LOGINVioletKylan and I immediately turned to each other and our eyes met.How far should we go?How far could we go?In my opinion, we could’ve gone much further. But Kylan shook his head, and I respected it. After all, he knew Sterling better than I did. Whatever he had picked up on, I trusted him to know what he was doing.“That was it,” he said.He pushed himself up from his chair. I followed his lead without a single question. His eyes blinked at me. “We should probably get ready for class.”“We should.”“Of course,” Sterling agreed. As he was about to fully rise from his chair, Kylan raised his hand to stop him. A worried expression filled his face. “No, please.”Sterling sat back down again, his gaze drifting to me before he looked me up and down for as far as his eyes could allow him. Anxiously, I forced a smile onto my lips and tugged at the sleeves of my gear.“If you work hard enough, Royal Mate,” he smiled gently, “I have no doubt you will be one of the very best students to ev
Violet“Principal Sterling!” Kylan called out to him.Thorne and Jumpie, who had followed us, ran off while we finally caught up with him. He turned onto the courtyard path leading to his tower. I stepped to his right while Kylan moved to his left.“Kylan Lythoria, and his Royal Mate,” Sterling greeted, his eyes warm. “The rightful winner.”I looked down at him, matching his warmth. The man was so short that the top of his head barely reached the middle of my chest.“To what do I owe the pleasure?”“We were hoping we could talk with you, Sir,” Kylan said.I bit my bottom lip, mentally preparing for him to tell us to leave him alone.The man let out a small hum. “Sure,” he said. We turned again, the tower right in front of us. “Let’s go to my office,” he suggested.Just like that?That was easier than I had expected.I didn’t know why I would even think he would send us away when he had always been too happy to see Kylan. Even through Adelaide’s eyes, he had always been kind.He looked
VioletCassian opened and closed his mouth twice, nothing coming out either time. His face went red, which was definitely a first for him, and Wes chuckled under his breath.“Huh?” Kylan spoke, surprised. “You do got it.”Cassian still had not said anything. I gave him the opportunity, but he didn’t take it, so I turned to face the crowd. One person in particular, who was clearly enjoying all of this. Jorn.A wicked grin pulled at his mouth.“Commander Jorn?”“Hastings?”“Did you, at any point, tell us that there was no kicking allowed in this race?”Jorn waited for a few seconds, then shook his head slowly. “No…no.”“Oh.” I let out a breath. “Well, then there is no need for all of this.”I dropped both my hands down to my sides and turned back to Cassian. “You pushed me first, by the way,” I said, my gaze sharp. “But I’m not hearing you talk about that.”I let out a small scoff. Cassian’s eyes pierced through mine, and the two of us glared at each other. There was no doubt we were sh
VioletVoices filled the clearing as we both passed the line. They were roars in a way I had never heard come out of Starlight before.The Lycan was right beside us, head tipping toward us. In that moment, I realized that the winner had not been declared yet. It was too close of a race. I felt Lumia getting exhausted, which was no surprise. She had worked too hard. I truly hoped it was enough.Commander Jorn moved in front of us, clapping his hands while shaking his head in disbelief. Sienna and I both shifted back, our gear making it take only seconds.After the shift, the real exhaustion started to set in. Sienna and I exchanged glances and smiled at each other. I rested my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath as the screams from the crowd slowly faded into the background.“Close!” Jorn called out.Still calming down, I lifted my head to look at him. He had a wide grin on his face.“Very close, but there can only be one winner, and that is…”I closed my eyes.Why?Because I
VioletAbout twenty minutes had passed since I started running, and I could feel it everywhere. My legs, and the uncomfortable feeling in my ribs.My breath came out ragged, but it didn’t stop me from holding on. There was no slowing down because every time I did, Lumia made sure I knew it.‘Almost there!’An excited gasp left me when I finally saw the end of the trees and the bright light of a small clearing. When I spotted the large stone wall marking the turnaround, my excitement only grew.Just as I burst out of the trees, a loud roar tore through the clearing. So powerful it made me stop in my tracks. I only had half a second to see it before it disappeared down the path beside me, already heading back.But one second had been enough. It was a massive dark gray she-wolf, easily twice my size. Not as big as Kylan or Nate. Or even Kaelis. But still big enough to give me goosebumps. And it was fast.It was Sienna.‘Why are we standing still?’ Lumia growled. ‘Touch the stone and go!’
VioletI could not feel my hands or much of anything, actually. The crowd’s voices faded away as all I could think about were the words Principal Sterling had just said.The royal palace…Dad’s home.The prize for this race was literally a door into the one place I had never let myself imagine, and all I had to do for it was beat three Lycans. Well, perhaps not all. That made it seem too easy.They were still Lycans who had spent their whole lives faster and stronger than me.My eyes carefully moved to Rochwall, and I caught him glancing at me from the side. A wide smile was on his face as he gave me a single nod. The expression was the same warm look he carried whenever he called us his children.No wonder he said that I would want to win this race.Would he have visited the palace with Dad back in the day? Perhaps with Jane?I shot him a small smile, then faced the front again.‘Lumia?’She hummed back, and I continued speaking.‘I am going to do my part. You are going to do your pa







