Rage

POV: ELARA

Kael scoffed at my outrage. He leaned his hips against the edge of the heavy oak desk and crossed his thick, muscular arms over his chest. He looked at me as if I were a foolish child throwing a tantrum, dismissing the blood, sweat, and agonizing tears I had poured into my training over the years.

"You really think we are going to let a girl play soldier?" Kael mocked, a cruel smirk playing on his lips. "Women are unfit for this elite program. You lack the grit, the brutal strength, and the sheer stamina required to survive what we do on the battlefield."

"Is this rejection based on actual pack law, or is it just your own personal bias?" I challenged him, refusing to lower my gaze.

His demeanor shifted in a heartbeat. The mocking amusement vanished, replaced by pure ice. The air in the room grew heavy and cold. He refused to explain himself to a lowly pack member. Instead, he unleashed his aura.

His overwhelming Alpha authority lashed out across the room. It wrapped around my neck like an iron chain, crushing my windpipe and forcing my knees to buckle. I gasped for air, fighting the primal instinct to submit to his dominance.

"You do not fit our criteria! Now, get out!" Kael yelled, the volume vibrating against the stone walls.

My chest burned. I was torn agonizingly between a blinding, visceral anger and the crushing desperation of watching years of brutal training waste away into nothing. My survival depended on this program. If I failed, I would be sent back to an Alpha who starved me and treated me like garbage. I could feel the sting of hot tears threatening to spill over my eyelashes. I could drop to my knees. I could press my forehead to the polished floor and beg for a scrap of mercy.

I clenched my fists so tight my fingernails bit into my palms. I refused to beg for my spot. I would never beg anyone for anything, especially not entitled royals who judged my worth by my gender.

I forced myself to stand tall against the crushing weight of his power. I marched across the room, ignoring the warning growl vibrating in Kael's chest. I snatched my registration form from my folder and slammed it right in front of Rowan. The loud smack of paper against solid wood echoed like a gunshot in the tense office.

"If you bothered to look at my resume, you would know you are making the biggest mistake of your careers. I am a trained soldier. I train harder than anyone else in this territory. Ignoring my undeniable value just proves you are blind." I warned them both, my voice dripping with venomous conviction.

I straightened to my full height. I stared them down without a shred of fear, letting my gaze drift over their broad shoulders and arrogant, privileged faces.

"I bet you couldn't even tell what a real woman looks like even if she stared you right in the face." I snapped the insult, letting the silence ring between us.

I did not wait for their reaction. I flicked my dark hair over my shoulder, spun on my heel, and marched out of the room. I grabbed the heavy oak door and slammed it shut behind me with enough force to rattle the hinges.

My body vibrated with fury. My chest heaved as I stormed down the hallway. I needed a run. I needed to shift into my wolf and tear into the nearest tree until my knuckles bled.

My dramatic exit derailed in the hallway. A massive shadow blocked the corridor. Brock.

"Hey! Slut! Went in there to suck their dicks and still got rejected?" Brock hurled the vile, degrading insult, a disgusting sneer twisting his ugly features.

I sidestepped, trying to move past the massive meathead and ignore the provocation. I did not have the patience for his torment today.

Brock lunged. He grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked backward. A jagged bolt of pain shot through my scalp. He used his momentum to fling me to the hard stone floor. I crashed hard. The impact rattled my teeth and sent a sharp ache radiating up my elbows.

Chaos erupted in the waiting area around us. The secretary screamed at him to stop. Several candidates scrambled out of the way, eager to avoid the violence.

The blood roared deafeningly in my ears, drowning out the frantic noise. My inner wolf surged to the surface. She clawed at the walls of my mind, snapping her jaws, desperate for blood and revenge. She wanted to rip his throat out.

A chilling memory echoed in my head, bringing a harsh warning from my past demanding I keep her strict leash intact. If I shifted now, I would face a death sentence. I choked back the agonizing shift, forcing the primal rage down into the pit of my stomach.

Brock closed the distance. He yanked me up by the roots of my hair. I winced, stumbling to my feet as he dragged me toward the center of the hall where his lackeys stood laughing.

"Leave me alone! I am warning you, Brock!" I hissed, my hands balling into fists at my sides.

He jerked my head back further, forcing me to glare up into his sadistic face.

"Maybe if you drop to your knees, kiss my dirty boot, and beg for my mercy, I will consider letting you walk away." Brock demanded, his breath hot and foul against my face.

"What makes you think I would ever do that?" I spat the refusal right into his eyes.

A dark, sadistic shadow crossed his face.

"I heard your parents begged in their last moments, so it should be easy for you to do." Brock sneered.

With those vile words, every physical and mental restraint holding my wolf back snapped in two. The leash obliterated.

