Chapter 17
Lila
The moment Damon spoke, the room erupted in shock. Gasps, whispers, and even a few barely concealed curses filled the air.
A one–on–one match with the Lycan King was unheard of. At least surviving one was unheard of.
I could feel the weight of dozens of eyes snapping to me, their expressions a mix of disbelief and, in some cases, satisfaction.
Some of the girls were already celebrating my defeat in their minds.
Who here could possibly best Damon in combat? No one. That meant elimination, I was sure.
Beta Ronan, now standing beside Damon, lifted a hand for silence.
“This segment of the selection is meant to test stamina and combat ability,” Ronan announced. “After each battle, every
participant will receive a score. The bottom twenty will be eliminated.”
A ripple of uncase passed through the room. That was nearly half of the remaining candidates.
“But,” Ronan continued, his mouth curving into something like amusement, “fighting the King doesn’t necessarily mean
elimination.” His eyes flickered toward me, assessing. “The matchups will be determined by lottery. Whoever draws the Lycan
King’s insignia will fight him.”
A few girls exhaled in relief. A lottery. That meant I still had a chance to avoid getting my ass kicked.
Damon showed no reaction, no flicker of interest in the chaos he had just created. His eyes swept the crowd once, then he turned
away as if the whole thing was trivial.
I clenched my fists. He had just upended my entire strategy – again – and didn’t even care.
I needed to get out of here.
I turned on my heel and walked briskly back toward the residence, ignoring the looks still boring into me. Unfortunately, I wasn’t
alone
Vanessa, seething, followed close behind, her heels clicking furiously against the polished floor.
“This is your fault,” she spat.
1 let out a tired sigh. “What is?”
Her hand curled into a fist at her side. “If you hadn’t been pretending to be weak, you wouldn’t have ended up in this mess. And now, because of you, the training just got harder for all of us!”
I stopped in my tracks and turned to face her. “You think I wanted this?” I snapped. “Your little performance was fun and all, but maybe use what little is in your head for once. You think I planned to get stuck in a fight with the Lycan King?”
+15 Bonus
Her lips curled. “I don’t care what you wanted,” she said. “Just know this… it’s my new mission to make your life miserable.”
I held her gaze for a long moment, then turned and walked away.
Let her seethe. It didn’t matter. I had bigger problems.
ts tangled in too
Back in my room, I slammed the door and sank onto my bed, rubbing my temples. My head ached; my thoughts many directions at once.
I’d always thrived with combat training, once upon a time. There had been a period when I was actually decent at it. I had even been proud of my skills before everything changed.
Before my wolf… weakened.
At first, I’d tried to keep up, pushing myself harder, training longer. But it didn’t matter. Eventually, I just couldn’t match the others. And now, the idea of stepping into a fight against Damon felt like a death sentence.
A sharp, sudden voice cut through my thoughts in a mild link.
Lila.
My stomach twisted at Alpha Henry’s mental voice. His tone was clipped, impatient. The strategy has changed. Forget about what you’ve been doing, from now on you will go all out and be selected.
My breath caught. What?
You heard me. No more hiding. No more blending in. I need you to win.
Panic clawed at my ribs. Why? That wasn’t the plan! What if I get exposed?!
Do as I say. Henry’s voice turned cold.
1 gritted my teeth and willed my heart to calm down. You’re asking too much –
