Bright morning sunlight pierced through the gaps in the dormitory window, slicing through the room's darkness as if mocking me where I sat curled up in the corner of the bed. My eyes were swollen, burning, and heavy. Not only from lack of sleep, but from the burden of the secret now crushing my chest until I could barely breathe. Beneath the bed, hidden away, was a plastic bag containing the charred, bloodstained scraps of my nightgown. Silent evidence of last night's battle—evidence that could send me straight to the gallows if the school council caught its scent.
I had just finished applying a stronger scent-concealing potion. Its sting burned my sensitive skin, but that pain was nothing compared to the ache in my chest every time I remembered Kaelan's face as he groaned in agony while protecting me.
I clutched the handkerchief my mother had given me. That thin silk cloth was the only remnant of my life as a pure-blooded descendant. I was an anomaly—a Luna whose power was feared more than any weapon. More than a decade ago, they destroyed the Moonshade Clan not because we were evil, but because they craved our power and wanted to turn us into war slaves. On that dark day, as fire devoured everything, Grandma carried me away. From that moment on, I learned how to become nothing. To become an Omega people could despise so I could keep breathing.
“Why did you do it, Kaelan?” I whispered to the stale silence of the room. “Why did you have to become the reason I want to stay, when you're the son of the man who made me lose everything?”
The bell rang, shattering my reverie. I put on my spare uniform, the only one I had left, and tried to make myself look as inconspicuous as possible. But in my haste to leave for the main corridor, I failed to notice my mother's handkerchief slipping onto the lobby's marble floor. A tiny trace that would become the beginning of a great storm.
The cafeteria felt tense. News of last night's attack hadn't spread, as if the iron fist of the Blackwood family had silenced every piece of evidence in the blink of an eye. Yet everyone's attention was fixed on one point: Kaelan Draken. He sat at the center table, surrounded by his loyal followers and Sesilia, who was now clinging to him protectively. Kaelan was wearing his varsity jacket, but I could see the stiff, sluggish movement of his left shoulder.
I lowered my head, trying to blend into the shadows as I passed them.
“Alea.”
That single word dropped absolute silence over the entire cafeteria. Kaelan's baritone voice stopped me in my tracks. Sesilia turned toward me, her eyes narrowing sharply as her fingers gripped her porcelain cup until her knuckles turned white.
Kaelan stood. Ignoring the curious whispers, he walked toward me. His Alpha dominance exploded, forcing the students around him to instinctively push their chairs back as they struggled to breathe.
“Come with me. Now,” he ordered. There was no room for negotiation.
“B-but class is about to start...” I whispered, squeezing the empty tray with trembling fingers.
Kaelan didn't answer. He seized my wrist. His grip felt gentle yet was as strong as a steel chain, and he pulled me out of the room.
“Kael! Where do you think you're taking that trash?!” Sesilia screamed hysterically. Kaelan didn't even glance at her.
Crash! Sesilia slammed her cup onto the table, shattering it into pieces. Her eyes gleamed with pure hatred as they fixed on my back. “Watch yourself, lowly Omega. You just dug your own grave.”
Kaelan brought me to the old observatory tower at the academy's peak, where the wind roared wildly, carrying the sharp scent of pine. As soon as the door was locked, he released me. He turned around, his sharp features looking tired and pale beneath the sunlight.
Without a word, he opened his jacket and rolled up his white shirt sleeve. The bandages wrapped around his arm were oozing a thick, metallic-smelling black fluid. “The silver poison hasn't completely left my system,” he said, his eyes locked onto mine with burning intensity. “But that's not what I want to talk about.”
I turned my face away, dizzy from the scent of his blood mingling with his powerful Alpha pheromones. “You should go to the hospital, Kaelan. Your clan doctor...”
“There isn't a doctor who can explain the silver light that came out of your hands, Alea!” Kaelan cut in, his voice booming through the empty room. “There is no logical explanation for air pressure bending an arrow, or for your scent changing into an intoxicating wild-lily scent before you covered it again with this disgusting sulfur stench!”
