While the sun reached the top of the sky, flooding Alfredo's stone mansion with light, Kendra drove a brutal blow against a reinforced leather bag. The sound of the impact echoed through the private training yard — a dry crack that demonstrated the raw strength of a twenty-six-year-old woman who had dedicated every day of her life to becoming a weapon. Her dark hair was damp with sweat, sticking to the nape of her neck, and her blue eyes blazed with an intensity that bordered on obsession.
Kendra wasn't just a she-wolf — she was Fanny, a brown wolf with an imposing presence and a commanding snarl.
As the daughter of Alfredo, one of the former Alpha Jonas's most trusted Betas, she'd grown up hearing about duty, honor, and above all, hierarchy. For Kendra, hierarchy wasn't merely a social structure — it was a target to conquer.
"More power, Kendra! An enemy won't wait for you to catch your breath!" Alfredo shouted, watching his daughter from the veranda.
Despite his age, Alfredo maintained the rigid posture of someone who'd spent decades protecting the Alpha.
He saw in Kendra the continuation of his legacy. He'd trained her personally, shaping her into one of the most lethal warriors in the Silver Claws Pack. He knew his daughter had the technique and the ferocity, but what impressed him most was her unbreakable will.
Kendra paused her training for a second, wiping her face with a towel.
"I'm ready, Dad. The competition announcement was the best news I've gotten in years."
"Vitor is a difficult Alpha, my girl. Since Luara's death, he's become a shadow of who he used to be."
At the sound of Luara's name, Kendra felt an icy pleasure crawl down her spine. She'd never been able to stand Luara. In Kendra's eyes, the former Luna was a mistake of nature — a weak she-wolf, excessively loving, with none of the fighting spirit the position demanded. Kendra had always believed the Moon Goddess made a terrible blunder by giving Luara to Vitor as his mate. Vitor was a pureblooded Alpha, a majestic black wolf who deserved a queen worthy of him — not a caretaker of orphans.
On the night of the vampire attack two years ago, while the pack wept for their lost Luna and Valentin, Kendra felt a dark relief. She told no one, but that tragedy had been the door she'd been waiting for. With Luara dead, the path to Vitor's side was clear. She didn't even care that the Moon Goddess might have a fated mate reserved for her somewhere in the world. To Kendra, the concept of a "fated mate" was sentimental weakness. She wanted power, she wanted the Luna title, and above all, she wanted to possess Vitor.
"Luara was dead weight for this pack," Kendra said, her voice devoid of any empathy. "Vitor needed a warrior, not a nanny. If he'd had a Luna like me beside him during that attack, things might've turned out differently."
Alfredo nodded in silence. He shared his daughter's pragmatic outlook.
"The elders want strength. The competition was designed to find the most capable female. The rules are clear: it'll be an elimination battle. The last woman standing will be the new Luna of Silver Claws."
Kendra smiled — a predatory smile that revealed her canines, slightly elongated from Fanny's excitement.
"Then the throne's already mine. Who's going to face me? The omega daughters? Or those she-wolves who spend their days picking herbs? None of them have my blood or my training."
Her mind drifted to Vitor. She'd been watching him from a distance for years. She admired the way he led, the breadth of his shoulders, the natural authority he radiated. She imagined the moment she'd be crowned, walking beside him under the gaze of the entire pack. She would be the Luna who'd turn Silver Claws into a power feared by every vampire and wolf clan in the region.
"I've heard Alex is encouraging his sister, Alice, to compete," Alfredo mentioned, testing his daughter's reaction.
Kendra let out a sarcastic laugh.
"Alice? The little girl who fainted when her boyfriend died? That gray she-wolf who lives hiding behind her mother's skirts? Please, Dad. Alice is a wreck who can't handle the weight of a real sword. If she sets foot in that arena, I'll make sure to show her what a real fight looks like."
For Kendra, confidence wasn't just armor — it was a foregone conclusion. She spent the rest of the afternoon reviewing combat strategies. She knew the weaknesses of nearly every woman in the pack. She knew who hesitated before an attack and who lacked the endurance for a long fight. Fanny, her wolf, howled inside her, eager to sink her teeth into victory.
That evening, Kendra went to the mirror in her bedroom. She let her dark hair down, letting it fall over her shoulders, and admired the contrast with her blue eyes. She was beautiful, she was strong, and she was ambitious.
"Two months," she whispered to her reflection. "In two months, Vitor will have no choice but to accept me. He may be suffering now, but when I'm in his bed and commanding the patrols, he'll realize I'm what he's always needed."
She felt no remorse for Luara, no grief for Valentin or Kaue. To Kendra, the dead were merely steps on the staircase of her rise. She was willing to crush anyone who dared register for the competition. If battle was the criterion, she would be the carnage required to guarantee that the silver crown was placed on her head.
As the moon climbed the sky, Kendra prepared for sleep, dreaming of the glint in Vitor's green eyes recognizing her supremacy. She didn't know that in the quiet of the forest, a force far greater and a burning secret were being prepared by the very Goddess she so readily ignored. Kendra was ready to fight she-wolves, but she had no idea that fate had in store a confrontation against fire itself.
The competition wouldn't be just a contest of strength — it would be the stage where Kendra's arrogance collided with the destiny Selene had traced. But that night, Alfredo's daughter slept with the smile of someone who already felt herself queen.
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