The Rejected True Heiress (Liora and Callum) novel Chapter 294

I jumped across the platforms again, using the stick to help with my balance. When I reached the beam, I stepped onto it without hesitation.

The stick helped. I held it horizontally, using it to counterbalance my weight as I moved across. At first, I wobbled, but then my feet found their rhythm, just like Marcus had taught me.

I made it to the other side.

The swinging battering rams were next. They came at me from opposite directions, one from the left, one from the right. I watched their pattern, counting the seconds between each swing. Three seconds. That was my window.

I waited for the left ram to swing past, then darted forward. The right ram came at me, and I ducked under it, feeling the rush of air as it passed over my head. Then I was through, racing toward the final platform.

The buzzer went off just as my feet hit the ground.

I’d made it.

I dropped the stick and bent over, hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath. My entire body was trembling, and I was pretty sure I’d pulled something in my shoulder, but I’d done it. I’d actually done it.

Alder walked over and loomed behind me. I could hear the disdain dripping in his voice as he said, “Well. You passed the second test. Congratulations.”

I straightened up and turned, looking him dead in the eye. “What’s next?”

…

Zane’s POV

I burst through the doors of Paddy’s, completely out of breath. I’d been in my dorm room when I got the notification about the livestream. At first, I thought it was a joke. There was no way Alder had already agreed to let Liora retake her exam.

I hadn’t even talked to him yet. I’d been planning to approach him tomorrow, maybe offer him something to sweeten the deal. But apparently, someone had beaten me to it.

Who the hell convinced him?

The crowd in the bar went quiet. Even the bartender stopped wiping down glasses to watch. Alder gestured to someone off-screen, and a figure stepped into view.

It was a wolf. Large. Male. Fully shifted.

“Miss Belrose will face off against a fully shifted wolf in combat,” Alder announced. “She will have three minutes to subdue her opponent.”

The bar erupted into chaos. Students were shouting, some in support of Liora, others calling for the stream to be shut down, and a few, including Bianca, were jeering at the screen.

I just stared at Mia, whose gaze mirrored my own.

A fully shifted wolf? Against a wolfless girl who was already injured and exhausted?

This was a death sentence!