MELISSA’S POV

The cold air bit at my face as I tightened the straps on my gear. The academy’s training field stretched into the mist ahead, transformed into a hunting ground for the day’s trial - The Field Hunt. The instructors called it “a test of endurance and instinct.” Everyone else knew it for what it was, sanctioned chaos.

Rumor said rogue wolves had been caught near the perimeter. Today, they had been turned loose into the forest beyond the gates. We would hunt them in teams, and the faculty would be watching, judging who survived and who fell behind.

“Rogues?” Kennedy jogged up beside me; he had his mischievous...