"Hey, move! Don't block the way, Trash Girl!"
A hard blow struck my shoulder. I staggered, nearly falling onto the slick marble floor, still wet from the morning rain. The sharp scent of a Beta pierced my nose—harsh, dominant, but... shallow. There was no depth to the power within it, only forced arrogance.
I lifted my head slightly and found myself facing a broad-shouldered young man wearing a varsity jacket emblazoned with a silver wolf. He laughed uproariously with his pack. Their eyes gleamed a dull yellow, a sign that they were Betas who believed they belonged to a higher social caste than anyone who looked poor.
"Sorry," I squeaked. I lowered my head as far as I could.
I deliberately left my dark brown hair messy to hide my jawline. I couldn't meet their gazes. Anger was a short fuse for my dormant power. If my pupils turned pure silver, if my aura erupted, every predator in this building would know who I really was. And that would mean death.
"Defective Omega!" another student spat toward my worn-out shoes. "You people do nothing but pollute the air at Silverwood. They should get rid of that fringe scholarship program if all it does is bring flies like you here."
I clenched my fists at my sides until my nails dug into my palms. Hold on, Alea. Hold on. In their eyes, I was nothing but an Omega. An orphan girl from the mountains who was lucky enough to taste an elite education. They couldn't smell the wild-lily scent flowing through my veins. They didn't know that behind this Omega disguise was Moonshade blood capable of crushing any Alpha's dominance.
I hurried down the corridor. Silverwood wasn't merely a school; it was a gilded cage for clan heirs. The scents here weren't the smell of wet earth or the pine trees I loved, but the stench of rotten power, expensive perfume, and bloody competition. Every step felt like walking over burning coals. I could feel the gazes of students wearing jewelry worth more than my grandmother's house judging every inch of my faded clothes.
Suddenly, the air around me grew colder. Not a refreshing chill, but a static coldness, as though the oxygen molecules in the room had abruptly frozen.
Silence fell instantly. The noisy conversations in the main corridor vanished, replaced by the sound of measured yet heavy footsteps.
A group of students walked down from the grand staircase in an unmistakable formation. They were the top of the food chain. And in their midst was a center of gravity that swallowed all the light in the room.
A young man.
He was tall, with features that looked carved from a god's fury. His jaw was sharp, and his jet-black hair was artfully disheveled. But the most terrifying thing about him was his aura. Deep blue, dense, and crushing against my lungs.
"Kaelan Draken..." The whisper sounded like a fearful prayer from the lips of a student beside me. "The Black Alpha. The future leader of the Blackwood family."
My heart stopped. Blackwood.
That name was the nightmare that had destroyed our Clan. The name that had brought swords and fire to my parents' beds nearly a decade and a half ago. My blood boiled, yet the wolf inside me whimpered. It wasn't a whimper of fear, but something far more dangerous.
The seal on my power, buried in my spine, trembled violently. As though some enormous magnet were pulling my soul out of my body. Bonding. That cursed ancient destiny was beginning to react.
I quickly turned, trying to disappear behind a pillar. But my movement was too hasty. The end of my bag, heavy with old books, struck a waist-high ceramic vase on a console table.
CRASH!
The sound exploded like a bomb in the middle of the silence. The antique ceramic shattered into thousands of pieces. White lilies scattered across the floor, soaking in water that now splashed over everyone's shoes.
"O-oh no..." I dropped to my knees. Panic blinded me. I began picking up the sharp fragments with my bare hands, heedless of my own safety. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
A jagged edge sliced my thumb. Fresh red blood welled up and dripped onto the clean white marble.
The footsteps stopped directly in front of me.
A pair of spotless, gleaming black leather boots stood before my bleeding fingers. The scent struck me like a storm: pine forest after rain, sandalwood, and something wild... something impossibly ancient.
"You're a mess." His voice was low, a baritone that sent an electric shock straight through my spine.
I slowly looked up. My eyes locked onto Kael's blue ones. For one terrifying second, I saw his pupils widen unnaturally. His blue irises flashed with a golden hue visible only to a Mate. A soulmate.
Kael's jaw tightened. He looked at the blood on my finger, then shifted his gaze to my face. A flash of recognition passed through his eyes, mingled with confusion and a predator's hunger.
"Who are you?" he asked. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an authority that made my joints feel weak. "I've never smelled... anyone like you."
I trembled. "A-Alea. I'm... I'm a new student."
Before Kael could say another word, a mocking laugh shattered the tension.
"Kael! Why are you wasting your time with this piece of trash?"
Sesilia stepped forward. Her platinum-blond hair gleamed dazzlingly. She stood beside Kael, staring at me with pure hatred. Without warning, she swung the tip of her high heel down onto the hand I still had on the floor.
I grimaced and held back a cry as her heel pressed against my injured fingers. The pain was excruciating, but I kept my head bowed.
"Do you know how much this vase costs, Village Girl?" Sesilia leaned closer, the scent of her rose perfume choking me. "Not even your life would be enough to pay for it. How dare you dirty this floor with your filthy Omega blood."
She pressed down harder, grinding her heel over my cut. I could feel the tiny bones in my hand creak.
"I'm sorry..." I whispered, tears beginning to pool—not from the physical pain, but from the humiliation stoking a fire in my chest.
"Sorry won't clean this up. Get a mop. Use your tongue to clean up the water if you have to." Sesilia laughed, hoping Kael would laugh along with her.
But Kael remained silent. He continued staring at me with an unreadable expression. He didn't help me, but he didn't laugh either. He simply stood there, studying my suffering as though he were examining a puzzle.
"Come on, Kael. Just leave her. We have the opening ceremony." Sesilia tugged on Kael's arm.
Kael turned, but before he got far, he bent down for a moment. He picked up a ceramic shard that still bore a smear of my blood. He stared at the red stain with frightening intensity, then slipped it into his jacket pocket without a word.
I sprang to my feet as soon as they left and ran at full speed toward the farthest restroom in the administration building. I slammed the door, locked it, and turned on the faucet roughly.
My hands shook violently. The pain from Sesilia's heel was nothing compared to the thunder in my chest. I stared into the mirror.
My pale face slowly changed. Behind my brown irises, silver began to glow. Bright, dazzling, and dangerous. My pupils stretched into wolfish slits.
"Not now... please, not now," I whispered, gripping the edge of the sink.
The porcelain beneath my hands cracked. My power was leaking out because of my unstable emotions. I had just met the son of the man who murdered my family. And worse... fate had just bound me to him.
I remembered Kael's gaze. He wasn't just an Alpha. He was a predator who had already caught the scent of his prey. And if he found out who I really was—the Last Luna of the Moonshade Clan—he wouldn't let me live. He would hunt me down, claim me, or destroy me before I could take my revenge.
Outside the restroom door, I heard footsteps stop. Someone was standing there.
There was no knock. Only the cold scent of a pine forest slipped in through the gap beneath the door.
My heart pounded so hard it hurt. He had followed me.
Kael was out there. Waiting. Watching.
I turned off the faucet and held my breath in the cramped restroom's darkness. Outside, Kael's deep voice sounded softly, almost like a predator whispering to its cornered prey.
"I know you're in there, Alea. Hide your aura all you want... but your blood can't lie. We'll talk soon."
His footsteps receded. My eyes closed. Would the escape I'd maintained for nearly a decade and a half finally come to an end?