The atmosphere in Thomas's classroom was electric, charged with a mixture of apprehension and the raw energy of a pack of young wolves on edge. The room itself was unlike any typical classroom. Nestled deep within the basement of the warrior house, it was a sprawling, opulent home theater, a revelation to many of the students who hadn't yet ventured beyond the training grounds. Plush, oversized couches in deep, rich tones were scattered across the tiered floor, inviting students to recline. Alongside them were individual, almost luxurious recliners, all facing a massive, cinematic screen that dominated one wall. Soft, indirect lighting emanated from recessed fixtures, casting a warm glow that paradoxically did little to ease the rising tension. The air thrummed with the scent of damp earth from the surrounding foundations, mixed with the musky, natural scent of wolf and the sharper, more metallic tang of anticipation.
Trinity's shoulders remained stiff, the lingering physical manifestation of a day fraught with unspoken conflict. Ryan still wouldn't meet Jess's gaze, his usual warmth replaced by a cool, almost distant demeanor that was far from hostile but equally far from friendly. Jess, oblivious or perhaps expertly feigning it, exuded an almost infuriating cheerfulness that only amplified the discomfort for those caught in the middle. At breakfast, the fragile alliances of the previous day had fractured. Ryan had gravitated towards the "wolves" he'd been paired with, while Mona, with a calculated glide, had joined him. Timothy, still wrestling with the uncertainty of Ryan's displeasure, had quietly settled next to Jess. Trinity, however, had found a welcome reprieve in the company of Johnny, Luca, Simon, and Dylan, sidestepping the uncomfortable choice of allegiance.
Thankfully, Thomas, with a gruff command, had instructed everyone to reform their teams from the previous day, quashing any further social maneuvering. He stood before the massive screen, a compact iPad clutched in his hand. "Yesterday's assignment was rather interesting," he stated, his voice a low rumble that nevertheless commanded attention. A collective murmur rippled through the room – a mix of surprise and disbelief. This was not Thomas's usual modus operandi. He was a hard taskmaster, rarely doling out praise, his critiques often sharp and direct, aimed at highlighting every perceived inadequacy. The shift in his tone, the hint of something akin to concession, felt unsettling. It felt unearned, a consequence not of their own prowess but of being, as some muttered, "outshined by defectives who had less abilities, and more drawbacks to overcome."
Thomas's fingers danced across his iPad, the large screen behind him mirroring his every command. Soon, multiple camera angles, stitched together seamlessly, displayed every detail of the previous day's forest skirmishes. As students settled deeper into their chairs, some felt a spike of dread, not wanting to relive the ignominy of their eliminations. Others, unaware of the comprehensive surveillance, felt a prickle of apprehension.
"Shifting Sands," Thomas announced, letting the title of their task hang in the air. "When you fight an opponent, this is what it's like. Everything can go wrong. Everything might go wrong." His eyes, sharp and piercing, swept across the room, lingering on each wolf and defective, ensuring they understood the gravity of his words. These might be games, simulations, but the lessons they imparted were real.
He tapped the screen, and a pre-queued video instantly filled the immense display. It was Jess's group, moments after they'd reached their designated home base. Thomas let the clip play, pausing just as the team began to move away from the base, the precise moment before Jess decided to scale the towering tree.
"What did they do wrong?" Thomas's voice echoed, demanding an immediate response from everyone present, not just the team itself. They should already know their mistakes.
"They excluded a teammate!" Johnny blurted out, his voice cutting through the lingering silence.
"What else?" Thomas's deep voice resonated, urging them to dissect every frame of the scene.
"They gave themselves a handicap," one of the few women in the class offered, her voice firm. "Everyone else had five players, while essentially giving themselves four."
Thomas remained silent, his gaze unwavering, waiting for more critiques. "As a captain, Caldera failed his team," Trinity stated, her voice sharp and uncompromising. "His pride, ultimately, got in the way. His preconceptions of defectives. The ego of wolves. He didn't care." Her words, though harsh, carried the ring of truth. Caldera's team's effectiveness hadn't stemmed from his leadership; it had come from Jess.
With a curt nod of approval, Thomas replayed the clip. This time, it showed Jess fluidly climbing the tree, her teammates obliviously walking away below. Then, her sharp call, alerting them, guiding them in the fight.
"What do you see?"
