The scent of anger had filled the air that morning when my parents stormed into the academy. The rage, the frustration, and the suffocating injustice. That academy, once a place we believed was meant to shape young wolves into leaders, had become a den of deceit and corruption.

I knew my parents would fight tooth and claw for Laura. They always had.

It had been Valerie. Of course, it was her. The golden wolf. The perfect, beloved student who couldn’t do any wrong in the eyes of the academy. Her family, tied to the council, used their influence as a weapon, shielding her from the consequences of her cruelty. They treated her like she was the future of our kind, the pride of the academy, while the rest of us were just pawns in their twisted game.

My parents had been furious when they learned the truth—when Laura finally confessed through tears, her voice shaking as she recounted the torment Valerie and her pack of followers had inflicted on her. They humiliated her, mocked her, pushed her to the edge… and they almost won. Almost.

The academy’s headmaster, a stoic wolf with silver streaks in his fur, sitting behind that massive wooden desk, his eyes cold and indifferent. Beside him, Valerie and her mother—powerful, smug, untouchable.

My mother wouldn’t hold back. “My daughter nearly died because of your negligence,” she hissed, her voice low and dangerous. “You think we’re going to let this slide?”

“Valerie is an exceptional student,” she said smoothly, her voice honeyed with false sincerity. “She’s been preparing for leadership since she could walk. Do you really believe she would do something like this?”

My father—oh, he was pacing, his temper barely contained. “Are you calling my daughter a liar?” His deep growl would have filled the room, the threat lingering just beneath his words. He was a strong wolf, loyal to the pack, but when it came to family, there was no stopping him.

The headmaster leaned back in his chair, his fingers steepled, his gaze shifting between them, trying to maintain his air of control. “We have no solid evidence,” he said, his tone smooth but hollow. “Valerie’s record is spotless. She’s one of our brightest students, destined for great things.”

Brightest student? The thought made me want to shred something apart. A wolf's worth isn’t measured by grades or status. It’s about loyalty, honor, and strength in the face of adversity. But Valerie? She thrived on power games, using her influence to hurt others, to tear them down until they were nothing.

And that’s what she almost did to Laura.

My mother flinched. “So, what? We’re supposed to accept that just because she’s ‘destined for greatness,’ my daughter’s life means nothing?” Her voice was filled with venom. She’d never been one to back down, especially when her pups were involved.

Valerie’s mother smirked, the arrogance practically dripping off her. “Your daughter is… fragile. Perhaps the academy was too much for her.” The subtle insult hung in the air, and I knew my mother’s claws itched to shift.

I knew my father’s jaw would have been clenched tight, the muscles tensing. “You don’t get to decide that,” he said, his voice low, dangerous. “We trusted this academy to protect our daughter. And instead, you allowed her to be torn apart.”

The headmaster, always so diplomatic, raised a hand. “We’ll conduct a thorough investigation,” he said. Empty promises, meaningless words. They’d drag it out, muddy the waters, and protect their precious Valerie. It was a dance they had perfected over the years, shielding their favorites while casting aside the vulnerable.

But my parents weren’t stupid. They knew exactly how the system worked, and they knew it was stacked against us.

The air was thick with the smell of antiseptic, herbs, and something else—something bitter. It was coming from me. Anger, barely contained, mixing with the sharp scent of my tears. I wasn’t used to crying. It was a weakness. At least, that’s what everyone had always told me. Monsters don’t cry.

I’d always been the strong one, the one everyone feared. Even our pack members wouldn’t meet my eyes for too long. I heard the whispers—“She’s not like the rest of us,” “She’s dangerous,” “She’s unnatural.” It didn’t matter that I could take down any enemy that threatened us, didn’t matter that I had saved lives. To them, I wasn’t a protector. I was something to be kept at arm’s length.

But none of that mattered. Not now.

I sat beside Laura’s bed, staring at her fragile form as she lay there, too weak to move. Her pale skin looked even more fragile under the infirmary’s dim light, her eyes sunken, and her usually golden hair damp with sweat. My hands trembled as I held hers. The weight of her suffering pressed down on my chest until it hurt to breathe.

“How could they…” I whispered, not to her, not to anyone. It was just the question that kept circling in my mind. How could they do this to her?

Laura stirred, her voice so faint I had to lean in to catch the words. “Livia… there’s something else. Something I didn’t… I couldn’t tell anyone.”

I could feel my wolf stir beneath my skin, agitated, pacing in the back of my mind. “What is it?” I asked though I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear the answer. Not if it was going to break me even more than I already was.

Tears welled in Laura’s eyes, and I could see her struggling to hold it together, the shame weighing her down like stones tied to her spirit. She was always the pure one, the kind one, the one who brought light into the darkest places. My twin, but her heart was soft where mine had always been hard.

“They took videos,” she whispered, barely able to meet my gaze. “Of me. When they… when I was… they…” Her voice faltered, and the tears spilled over, her fragile body shaking with sobs.

My chest tightened. “Videos?” I echoed, my voice hollow like the words weren’t sinking in. But they did. The image flashed through my mind, and the fury that followed was white-hot, blinding.

Valerie. It was always Valerie. Her perfect little circle of followers. They had tormented Laura, humiliated her, and now this?

“They made me take off my clothes,” Laura whispered, her voice breaking as she relived the horror. “They said if I didn’t… they’d hurt me more. They laughed… they—” She gasped, choking on her tears. “And they recorded it. I don’t know who else has seen it.”

I felt like the room was closing in on me, the walls pushing in, threatening to crush us both. My hands curled into fists so tight my knuckles turned white, claws threatening to break through the skin.

No one would do this to my sister. No one.

“They broke you,” I whispered, voice trembling. “And now they think they can walk away without consequence?” My wolf howled in my mind, a guttural cry for blood, for vengeance. “I won’t let them.”

Laura’s grip tightened on my hand, but she was too weak to do much more than that. “Livia, please… don’t. You can’t—”

“I can,” I growled, standing so abruptly that my chair clattered to the floor. “They hurt you. They nearly destroyed you. And now I’m going to ruin every single one of them.”

“No!” Laura’s voice cracked, but it was the most forceful I’d heard her since she woke. “You can’t… you’ll get in trouble.”

“I don’t care,” I snapped, my voice thick with rage.

I paced the room, my body trembling with the need to shift, to let the beast inside me tear free and hunt. But I couldn’t—not yet. I had to be smart about this. I had to be careful. I couldn’t just storm into Valerie’s life and tear it apart with my claws. I had to dismantle her, piece by piece, the way she had done to Laura.

I turned back to my sister, my voice softening. “I’m not going to hurt you, Laura. But I’m not going to let them get away with this either.”

Laura’s eyes were filled with fear. Not for herself. For me. “I don’t want you to get hurt, Livia. You always protect me… but who’s going to protect you?”

I crouched beside her bed again, taking her hand in mine. “You don’t need to worry about that. I’ve been surviving on my own long before any of this. And I’ll keep surviving. For you.”

Her lip quivered, and for a moment, she looked like she was going to argue. But she didn’t.

I stood, my muscles tensing, my mind spinning with plans. Valerie wouldn’t get away with this. None of them would. They thought they were untouchable because they hid behind power, behind their pack status, behind their smug, privileged lives.

But they had never met someone like me.