Chapter 6: Wolves at Her Back
1068 Words
The aftermath was a storm.
Word spread like wildfire. First among the trainees, then the instructors, and by morning, to the Alpha Council itself.
Aria Velen—heir of the Eastern Pack, runaway daughter of Alpha Gideon, and the she-wolf promised to Ryker Holt—was not only alive, but had been training under their noses, disguised as a boy.
By noon, the Academy called an emergency tribunal.
By sunset, her fate would be decided.
***
Aria stood in the center of the circular chamber, flanked by two guards, though they didn’t touch her. They didn’t have to. The weight of a dozen council eyes on her shoulders was heavier than shackles.
She wore her trainee uniform—still bruised, still bloodstained from the forest fight—and refused to flinch beneath their scrutiny.
Kade sat in the row behind her. His face was impassive, but his eyes were fire.
She took strength from them.
From him.
Alpha Thorne, the Academy’s High Commander, rose from the central podium.
“You entered this sacred institution under false pretenses,” he said, voice low and clipped. “You violated trust, protocol, and the traditions of the Alpha line.”
“I protected myself,” Aria answered evenly. “Because no one else would.”
A few murmurs rustled the chamber. One council member—an older woman with sharp gray eyes—arched a brow.
“You do not deny the deception.”
“I don’t.” Aria stood straighter. “But I won my place in every trial. I earned every mark. I kept up with your best. I bled with them. Bled for them.”
She paused. Her voice dropped, hardening like iron.
“I am not here because I sought power. I’m here because I wanted to be free.”
“Free from what?” another Council member asked.
“From a forced bond,” she said. “From Ryker Holt.”
A new voice cut through the room like a knife.
“He has claimed otherwise.”
Aria turned slowly.
Ryker stood in the doorway, pristine as ever in a dark embroidered tunic, lips curled in a polished sneer. The guards let him pass without question.
He strode forward, eyes locked on her like prey he meant to devour.
“She was promised,” he said coolly. “Sealed by the rite. Her disappearance dishonored both families. I’ve simply come to bring her home.”
“I am not yours,” Aria growled.
“She is a child playing war,” he said to the Council, ignoring her. “I’ll restore her to her rightful place. She belongs beside me.”
“You tried to kill a fellow Alpha candidate,” Kade said, standing abruptly.
Ryker didn’t even glance at him. “He stood between me and what’s mine.”
Kade took a step forward. “Try it again and you’ll see how that ends.”
The guards shifted, readying themselves, but Aria raised a hand. Her voice was calm, but icy.
“I’m not yours to claim. Not anymore. Not ever.”
“You think this academy can protect you?” Ryker scoffed. “The Council won’t cross my father.”
She met his eyes. “Then maybe they need a reminder of what a true Alpha looks like.”
The room quieted.
Then Alpha Thorne’s voice broke the silence.
“This tribunal is not here to determine mate rights,” he said coldly. “It is here to judge whether Aria Velen—trainee Ari Velen—has a rightful place among us.”
Ryker smirked. “And how can she, when she has lied about everything?”
“Because truth isn’t always safe,” said the gray-eyed woman from the Council. “And sometimes the bravest wolves wear masks the longest.”
A few heads turned toward her.
She stood.
“I watched this girl spar, train, lead. I saw how others followed her without knowing why. They didn’t follow the lie. They followed the strength beneath it.”
The room grew still.
“She is not the threat,” the woman continued. “She is the future.”
***
The vote was held before dusk.
Seven of the Council stood.
Four voted against her.
Three voted for...
Aria’s heart dropped. That was it. She’d lost.
Then Alpha Thorne stood.
“I reserve final judgment,” he said. “By Academy tradition.”
Kade tensed beside her.
Aria’s hands clenched behind her back.
Thorne looked at her long and hard. “We teach that strength is forged in truth. That honor defines an Alpha.”
He turned to the Council.
“But this wolf has already faced more trials than most of our own. She has bled and fought and proven herself worthy in every trial without favor, without protection.”
He looked at Ryker.
“She has also been hunted.”
Ryker’s smirk vanished.
Thorne nodded once. “Let the record show that Aria Velen is to remain at the Academy. Her status as a full trainee is upheld.”
A rush of breath escaped her lungs.
Ryker’s eyes flashed with fury.
“You can’t protect her forever.”
“I don’t have to,” Thorne said. “She can protect herself now.”
***
Later that night, Aria stood by the training field, staring up at the stars.
She didn’t know what tomorrow would bring. Maybe Ryker would come again. Maybe the Council would change their minds.
But she had stood before them and hadn’t bowed.
She had chosen herself.
Footsteps approached.
She didn’t turn.
“I thought you might be here,” Kade said quietly.
She finally looked over her shoulder.
“I was just… breathing,” she murmured. “Feels like I haven’t in weeks.”
He stepped beside her.
“You were incredible today.”
“I was terrified.”
“That’s what made it brave.”
She looked at him, something raw and real in her expression.
“I don’t know what happens next.”
“I do,” Kade said.
She raised a brow. “Oh?”
He smiled.
“You keep training. You keep fighting. And next time someone calls you a girl like it’s a weakness…” He stepped closer. “You show them what kind of Alpha you are.”
She didn’t smile.
Not yet.
But she let herself believe.
Just a little.
- Writer
