Moon Kissed (Corvin Academy #1)

Chapter Eight

H ead lolling, my swimming eyes went up, down, and around the space—trying and failing to take it in.

“Ugg,” I groaned, vision clearing on my ripped and dirty pants.

It looked like I’d been dragged and taken... where?

Raising my head, I beheld the small room, and everyone in it.

“What is this?” I rasped.

“This, Volana”—Badr glared down at me from on top of the dais—“is your trial.”

“Excuse me?”

I looked around at the alphas, epsilons, betas, and omegas assembled. I sat in the middle of the mess hall, but the tables had been cleared away. On my left nearly the entire alpha, omega, and beta class sat in silent rows, watching me. On my right, Ava, Elizabella, Melisent, Tulisa, and six other girls from Ava’s crew sat in a single line of chairs—all of them watching me expressionlessly. And sitting on the dais, were Edric, Orion, Nyx, Badr, and Paxton.

“Paxton?” I cried. “What’s going on?”

“I’ll tell you exactly what’s going on,” Badr replied, stepping in front of Paxton. “You’ve held this school hostage, preying on us for long enough. It ends today.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means exactly what I said.” He raised his chin. “Daciana Volana, this is your trial.”

“And this is the moment you lost your mind.” I stood up, easy to do since they didn’t bother restraining a moon wolf. “Bye, folks. Hope you enjoyed the show—short as it was.”

I turned to leave.

“If you walk out that door, these go up in flames.”

Rolling my eyes, I glanced back. “What are you talking about? What goes up in...?” I trailed off, words dying on my lips.

My fates had stepped out of the way, revealing the jewelry box resting innocently on the table behind them.

“Give that back!” I ran at them.

“Don’t,” Orion shouted, ripping open the box and pulling out a letter. “You’ll never climb this dais fast enough to stop me burning it, so don’t bother.”

I ground to a stop so fast, I looked as comically frozen as Liza did. Breathing hard, I fixed on my mother’s letters—her last words to me. “What... do you want?” I rasped.

“Sit.”

I sat.

My chest heaved, rising with big gulping breaths even though I felt the band wrapping tighter and tighter around my rib cage. “How did you get those?”

“Oooh, that was the easy part.” Edric clapped Paxton on the shoulder. “See, when we realized you were trying to drive a wedge between us through Paxton, we let you think it worked.”

I stopped moving. Stopped breathing. What? What is he saying?

“All that punching him in the face, him standing up for you, and getting him thrown out of alpha class was all an act,” Nyx continued, grinning away. “All so when he said he was on your side, you’d believe him.”

“More than that,” Orion went on, clutching my letter in a crumpling grip that made a scream leak through my teeth. “It’s so when he slunk into your room with his tail between his legs, you wouldn’t question he belonged there, or his scent.”

“You searched my room.” It wasn’t a question.

“A lot more carefully and thoroughly than those dumbasses did,” Paxton confirmed, smirking away. “Didn’t find anything the first, second, or third time, but then, I don’t watch as much mundane television as you clearly did over the last year. Hidden in the floorboards. Classic.”

I held my breath—trying to calm myself. Relax my face. “Yes, you found my mother’s letters. Good for you. But if you’ve read them, you know there’s nothing of value in there for y—”

“But it’s not about their value to us.” Badr’s voice was odd. He sounded... almost... My gods, he sounded pleased. “It’s about their value to you. So valuable you took them with you and kept them safe for all those months on the run. So valuable, you couldn’t resist bringing them here with you, instead of leaving them somewhere safe.

“So valuable, you’re going to call that vampire worm right now, and tell her you’re calling it all off. Tell her you changed your mind about the video. She’s going to delete it. Today. Right now.”

“But—”

Orion’s hand caught fire. Flames consumed the letter.

“Noooo!” I screamed, jaw cracking. Tears sprung to my lids so hot and fast, I couldn’t have held them back if I tried.

“Consider that your only warning.” Orion snatched up two letters. “If you don’t do what you’re told the first time, I’ll burn more.”

Edric stepped to his side, turning his back to me, and leaning over Orion’s ear. “Hey, easy, man. We said we’d only use them to scare her—”

“And she’s looking pretty scared to me,” Orion snapped, shoving him out of the way. “Do it, Volana. Make the call.”

My mind raced. Lucia and the threat of that video was my only protection. Without it, there was nothing stopping the alpha council from locking me away, and forcibly breeding the next generation out of me. Because that’s what they would do if I continued refusing my fates.

