Jasmin's POV
The metallic taste of victory should have been sweet on my tongue, but instead it turned to ash as my father's words echoed through the grand arena like a death sentence.
"A woman cannot lead a pack."
Alpha Reginald Shadowbane stood before the assembled Council and warriors, his voice cutting through the silence that followed my triumph in the Heir Selection Ceremony. I remained in my wolf form, blood from my defeated opponents still warm on my white coat, my chest heaving from the battle that should have crowned me heir.
I had won. Every bone-crushing fight, every strategic move, every moment of pain had led to this victory. The last contender lay beneath my claws, his throat exposed in submission, his surrender absolute. A stunned silence fell over the crowd, every eye fixed on me.
But none of it mattered to him.
My father's obsidian eyes met mine across the arena, cold and unforgiving. Even as his daughter stood victorious, covered in the proof of her strength, he remained unmoved.
"I defeated every candidate," I growled, my voice carrying the authority I had earned through blood and sweat. "The title is mine by right."
The Elders surrounding my father nodded their agreement with his declaration, their faces carved from stone. Not one of them would meet my gaze. Cowards, every last one of them.
"Tradition demands that only men lead our kind," my father continued, his voice growing stronger with each word. "Women serve. Women submit. Women do not rule."
A sound escaped my throat that was part laugh, part snarl. "Then why hold this ceremony at all? Why make me fight for something you never intended to give?"
His jaw tightened, but his resolve never wavered. "To remind our pack that some things are sacred. That tradition matters more than individual desires."
The rage building in my chest threatened to consume me entirely. My claws scraped against the stone floor as every muscle in my body coiled with barely restrained fury.
"So my strength means nothing? My victories are worthless because I was born female?"
"Your place is to support, not command," he snapped. "You were raised to be strong so you could serve your pack better, not to challenge the natural order."
The words struck me like physical blows. Years of training, of pushing myself beyond every limit, of proving again and again that I was worthy of leading our people. All of it dismissed because of what lay between my legs.
"You shaped me into a weapon only to tell me I can never use it," I snarled, my control slipping. "You made me believe I could earn my place."
My father's expression darkened dangerously. "You dare question my authority?"
Before I could respond, the air around us changed. His transformation was swift and terrifying, bones cracking as his human form gave way to something far more menacing. His massive black wolf dominated the arena, power radiating from him in waves that made my knees buckle.
The force of his dominance slammed into me like a physical weight. My lungs seized as his Alpha aura pressed down on my spine, demanding submission from every cell in my body. My wolf whimpered deep within, instinctively recognizing his superior rank.
My knees struck the stone floor with a sickening crack. I fought against the compulsion to bare my throat, to show him the submission he craved, but his power was absolute.
"Since none of the candidates proved worthy," he announced, his voice booming through the arena, "the Alpha title will pass to my nephew."
The words hit me like ice water. My cousin would inherit what I had bled for. A male who had never even competed, who had never proven himself worthy of leading our pack.
But he wasn't finished destroying me yet.
"As for Jasmin," his voice turned deadly quiet, "she will marry the Alpha King."
The world tilted beneath me. My vision blurred as the meaning of his words sank in. Not just denied my birthright, but sold like cattle to cement political alliances.
"No," I whispered, the word barely audible. "You wouldn't."
"The Alpha King arrives tomorrow," my father declared with finality. "You will become his Luna and leave this pack as tradition demands."
His dominance pressed harder against me, forcing my palms flat against the cold stone. Tears burned behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not here. Not in front of the pack that should have been mine to lead.
I was nothing more than a bargaining chip. A prize to be handed over to a man whose face I had never seen, whose touch would seal my fate as a glorified broodmare.
The arena emptied quickly, leaving me alone with my shattered dreams and bleeding pride. Only when the last footstep faded did I allow myself to shift back to human form, sitting naked and broken on the arena floor.
But as I sat there, my gaze fell upon something that sparked hope in my chest. A pamphlet advertising the Wolfborne Academy lay crumpled near one of the arena pillars. The elite training ground for male Alpha heirs. The one place where strength mattered more than gender, where power could be earned rather than inherited.
"That's my answer," I whispered to the empty arena.
If this world had no place for a female Alpha, then I would create one myself. The Alpha King could come for his bride, but he would find only an empty room and broken chains.
I had one night to disappear. One night to shed Jasmin Shadowbane and become someone who could claim the power that was rightfully mine.
One night to become Evan.