Chapter 31: Prove Them Wrong

The academy grounds had transformed overnight into something Roxanne barely recognized, temporary stands packed with students wearing team colors and waving banners for their houses. She stood with the Moonstone team, taking it all in, aware that yesterday she’d been just another student and today apparently everyone knew her name. Not all of it flattering, either, since she caught fragments of whispers about the girl under royal protection and someone actually competing alongside the Moonstones, followed by a laugh and a comment about her getting destroyed out there.

Her jaw tightened before she could stop it, and Liam noticed immediately.

"Don’t listen."

"I wasn’t."

"You were."

"How would you know?"

"Because you’re making that face."

"What face?"

"The one where you’re imagining punching someone."

Kai, standing nearby, said quietly that she should save that energy for the competition instead, and something about how serious he sounded made her laugh despite herself.

"Good advice."

The announcer began calling teams forward, and when the Moonstone name echoed across the field, the crowd erupted loud enough that Roxanne realized just how much attention the four brothers naturally pulled wherever they went. Then her own name was called, and the reaction split into two distinct halves, some cheering, others murmuring, and she found Joanna standing with her team giving her a slow smile that carried no warmth at all, more like a promise of something coming. Roxanne held her gaze without flinching.

The announcer explained the first event as wolf control, requiring each competitor to enter a partial shift while maintaining complete stability, no attacking, no blackouts, nothing uncontrolled. Points would be scored on control, stability, speed, and precision, and Roxanne felt her stomach drop, since this was exactly the area she’d struggled with since the day she arrived.

Once the competitors took their positions, she felt her wolf react instantly to the noise of the crowd, her hearing sharpening painfully, her heartbeat pounding loud enough to drown out her own thoughts, claws pressing forward before she could stop them. She tried suppressing it the way she used to, and it only made things worse, the sensation spiraling until she felt like she was back in her very first Wolf Control class, panicking and fighting herself into a corner.

Then Kai’s voice surfaced in her memory, telling her to stop fighting it, and she let the instinct rise instead of crushing it, guiding it rather than resisting. Her claws retracted. Her eyes settled. Her senses sharpened without pulling her under.

The whistle sounded, and the round began. One competitor lost control almost immediately, another dropped to a knee, but Roxanne stayed standing, focusing on her breathing one count at a time while the noise of the crowd pressed in around her. She heard Isla shouting her name somewhere in the stands, Liam yelling something entirely nonsensical, Lucien’s calm voice telling her to keep her focus. Then she found Kai’s eyes across the field, and he didn’t shout anything at all. He just nodded, and somehow that told her everything she needed to hear.

When the timer ended, she released the shift cleanly, and the judges’ scores appeared high enough that the crowd actually reacted. She blinked at the number, half surprised she’d actually pulled it off.

Liam practically vaulted over the barrier the second it was over. "That was amazing!"

"You’re louder than the announcer."

"I’m your personal fan club."

Lucien gave her a rare, genuine smile and told her she’d maintained control under real pressure, and Roshan added that she’d adjusted her breathing exactly when the sensory overload hit its peak. She asked if he’d actually noticed that, and he said simply that he noticed things.

When she looked toward Kai, all he offered was a single word. "Good."

That was enough. She didn’t need a speech from him, not anymore.

Joanna performed next, and she was good, confident and precise, earning loud cheers from her own team. When the scores appeared, she landed just below Roxanne, and her expression hardened instantly. She stopped on her way past.

"You got lucky."

"Did I?"

"The first stage was easy."

"Then you should’ve won."

Joanna’s smile disappeared entirely. "You won’t be smiling after the next stage."

Roxanne didn’t take the bait. "Then I suppose we’ll see."

As the judges finalized the rankings, Roxanne noticed the whispers around her had shifted completely. Nobody mentioned royal protection anymore. Instead, students were talking about how well she’d controlled the shift, how maybe she wasn’t as weak as everyone assumed. She didn’t celebrate out loud, just let herself sit with the feeling for a moment, knowing this one belonged entirely to her. Not to Lucien, or Roshan, or Liam, or Kai. To her.

The announcer’s voice cut through the noise again, calling everyone’s attention to the second stage. The screen behind the field lit up with new text: combat, each competitor facing off against a rival contestant, winner advancing.

Liam let out a low whistle. Kai’s expression turned serious. Lucien told her to stay focused, and Roshan glanced toward the bracket displaying on the screen, his expression shifting the moment the names started appearing.

Roxanne noticed immediately. "What?"

He didn’t answer right away, and the names kept populating one by one until hers appeared.

Roxanne Silver.

Beside it, the opponent’s name settled into place.

Joanna Vale.

The crowd roared. Roxanne turned slowly to find Joanna already staring back at her, no longer wearing the polite smile from earlier. This one looked like something she’d been waiting for all along.

"Oh, this is going to be interesting," Liam muttered.

Kai stepped closer to her side. "Don’t let her get inside your head."

Roxanne looked at Joanna, then out at the arena stretching in front of her, and whatever fear had been sitting in her chest a moment ago had already burned away. Not because she was certain she’d win.

Because now she had something to prove, and for once it had nothing to do with anyone else.

She stepped forward.