They’ve wanted this next generation of super wolves. They wanted it bad, and nothing would stop them, except Lucia.

I eyed the letters, tears spilling. But... Mom.

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my phone. Lucia answered on the first ring.

“What do you want?”

“Lucia.” My voice was dead. “Get rid of the video. Delete it. I don’t need it anymore.”

Silence sounded on the other end.

“I see,” she replied. “They’ve got you, don’t they.”

It wasn’t a question.

Orion held up the letters like a maniac manhandles a hostage. “Tell that disgusting dead worm you’re done with her for good.”

“I’m done with you for good.”

His eyes flashed. “And the rest.”

Grip tightening on the phone, I gritted, “You disgusting dead worm.”

“Don’t worry, Daze,” Lucia said. “I know what to do.”

“Hang up and smash the phone.”

Heeding Badr’s orders, I hung up and smashed the phone. “Now what?”

“What do you think?” Badr nodded at Ava. “Your trial begins.”

“My trial?” I couldn’t stop the derision that bled into my voice. “What’s the point of this charade? You put me on trial for killing your brother, find me—surprise, surprise—guilty, and then you do all the terrible things to me that you’ve been waiting to do.

“Why don’t we skip the bullshit, and go straight to the end?”

Badr’s expression didn’t change. “You’re right, Volana. And you’re wrong,” he replied, crumpling my brow. “I’m not putting you through a charade so that I can justify hurting you. Even if I wanted to, my wolf wouldn’t let me, and your vow wouldn’t let you. It’d be the shortest, most nonviolent battle in history.

“No,” he continued, beginning to pace. “You’re here for them.”

I frowned at the silent audience. “Them?”

“They’re the ones who are going to decide your fate and your punishment, but unlike you, they’re not savages,” he spat. “You’ll have your trial. You’ll have your chance to defend yourself. And then you’ll get what’s coming to you.”

Slowly, I sat back—taking that in. My fates had hurt me plenty and their wolves hadn’t stopped them. That must mean the plans they had in store for me were so bad, not even their lax wolves could stomach it. Instead they’ve offered me up to a mob.

They wrapped me in a nice bow and stamped me with civility, but I wasn’t fooled. This was a mob, and they were waiting for the gates to open, and the bell to ring for chow time.

“First,” Nyx said. “Swear to Luame that you’ll swear to tell the truth.”

“What? But I can’t. You know that Luame hates when we—”

Both Mom’s letters vanished in a cloud of fire.

“No! Fuck you, you blood-soaked bastard!” My screams ravaged my throat. “Stop it! Leave her letters alone!”

“Swear!” Orion violently shook off Edric’s restraining hand. “Do it!”

“Argh!” My roar of frustration rattled the chandeliers. “I swear! I swear on Luame that for the ten-minute-long duration of this trial, I will tell the truth.”

Fury lit Orion’s handsome face, riddling his scar stark white on his cheek, and twisting it into the true hideous reveal of his soul.

Badr stopped him when he dove for more letters. “Calm down. Ten minutes is more than enough time. This won’t take long.” Badr turned to Ava and the epsilons. “Are you ready?”

The smirk Ava gave me ground my teeth. “Ready.”

As strict, rigid, and backwards as our society was, there was one thing that I always believed we did right. In a trial, the only people that were allowed to decide on a person’s guilt or innocence were epsilons.

The reason was obvious. An epsilon couldn’t be commanded by an alpha to find in their favor. They couldn’t be persuaded by a beta to ignore the facts. And they couldn’t be pacified by an omega into wanting to protect them... from prison.

They were the best people to uphold justice unless, of course, they already had a grudge against you.

“First question,” Ava called.

Someone from the audience stood up. That was another difference in our justice system. Members of the community asked the questions. They had the right to since they were the community that had to welcome me back if I was released. That should only happen if they decided I was safe.

At least that was the theory.

“Yeah, my question is why did you fucking do it!” screamed Tracy, Nia’s friend. “Why did you kill Nia? She was the only one who put up with you! Who even liked you! What is wrong with you!”

I gritted my teeth, fighting as my vow yanked the truth out of me. “I didn’t kill Nia! I’m a moon wolf and she was obviously attacked by a metal wolf. Or are all of you so stupid and obsessed with me, you can’t see that!”

Tracy snarled, fangs erupting from her jaw. That response did absolutely fucking nothing to endear me to her, or my biased jury.

