The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

My feet carry me quickly through the woods as I survey the map, swiftly making sense of it and matching physical landmarks with the points on the page. Inwardly, I think gratefully of my dad and my uncle Roger, who brought me along on those early camping trips and showed me how to do this sort of work, not leaving me out. I mean, Rafe and Jesse certainly got more training in this than me as we got older – they could find their way home in the dark, just by looking at the stars.

But me? I’m confident in my map reading skills, and I bless them now.

When I identify a ridge running along my right and realize that I simply have to follow this until I reach a man–made bridge – which seems, honestly, a little too easy

I fold the map and shove it deep into my back pocket. Then I set my sights ahead and hurry my steps, keeping my ears open for any other movement in the forest around me.

My wolf, inside me, has her hackles raised and her instincts trained on everything around us. Shift into me, she commands, her teeth bared even at the sound of the wind rustling through the branches. I’m faster, stronger. I can bite and tear anyone who comes near…

For a long moment I consider it, but then I shake my head and carry on in my human form. Too much risk, unfortunately, of being identified as female if I’m spotted as my rose- gold wolf. Not to mention my natural scent will be on full display, meaning that pretty much everyone would be well aware that there’s a girl running around the Examination.

Plus, my instincts will be that of an animal. It’s not that you lose your human thoughts as a wolf, just that they become…secondary.

And I really, really need to keep my wits about me.

My wolf growls, displeased with my choice, and mentally I bury my fingers thick into her hair. I will if I have to, I promise her, the feel of her fur against my hand bringing us both comfort and strength.

I continue forward, my mind set on our trek.

As I move into a clearer space along the ridge my eyes move, inevitably, to the jagged mountain that rises before me, slightly north–east from my current position. I swear,

lightly, as my eyes take it in and 1 slip the map out of my back pocket, consulting it to confirm what I already know.

Yup – there, right at the top. That’s our Final Destination.

I curse the stupid map, which makes the trek look ridiculously simplistic and short. Just cross the river! Then the plane! Up the hill, and to the end!

But the reality of it?

The mountain is sheer cliff–face at some points, rocky shale just begging to crack and bring you crashing down to your death. I swallow heavily, missing my canteen suddenly, but simultaneously grateful that Rafe and Jesse made me do so much upper–body work. I’m going to need it, at some points, to do some quite literal bouldering. God, am I going to have to like…dangle out over open air? Surely there’s an easier path, perhaps around the side of the mountain where I can’t currently see-

My head whips suddenly to the left and I freeze, hearing voices in the distance.

Voices, plural. Shit.

Unlike me, some cadets have found their friends or at least some temporary allies and are moving in a pack.

I curse under my breath, quickly scanning the ridgeline and darting directly for a set of bushes. I don’t have a chance, I know, caught alone like this. I’m such easy pickings, and knocking any candidate out is a win at this point.

I tuck myself behind the bushes and slightly under them, pulling the crossbow down over my back and silently loading an arrow even as I keep my eyes trained ahead, towards the voices. Passively, I thank the captain for making me load a crossbow so many times I could do it in my sleep.

It takes longer than I thought it would for the cadets to appear, and while this is half a blessing – giving my scent time to disperse in the air – it certainly makes me scowl, because every minute gone is a minute wasted. Speed, I know, is the only thing I’ve got on my side here but if I have to duck under a bush every five minutes?

Being fast on my feet isn’t going to help me, is it?

“Come on,” a cadet 1 don’t recognize says, pointing left towards the ridge I was following. “This way – we follow to the bridge.

I nod slightly, my own plan confirmed in his.

“A fucking bridge?” another says, shaking his head, even as he turns in that direction. “It has to be a trap if everyone’s heading for the bridge…”

“Well then we’ll have to be the first ones to get there, won’t we?” says a third, his voice a little wicked. The first two turn to stare at him, and then they all laugh together – a dark sound.

I scowl again as I figure out the import of their words, their laughter. This is the property of Nô-velDrama.Org.

If they get there first, they can be the ones to set the

trap.

A seemingly endless string of curses forms itself in my mind because…what the hell am I going to do? If cadets spring a trap at the bridge, using it to harm or slow others….

How the hell am I going to get across? I certainly don’t have the brawn to muscle through…

I’m itching to reach into my back pocket for my map, to reconsider my route, my plan, but I force myself to stay still and not do anything to draw attention to myself as the three cadets prepare to move forward. I’m working out my plan about how closely to follow when suddenly a fourth and a fifth cadet emerge from the woods.

I go even stiller, if possible. Because while I didn’t know the first three…these two?

I know these two..

“Peace,” Alan Wright says, raising his hands to shoulder height to show he doesn’t mean any harm, even though he’s got a sturdy staff held in his left hand. “We’ve got no trouble with

if you don’t have any with us.”

you

I scowl a little, displeased to see that warrior–track students like Wright have been given weapons. Like they need them, when their bodies themselves are already weapons on their

own.

My eyes shift to Perry Gibson at his side, who I assume is ambassador track. He doesn’t have anything on him given to him by his professors – at least not that I can see. But what

would an ambassador student even be given in a situation like this?

I put the question out of my mind, focusing instead on the response from the first three cadets.

The other three cadets look over Wright and Perry anxiously, backing away but agreeing to a truce. None of them, I see, are truly interested in attacking each other if it means they could be hurt so early in the Examination.

I exhale in relief as I see the first three cadets turn and move forward, clearly eager to get to the bridge first to either cross it or set their trap. Or both.

Perry takes the map from his back pocket and he and Alan consult it together, noting alternate tracks to the Final Destination as I had considered doing, though their murmurs indicate that they, too, see the bridge as the fastest route.

Perry shoves the map back into his pocket before taking a step forward, his jaw set, his feet eager to continue when suddenly Wright reaches out and grabs him by the arm.

I go still even stiller than before when I see Wright raise his nose, scenting the air.

My wolf snarls within me, her hackles raising, because by the smirk on his lips I know that I’ve been caught.

My finger tenses on the trigger of my crossbow and I shift it slightly, taking aim.

“What?” Perry snaps, turning to glare at Wright. “Let go of me we need to get a move on!”

“Wait just a second, Perry.” Wright murmurs, slowly turning to look directly at my bush. “I think I smell… a rat.”

I make an impulsive decision, hoping to my grandmother the Goddess that it saves my life.

Baring my teeth with a vicious snarl, I take aim with my crossbow and pull the trigger.