Left the Group Chat, Became the Apex Luna Chapter 02

Left the Group Chat, Became the Apex Luna Chapter 02

I’d been dead last before.

The first combat assessment after I was brought back—I ranked at the very bottom of the class.

Willow Ridge’s little school didn’t have a full combat program. No proper training grounds. No professional instructors.

When I entered Silverpine High, I couldn’t keep up with the training pace at all.

The day grades came out, I saw disappointment in my parents’ eyes for the first time.

After the parent-teacher conference, Dad said just one thing to me:

“Laurel, you’re a Calder.”

From that day on, I pushed like my life depended on it.

When everyone else finished training, I stayed.

Combat drills I didn’t know—I ran them over and over.

To build endurance, I’d run through the woods until dark, until Iris collapsed in the back of my mind and refused to move.

I even convinced myself that if I could just be as good as Nessa, they’d finally see me.

Then Nessa messed up. Brought home a D on her wolf-control assessment.

Mom didn’t look disappointed.

Dad didn’t frown.

That’s when I got it—

There are a thousand excuses for being ignored. They’re all just covers for one simple truth.

I didn’t bother defending my final rating.

Quietly, I walked back to my tiny room—a converted storage closet—and started packing.

Then I pulled out my phone and bought a ticket to Moonshore Defense Academy. Three days out.

…

The next day, I went to the territory center to shop.

Moonshore was down near the southern coast. Way hotter than Silverpine.

I picked up sunscreen, breathable training gear, and a new pair of combat boots for field training on the beach.

When I got home, Mom was just coming out of my room.

She’d pushed my suitcase onto the balcony.

“Good thing you already cleared everything out. Saves us the trouble.”

“Laurel, you’ll sleep on the couch for a few days.”

I stared at her. “Why?”

“Because I’m turning your room into a private training space.” Callum poked his head out, grinning. “My Beta-track instructor said I need a dedicated spot.”

“Anyway, you’ll be in the dorms once you start at Silverfang Academy. No point letting the room sit empty.”

Mom tossed my blankets onto the balcony.

“Couch or a human hotel—we’ll book you a room. Don’t worry, we’re not abandoning you.”

She let out a breath. Like she’d finally managed to shoo away a guest who wouldn’t leave.

Honestly? I felt nothing.

Didn’t matter where I slept. In three days, I wasn’t coming back.

Mom pressed a photo into my hand. “Here. Your family picture fell on the floor. Keep it safe.”

I looked down at it.

In three years, that was the only group shot with all five of us.

The Calder Family took formal portraits every year before Pack Founding Week.

The first year, they said they’d already booked a four-person package and couldn’t add me last minute.

The second year, I finally got in one—but they said the frame was tacky, so they retook it on their four-person trip and threw out the one with me in it.

This year? I didn’t even know they’d taken it.

I stared at the photo.

Five people, alright.

Dad, Mom, Nessa, and Callum in matching dark blue formal wear, Silverpine Pack crests pinned to their chests.

Only I was in my Silverpine High training uniform, shoved to the edge.

The lighting, angle, shadows—all wrong.

They’d cut me out of a school class photo and pasted me in.

Just like in this family—always a blurry ghost. A shadow tacked on after the fact.

It almost looked like I belonged.

But if you really looked, you could tell I didn’t fit.

I turned, walked into the kitchen, ripped the photo to shreds, and dropped it in the trash.

I didn’t need a fake family.