Damn him! This is why you never swear on Luame. Now the vindictive floating wolf in the sky was going to make me answer in the most brutally honest way possible.

“Why did you come back here?” someone snapped, jumping up. “You don’t care about being our high priestess. You don’t care about Wolf Nation or fulfilling your duty, so what do you want!”

“I want to rule all over you sniveling, sycophantic worms with an iron fist! I want to rip away this backward world you love so much, and build my empire on its ashes! You will bow, worm. You’ll all bow!”

I hung my head, groaning before the gasps and shocked horror filled my ears. I didn’t need to look at Badr, Orion, Edric, Paxton, or Nyx to know they were grinning like it was Christmas morning. I just handed them the guilty verdict they were waiting for—wrapped up on a platter with a bow.

“Did you kill Holly?” Paxton asked, raising my head.

“No.”

He frowned. “Did you kill Hall?”

“No.”

Impatience leeched into his voice. “Do you know who did?”

“No.”

“Are you fucking lying!”

“No,” I blared right back. “You assholes made fuck sure of that!”

He growled and I did right back—two wolves ready to charge.

Nyx put a hand on Paxton’s shoulder, slowly moving him back. Meeting my eyes, he asked, “Do you know why Holly, Hall, and Nia died?”

My lips peeled back from my sharpened maw. “Well fuck you for being the smart one. Yeah, bitch, I know why they had to die, and they deserved every fucking bit of it— Fuck!” I burst out when more shocked gasps pelted my eyes.

Damn it, Luame, pull back! I’m supposed to be your favorite!

“Why did they have to die?” Edric pounced.

I snorted. “I believe I already gave my speech about sycophantic worms. Those shits are the lowest of the low. They should be called trash-shifters because they morph from shitbags to week-old diapers left roasting in the sun. They got everything they deserve and—”

“Fuck them!” Badr exploded. “Why did you kill my brother? Why did you kill Castor!”

I clamped hard on my mouth, nails digging into my cheeks. “Hphm hmh gghph!”

Badr surged off the dais, ready and willing to tear my hands off.

“Hey!” Orion set three more letters on fire. “Do you think we’re messing around? Answer him or the whole box and everything in it is dust.”

“Why did you kill my brother!” Badr was a man unhinged. Running at me, golden eyes red and wild, claws ripping through his nail beds, frenzy overtaking his voice. “Why!”

He fell on me, wrestling my arms and straining to pry them off. I fought, kicked, and threw myself back. Badr tore them free.

“Because he ruined my life!” I screamed in Badr’s face, blowing his brows high. “He took everything good, and right, and perfect in my world and he ripped it away! Because of him I lost my friends, my dad, my family, and the only person I’ve ever loved!”

Badr lurched back. His gaping jaw would’ve been comical, if there was anything left in this stupid, miserable world to smile about.

“Because of that self-righteous, never-wrong, slavishly noble prick, I HAVE NOTHING! I. AM. NOTHING! HE DESTROYED EVERYTHING!”

Deep, pressing, smothering silence reached down the throats of everyone in the room, and squeezed. They all gaped at me goggle-eyed and pale like they were choking—even blessed Ava. For once, her smirk was gone.

“That— That’s not— That can’t be—” Badr looked like he might faint.

A move I didn’t recommend, because the minute he went down, I was kicking the shit out of his unconscious body—promise to Luame or no.

Tears soaked my face. I never wanted to talk about this. Never! “Fuck you, you monster! You really are brothers. What the hell kind of twisted seed is your son-of-a-bitch father carrying in that wrinkled sack!”

Badr flinched like I slapped him. Like he had no idea how this turned around on him.

“Hey, Badr, man,” a soft voice said. “Maybe back off of her.”

“What?” Badr cried. “Her? You’re all worried about her now?” Suddenly, he was shouting. “Are you fucking serious right now? She’s lying! I knew my brother. He would never do any of those things. He didn’t even know her before that night!”

I glared at him with all the hatred festering in my soul. “Castor barged into my life, and dominated every aspect of it since I was twelve years old. He ripped my heart out of my chest, and bound it to him with chains made of my stolen freewill. The fact that you didn’t know that... proves you never knew Castor at all.”

“You’re a liar!” he roared, showering me in spittle.

“Badr,” Ava cried.

“Tell the truth!” Grasping the chair arms, he shook it—wood, me, and all—rattling my bones like marbles in a pouch.