He advanced, forcing me back against the cold stone wall. “You are the Luna of the Moonshade Clan.”
The words had finally been spoken. Without lies. Without a mask.
I looked up, my eyes beginning to glow with a faint silver light as my emotions overflowed. “And if I really am the Luna you're hunting? What are you going to do?!” I challenged him, my voice suddenly steady.
“Hand me over to your Clan Council? Continue your father's hobby of slaughtering my family?!”
Kaelan's jaw hardened until the veins in his neck stood out. “My father acted for the sake of security! The Moonshade Clan is an aberration capable of manipulating Alpha instincts! That power is far too dangerous to be left unchecked!”
I laughed bitterly as tears began streaming down my face. “Security?! They burned babies in their cradles, Kaelan! They slaughtered unarmed people because they were afraid of what they didn't understand—or because they wanted that power for themselves!”
Kaelan fell silent. Through this unwanted Mate bond, he could feel the explosion of my trauma: the grief, the rage, and the profound thirst for justice. His heart throbbed painfully, an echo of my suffering.
Kaelan stepped closer, his voice softening while remaining deep. “I don't care what the world calls you. But I know one thing...” He looked at me as if his gaze could strip my soul bare. “My wolf will never see you as a danger. To him, you're home.”
For the first time, my defenses cracked. I no longer felt like an oppressed Omega, but I wasn't ready to become a magnificent Luna either.
Kaelan reached out and touched my cheek with his thumb. “Alea, last night's hunters were the Hollows. They're masterless mercenaries who hunt rare blood for experiments. They won't stop until they have you.”
“Then how are you any different from them?” I asked bitterly.
“The difference is...” Kaelan's blue eyes flashed with a deadly promise. “I'd rather destroy the entire Blackwood family with my own hands than let them touch a single strand of your hair.”
I was stunned. That wasn't an empty boast. It was an Alpha's blood oath.
“Listen to me,” he continued. “I'll hide your identity. I'll be your shield. But you have to stay within my reach. Never use your power, and don't leave without my permission.”
“You want to make me your prisoner?”
“I want to keep you alive, you idiot!” Kaelan snapped, his frustration reaching its peak. “You have no idea how high a price has been put on your head in the black market!”
Suddenly, hurried footsteps echoed from the stairwell. Kaelan swiftly pulled me behind him and buttoned his jacket again. The door was thrown open, and Professor Thorne entered with a flushed face, followed by several guards.
“Mr. Kaelan! What are you doing here with this scholarship student?” Thorne cast me a suspicious glance. “The Council demands an explanation for last night's strange energy trail.”
Kaelan stood straight, radiating such oppressive Alpha aura that Thorne backed away in fear. “A personal matter, Professor. This girl is my personal servant now. She'll take care of me while my arm is injured from last night's intense training. Is there a problem?”
Thorne hesitated, but he didn't dare argue with Blackwood's sole heir. “Of course not, sir. Just make sure she doesn't cause trouble.”
After they left, I stared at Kaelan in disbelief. “Personal servant? You're completely insane.”
Kaelan gave me a faint smirk, an expression he rarely showed. “That's the only logical reason for an Omega like you to keep clinging to an Alpha like me. Now, come to my dorm. You need to treat my arm again.”
I knew it was a trap. By becoming the person closest to him, I would become the primary target of Sesilia and all of Blackwood's enemies. Yet as I looked into those blue eyes, I realized one thing: I had no one left in this world except him.
In the distance, from the balcony of the building across from us, Sesilia stared toward the tower window. Her beautiful face now looked demonic with rage. In her hand, she held a white handkerchief faintly embroidered with the emblem of the Moonshade Clan.
“So the legend is real after all,” Sesilia hissed with a cruel smile. “The Last Luna is hiding in my future Alpha's territory. Let's see how long you last. Because I'll make sure that when you're caught, the whole world will judge you for your betrayal.”