WILLA

Rosy grabbed a fistful of Candace’s hair and yanked her backward with enough force to stun everyone watching.

Candace gasped.

"You think you can talk to me like that and walk away?" Rosy hissed.

"Let me go, bitch!" Candace shouted.

Rosy only pulled harder. "No one talks to me that way!"

"I just did," Candace snapped, still clawing at Rosy’s hand. "And I’ll do it again!"

The students who had kept their distance rushed closer at once. The crowd split into two sides. Some cheered for Rosy. Others shouted Candace’s name.

Only Verah and I stayed out of it. We stood there and watched.

"This is going straight on the Howl," one student said.

"The caption?" another asked.

"Two bad bitches fighting over an Alpha who hates them." Someone hollered.

Laughter broke through the crowd. Even I laughed. It was funny. I had to admit that.

Still, I didn’t enjoy the fight itself.

Then a low growl rolled through the cafeteria. The sound snapped me from my thoughts.

I turned at once, searching for who made it. No one stood out. At first, I thought it came from one of the students.

Then I looked back at the girls. My heart lurched. Candace had torn herself free from Rosy’s grip.

But that wasn’t what stunned me.

Fur spread across half her face. Her eyes had turned gold. Sharp canines pushed past her lips, and her fingers had lengthened into clawed tips.

Even her hair looked different now—thicker, darker, almost golden brown beneath the cafeteria lights.

She looked amazing.

For some reason, I wanted to shift like that too. I had learned that everyone here carried a wolf inside them. Like Nyra.

And they could bring those wolves into the physical world. Yet that felt impossible for me.

Nyra still came and went as she pleased. She only surfaced when she thought I needed her. Other times, she stayed silent and left me to survive on my own.

I wondered if that was normal.

"I told you," Candace barked, "I don’t want to be your friend anymore!"

She stalked toward Rosy. Rosy stumbled backward at once. Fear twisted across her face.

"Stay away from me!" she screamed.

I sighed and shook my head. So much for acting untouchable a moment ago. Candace reached her in seconds.

She hauled Rosy off the floor like she weighed nothing and slammed her onto the table. A sick crack split through the cafeteria.

I winced.

Candace still wasn’t done. She wrapped both hands around Rosy’s throat.

Rosy’s eyes bulged. She clawed at Candace’s arms and kicked against the table, choking for air.

Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. Her face started losing color.

It would be over soon. I knew that look. I had worn it before. My struggle with the monster.

My chest tightened.

I turned toward Verah. "Shouldn’t we do something?"

Verah shook her head. I stared at her in disbelief.

"She’s going to kill her!"

At this rate, another student would die. Sure, I disliked Rosy, but that didn’t mean I wanted her dead.

"It’s discipline," Verah answered.

"D...discipline?" I repeated, confusion pulling at my face.

Verah nodded. I let out a breath and grabbed her hand, turning her toward me.

"I know that, but..." I stopped, staring at her face.

Something felt wrong. Very wrong. Verah smiled. Not her usual smile. This one stretched too wide across her face. Too stiff. Too unnatural.

A chill crawled down my spine.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

Verah drew in a deep breath and lifted her eyes toward the ceiling. "I have never felt more alive."

My stomach churned. Weird.

I opened my mouth to speak again, but she cut me off.

"And you, Willa," she said, "this will probably be the end for you."

My heart stopped. Heat rushed straight to my head so hard my knees almost gave out.

I grabbed the edge of the chair behind me to steady myself.

"Willa?" I whispered.

Verah tilted her head. "Did I get the name wrong?"

Shit.

How the hell did she know that name?

Everything was supposed to be perfect. Nobody was meant to find out. She had called me Elyse since the day I arrived.

And now this?

"A...are you sure you’re okay?" I asked again.

Verah grinned wider. That same unsettling grin. She stepped toward me. I stepped back twice as fast, my chest thumping.

My eyes searched for the exit. It wasn’t far. I could run. But Verah was faster than me. She had every werewolf advantage possible while I had nothing.

"Scared, Willa?" she asked.

A nervous laugh escaped me. I shook my head. "Why should I be?"

"And distance between us matters," I added fast, stretching my hands between us. "Also, my name is Elyse. I don’t know why you keep calling me Willa."

Verah’s brows pulled together. She stopped walking. Then she slipped a hand into her blazer pocket and pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper.

"I might be wrong," she said.