“Badr!”

“My brother was a good man! He never touched you! He never hurt you!”

Head bouncing around on my shoulders, I caught a glimpse of the clock and the final ticking seconds of my ten minutes. Lips parting, I whispered, “Castor hurt me worse than anyone ever has or ever could. Because of him, I lost the only good thing in my life.” Tears rolled down my cheeks. “Because of him, she’s gone. Forever.”

“It’s not true!”

“Badr, get off her. Get off!”

Hands grabbed his arms and shoulders and pried him off. Badr was thrown none-too-gently across the room. He tripped over the step to the dais and collapsed on the floor. He didn’t get up.

He didn’t move.

Nyx and Paxton dropped down next to him, checking on their friend.

“Guys, come on,” Nyx called. The tide had turned in the room, and everyone felt it. “No matter what Castor did, she still murdered him in cold blood in front of thousands of witnesses. If he was so evil and horrible, why didn’t she tell someone what he was doing to her?”

Crash!

“You mean like my parents did, alpha boy?” Tracy toppled the chair jumping up. “When an alpha made my father give him the deed to our home for free. Those shit cops said our home was too nice for the likes of us in the first place. We lived in a shelter for three years!”

“Exactly.”

“So arrogant.”

“Clueless.”

“Have no idea what the rest of us deal with.”

Nyx rocked back in the face of their disdain. Oh yes, this wasn’t going the way they thought at all.

“All right,” Orion shouted, breaking through the noise. “Maybe most of us didn’t know Castor as well as we thought we did, and maybe you all are happy to condemn him to never receiving justice based on the word of a liar and murderer.

“But what about Nia?”

One name, and silence fell again.

“What about Holly and Mr. Hall? What about the pathetic, sycophantic worms she wants to crush under her boots— Oh, wait, that’s all of you.”

Tracy backed down, her righteous fury bleeding away.

“Castor might’ve been a bad guy who deserved what he got.” A steady finger leveled on me. “But so is she.”

“That’s enough,” Ava spoke up. “We’ve heard all we need to hear from all of you. Let’s vote. The charges are the murder of Nia Dole. The murder of Warren Hall. The murder of Holly Fitch. The murder of Castor Tahan.”

Soon the soft scritch-scritch-scritch of pen and pencil on paper filled the room. There was no talking. No whispering among themselves. Wolf hearing made that pointless. Instead, the epsilons had to write their verdict down, pass it down to the end, and then the final person read them all out. In our world, they only needed a majority to find me guilty. If they tied, this circus went on for even longer until they finally decided one way or another.

Rising to her feet, Ava cleared her throat. “For the murder of Nia Dole, we find ten to zero: not guilty.”

“What!” Orion blurted.

“For the murder of Warren Hall, we find ten to zero: not guilty,” Ava continued on, ignoring the string of obscenities that came from Edric, Nyx, Paxton, and the rising Badr. “For the murder of Holly Fitch, we find ten to zero: not guilt.

“And for the murder of Castor Tahan—”

Badr sounded off before she finished saying his name.

“We find ten to zero—”

“Don’t you fucking dare,” he yelled.

“Not guilty.”

Badr roared up, fur bursting from his back as his wolf fed on his fury. “This is a joke. All of it!”

I moved slowly, gaze fixed on one thing and one thing only.

“I never should’ve played along. None of you get to decide whether or not my brother deserves justice. None of you get to say whether or not he was a good man. He was! I knew him better than anyone. And if you all are too chickenshit to stand up for what’s right.”

I dove for the jewelry box.

Badr whipped around, ensnaring me around the waist and hauling me over his shoulder. “I’ll do it myself.”

“Her punishment starts now,” Orion said, slapping the box closed.

“Don’t!”

He set the entire thing aflame.

My jaw cracked—scream trapped in my throat. The world went white, narrowing on a single point, single moment, single thought—

He’s dead.

My wolf burst from my skin, ripping free of Badr’s grip. I launched off his back and heard him go flying, snarling as his body thumped and skidded over the marble. Three hundred pounds of angry wolf landed on Orion, and the pain exploded in me. Arms, chest, legs—it came down on me like a freight train.

But I didn’t care. I didn’t care if Luame broke every bone in my body, as long as I broke his.

Orion shifted and threw me—flinging me off with his hindlegs.

We circled each other around the dais, drool dripping from our snarling maws. Our wolves were in charge now. Only the human had powers. I couldn’t phase as a wolf. Orion couldn’t wield fire. That meant if I wanted to hurt him, I had to fuck him up the hard way, and my wolf was only too happy to.