Wolves who had been eliminated by other teams, or who hadn't encountered Team Five, had only heard whispers of Jess's sharpshooting prowess. To see it firsthand, to witness how her team would have been annihilated without her, was a revelation.
Jess felt the weight of their stares, the subtle shift in their expressions from disdain to intrigue. It wasn't quite respect, but it was certainly a step towards civility.
"Teamwork," Dylan from Trinity's team stated, his voice quiet but clear.
"Explain."
"We could all explain our strengths," Dylan continued, gesturing vaguely. "But to see is something different. The defective girl—I mean, Jess. I think she showed teamwork."
"And she could kill anything in a 500-yard radius," Timothy added playfully, a grin spreading across his face. His words, though lighthearted, held a undeniable truth: she was a sharpshooter of remarkable skill.
A smattering of chuckles rippled through the room, while others grunted in irritation, a silent wish to have faced her themselves. Jess felt a blush creep up her cheeks. It was gratifying to be acknowledged, especially for a skill she hadn't even considered a source of pride. Should they be angry that she could fire a gun, that she could hit a target with such ease? She felt a pang of gratitude towards Grayson, who had demanded excellence from all of them with a weapon.
Thomas then switched clips, displaying Timothy being lured out by Mona, only for both him and his teammate to be swiftly eliminated from the game. This time, Thomas didn't ask for observations. A torrent of shouts erupted.
"Human tricks!"
"Untrustworthy liar!"
"A gullible fool!"
"Sly human!"
Mona's head instinctively lowered at the barrage of comments. She didn't think her tactics were so terrible. She didn't consider herself as formidable as the others, but her mind was something that she could use. She didn't understand why it was such an insult, to outwit someone.
Thomas raised a hand, cutting off the clamor. "You are lucky to see this. As wolves, we have a straightforward nature. We can be single-focused, to our detriment. Why do you think the warrior exam is so hard to pass? Only 60% of wolves can pass. Are we all not strong? Are we all not smart? Do you think 40% of us are weak?" His words hung in the air, a potent perfume of challenge and introspection. He wanted them to think, not just as wolves, but as warriors. They weren't the only creatures in the world. They wouldn't just fight their own kind for dominance. They would face rogue wolves, crazed and unpredictable, or wolves who had spent their lives among humans, learning the very "sly human tricks" they now disdained.
He replayed the video, forcing them to watch it with new eyes. "If you face someone stronger than you, should you just accept defeat? Knowing that your defeat is the end of your pack? Or do you do your best, whatever you need to do to survive, to win? Mona knows herself. She's not strong, she's not fast. But she's quick on her feet. Her entire team is wiped out. There are two players left. They know they cannot win. And she comes up with this plan. You will all wish that you have someone like this with you when you are down to your last choice. If you die, you take as many as you can with you.
Only a fool dies for pride and honor and strength. If we die, it better be for the pack, not pride." He paused, his gaze sweeping across their faces. Pride was the death of everything great. If pride alone could keep everyone alive, graveyards would be empty.
Next, Thomas displayed Ryan's initial fight, his relentless pursuit through the forest, the ambush with Toby.
"His actions seemed brutal, bordering on unnecessary," Devin spoke up, a faint flush on his cheeks. He knew his own embarrassing clip would likely follow.
"Unnecessary?" Jess questioned, a defensive glint in her eyes as she looked towards Ryan.
"He was playing with them, taunting them like they were mice." Devin added
"And maybe they were!" Trinity shot back, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. "Are wolves pacifists? You saw excess brutality? With few words, that wolf let his guard down. Another 'sly human trick'? Do you think everyone fights fair? Are you so idealistic?" Trinity practically seethed, the notion of such naiveté almost unbearable. Her life had been one of constant threat, a caged toy, prodded and tortured. Idealism had been brutally murdered early on. If a trick meant survival, then it wasn't a mere trick; it was the desperate clawing for life itself.
Luca, his admiration evident, wrapped an arm around Trinity's shoulders. He was clearly impressed by her feisty and unapologetic nature. Trinity, seemingly too engrossed in the lively debate unfolding around them, merely spared him a withering glance before refocusing on the class. Mona's eyes drifted to Luca, a quiet question in their depths as she wondered if she had merely been a stand-in for the one he truly desired.
