ISLA POV
The email notification made my stomach drop.
"Scholarship Status: URGENT REVIEW REQUIRED"
My fingers froze over my laptop keyboard. No. Not now. Not three days before finals. Not when I was so close to graduating and finally escaping this nightmare.
I clicked the email with shaking hands.
"Dear Miss Monroe, recent complaints from prominent academy families suggest your presence creates an uncomfortable learning environment for other students. We must review whether you meet our community standards..."
My chest tightened. I read it again, then again, trying to understand. Complaints? Community standards? I'd spent four years keeping my head down, studying until my eyes burned, ignoring every cruel comment and nasty laugh.
And now they wanted to take away my scholarship?
"That's bull!" Maya's voice exploded behind me.
I jumped, slamming my laptop shut. My best friend stood in the doorway of our tiny apartment, her purple-streaked hair wild around her face. She dropped her backpack and marched over.
"Don't even think about hiding that from me," Maya said, pointing at my laptop. "I can see it on your face. What happened?"
"Nothing. I'm fine." My voice cracked on the lie.
Maya grabbed my laptop and opened it before I could stop her. Her dark eyes scanned the screen, getting wider and angrier with each word. "Those absolute jerks! They can't do this!"
"They can do whatever they want." I stood up and walked to our small kitchen, needing to move, needing to do something with my hands. "I'm just a charity case, remember? They've been trying to push me out since day one."
Maya followed me. "This is because of what happened this morning, isn't it?"
This morning. Right. The reason I'd come home early instead of staying for my study group.
I'd been walking across campus when I heard the laughter. Celeste Hartley and her pack of rich friends had been standing by the fountain, and of course, they'd spotted me in my thrift store jeans and worn-out sneakers.
"Oh my God, is that the same shirt from last week?" Celeste had said, loud enough for everyone to hear. Her phone was already out, already filming. "Someone start a GoFundMe for the poor omega. She clearly needs it."
Her friends had howled with laughter. Other students had stopped to watch, phones out, recording my humiliation for social media.
"At least I earned my spot here," I'd shot back, my face burning. "Instead of buying it with daddy's money."
Celeste's perfect face had twisted with rage. "You little—"
But I'd already walked away, my heart pounding, knowing I'd just made everything worse.
"They posted it everywhere," Maya said now, pulling out her phone. "The video has three thousand views already. The comments are disgusting."
I didn't need to see them. I could imagine. Omega trash. Scholarship rat. She doesn't belong here.
"I just need to pass my finals," I whispered. "Three more days. Then I graduate, get into law school, and I never have to see these people again."
"Wrong!" Maya slammed her hand on our kitchen counter. "You need to come to the graduation party tonight."
I stared at her. "Are you insane?"
"Listen to me." Maya grabbed my shoulders. "You've spent four years letting these rich jerks make you feel small. You've hidden, studied, kept quiet, and played by all their rules. And they still sent that email. They're still trying to destroy you."
"So I should go to a party?"
"So you should hold your head high!" Maya's eyes flashed. "Show them you're not afraid. Show them they didn't break you. You're about to graduate TOP OF THE CLASS, Isla. You beat every single one of those spoiled brats. Act like it."
"The party's at the Blackwood mansion," I said weakly. "Damien Blackwood's party. The future Alpha's party. I'll be walking into enemy territory."
"Good." Maya grinned fiercely. "Let them see what a real wolf looks like. Not someone who bought their way through life, but someone who earned every single thing she has."
I wanted to say no. Every part of me screamed to stay home, stay safe, stay invisible like I'd been doing for four years.
But I thought about my mom. About how she'd been kicked out of her pack for refusing to be pushed around. About how she'd worked herself to death to give me opportunities. About how she'd told me, right before she died, "Don't let them make you small, baby girl. You're worth more than they'll ever understand."
"One hour," I said finally. "I'll go for one hour. Show my face. Then I'm leaving."
Maya squealed and hugged me. "Yes! This is going to be perfect. You're going to walk in there like the queen you are, and—"
My phone buzzed. Another email.
My hands went cold as I read it.
"Miss Monroe, your scholarship review meeting has been moved to tomorrow morning at 9 AM. Failure to attend will result in immediate termination of financial aid. Several influential families have raised serious concerns about your behavior and attitude. Come prepared to defend your place at Silvercrest Academy."
Tomorrow. They wanted me to defend myself tomorrow. Right before my final exam.
"Isla?" Maya's voice sounded far away. "What is it?"
I showed her the email. Her face went pale.
"They're not just reviewing your scholarship," Maya whispered. "They're trying to kick you out before you can graduate."
The room spun. Four years of work. Four years of humiliation and struggle and fighting. And they were going to take it all away in the final hour.
Unless I could convince them I deserved to stay.
Unless I could prove I wasn't just some poor omega who didn't belong in their perfect world.
My wolf stirred inside me for the first time in months, angry and fierce and done with being quiet.
"Get me something to wear," I told Maya, my voice steady now. "If I'm going down, I'm going down fighting. And those rich jerks are going to see exactly what they're trying to destroy."
Maya nodded and ran to her room.
I looked at my reflection in our small mirror. Honey-blonde hair pulled back in a messy bun. Tired hazel eyes. Cheap clothes and no makeup.
Tonight, I'd walk into the Blackwood mansion. Tomorrow, I'd fight for my future.
I just had no idea that tonight would change absolutely everything.
That in a few short hours, I'd meet the one person who could either save me or completely destroy me.
And that my wolf would recognize something I'd never wanted, never asked for, never even believed was possible.
My phone buzzed again.
A text from an unknown number: "We're watching you, charity case. One wrong move at the party tonight, and we'll make sure you never graduate. Ever."
My blood ran cold.
How did they know I was planning to go to the party?
Who was watching me?