My fates and their terrible treatment of me was degrading the bonds faster than they did while we were apart. Over the last week, the times she tried to drop my pants for them halved in two, but the destruction of my mom’s jewelry box and her letters... my wolf was done.

Of course she was. She was her mom too.

I pounced, leaping over the dais and sinking teeth and claws into Orion’s spine. We both yelped viciously—pain raking across my own back. Still, I clamped harder.

A jaw clamped on my leg and tore me off, throwing me across the room. I crashed into the opposite wall and collapsed on the floor in a shower of wood, paint, and plaster. I clambered up and yelped—my ruined leg buckling under my weight.

Before me, four wolves fell in line—growling, menacing, charging straight at me.

“Guys, stop,” Edric bellowed, wholly human. “Calm down!”

I turned to face them head-on, dragging my useless leg with me. I couldn’t run, but when they caught me, I’d fight. I’d bite, claw, rip, snap, and take as good as I got.

Paxton, Orion, Nyx, and Badr launched through the air—

—and were hit with a wave of fur and teeth.

Ten wolves took them down and out—seven tackling them and three standing guard in front of me.

My fates shifted fast, throwing off my defenders.

“Ava, what the fuck are you doing!” I don’t think I ever heard Badr angrier, and that was saying something.

The gorgeous ebony wolf disappeared, leaving the lithe, graceful human she was in her place. “What does it look like I’m doing?” Ava replied. “Protecting my high priestess.”

“Do you think you might be taking this judge-and-jury thing too far?” Nyx snapped. “It’s over, Ava, now stand aside!”

Ava just smirked.

Shifting, I stifled a scream as all the broken bones and slashed skin unleashed their pain on me at once. Agony. Everything was agony, and it still doesn’t hurt as much as losing Mom’s letters.

“Are you alright, High Priestess?” Elizabella asked. She was a short, curvy girl with long black and white hair—the perfect match to her wolf’s black and white fur.

“No, I’m not alright. Cut it a bit close there, don’t you think?”

“We weren’t sure if this was the right time.” Ava came over and helped me up, draping my arm over her shoulder. “And then we were.”

“Hold on.” Edric shoved through Paxton and Nyx. “What is this? Why are you two... doing that!” He gestured to us and the calm and casual way that we were touching and chatting.

“No, you hold on, Eddy-boy, because everything’s about to become real clear.” I snapped my fingers. “Do it.”

Chains burst out of the floors. Latching on to every omega, alpha, and beta, they wrapped their wrists, snaked their throats, gagged their screaming mouths, and secured them to the floor.

No one was going anywhere.

“Hmmph!” Orion bellowed through his gag, body setting alight.

“Nope, none of that.” Melisent summoned a wave and doused him like a candle flame. “Everyone is going to sit down, shut up, and not interrupt. If you do, you’ll feel those chains getting tighter.”

The metal restricted Orion’s throat, ending his muffled obscenities as his face flushed redder, and redder—

“That’s enough,” Melisent said, because I sure as fuck wasn’t going to. “He’s listening now.”

“You’re all listening now,” I continued, turning my back on my fates. I had to, because if I looked at Orion for another second, I’d finish the job. “But what you weren’t doing is asking the right questions.

“ Did you kill Holly? Did you kill Hall? ” I mimicked, high-pitched and whiny. “Blah, blah, blah. Who the fuck even cares about those pricks? But since you all want to pretend you do, the long answer is no I didn’t kill them.” I smiled wide. “I have people for that sort of thing now.”

I took no small amount of pleasure in the disbelief in dozens of widening eyes. “Yeah, that was the other question you should’ve been asking. What was I doing over the last year? And the answer to that is...” I stepped back, resting my hands on Ava’s and Melisent’s shoulders. “Recruiting.”

“Hmmph!” I didn’t know who that was sounding off behind me, and cared even less.

“You see, I realized something in my time away.” I paced before my rapt audience, naked as a carrot. “The way Wolf Nation is governed and run as a society is corrupt, diseased, and due for an overthrow.

“It makes no sense that we recognize that only the incorruptible should decide someone’s guilt or innocence, but it doesn’t occur to us that the same people should be law enforcement, our lawmakers, leaders, our council. Why is that?” I lofted as I passed by Kitty and patted her on the head. “Why is it I’m the first one to see Luame’s true purpose for the creation of epsilon wolves? It was never for us to waste away in dusty old temples, waiting for you all to decide when you have use for us.

