Raiden’s POV
My seat feels colder beneath me, harder somehow, as the head judge’s voice echoes through the air.
"For innovative pack leadership and redefining strength—Windhowl!"
The words ripple across the space like a crack of lightning.
My eyes snap to Siena, almost instinctively, and I catch the flicker of surprise on her face before she smooths it into something calmer, more composed.
Dignified.
Her expression doesn’t say shock—it says I earned this.
And she did.
The veterans flanking her, the ones the other packs have mocked as "cripples" and "has-beens" all day, straighten their spines. Their eyes shine, not with arrogance but with something deeper.
Vindication.
It’s a look that says, Finally, someone sees us for who we are.
The appla