"I gave him a chance to walk off the field. And then I took it away. We are not inclined to always treat our enemies kindly." The chilling aura that had emanated from Ryan in the video now seemed to permeate the room, radiating from him directly. His eyes had darkened, colder, unyielding. The air around him grew thick with tension, as if he might lash out at any moment.
"There is obviously something we know that you do not," Mona spoke up, her voice surprisingly calm. "We see the world as it is, not as your instincts tell you it should be."
The room stilled, a pensive silence descending. Some wondered if it was true. Did defectives possess a deeper understanding of combat than wolves? Was their inherent strength ultimately futile in the face of reality? Was their straightforward nature a path to their ultimate demise? Was there a lesson they could actually learn from these outcasts?
Thomas gave Mona a silent nod of approval. She was precisely right. "Shifting Sands" was exactly as Mona described. Instincts offered guidance, but they did not dictate reality. It was time for a dose of cynicism.
A sharp rap on the door jolted everyone, breaking the pensive spell. The door creaked open, and the pack doctor, Alana, stepped inside. She said nothing, simply pointed at Trinity, beckoning her with a silent gesture. Trinity frowned but followed, a knot of dread forming in her stomach. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good.
Once Trinity was out of the room, Thomas continued. This time, he played a clip of Trinity's team. The first scene showed Simon marking Trinity. A few hoots and catcalls of amusement erupted, quickly silenced by Thomas's harsh glare. He paused the video, waiting for someone to speak.
"She wasn't the leader, right?" Caldera asked, a hint of accusation in his voice.
"Nope, Luca was," Johnny answered.
"Then why did she do this? This should be considered cheating." Caldera's irritation was palpable, fueled by Trinity's earlier scathing critique of his leadership.
"As a subordinate, are you not allowed to talk?" It was Luca who spoke, his words carrying extra weight as the next alpha. What was a team without its players?
"This would help throw off the wolves. It would do nothing for the defectives, but wolves would be confused," Victor offered, a former guard to Timothy, eliminated with surprising ease by Mona. Unlike others, he held no bitterness. It was a lesson, one he wouldn't soon forget.
"She was preemptive, in case anyone tried to grab her. They would get burned by silver. She's prepared to be caught and gave herself an exit strategy," Toby chimed in, suddenly realizing Trinity's formidable nature. All the defectives, in their own unique ways, had proven deadly. Timothy, perhaps less so, but that wouldn't make Toby underestimate him.
Thomas then articulated what no one had yet dared to voice: "From the second the game started, she didn't worry about how her team would perceive her strengths or weaknesses. She closed the gap the second the game started. She didn't wait to act on an idea before she was leader. An intelligent subordinate plans for when they might be alone."
He fast-forwarded the video to the moment Trinity became the team leader. Even though she hadn't been in charge before, she hadn't undermined anyone's authority. The second the opportunity arose, she knew exactly what to do. She was decisive, every move calculated, every scenario accounted for. She even knew how to best utilize everyone's strengths.
"Didn't worry about keeping the team proximity together."
"The defective trusted the wolf's abilities."
"She didn't aim to win, but to take away everyone else's ability to win first," Jess stated with a note of finality. Watching the playback, she found it astonishing that anyone could have noticed they had lost before the game even began.
Even Luca, who had participated alongside Trinity, hadn't noticed everything in real-time. Watching it again, a sense of awe crept over him. Even as a defective, she was formidable, capable in a way few others were. A she-wolf typically didn't need to display extensive ability; the mate bond was often the deciding factor. But among the elites of a pack—the alpha, the beta, the head warriors—strength mattered. If one couldn't find their destined mate and had to choose, then ability, strength, and a strong bloodline were paramount.
Thomas watched the unmated wolves in the class, their gazes fixed on Trinity's image on the screen. Her smiling face, now with a faint smudges of dirt on her cheeks, with blood coated teeth and a glint of victory in her eyes, resonated with a silent power. She had secured a unanimous, devastatingly uncontested victory. Unwittingly, Trinity had revealed herself to be the strongest she-wolf in their class, and it had nothing to do with her ability to shift. She was strong, brave, reckless, calculative, and she never missed. If that wasn't enough, she possessed the bloodline of a beta and an alpha. As risky as it was that she might produce a defective, if she didn't, the child Trinity would bear would be unstoppable. Her intellect combined with that potent bloodline was a dangerous temptation indeed.