dummy-I was sparring against the expectations he had placed on me since the

trength is what ho

ttle me. "Do you think the wolves who will one day look

ed, refusing t

ow me you deserve to stand where I stand now. Tha

I could remember, a constant reminder of the legacy I was destined to inherit. But his words weren't the only thing I carried-I carried the doubt, too. The unspoke

und beneath me was uneven, damp with the remnants of a late spring rain. As I la

" my fathe

with the sting of failure. "I'm try

hard. "The wolves who will challenge you as Alpha w

to shout back, to tell him he was wrong-that leadership wasn't just about strength or winning. It wa

pness of the ground soaking through my leggings, the chill seeping into my skin, b

r rest,

ge of the clearing, her expression calm but firm. She c

her replied, though his tone

ushing her until she breaks won't make he

ore. My mother had always been the quieter of the two, but her strength

"Fine," he said, though the word was laced with f

my mother finished for him, a

ing and striding toward the

balm against the raw edges of my frustration. She knelt be

ell," she

head. "Not

father doesn't expect perfection, Elara," she said.

her words settling over m

d fear is a dangerous thing for an Alpha to carr

d, my voice trembling with the questio

how to show it. But you'll lead differently, Elara. You'll lead with

t answer, unsure if I believed her. My father's lessons were harsh, his expectations relentless, and the

ather had taught me strength, had pushed me to my limits because he believed that was the only way to prepare me for the ro

that day came, I would prove to him-and to