The evening air tasted like iron.
Cold. Sharp. Watching.
Olivia felt it the moment she stepped onto the training grounds.
The entire pack was already gathered.
Warriors in black training gear stood in formation. Women in fitted combat suits stretched near the edges of the field. Senior members clustered in quiet groups, their voices low but their eyes alert. Even a few elders had taken their seats along the stone ridge that overlooked the grounds.
This wasn’t ordinary training.
They were waiting.
For her.
A murmur rippled through the crowd as she walked forward.
“That’s her?”
“She’s bigger than I imagined.”
“She won’t last five minutes.”
Olivia kept her chin high.
Her palms were damp, but she refused to show it.
This was deliberate. They had never required her presence at tra
