Chapter 150 Celeste's Choice
Jolie POV
"He was still my father." The words feel hollow. "Doesn't that matter?"
"Not as much as your survival." He pulls me close. "You chose yourself over his life. That's not wrong. That's self-preservation."
"It feels wrong." I lean against him. "It feels like I should grieve or feel guilty or something other than this hollow relief."
"Then feel hollow relief." He kisses the top of my head. "Feel whatever you actually feel instead of what you think you should feel. That's the difference between you and the Academy wolves. You let yourself have emotions even when they're complicated."
"Luna Kane!" A voice calls out. "We need to coordinate transport!"
I pull away from Ryder reluctantly. "How many are coming with us?"
"Last count was forty-seven." Luna appears with her tablet. "Nightshade wolves, visiting pack members, even three of the Academy brides who saw what happened and want out."
"Academy brides?" I straighten. "Are they like Celeste? Conditioned?"
"Two of them seem fully conditioned." She shows me profiles. "Empty affect, mechanical responses. But the third one is crying. Actually crying. I think her conditioning wasn't complete."
"Where is she?" I'm already moving.
Luna leads me to a woman sitting on the ground near our vehicles. Maybe twenty-four, blonde hair disheveled, mascara running down her face. She's sobbing so hard she can barely breathe.
I kneel beside her. "Hey. It's okay. You're safe now."
"It's not okay!" She gasps between sobs. "Nothing's okay! They took me when I was fourteen, told me I'd learn to be strong, and instead they—they"
"I know." I take her hand carefully. "I felt it. Through Celeste. I know what they did to you."
"Then you know I'm broken." She looks at me with desperate eyes. "They tried to break me completely. Tried to make me empty like the others. But something in me wouldn't break, so they just made me really good at pretending."
"You're not broken." I squeeze her hand. "You survived. You kept something of yourself even when they tried to destroy it. That's not broken, Thats being incredibly strong."
"I don't feel strong." Fresh tears spill. "I feel terrified. I escaped my assignment, but the Academy will come for me. They always come for wolves who don't complete conditioning."
"Not anymore." I let my moonfire flicker gently. "The Academy's connection to the Council just got exposed in front of hundreds of alphas. Their operation is compromised, they won't risk drawing more attention by hunting escaped students."
"You don't know them." She shakes her head. "They don't care about attention. They care about control and I'm proof their conditioning fails. They'll eliminate me."
"Over my dead body." Ryder crouches beside us. "You're under Iron Fangs protection now. Anyone who comes for you goes through us first."
"Why?" She looks between us. "Why would you protect me? You don't know me. I could be a Council plant, a spy, a"
"You're a victim." I say it firmly. "Just like Celeste. Just like every student the Academy tortured. You deserve protection, healing, and the chance to become whoever you were supposed to be before they took you."
"I don't even remember who that was." Her voice breaks. "The girl I was at fourteen is gone. They killed her and put something else in her place. Something hollow that can feel things but doesn't know how to be real."
"Then we'll figure it out together." I help her stand. "What's your name? Your real name, not whatever the Academy called you."
She hesitates, like she's trying to remember something from a long time ago.
"Marina." She says finally. "My name was Marina Frost. Before."
"Marina Frost." I repeat, making it real. "Welcome to Iron Fangs. We specialize in helping wolves become who they're supposed to be."
She laughs, watery and broken, but genuine. "That's a good specialty."
"Luna!" Knox appears, carrying someone. "We've got a problem."
He sets down a woman who I recognize immediately. One of the Academy student from the ceremony, still wearing her formal dress, eyes completely empty.
"She collapsed." Knox explains. "No visible injuries, just suddenly shut down completely."
I kneel beside her, reaching out with my empathy gift.
And find absolute nothing. Not suppressed emotion. Not hidden feeling. Just void.
"She's gone." The words come out hollow. "Whatever she was before the Academy destroyed it, it's completely gone now. There's no one left inside to save."
"Can you heal her?" Knox asks. "Bring her back like you're doing with Celeste?"
"I don't think so." I touch her forehead gently. "Celeste has something left—a spark, a core of who she used to be buried deep under conditioning. This woman has nothing. The Academy succeeded completely with her."
"So what do we do?" He looks lost. "Just leave her like this?"
"We keep her comfortable." I stand, feeling the weight of failure. "We care for her physical needs. And we hope that maybe, eventually, something will come back. But I can't force it. I can't create humanity where it's been completely erased."
"That's so fucked up." Marina whispers. "They did that to her on purpose. Made her empty on purpose and they were proud of it."
"They were." Luna's voice is grim. "According to the files Celeste provided, full conditioning is considered the Academy's greatest achievement. Wolves who are completely functional but entirely emotionless."
"That's not achievement." I look at the hollow woman. "That's murder. They killed who she was and left her body walking around."
"Can we prosecute them?" Marina asks suddenly. "The Academy staff, the Council operatives who ran the program? Can we make them face consequences?"
"We're going to try." Ryder says it like a promise. "Once we get everyone settled, once we've coordinated with allied packs, we're going after the Academy. Every staff member, every guard, everyone who participated in conditioning children."
"They'll fight back." Marina warns. "They have resources, connections, wolves who believe in their mission"
"So do we." I gesture at the growing convoy. "We have fifty-plus wolves here. Three allied packs sending warriors. Rogues answering recruitment calls and we have something they don't."
"What's that?" She asks.
"We actually care about the wolves we're fighting for." I smile without humor. "They see students as products, we see them as people. That difference matters."
"Does it?" Marina's voice is small. "Because caring didn't save her." She gestures at the empty woman. "Caring didn't stop what happened to Celeste, or me, or hundreds of others. Maybe the Council is right. Maybe emotion is weakness."
"No." I take her shoulders, making her meet my eyes. "Emotion is what makes us fight when logic says we should surrender. Emotion is what makes us protect each other even when it's dangerous. Emotion is what makes us human instead of just functional. The Academy took that from some wolves. We're going to make sure they never take it from anyone else."