“The epsilons were born... to rule.”

“Hell yeah we were,” the girls crowed, laughing and slapping hands.

“Yes, we were”—the gaiety bleached out of my voice—“and that’s what we’re going to do. Starting today— No, starting now, you’re looking at your future clan leaders.” I pointed to five of the girls.

“Your future alpha council.” I swept over Ava, Melisent, Elizabella, and Tulisa. “And your new queen.” My hands came down on me, forming the crown destined for my head. “You may bow.”

“Hmmph! Hmm! Fhpp!”

They all uselessly sounded off. More than a few tried to use their powers, and were harshly punished by my secret metal wolf friend hiding in the audience. I wasn’t going to reveal them, or my many other hidden allies yet. It’s good for a girl to have secrets.

“I understand your apprehension,” I called. “From your side, this all sounds bad, and no doubt I didn’t help with all that sycophantic worm stuff, but believe me, no one wants to oppress you. Just the opposite. I want to free you.

“All your lives there have been four classes and the twenty-feet-high barbed-wire fence between them. Your life and the path it takes was decided for you from the moment you were born, but not anymore. From this point on you can be anything you want to be. All that approved-job-list shit is done,” I announced, wrinkling Tracy’s brow. “I mean, all of the positions of power will be taken by the epsilons, but otherwise, whatever your dream is—go for it with everything you have. No one is going to tell you that you can’t have it.

“Which brings me to my next announcement. What do you do if someone in our new world does tell you that you can’t have it? What if you work your whole life to afford your dream home, and then some alpha thief comes along and forces you to give it up? Not to worry,” I said, falling in beside Ava and the others. “Because the epsilons are now the law, and we’re not letting that shit slide anymore. Alpha, beta, or omega—everyone is treated the same and no one is above your law.

“Yes, I said your law, because in my new, harsh, and nonnegotiable system of law, the victims decide the punishment.” I smiled wide. “Which brings us back to Holly, Nia, and Hall. They were three of seven people who committed a crime so heinous, so disgusting, they’re down in hell thanking their killer for not doing worse.”

Huge, darting eyes among the crowd looked everywhere for an exit, but they were going nowhere.

“One of their many victims decided their punishment, and if anything should happen to you, you’ll do the same. Believe me, ladies, your fates will think twice about destroying your last and only connection to your mother when they know you can have them beaten to hell and back for it. Oh! Speaking of which. Ava, would you mind?”

Ava was on him before I finished my sentence. She punched Orion dead in the nose, spurting blood all over his face and her knuckles. I watched dispassionately as she kicked, punched, broke his glasses, and pummeled him into a bloody mass of bruises and fractured bones.

Orion slumped over unconscious—only the chains held him upright.

“Thank you, Ava,” I chirped, reaching out for her hand. “Gods, it’s been so hard pretending I hate you over the last few weeks. So hard, I can’t believe anyone bought it. You are simply too amazing.”

She beamed. “Ahh, thank you, Daze. If you thought it was hard for you, it was unbearable for me. Love you.”

“Love you more,” I cried, hugging her tight.

Releasing her, I turned back to them. “Now, I’m going to open the floor to questions and discussions, but before I do, I’ll remind you of the nonnegotiable part of this coup. This is happening whether you like it or not, but to help you like it, I’ll let you know that I’ve spent the last few weeks—going on months—collecting every bit of information and dirt on all of you.”

I whirled around. “Kitty, I know what you keep in the bottom drawer of your nightstand.

“Tracy, I know the part you played in your sister’s heart getting ripped out over her breakup with Nia,” I carried on. “Would you like her to know too?”

Tracy was even stiller than the chains allowed. She just looked at me, chin trembling.

“So to sum it up, it doesn’t matter that I’ve lost my blackmail, because I have blackmail on all of you.” I flapped and the gags disappeared from their mouths.

A wall of shouting, screeching, and carrying on bowled me over. “One at a time, please and thank you.”

“You can’t do this,” Andre shouted. “You can’t just—just—come in here and announce you’re our fucking queen. The alpha council is in charge. They’ll stop you!”

“The alpha council didn’t stop me the entire year I was out on my vacation. The alpha council didn’t stop me when I came back and announced I was Corvin Academy’s new student. The alpha council isn’t here stopping me now.” I smiled mirthlessly. “All the alpha council wants is for me to complete my bonds and bring about the greatest generation of super wolves. What do you think they care about more? That or you ?”

