Triumvirate Invasion
The groups were called out one by one.
Scarlett stood between Lily and Saint as names were read. Her heart was already racing before their group was announced.
“Group 7: Scarlett O’Hara, Lily Hart, Saint Crowther.”
Lily let out a shaky breath of relief. Saint simply nodded once, stepping closer to them like he was already positioning himself as their shield.
Then came the rival group.
“Group 8: Rhys Valdane, Kane Whitlock, Kaiden Black.”
A heavy silence fell over the clearing for a moment.
Scarlett’s stomach twisted. Of course. The school was clearly playing with fire.
Kane’s grin was sharp and dangerous as he looked straight at her. Rhys’s golden eyes scanned their group with cool interest. Kaiden stood slightly apart, sunglasses still on, expression unreadable.
Halloway handed each group a sealed map and a small pouch of glowing boundary markers.
“Your sectors are marked on the map,” he said. “You have ten minutes to reach the base of your assigned tree cluster and begin climbing. The two-hour timer starts the moment your first member touches the canopy. Defend what’s yours. Expand if you can. Good luck.”
The groups dispersed.
Scarlett, Lily, and Saint moved quickly toward the towering trees indicated on their map, an ancient cluster of massive oaks and ironwoods whose branches intertwined high above like a living maze.
Saint carried most of their gear without complaint, his massive frame moving with surprising grace through the undergrowth.
Lily glanced back toward Group 8, who were heading in a slightly different direction.
“This is going to be interesting,” she muttered.
Scarlett didn’t reply. She could already feel eyes on her back, Rhys’s calm, calculating stare and Kane’s hungry one burning into her.
They reached the base of their sector.
The trees were enormous, trunks wider than cars, branches starting high above the ground. Saint looked up, assessing.
“I’ll go first and drop ropes,” he said quietly. “Then I’ll help pull you both up.”
Lily nodded, gripping her utility belt tightly. “Let’s do this.”
Saint climbed like it was nothing, powerful arms and legs propelling him upward with effortless strength. Within minutes, ropes were dropped down, secured with carabiners.
Scarlett and Lily climbed after him, hearts pounding as they left the ground far below.
The canopy was a whole different world.
Branches thick enough to walk on formed natural pathways. Leaves created a green ceiling that filtered sunlight into soft patterns. The air smelled of moss, sap, and wild magic.
Saint helped them onto a wide branch, then handed them their markers.
“We claim from this point onward,” he said, voice low. “Stay close.”
They began marking their territory placing glowing runes on branches to establish boundaries.
But they weren’t alone for long.
Lily’s eyes darted around the thick canopy, trying to sound hopeful.
“This isn’t so bad,” she said, gripping the branch tighter. “We can definitely come out of this unscathed. We just mark our territory, stay together, and hold the line for two hours. Right?”
Scarlett forced a small nod, but her stomach was in knots.
“Yeah… right,” she replied, voice quieter than she wanted. “As long as no one tries any..….”
Kane’s voice cut through the leaves like a blade.
“Look at that, our little mate is already playing house.”
Scarlett’s head snapped toward the sound.
From a thick branch in the neighboring cluster, Kane stood grinning, fangs flashing in the dappled sunlight. Rhys was right beside him, arms loosely crossed, golden eyes locked on her with that terrifyingly calm intensity. Kaiden lingered a few branches back, watching silently.
Kane tilted his head, voice dripping with dark amusement.
“Try not to fall, princess. We’d hate to have to catch you.”
Before Scarlett could even respond, the two of them moved.
They didn’t wait.
They didn’t talk.
They attacked.
Rhys leapt first, graceful and lethal, landing on one of their marked branches with cat-like precision. His claws flashed as he ripped one of their glowing boundary markers clean off the wood, tossing it below.
Kane followed like chaos incarnate, slamming onto the branch beside him, boots cracking the wood. He ripped another marker free with a vicious laugh.
“Hey!” Lily shouted, voice shaking with anger and fear. “That’s our sector!”
Saint stepped forward instantly, chest rumbling with a deep growl.
“Stop,” he said, voice low but firm. “That’s our territory. You know the rules.”
Rhys didn’t even glance at him.
He simply smiled, slow, beautiful, and completely unhinged as he tore down a third marker.
Kane laughed louder, eyes wild and black.
“Rules?” he mocked. “We make the rules, puppy.”
Scarlett’s heart slammed against her ribs.
This wasn’t just competition.
This was possession.
They weren’t here to play the game fairly.
Saint moved to block them, shoulders squared, but the conflict was clear on his face, his Alphas versus his mate…….well their mate.
“Rhys. Kane,” he growled, voice strained. “Stop. She doesn’t want this.”
Rhys finally looked at him, golden eyes glowing with dark amusement.
“Then she should learn to want it.”
Kane grinned wider, claws digging into the thick branch as he advanced like a predator who had already won.
Scarlett felt frozen, shock rooting her in place.
These weren’t just Alphas playing a game.
These were psychopaths who had decided she was theirs and they were willing to tear apart an entire forest to prove it.
The two-hour timer had barely started.
And the real war in the canopy had already begun.
It wasn’t against the rules to take another group’s sector, as long as no direct physical fighting occurred. But the Triumvirate didn’t care about the spirit of the rules.
They only cared about claiming what they believed belonged to them.
Kane moved first.
He leapt across the gap with terrifying grace, landing on one of their marked branches. His eyes locked on Lily for a split second flashing with dark amusement before he grabbed her by the waist.
“Time to move, little Omega,” he purred.
Lily screamed as he lifted her like she weighed nothing and flung her toward a neighboring tree.
She twisted mid-air, claws finally bursting out, and barely managed to slam them into the bark, gasping as she clung to the branch, chest heaving.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Scarlett screamed, filled with shock.
Rhys was on her in the next heartbeat.
His hand shot out, wrapping around her throat, not choking, but firm enough to pin her back against a thick branch. His golden eyes burned into hers, calm and utterly psychotic.
Scarlett’s breath hitched, heart hammering wildly against his palm.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Kane pull Saint into a rough, possessive kiss, hard and claiming. Saint growled and shoved him back after a second, breathing heavily.
“Must you take this sector?” Saint rasped, voice strained.
Rhys’s smile widened
“Oh, puppy,” he said softly, still holding Scarlett’s throat. “Yes we must.”
Then, without warning, he threw her.
Scarlett screamed as her body left the branch, sailing through open air toward another thick limb below.
She flailed desperately, trying to release her claws but they wouldn’t come.
Not fast enough.
The wind rushed past her ears.
The ground was terrifyingly far below.
And she was falling.