The Overlooked Twin Is the Pack’s S-Class Warrior Chapter 09

The Overlooked Twin Is the Pack’s S-Class Warrior Chapter 09

Four years passed in a blink.

When the graduate school recommendation list went up at Blackthorn, my name sat at the top of the Combat Mecha College.

During my three years in the master’s program, I collected every award the university had. I published three first-author mecha papers in the wolf domain’s top journals and worked on national-level projects with my advisor.

I wasn’t the ugly duckling crammed in a storage closet, surviving on watermelon rind just to earn a scrap of attention. I’d grown wings. Flown over mountains. Found my own sky.

My part-time income now covered all my tuition and living costs — and even let me splurge on a pricey seafood dinner by the ocean now and then.

I bought the latest phone. Dresses that made me feel good. I was living better than all eighteen years in that house combined a thousand times over.

The so-called family and friends came looking a few more times.

Dad lost his Beta title after a work screw-up and tried to start a business. He showed up asking for a loan. I shut the door in his face. He stood outside my dorm cursing for half an hour, then left, defeated.

Owen crashed a state-of-the-art mech during training and faced a massive bill. He swallowed his pride and came to me, saying we were still family, couldn’t I help him out?

I stared at his ridiculous expression and said, “I’m not your sister. Sarah is.” Then I called campus security.

As for Wesley—I heard he and Sarah got together, then fell apart fast. Apparently she latched onto the son of a stronger Alpha over at Elvorz and dumped him.

He showed up at Blackthorn and stood in the rain outside my dorm all night, saying he wanted to win me back.

It was just pathetic. I tossed an old, broken umbrella into the hallway and shouted at him to get lost.

After that, they stopped coming.

On graduation day, the Blackthorn sky burned a brilliant crystal blue. I stood in my cap and gown by the campus gate, posing for photos. The sun lit up my face, warm and bright.

“Katherine, smile!” my friend behind the camera called.

I looked into the lens and gave a real, radiant smile.

Click.

The girl in that photo had bright eyes, a straight back, and not a trace of the old flinching, people-pleasing shadow.

Just confidence and ease, rooted deep in her bones. I printed the picture and tucked it into the clear sleeve of my wallet. The first page of my new life.

That evening, my labmates and I hit the beach for a graduation barbecue. The sea breeze was soft, the bonfire danced. We sat around, talking about the future.

“Katherine, what’s your plan after the PhD? Are you staying in academia?” my advisor asked, smiling.

I looked out at the shimmering sea and smiled back. “I want to do research that actually matters. And if I get the chance, I’d like to travel. See a little more of this world.”

I raised my beer. Everyone clinked glasses.

“To the future!”

“To the future!”

I took a long, cold sip. The chill slid down my throat, but it warmed my heart.

The road ahead is long, the mountains are high—and I’m not looking back. My story’s just beginning, and it’s waiting for me out there.