Chapter 1: One Slap

Everyone in the Ironwood pack always said the boy I grew up with would be the one to protect me.

But during an argument, he forgot to rein in the strength of his newly awakened wolf and slapped me across the face in front of our entire class.

That same day, I deleted every way he had to contact me. When he tried to reach me through the pack mindlink, I blocked that, too.

No one could believe it. I’d known Cole Mercer since I was three. I’d been trailing after him for nine years, hopelessly in love.

“Why, Aurora? Over one slap?”

He asked the question as if he genuinely didn’t understand.

“Yes,” I answered, looking him straight in the eye. “Over one slap.”

...

When Cole slapped me, I didn’t even process it at first.

The blow landed with a sickening crack. I stumbled into a desk, my ears ringing.

Heat flared across my left cheek, followed by a sharp, burning pain.

What made it worse was that he hadn’t held back. He’d used the full strength of his awakened wolf.

The scent of pine, usually so comforting, turned sharp and aggressive. Every student in the classroom whose wolf had awakened went tense. Some lowered their eyes. Others shuffled a step back.

At a wolf academy, public violence left more than bruises.

When someone who’d once sworn to protect me showed open hostility in front of everyone, it was a signal to the entire room of young wolves: he no longer stood by my side.

I covered my stinging cheek and stared at him, bewildered.

Cole, the boy who’d grown up with me, had just hit me in front of our whole class at Ashvale Academy. All because I’d argued with a transfer student before the instructor arrived.

The edges of Cole’s gray-green eyes flashed with animal gold as he realized what he’d done. His expression froze, but only for a second before anger and impatience buried the flicker of regret.

“Can you stop causing trouble for once, Aurora? Get back to your seat.”

Someone in the room snickered.

Cole was one of the strongest students in the warrior prep division, and the girl beside him, Amber, was surrounded by his friends. No one was going to challenge him before the instructor showed up. Most of the class chose silence, their eyes darting to me, waiting to see what I would do.

Amber Lawson stood beside him, idly twisting a lock of her chestnut hair.

“Cole, what are you doing? Can’t you see your little princess is about to cry?”

Her words only made his voice colder.

“Aurora, if you want to cry, go home and do it. This is the academy, not a stage for you to throw a princess tantrum whenever you feel like it.”

Humiliation, hurt, and anger crashed over me all at once. Before the tears could spill, my inner wolf, Echo, made her own judgment.

She no longer recognized Cole’s scent as safe.

*Leave.*

That was the only thought she sent me.

As a few of the boys started laughing, I turned and ran out of the classroom.

I didn’t know where I was going. I just knew I couldn’t stay for class, and I couldn’t endure the pitying, curious stares of the other young wolves.

Cole had never had much patience with me.

But this was the first time he had ever hit me.

And the first time in my life anyone had ever laid a hand on me.