I moved on pure instinct. I twisted fluidly free from his grip. Before he could register the loss of leverage, I delivered a brutal, lightning-fast combination. I drove my heavy boot into his kneecap. Bone crunched. Brock yelped and buckled forward. I pivoted, driving a devastating kick directly into his groin. As he doubled over, gagging for air, I launched a roundhouse kick straight into his face.

The impact connected with a sickening thud. Brock stumbled back, bleeding from a shattered nose. His eyes widened in shock before narrowing into pure, murderous fury.

I stood my ground, settling into a balanced fighting stance. I smirked at the blood pouring down his chin.

"Give me the best you got, you worthless bastard!" I dared him, beckoning with my hands.

He charged like a wild bull, a guttural roar ripping from his throat. He swung a massive, clumsy haymaker aimed at my temple.

I flawlessly dodged his clumsy strike, dipping beneath his thick arm. I drove a punishing combination of punches into his unprotected sides. The cracking of ribs echoed through the hallway. Brock growled in agony, stumbling sideways. I pummeled him with my fists, pivoting and hammering his kidneys, his chest, and his jaw. I battered him until his legs gave out and he collapsed onto his knees, spitting thick blood onto the floor.

I finished him with a swift, brutal kick to the side of his head. Brock crumpled onto the stone tiles, knocked unconscious.

Seeing their massive leader fall, his cowardly minions roared and rushed me all at once. Three wolves charged, intent on tearing me apart.

I met them head-on. I beat them down without pause. My fists flying in a blur of violence. I blocked a wild punch from the first minion, grabbed his arm, and twisted it until it snapped, driving my elbow into his face. The second one tackled me from the side, but I used his momentum to flip him over my hip, slamming him into the floor before kicking him in the temple. The third hesitated, and I closed the gap, raining blows down on him until he crumpled.

I stood surrounded by groaning, unconscious bodies. My knuckles throbbed, painted with their blood. My chest heaved with every breath, but I was deeply reveling in the dark, intoxicating release of my pent-up rage. It felt like drawing my first real breath in years.

A slow, deliberate clap broke the heavy silence of the hallway.

I spun around, dropping back into a defensive stance.

Rowan and Kael stood in the open doorway of the office. They had been watching the massacre. Kael leaned against the doorframe, his earlier amusement gone, replaced by a deep, analyzing frown. Rowan was the one clapping. His hands fell to his sides as he approached me with slow, measured steps.

I steeled my spine, watching him warily. The massive Alpha stepped into my personal space. He stepped so close that I had to tilt my head up just to meet his piercing blue eyes. The residual adrenaline hummed in my veins, demanding I fight or flee, but my feet remained rooted to the stone floor.

Gently, almost reverently, Rowan raised his hand. He slid a stray strand of dark hair out of my sweaty face. His rough, calloused fingers lightly grazed the sensitive skin of my cheek.

I froze. A profound, overwhelming wave of pure satisfaction hit me like a physical blow. My eyes fluttered shut on their own accord. His touch felt exactly like plunging into a cool, refreshing river in the middle of a blazing summer. A sweet, intoxicating scent wrapped around my senses, drowning out the metallic tang of blood in the corridor.

My inner wolf stirred wildly, practically purring at the contact, demanding I lean into his massive palm.

My eyes snapped open. I suppressed the foolish, dangerous illusion of a mate bond. I clamped down on the primal instinct. I was a broken, rejected female. I knew I was cursed to live my life unwanted, and entertaining a fantasy about a Royal Alpha was a surefire way to get myself killed.

As Rowan slowly withdrew his hand, I saw Kael watching the intimate interaction from the doorway. His brow was furrowed in a deep, disapproving frown, his jaw clenched tight.

Rowan kept his gaze locked on mine.

"I have not seen raw anger like that in years." Rowan openly admitted, his voice dropping into a raspy, quiet whisper that sent a shiver down my spine. "Rage like that can be fashioned into a weapon, Elara. Would you like to be our weapon at the Vanguard Program, in total service to me and The Crown?"

I stared at him, skeptical of this sudden change of heart. A few minutes ago, I was nothing but an unwanted female in a man's world. Now, I was being offered the very thing I had bled for. Was this a trick? A cruel joke to build my hopes up before tearing them down?

I looked at the unconscious bodies surrounding my boots. I realized my life was not over yet. I had a chance to escape my miserable existence, and I would be damned if I let it slip through my fingers.

"Yes, your Highness. I would like to be a part of your program." I cautiously replied, refusing to break eye contact.

"Good. Welcome to the Vanguard Royal Program. See you in class." Rowan said, stepping back further and cleanly restoring the professional distance between us.

The intoxicating warmth of his proximity vanished, leaving the hallway feeling cold and empty. With that final declaration, Rowan turned on his heel. Kael shot me one last unreadable, heavy look before following his brother. The two royal brothers retreated back into their office, shutting the heavy door behind them.

I stood alone in the hallway amidst the wreckage of my abusers, catching my breath. A new, dangerous chapter of my life was officially born.