Chapter3

"Final graduation assessment objective: The center of the Death Forest. The locations of the target items have been marked on your maps. Whoever brings back the highest-grade item intact takes first place. Life and death are in your own hands." The old headmaster's hoarse, electronic voice crackled through the amplifier.

The other students around us broke into hushed whispers.

"Whoa, I heard first place gets priority in picking a territory for their internship this time."

"For sure. My cousin took first place last year, picked the best territory, and got way more resources."

"Wait, this means... they only recognize the item, not the person, and the academy doesn't care about the process... doesn't that mean whoever snatches it, claims it?"

"Shh, keep it down. This actually happened in previous years, and the academy never punished anyone for it."

I gripped the parchment map the academy had issued me. I was absolutely set on securing that first-place finish.

Liam looked at me with eager eyes and whispered, "Athena, this is our chance to prove our strength to the pack!"

I pointed to the red zone on the map. "We'll cut straight through the marsh. It’s the shortest route, and we can bypass the other teams to reach the center early. At the end of the marsh is the lair of a Class-A mutated beast, the Dread-Fear Bear. It's the location of the highest-grade Moon-glare Herb, making it the most dangerous."

Liam checked the poison-tipped short blade at his waist. "I follow your lead. Like I said, as long as I have a breath left, I will guard your back."

That was exactly why I considered him my final comrade-in-arms.

Liam looked at me, lowering his voice. "But your injuries from the combat class..."

"It's fine. They aren't fully healed, but there's no time to worry about that now." A top-tier Alpha's healing factor could suppress flesh wounds, but it couldn't hide the unhealed, bone-deep fractures. I knew this perfectly well, but I didn't have the luxury to dwell on it. "Leave the Dread-Fear Bear to me. Just wait for the right moment to ambush it."

We sprinted along the edge of the marsh, not running into a single other team the entire way. Forty minutes later, ahead of our estimated time, we crashed into the Dread-Fear Bear's territory. Right before we charged into the lair, Liam's footsteps paused for a fraction of a second. His gaze swept over the path we had just taken behind us, and then he instantly returned to normal.

The massive beast swung a giant paw right at my face. If I took a step back, Liam wouldn't be able to fill the gap—so I didn't retreat. I drove forward, taking the hit head-on.

Rip—

Three razor-sharp claws sliced straight through my chest, instantly ripping three gaping gashes down to my abdomen. The wolf inside me fiercely bit down the agonizing flare of my unhealed wounds, but it was exactly this close-quarters distance that allowed me to lock onto its front limb joint with a death grip. Using the momentum from taking that claw, I slammed my entire body against its flank. The giant bear raged, but its front paw was locked tight in my hold. Unable to pull back, its spine was left completely exposed to Liam.

"Now!" I gritted out through my teeth.

Liam lunged in instantly, his short blade burying itself with precision into the soft flesh at the back of its neck. The poisoned blade acted fast. The massive creature struggled only twice before collapsing, dragging me down into the mud with it.

I knelt on one knee in the sludge, gasping heavily for air. I had traded my life to create that fatal opening for Liam.

But in my hand, I had grasped the Moon-glare Herb.

Bringing it back intact meant Liam and I would secure first place.

I turned around and lifted my chin toward Liam, holding out the glowing herb. "We won."

It had been ten years. Ever since I was a little pup, Liam had been running right behind me. We played together, and whenever I did something wrong, he took the punishment with me.

I held absolutely no guard against him, and the wolf inside me had even willingly retracted its aggressive, territorial pressure.

It was in that exact second that Liam drew an iron rod hidden in his sleeve and smashed it viciously into the back of my head.

I crashed face-first into the sludge. The glowing Moon-glare Herb slipped from my hand and rolled into the mud.

"Ugh..."

I tried to push my upper body up, but my vision began to blur. Faintly, I saw a familiar pair of military boots stop right beneath my eyelids.

"Well done, Liam. You almost ruined the herb, too."

It was Caleb's voice. My fiancé was holding Lily, who complained in a pampered tone, "This bear smells so gross, Caleb. Let's just grab the stuff and leave. My sister looks so scary right now."

So this was an intricately planned hunt, and I was just the attack dog bleeding on the front lines to clear their path.

...Get up, the wolf deep inside my mind let out a hoarse growl. Don't die by the hands of these three. That's letting them off too easy.

"Why..." I managed to squeeze out that single word softly.

Liam picked up the Moon-glare Herb from the ground and subserviently handed it to Caleb.

"Don't look at me like that, Athena. You're a top-tier Alpha, you're just too strong. No matter how hard I fight for my life, I'll only ever be your lackey." He threw a glance at Caleb. "But Caleb promised me that as long as I hand the item to him, the day he takes over, I'll be the second-in-command Beta for the entire pack. It's the most profitable trade."

Caleb accepted the Moon-glare Herb with satisfaction, gave Lily’s waist a squeeze, and then looked down at me with sheer revulsion.

"Don't blame him, Athena. Blame yourself. You are too aggressive—a union between an Alpha and an Alpha has no good end. I don't need a mate of my own kind constantly trying to overpower me." He tucked the glowing herb behind Lily's ear. "Knowing your temper, I guessed you'd come here. The assessment only recognizes the item, not the process, and the academy never interferes. As long as Lily and I hand it in as the first-place winners, she can use this honor to legitimately become my mate and shut those old fools on the Elder Council up."

"You'll face my father's wrath for breaking the pack treaty..." My gaze locked onto him with a death grip.

"Which is exactly why I can't kill you here." Caleb sneered and turned his back. "But in a place like this, leaving a bleeding casualty will let the beasts solve the problem for me. Let's go. The scent of blood will draw the local scavengers soon enough."

With his arm draped around the smiling Lily and Liam following beside them, the three quickly vanished into the deep timber.

My body temperature was dropping rapidly from the blood loss. With my ear pressed against the mud, I sharply caught the shift in the wind direction—those permanently starved mutated beasts, lurking in the depths of the Death Forest, had caught the scent of Alpha blood.

The sound of dead branches breaking drifted from the thickets. Four pairs of sickly green eyes illuminated one after another. Low whimpers vibrated in their throats as they closed in on me, step by agonizing step.

It isn't time to give up yet. The wolf's voice echoed again, this time with unquestionable ruthlessness. Stand up, Athena.