The sun hung low in the sky, casting molten gold across the treetops as Rian stepped out of the forest’s edge. Her heart drummed an anxious rhythm in her chest. Just ahead, nestled at the crossroads between wilderness and structure, stood a small outpost made of stone and iron.
The Academy’s border checkpoint.
Two tall posts framed a wrought-iron gate, one side of it propped open. On either side, sharp-eyed guards flanked a squat building where the official recruiter sat beneath a canvas awning, sipping something warm from a tin mug.
Behind him, the path curved out of sight—toward the gates of the Alpha Training Academy.
Rian swallowed hard.
Her boots crunched against the gravel as she approached, her satchel slung over her shoulder, her forged acceptance letter tucked deep within its