He bristled at the way I said you. He should’ve because I loaded the word heavy with scorn. “They care about staying in power,” Andre gritted. “They care about keeping their power a lot more than the next generation getting it.”

“Very true,” I replied, inclining my head. “Which is why when my fates stupidly ordered me to tell Lucia to delete the video of me shifting and proving to the mundane world that werewolves exist, she released it immediately.”

“What?!”

“What are you saying?!”

“But the first law!”

“First law broken,” I sang. “Right now, the alpha council is scrambling to prepare for the fae’s coming attack, because they will attack. I bet as we speak, they’re gathering the clans and the clan alphas, prepping for a fight that’s about to become a war.” I snorted. “And we haven’t even gotten to how the mundanes are going to react to discovering werewolves are real. The hunting parties will be out in full force all around the world.

“Our people are going to be very, very busy for the foreseeable future, but do you know what they’re not going to worry about?”

“Corvin Academy,” Andre whispered through bloodless lips. “Because the academy’s never fallen. It’s impenetrable.”

“Ding, ding, ding, ding!” I clapped, setting off Ava and the other epsilons clapping with me.

Andre looked like he swallowed a battery. “That’s why you forced yourself into the academy. That’s why even though you kept bleating about wanting Badr, Nyx, Edric, and Orion to leave you alone, you got yourself into the alpha track, and kept provoking them—waiting for them to do something stupid that set this all in motion.”

“Wow, well done.” I clapped louder. “Best and brightest of Wolf Nation right here, folks. Everything they said about academy students was true. I’m so glad you all will be my soldiers in the revolution.”

“We’ll never follow you,” Tracy shrieked. “You’re insane.”

I tsked. “Come now, Tracy, why would you say such a thing? Can’t you see the gift I’m trying to give you?”

“Gift?” Her voice hit new octaves. “You think you’re giving us a gift?!”

“I know I am. The gift of a truly equal society. The gift of choosing your own path. The gift of getting revenge against that alpha man—your own uncle—who took everything from your father with only a few words. His home, his car, his savings, and his wife.

“He locked your mother away in a gilded prison, and threw you, your sister, and your dad onto the street. And when your dad went to the police for help, they told him a clan alpha can take whatever—and whoever—he wants, and there was nothing a little omega like him could do about it,” I said. “A year in, your mother ran away from him and your uncle had her dragged back, ordered her ears cut, and threw her out of Wolf Nation.”

Her chest heaved—wolf eyes shining even as tears streaked her face.

“I know what’s in your bottom drawer,” I hissed. “I know what you want to do to him, and you know what would’ve happened if you tried. Well, that world is done with. Carolina is about to become the new leader of the earth wolves.”

The freckle-faced epsilon waved, beaming wide.

“When she does, that vile piece of shit will be put on trial, and you and your mother—who will be welcomed back with open arms—will decide what happens to him. Quickly or slowly.”

Tracy stared at me, swallowing hard.

“As much as you’re traumatically codependent on this backwards society, I’m going to bet no one in it ever cared about your pain, or what your family lost... until today.” I closed the distance between us. “So, tell me, Tracy, do you want to go on as you have? No help. No support. And hoping one day you pluck up the courage to blow up your life with that thing you have in your bottom drawer.

“Or do you want to take a chance on me and the world I want to give you, where you fuck that bastard up, rip the house keys off his corpse, and then move back into the home and life he stole from you, with your family finally whole and happy together?” I snapped my fingers, and my ally removed her chains—simply letting them fall away and clank on the floor. “The choice is yours.”

She didn’t move. “Choice? But... you said we didn’t have a choice.”

“In your case, you do. You can stay on your knees and keep bleating and whining for the people who put your uncle in charge and shrugged when he ruined your life. Or you stand up and join the people who want to take him down as much as you do— Oh, wait, you’re right.” I gave her a hard look. “There really isn’t a choice, is there?”

She studied me for a long beat. “No,” she said softly, “there isn’t.” With that, Tracy walked over and stood next to Ava.

“Tracy, what are you doing!” Raquelle, one of her and Nia’s friends, cried. “You can’t be serious falling in with them. She literally stabbed Nia in the back! Volana is a liar and a psycho, and she doesn’t give a shit about making life right for an omega. None of them do!”

