The first genuine expression I've felt in hours.
"Let's play pack."
CHAPTER 18
Golden Tickets And Paper Chains
~SERAPHINE~
The paper trembles in my hands.
Not because of the words printed on it—though those are certainly worth trembling over—but because my fingers won't stop shaking. They've been doing this since I woke up alone in that massive bed, surrounded by luxury that didn't belong to me, in a house full of Alphas who should be my enemies but somehow aren't.
Tremor.
Twitch.
Tremor.
Four times each.
The pattern is familiar. Comforting, even, in the way broken things become comfortable when you've lived with them long enough.
I force myself to focus on the documents.
The first page is an official academy form—crisp white paper with the Ruthless Academy seal embossed in the corner, filled out in neat handwriting that definitely isn't mine.TemporaryPack Placement Authorization, the header reads. Below it, a series of checkboxes and signatures and bureaucratic language that makes my head spin.
Pack Name: Lawson
Pack Leader: Kai James Lawson
Additional Pack Members: Sage Wilder, Jett Maddox, Blaze Vega
Omega Designate: Seraphine Eastman
Duration: Temporary (30 days minimum)
Status: APPROVED
My toe taps against the floor.
Tap-tap-tap-tap.
Four times.
I can't stop staring at my name on that line.
Seraphine Eastman.
Right there, in black ink, officially registered as the Omega of a pack I've known for less than forty-eight hours. A pack that was sent here to kill me. A pack whose leader's family is responsible for the deaths of my parents.
And yet.
Andyet.
The second page is a schedule.
Myschedule, apparently—revised and reorganized to reflect my new status as a pack-claimed Omega. Classes I've never been allowed to take are suddenly available. Training sessions with actual instructors instead of the self-directed survival curriculum packless Omegas get shunted into. Performance opportunities. Practice studio access.