My throat narrowed.

Verah unfolded the paper and skimmed through it. Then she looked back at me. Her eyes darkened.

"You tricked me," she growled.

A sudden violent gust burst from her mouth. The cafeteria exploded into chaos.

Chairs scraped across the floor. Tables flipped. Plates, trays, and cutlery flew through the air.

I ducked as a spoon shot toward me. Too slow. It smacked against my forehead anyway.

"Shit!"

I rushed toward the nearest pillar and clung to it before the wind could throw me across the room.

"You little trickster!" Verah screamed.

Another blast erupted from her. This time the destruction doubled. Windows shattered. Glass rained across the cafeteria floor. Tables snapped apart. Chairs slammed into walls.

The tapestries hanging above us ripped clean down the middle while cracks spread across the walls beside the House flags.

Complete chaos. And somehow, in the middle of all of it, the students still watched Candace and Rosy fight.

Some even laughed. A few pointed as Rosy gained the upper hand. I didn’t even know when that happened.

And honestly? I didn’t care.

What terrified me was everyone’s reaction. Why was nobody noticing what Verah was doing?

Why was nobody reacting?

Was I imagining all of this? No. I wasn’t.

I felt the pain from the spoon hitting my head. I felt the force of the wind trying to rip me away from the pillar.

"Are you scared of me now?" Verah questioned.

Her voice snapped my attention back to her. She laughed and brushed her hair away from her face.

The real Verah was loyal to Elyse to a fault. They were true friends. Not the kind who smiled to your face while plotting behind your back.

But this? This wasn’t Verah. There was too much hatred in her eyes. Too much pleasure. She enjoyed this.

"Too bad," she mocked with a pout. "I scared the little angel."

"Who are you?" I finally asked. "Are you the one doing all this?"

Verah clapped in delight like I had just entertained her. "Are you sure you don’t know already?"

I frowned.

Then I felt it. A sharp prickling sensation crawled across the back of my neck. I lifted my hand and touched it.

Pain shot through my fingers. I jerked back at once. Those feelings. That pressure.

My throat burned.

"Yes," she urged with a grin. "Say it."

The monster.

My stomach dropped. But how?

"Where is Verah?" I hissed.

"I don’t know." She shrugged.

I stared at her in disbelief while the wind kept pulling at me.

"What do you mean you don’t know?" I snapped. "You possessed a body that isn’t yours and—"

The thing inside Verah pulled out a knife. My breath hitched. She raised it to her own throat.

"Stop!" I shouted.

She ignored me. The blade pressed against her skin until a thin line of blood slid down her neck.

"What do you want from me?" I yelled. "Tell me! What do you want?!"

"Would you do as I say?" she asked.

I stared at her. Would I?

"I mean anything," she added.

I drew in a shaky breath, trying to understand what she wanted from me. Why she came here.

How she was connected to the monster that attacked me before.

"Ah," she sighed. "There’s the hesitation."

Her smile faded. "That’s why I hate wolves. Too stubborn. Too strong-willed."

Strong-willed? Not when the people they cared about were dying.

"Five seconds," she said. "Then she dies."

The knife pressed deeper into Verah’s throat. "After her, everyone else in this place."

"As for you, Willa?" she continued. "You’ll spend the rest of your miserable life drowning in guilt."

Her grin returned. "You’ll end up just like the others before you."

Cold spread through my body.

"Why are you doing this?" I choked out. Tears burned behind my eyes.

"Because," she sneered, "your existence condemned my brother to eternal damnation. He failed to capture you three times."

So, they were related.

But three attempts? No. That couldn’t be right. I had only seen it happen twice.

"Time’s up," she said. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

The hand holding the knife tightened. Her free hand stretched toward the students behind her.

Toward everyone in the cafeteria. Faces flashed through my mind.

Verah. The students. Everyone.

"I’ll do it!" I screamed in surrender. "I’ll do whatever you want!"

She studied me. Still unconvinced.

"Please," I whispered. "Don’t kill them."

"Swear on your life, Willa," she said. "Swear that your life belongs to me."

Even if I refused to swear, my life was already over. They were hunting me. They knew where I was. Sooner or later, they would find me again.

I shoved aside every warning blaring in my head and held her gaze.

"I swear in Goddess Selene’s name," I said, my voice shaking, "my life is yours."

The words tasted poisonous on my tongue. "You’re free to do whatever you want with me."