“I understand why you feel that way,” I said, going over and patting her on the head.

She roughly tossed her head, snarling at me.

“Test me.”

“What?”

“Test me,” I repeated. “You think I don’t care about omegas and I won’t fight for them. Test me. You guys made this into a courtroom all on your own, so let us have it. Tell us what’s gone wrong. Tell us who hurt you. Tell us what you want.”

Her eyes narrowed to slits. “You’re not really going to do anything.”

“Like I said, test me.”

She scoffed. “All right, you really want me to believe you’re going to punish an alpha on the word of an omega? Well, Rowan Kai has been forcing me to do his homework since I got here. Cheating is grounds for expulsion, but since you’re not—”

“Done,” I broke in, walking away. “Melisent, Dora, get him and throw him over the gates, please. Rowan Kai is expelled.”

“What?!” Melisent and Dora fell on a guy with long, dark hair and a hooked nose. “Hey! What are you—? You can’t do this! Get off me!”

His shouts continued on until they faded down the hall. Raquelle didn’t speak a word, just sitting there gaping at the door he was dragged through.

“Anyone else?” I sang.

“Real nice, traitor.”

My gaze turned on Mateo Gatens.

“I see how your new setup works out real nice for the fishes, but what about us?” Golden eyes burned me where I stood. “You keep talking about a revolution, but you damn sure aren’t pulling one off with alphas, so what do we get in return?”

“Hmm, well, I believe I already mentioned revealing all your deep, dark secrets on Loop-Garou if you don’t do everything I say, but that was the stick. Here’s the carrot: join me, and I’ll expel you from the academy and rip away your chances of becoming an engineer, and on that special day, I’ll gift you a camera.”

His expression melted away. “What did you say?”

“Oh yeah, I know you don’t want to fucking be here and you never did. Your dream is to be a wildlife photographer that doesn’t just travel the world, you want to travel through all the dominions—photographing all the wonder, beauty, and magic you see. But your mother had bigger dreams for you, and she smashed all your cameras two seconds before handing you an application, saying apply or else.”

Mateo was tenser than the chains.

“But even if she supported you, you couldn’t be a wildlife photographer because it’s damn sure not on the approve alpha job list. Only betas can,” I said. “You don’t have to fight for my dream, Mateo. Fight for your own.”

He forced a laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding. You can’t possibly think I’ll sell out my people and commit treason against Wolf Nation, all to take some photographs. What kind of self-absorbed psychopath do you think I am?”

I knelt in front of him, my grin going nowhere. “The kind that’s in love with an omega girl.”

His eyes widened. Mateo really believed they did a good job hiding their relationship. And they did, until I moonwalked into his room one night and found them cuddled up in bed.

“If dear old Mom still isn’t letting you run your own life at twenty, something tells me she’s not going to suddenly ease up when you walk through the door with an omega on your arm.” I rose up. “So what’ll it be, Mateo, because you’ve still got a choice between carrot and stick. Are you choosing utter humiliation and a sudden, violent expulsion over the academy gates, or are you choosing happiness and love?” Another snap and his chains were gone. “Choose wisely.”

Mateo shot up, claws bursting free as quickly as his fangs. He shoved in my face—snarls leaking hot breath over my chin—and stopped. Backing down, Mateo swore foully... and crossed to my side.

So it went.

Many shouted, bleated, cursed, and tried to attack me. They swore they’d never join me, and swore that mother wolf or not, they would take me down. But even more came to my side.

Every single omega except two. Half the alpha class. And then the entire beta class when I ordered all the alphas who refused me to either be locked up in the castle’s dungeons or launched over the gates. I stole a phone off one, and while they were flying, I posted all their secrets on Loop-Garou.

“Congratulations, my pack. My clan.” I swept over the uneasy, satisfied, determined, and nauseated faces. “You were promised I, the mother wolf, would bring about a new, better era for wolves, and today I have delivered. Welcome, everyone, to the Villain era.”

Ava, Melisent, and the epsilons laughed out loud.

“And now you.” I turned on my fates. “Ladies, put them somewhere uncomfortable for me, please.”

Badr brimmed with such hatred, he glowed—his sun power bursting to get free.

“Their trials start first thing in the morning.”

Still gagged, the five of them shouted uselessly at me as Ava and the others hauled them away.

I watched them go, waiting as the doors swung shut and I was finally alone in that grand, cavernous hall. Only then did I kneel beside the ashes of my mother’s letters, and weep.