"Someone I trusted turned out to be a knife in the dark."
It started with whispers. It always did.
The instructors had paired me with a new opponent in combat drills-someone faster, sharper, who seemed to anticipate my every move before I even made it. At first, I thought it was coincidence. Luck. But when the third student in a row countered my strikes with uncanny precision, realization settled in like ice water.
My training strategies weren't secrets anymore. Someone had leaked them.
The realization coiled around me like a serpent, squeezing tight. In a place where I already stood on fragile ground, betrayal was a blade I hadn't seen coming.
My wolf howled inside, furious, pacing restlessly. I tried to shove the feeling down, tried to focus on the drills, but her distress bled into
