The dungeon beneath Mooncrest Academy was cold — the kind that made even monsters shiver. Chains rattled softly in the silence, echoing off the blackened stone walls.
Nia sat behind enchanted bars, her arms crossed and her hazel eyes glowing faintly in the dim blue light. The chains around her wrists shimmered faintly with runes — a prison meant to hold creatures far stronger than her.
Across from her stood Dorian Raze, tall and still as a statue, his crimson gaze fixed on the parchment he was signing — completely ignoring her.
Beside him leaned Jalen Crest, the werewolf representative — broad-shouldered, curious, and less disciplined than the vampire beside him.
Nia broke the silence first.
"You fools have ruined everything."
Raze didn't even glance up.
Jalen raised a brow. "Ruined everything? How dramatic. Enlighten me, princess."
Nia smirked, her voice sharp and dripping with disdain, she had lost every ounce of her sweetness.
"You wouldn't understand. You all think this bond nonsense is some divine alignment of fate. It's not — it's a curse. A mistake reborn."
Jalen tilted his head, curiosity flickering. "I'm listening."
Her lips curled into something between a smile and a snarl. "Centuries ago, he was mine — Lucien. He was my mate, my destined one. But then she came." Her eyes burned hotter. "Nerissa. The so-called Unclaimed Luna. She turned him against me, against everything he was. She had power — not just wolf or witch — something more. She could take any mate she wanted."
"That's impossible," Jalen muttered.
"Oh, isn't it?" Nia leaned closer to the bars. "She toyed with hearts like they were pawns. Made them fight for her attention. When she was bored, she'd watch them tear each other apart. And when the war came… she vanished. Left them to die in the ashes she created."
Her tone softened, almost mournful. "I could've stopped it all. Could've fixed everything if that leech—" she glared at Raze "—hadn't interfered."
Raze finally lifted his gaze, crimson eyes glowing like molten rubies. "You overestimate yourself."
Nia didn't flinch. "You underestimate what love and hate can do."
The tension thickened — magic humming faintly through the dungeon air.
Then, soft footsteps echoed down the stairs.
Aerith Lorne entered first, her silvery-blue robes whispering over the floor, followed by Headmaster Vale, his presence heavy and unyielding.
"You can't do anything," Aerith's melodic voice sliced through the silence, "even if you wanted to."
Both Raze and Jalen stood, bowing slightly in respect.
Nia's sneer widened. "Can't I? With Lucien remembering fragments of his past and this—" she held up a vial glowing faintly violet "—I can bring everything back. I can fix what should've never been broken."
Aerith's gaze deepened, unreadable. Then she smiled — a faint, dangerous curve of lips.
"Alright then," she said softly. "Raze, let her go."
Everyone froze.
Raze's eyes flashed in shock. "What?"
"Let. Her. Go." Aerith repeated.
Confused but obedient, the vampire undid the binding runes. The chains dissolved into shimmering dust.
Nia stood, brushing invisible dirt from her dress, her eyes alight with victory.
"If I can't fix it before the second term begins," Aerith added, her tone calm but laced with quiet power, "you die. Consider it a fair wager."
Nia's smile was triumphant, almost gleeful. "You'll regret this." She cast a look of pure distaste at Raze as she swept out of the cell.
The silence that followed was sharp.
Raze exhaled slowly. "What are you doing, Aerith?"
"Ensuring the bond between Nerissa and the Alphas solidifies." Her eyes gleamed faintly with ethereal light. "And making sure history doesn't repeat itself."
Jalen crossed his arms. "You're playing a dangerous game. That girl—she's desperate enough to burn the academy down to get what she wants."
Aerith's smile didn't fade. "Then let her try."
Lucien sat alone in his private garden, the one his parents had donated to Mooncrest Academy—a sanctuary of silence and moonlight. The air was cool, carrying the scent of midnight roses and lilies, flowers that glowed faintly under the silvery light.
He sat on a marble bench, a book forgotten on his lap. His storm-silver eyes were distant, lost in memories.
Flashes came like lightning—
The clang of steel.
The roar of flames.
The sting of betrayal.
He remembered a woman's cruel smile—cold, familiar, and haunting. Her jet-black hair had caught the firelight as she turned her back on him, leaving him bleeding in the ashes of war. Nerissa.
And yet, as the darkness closed in, another face had appeared. A girl with golden hair, eyes soft as dawn. She'd wept as she pressed her hands to his wounds, whispering his name with trembling lips. "Live… please."
She'd saved him. And then she was gone, died in his arms trying to save him.
That was why he'd helped Nia. Somewhere deep inside, he thought she was the girl who had saved him from death,that golden hair was to familiar to ignore coupled with that gentle aura.
He had tried to hate Nerissa—to fight the pull of the bond—but no matter how much he distanced himself, that magnetic ache remained. Even now, after giving in to it, he didn't know what came next.
The soft sound of footsteps broke his thoughts.
He didn't look up immediately, but he knew that voice when it came.
"I didn't know you still loved flowers," Nia said softly, a teasing smile curving her lips as she walked into view.
Lucien didn't move, only glanced at her faintly before returning his gaze to the moonlit petals.
Nia walked closer, her tone light but eyes searching his face. "You used to spend hours tending to them. You said they were like souls—fragile, beautiful, easy to bruise."
He said nothing, though a faint shadow crossed his expression.
Nia sat beside him, folding her hands neatly in her lap. "You were always quiet like this, but passionate when you mean to." She smiled softly, teasing him. "But you had g9ne away from me, I remembered all your promises and held them tight that why even in the war, even after you left me, I still…" Her voice trembled, a tear breaking through. "I still cared for you. I still loved you, and i swore to look for you if i ever come back...and i did...we did"
Her words hung between them, thick with a pain that felt too real to fake. Her face was a mix of longing and sorrow, tears glinting against the moonlight as she smiled bitterly.
Lucien turned to her at last, his face unreadable, though his eyes—storm-silver and deep—held a flicker of something softer.
"You've suffered," he said quietly.
"And you've forgotten," she whispered.
Nia took out the vial then, her fingers trembling slightly. "But I can fix that. I can break the bond that ties you to her. You don't belong to Nerissa anymore, Lucien."
Her enchanting power, subtle and golden, began to ripple in the air around them. The garden seemed to hum with it, petals quivering under the weight of her magic.
Lucien's breath hitched as the pull of her aura wrapped around him. "Nia—"
"Trust me," she whispered, voice dripping with sweetness. "I love you. I would never hurt you."
The vial glimmered between them. And under her spell, