Chapter 9: The Rise of Dana Varynn

Kyle’s POV

Dana wasn’t broken anymore.That was the first thing I noticed when I

passed her in the training hall three days after the party.She wasn’t crying, sulking, or curled up in a

corner. She wasn’t even mad. She was focused. Eyes narrowed, arms braced, legs

steady. She was hitting the sandbar like it owed her money.Thud. Thud. CRACK.The chain snapped and the bag crashed to the

floor with a loud bang.A few Betas near the mats flinched. One even

let out a low whistle. Dana just stood there, sweat glistening on collar bones,

and rolled her neck like it was nothing. All eyes in the gym were on her. They

were staring with both fear and admiration. Like the wouldn’t dare go up

against her in a one on one match.I stopped at the doorway. Gripping the edges of

the frame.“What the hell…” I muttered.“She’s been like that for days.” Said a voice

behind me.I turned. Marcus.Of course.He leaned against the wall beside me, arms

crossed, black hoodie half zipped like he hadn’t slept in weeks. He wasn’t even

in uniform. Probably some special exception, seeing how he was the principal’s

nephew and all.“I thought she was barely walking when Zade

dumped her.” I said.“She was.” He replied without looking at me.“So what changed.”He smirked faintly. “She stopped waiting for

validation.”I don’t like him. Not because he was a

threat—he wasn’t. He didn’t carry alpha energy, he didn’t walk like he could

rip someone’s throat out. But he understood

Dana in a way that I didn’t. And that pissed me off.He never flinched around her. Never even talked

down to her.He had just existed beside her like she wasn’t

explosive. Like she was normal.And for some reason, she let him.I watched her wipe sweat away from her from her

brow, and grabbed a new pair of gloves to set up another bag. Her punches

weren’t wild—they were precise. Brutal, but controlled.Three days ago she barely left her room. She

sulked and hurt.Now she moved like a predator.“She asked me about shifting during a full

moon.” Marcus said beside me, cutting through my thoughts.I stiffened. “Why?”“She’s training for control.”“She can’t control her wolf?” I asked suprised.

That explains a lot of her anger and impulsiveness.Marcus shrugged. “Taryn is loud, angry. But

she’s loyal.”“You can hear her?” This was even more

surprising.“You all just don’t listen, do you?” He snored

faintly.I bristled at that. “Careful, Beta.”“Careful, Alpha.” He said calmly. “She is not

afraid of you guys at all. That's threatening to you, isn’t it? Dangerous to

your little group.”I clenched my fists, then forced them to relax.I wasn’t angry at Dana. Not really. I was angry

at myself.I still remember her voice shaking when she

screamed during Zade’s party. Her eyes, wide and raw after he said words that

none of us thought we’d ever hear:I

reject you.We all stood there. I let her crumble. We let her crumble.Now she’s rising, and I didn’t know what the

hell to do about it—Later that day, I saw her again in class. Back

row, hood up, head down.She was scribbling notes furiously, eyes

darting across the screen at the front of the room. The teacher droning about

wolf bloodlines and political pack systems, and Dana was laser focused. Not

because she cared about grades—but like she needed

to understand.A girl down the row whispered something then

laughed. I caught the words ‘rejected’ and ‘desperate’.Dana didn’t react. Didn’t even react. She just

kept writing. The Dana I first met would’ve launched a desk across the room.

This version? Controlled. Calculated. Dangerous.Alex leaned towards me from his seat. “You

seeing this?”I nodded.“She’s not crumbling.” He whispered, “She’s

evolving.”“And that scares you?” I asked him.He didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.It scared all of us.—Two more days passed.Five broken sandbags. Two failed PE partners.

And one idioms Beta who tired to flirt and nearly lost his tooth.Dana was a storm walking through Arclight now.

And somehow, everyone knew to stay out of her path.Except Marcus.He walked with her between classes. Ate with

her in the library. Helped her stretch before combat drills.They weren’t flirting, they made it worse.

Because it was real. And I couldn’t stop watching.I hated that.—It was friday night. The moon just started to

rise and most of the school was out at the rooftop party some senior was

throwing.I was at the east wing hallway, kicking a loose

tile on the floor. That’s when I heard her voice.“I think it’s spreading.” Dana said.I froze.She was around the corner. I peeked, just

enough to see her standing in front of a hall mirror. Why was she here? To see

Marcus maybe. Her hoodie sleeve was rolled up. Pale skin, bruised knuckles, and

a faint scare from from a training scrape. And something else.A mark.A dark, shimmering, crescent shaped mark was

etched into her upper forearm like it was burned

into her.“What is that?” I muttered.Her wolf’s voice echoed from her faintly.‘Don’t panic, it’s just a symbol. Not a claim.

We’ll figure it out, okay?.’Dana growled. “It wasn’t there before Taryn.”‘We know it’s surely not from him,’ Taryn said

to her.That was enough to make me step back. What the fuck?She hadn’t noticed me, thank the goddess. But I

had some questions, because that mark wasn’t natural. And it surely wasn’t from

Zade. And it obviously wasn’t a regular mating bond. It was something else.Something that looked ancient and primal.Something…sacred.I backed away quietly, my heart pounding. I

needed to talk to Alex. And Damian.Because Dana Varynn might become a bigger

problem than any of us realized.