Chapter 2

The private training ground was hidden deep within Blackstone Forest, in the space between territories.

Ravenna stood at the center of the training mat, moving through the motions of combat.

Punch. Pivot. Kick. Repeat.

Her movements were economical and powerful—the kind that come from years of discipline.

Sienna watched from the edge of the mat, arms crossed.

"Your form is perfect," she said with a smile. "Also, you're about to put a hole in that mat."

Ravenna looked down, pulled her leg back, and stood up straight.

Her last kick had torn through the reinforced leather, leaving a ragged opening.

"It needed replacing anyway," she said flatly.

"It was replaced six months ago." Sienna pushed off from the wall. "What happened after you left the ballroom?"

"Nothing happened." Ravenna moved to the water station and drank an entire bottle in one long pull. "I came home. I went to my room. I waited until everyone had gone to sleep."

"And then?"

"Then I frosted a mirror."

Sienna's eyes widened.

She walked closer and lowered her voice. "You frosted a mirror? Like, you actually made it freeze?"

"The glass crystallized when I touched it," Ravenna said calmly. "The patterns were intricate. Almost beautiful."

"Raven..." Sienna reached out, then stopped herself.

They had unspoken rules about physical comfort.

Ravenna tolerated it from Sienna, but only if Ravenna initiated it first.

"This is...this is escalating."

"I know."

"Your parents—"

"Don't know anything," Ravenna interrupted. "As far as they know, I threw a tantrum at a party and then sulked in my room. Classic teenage drama."

They were interrupted by the sound of someone approaching.

The two turned their heads.

Isolde emerged from between the trees. She was still wearing her ballroom gown, but the delicate fabric was torn in places from walking through the forest. Her hair, which had been perfectly styled, was now coming loose.

She looked genuinely disheveled.

"There you are," she said, her voice carrying a sense of satisfaction. "I followed you. I had to know where you were running off to like some kind of wild animal."

"How nice for you," Ravenna said evenly. "You can report back to Dad now and receive your reward for good behavior."

"That's not why I'm here." Isolde stepped onto the training mat, her expensive heels clicking against the reinforced leather with each step. "I'm here because this can't keep going on. For Mom's sake, if nothing else."

Sienna moved to stand beside Ravenna.

Isolde's eyes flickered to her for just a moment before returning to Ravenna.

"You need to understand something," Isolde continued. "This fantasy you've constructed—that you're part of our family, that you belong with us, that your presence means something—it needs to stop. Tonight."

"Is that so?" Ravenna said.

"I've been talking to people," Isolde said. There was something almost gleeful in her voice. "Powerful people. People who are interested in understanding why a girl who looks nothing like her family has abilities that shouldn't be possible in a human body."

The training ground went very still.

"What did you do?" Ravenna asked.

"I told them the truth," Isolde said. "That you're not one of us. That you're something else, you don't belong here, and you never have."

"You told them you suspected she was a Lycan," Sienna breathed. "Jesus Christ, Isolde. Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"I know exactly what I've done," Isolde said, turning to Sienna. "I've done what I believed should have been done years ago. I've removed the threat from our family. I've protected us."

"Protected us?" Ravenna sneered. "You've destroyed us."

"No," Isolde said flatly. "I've cut off the infected limb. Years ago, our parents chose to hide you, to protect you, and to pretend you were one of us. I'm making my own choice now. I reject that choice. I reject you."

"I do not acknowledge you as my sister," she said, articulating each word carefully. "As of this moment, we share no blood, no name, and no connection. You are nothing to me. And after tonight, you will be nothing to anyone who matters."

Silence fell.

Ravenna felt something like ice form in her chest and spread through her veins, freezing everything in its path.

"Understood," she said. Her voice was perfectly level. "I accept your terms."

Isolde looked shocked. "That's it? You're not going to—?"

"You've made yourself clear," Ravenna interrupted. "I understand the situation perfectly. You've rejected me as a sister. I reject you as well. We agree."

She turned to Sienna. "We should leave. There's nothing left for us here."

"Wait." Isolde's voice had changed. There was something almost uncertain in it. "You can't just—you can't act like this is nothing."

Ravenna turned back to face her sister. "You came here to hurt me, to end our relationship, and to tell me that I mean nothing to you." She paused, letting the weight of her words sink in. "Congratulations. You got what you wanted. Are you upset now that I'm not more upset?"

"I'm not—that's not—"

Isolde struggled to find the words. "You should be angry. You should be begging me to reconsider."

"Why?" Ravenna asked. "Why should I? You've done me a favor, Isolde. You've given me permission to stop pretending."

She gestured toward Sienna. "Let's go."

They walked past Isolde.

As they reached the edge of the training mat, Isolde called out to them.

"They're coming for you, you know," she said. "The people I contacted. They're coming to take you. There's nothing you can do to stop them."

Ravenna paused.

She turned back slightly, just enough to see Isolde over her shoulder.

"Then I hope they're stronger than they sound," she said. "Because I'm done running, hiding, and pretending to be less than I am."

The two disappeared into the darkness of the forest.

The next morning, Ravenna found her mother in the kitchen.

Margaret was standing at the counter, ostensibly making breakfast. However, the toast had been sitting in the toaster for at least five minutes, and the eggs had gone cold on the plate beside her.

"Isolde told us what she did," she said.

"Then you know the situation," Ravenna said flatly.

She moved past her mother to get a glass of water.

The cold water was soothing to her throat. "There's nothing left to discuss."

"There's everything left to discuss," Margaret said, her voice rising slightly. "Your father is furious. He's already contacted his lawyers. Isolde has put us in a difficult position."

"She's put me in a dilemma," Ravenna corrected. "You and Father did that years ago. Isolde simply chose to acknowledge the reality of it."

Margaret flinched as if she'd been struck. "We were trying to protect you."

"You were trying to protect yourselves," Ravenna said. "If you had truly been trying to protect me, you would have told me the truth. Instead, you hid me. You told me I was wrong for being different. You said there was something wrong with me that needed to be fixed."

She turned to face her mother. "I'm not broken, Mom. I don't need your protection anymore."

Margaret's eyes filled with tears. "What will you do?"

"I don't know yet," Ravenna admitted. "But I know I can't stay here. Not anymore."

"Ravenna—" Margaret reached out.

"Don't," Ravenna said quietly. "I need to do this. For both of us."

She left without looking back.

Behind her, she heard her mother break down.

Sienna was waiting outside in her car.

As soon as Ravenna slid into the passenger seat, they took off.

"Where are we going?" Sienna asked, keeping her eyes on the road.

"Somewhere they can't find us," Ravenna replied. "And we can figure out what comes next there."

"My grandmother has a place," Sienna offered. "In the mountains. It's isolated and off the grid. Blue Crescent doesn't even know about it."

"How long can we stay?

"As long as we need to."

Ravenna leaned her head against the window and watched the Vale estate disappear in the side mirror.

For the first time in her life, she felt something that might have been freedom.

It was complicated, colored by loss and uncertainty.

Her phone buzzed.

A text from an unknown number.

Unknown: [We know what you are. We're coming for you. You can run, but you cannot hide.]

Ravenna read the message twice, then turned off her phone.

"Sienna," she said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for being here."

Sienna reached over and squeezed her shoulder. "Always." That's what we do, right? We're a package deal."

Ravenna almost smiled.

Instead, she watched the world pass by the window, preparing herself for what was coming next.

Something stirred inside her.

Something that had been asleep for eighteen years.

She was finally ready to let it wake up.