The morning sun had barely risen past the treetops, casting long shadows across the jagged stone walls of the Alpha Training Academy. The scent of pine and damp earth was quickly being overtaken by something stronger, more primal. The air vibrated with the presence of so many dominant wolves gathered in one place—an unseen pressure, a power that hummed beneath the surface and made the hairs on Rhea’s arms stand on end beneath her clothes.
She stood in a winding line of recruits, all boys. Some were tall and muscled like they had trained for this their entire lives; others looked too young, faces still holding the soft edges of adolescence. But even they bristled with barely-contained energy, anticipation, and aggression. The very air around the gates to the Academy was thick with the scen
