Ch. I Hid My Supreme Rank Regret of the Pack 7 I Hid My Supreme Rank Regret of the Pack 7

Chapter 7 

The red-eye flight hummed as it carried me south. 

By dawn, outside the window, the northern plains had melted into rolling hills and thick green. 

I sank back against the seat, watching the world blur past. 

Something inside me loosened. 

Like ripping out a thorn that had been buried in my chest for eighteen years. 

It bled a little. But at least it would stop festering. 

The south in August smelled like damp ocean air and sunbaked pavement. 

I hauled my suitcase out of the airport, and the upperclassman assigned to freshman welcome was already waiting. 

“Hey, you a freshman? Which faction?” He jogged over, all smiles. 

“Advanced Healing.” 

“Whoa, Supreme Rank territory. C’mon, shuttle’s right over here.” 

Since I’d shown up half a month early, early move-in went through without a hitch. 

Four-person dorm. Top bunk by the window. 

My roommates hadn’t arrived yet. 

The room sat empty, nothing but wind breathing across the balcony. 

I spent the whole afternoon scrubbing every corner clean, then hit the campus store for a brand-new bedding set. 

Pale blue. My favorite color. 

No more crawling into whatever Catalina Sinclair had thrown out or gotten sick of. 

That night, I curled up on the strange mattress. 

Cicadas hummed outside. I slept harder than I had in years. 

The next morning, I hunted down a tutoring gig near campus. 

Supreme Rank in the territory-the offer landed in my lap. 

The Luna who hired me was soft-spoken, single, and treated me like I actually mattered. 

Paid on the dot. Even sliced up fresh fruit for me. 

The day my first paycheck hit, I headed straight to Southaven’s busiest night market. 

I loaded up on a giant bowl of spicy skewers, extra heat, and grabbed a double-flavor strawberry slush on the side. 

The first icy sip hit my tongue, sweet and thick. 

My money. My rules. Eat what I wanted. Do what I wanted. 

Once classes started, my rank and interview blew the doors open. 

Elite Scholar Program. Full tuition waiver, granted as a special exception. 

My schedule packed itself tight. 

12:24 

Mer 

Meru 

Eighta m. lectures, afternoons in the healing ward, nights in the library, weekends split between tutoring and pack clubs. 

I was a bone-dry sponge, soaking up every drop this new territory had to offer. 

Still, news about that house found me anyway. 

An old packmate from my high school group chat pinged me. 

She sent a screenshot-a long post my mother had dropped on social media. 

Every sentence dripped with regret and motherly devotion, wailing about how much she blamed herself. 

She wrote that I’d always been such a good pup, that the test pressure must’ve broken me, that I’d run off because of it. Capped it off with a sobbing emoji. 

The comment section was packed with relatives rushing to console her. 

Just a phase, they said. She’ll come home soon. 

I scrolled past the screenshot, face blank. 

Acting. That was the one thing they’d always been good at. 

Another message popped up.”Clarinda, where the hell are you? Your family’s shown up at the capital academies looking for you a bunch of times. They even got the local Council involved.” 

I typed back. “I don’t have time for them.” 

From Frok 

Mate 

To Lycan [Alpha Julian Sterling is cheating on you. I have proof.] 

The message glowed on my phone screen in the dim light of the nursery. … 

From Broken Mate To Lycan Queen 

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