Page 41 of The Drama King

"Did you see their faces?" Robbie added, already bounding down from the lighting booth. "Dorian looked like someone had just declared war while smiling sweetly."

I clung to them both, still vibrating with the intensity of the performance, my body trembling with emotional aftermath. "Was it too much? I couldn't tell if-"

"Too much?" Stephanie pulled back to look at me, her expression almost reverent. "Professor Goldman is taking notes. That critic from Theatre Weekly is leaning forward in her seat. You didn't just perform Kate's submission - you interrogated it, subverted it, made it dangerous."

A tech assistant hurried over to usher us further offstage as the next performer prepared to enter. We moved to the green room, where a small monitor showed the ongoing showcase. Several other students nodded or smiled as I entered, their expressions ranging from impressed to wary.

"Water," Stephanie said, pressing my bottle into my hands. "Drink. You're still shaking."

I obeyed automatically, the cold liquid shocking me further back into my body. As the adrenaline began to ebb, exhaustion swept in to replace it. I sank onto a folding chair, suddenly aware of how much the performance had taken out of me.

We watched in relative silence as the remaining students delivered their pieces. Some brilliant, others merely competent. By the time the last performer exited, my heartbeat had almost returned to normal, though the phantom sensation of Dorian'sscent still clung to my skin like a brand I'd transformed into armor.

The department head stepped onto the stage for closing remarks, his formal Alpha presence commanding immediate attention. "What an extraordinary showcase of talent," he began, his voice booming across the theater. "Before we adjourn to the reception in the lobby, I'd like to invite our faculty to share brief impressions."

Professor De Scarzis spoke first, her Italian accent more pronounced when she was excited. "Tonight we witnessed several remarkable interpretations, but I must specifically acknowledge Ms. Levine's revolutionary take on Kate's final monologue. To transform that problematic text into a meditation on power, performance, and survival - this is exactly the kind of critical engagement with classical texts that modern theater demands."

My breath caught. De Scarzis was notoriously stingy with praise, especially for first-year students.

Professor Goldman from NYU leaned forward in his seat. "If I may add - Ms. Levine's performance demonstrated the rare ability to inhabit a text while simultaneously commenting on it. The meta-theatrical awareness, the layers of meaning, the sheer audacity of making Kate's submission an act of defiance... It's exactly what we look for in our graduate program candidates."

The words stunned me into silence. Graduate program candidates. NYU. The possibility I'd never dared to dream was being discussed in front of the entire theater community.

"You did it," Stephanie whispered, squeezing my hand. "You fucking did it."

The stage manager stuck her head into the green room. "Five minutes until reception. All performers to the lobby, please."

Reality crashed back as I remembered what awaited me. A crowded reception where I'd inevitably encounter the pack, nowlikely furious that I'd managed to distinguish myself despite - or perhaps because of - their calculated sabotage.

"I can't," I said, panic rising fresh in my throat. "Steph, I can't face them right now."

"Yes, you can," Robbie said firmly, moving to my other side. "Because you're not the same person who walked onto that stage. You just proved something tonight. To them, to the faculty, to yourself."

"He's right," Stephanie added. "You just performed Kate's submission speech while carrying an Alpha's scent-mark and turned both into weapons. You transformed their sabotage into your strength."

She was right. The marking that was supposed to humiliate me had instead added a visceral layer to my performance - the reality of domination underlying Kate's words, making my subversion of them all the more powerful.

"Okay," I said, standing on legs that were steadier than they'd been all evening. "Let's go face the music."

The lobby was packed with faculty, students, and industry professionals, the buzz of conversation punctuated by laughter and the clink of wine glasses. I spotted the pack immediately. They'd positioned themselves strategically near the main entrance, ensuring that I'd have to pass them to reach the faculty gathering around Professor De Scarzis.

Dorian's eyes found mine across the room, his expression unreadable but intense. For a moment, we simply stared at each other across the crowded space, two opponents acknowledging a fundamental shift in the game.

Then Professor Goldman appeared at my elbow, breaking the spell.

"Ms. Levine," he said warmly, "I wonder if we might have a word about your future plans? That performance was... incendiary. In the best possible way."

As I allowed him to guide me toward a quieter corner, I caught a glimpse of Dorian's face in my peripheral vision. The confusion I'd seen during my performance had crystallized into something more complex. The look of an Alpha who'd discovered his prey had turned his own weapons against him.

The hunt, I realized, was far from over. But tonight, for the first time since arriving at Northwood, I felt like I might actually be capable of not just fighting back, but winning.

sixteen

Corvus

Novemberarrivedwithavengeance. Biting winds stripped the last orange and red leaves from the oaks lining the private drive to the Ashworth estate. I watched the fallen foliage swirl in our wake as Dorian's Aston Martin cut through the twilight, headlights carving a path through gathering darkness. Oakley sat in the back seat, uncharacteristically quiet since the Fall Showcase three days ago.

The post-Halloween lull had settled over campus. Jack-o'-lanterns rotted on dormitory steps, orange streamers faded and forgotten in lecture halls. Most students already focused on Thanksgiving break, just two weeks away, but our pack had more immediate concerns.