KARINA
"I will not carry dead weight," he said, his green eyes boring a hole straight into my soul. "There are zero free rides for fallen royalty in my house. You work, you fight, or you leave. And if you leave, you die."
I sat there on the freezing stone, my whole body aching. My wrist throbbed with a dull, heavy beat, and my knees were bleeding freely into the dirt.
This was the exact moment I was supposed to break into a million pieces. I was supposed to start crying loud, messy tears and beg this terrifying Rebel King to take me back home to Silverfang to ask for mercy.
But I didn't.
Something deep inside my chest snapped, making a small, tight sound in my mind like a dry bone breaking. And then, a tiny, hot ember of my dormant wolf flared to life in the dead center of my chest,
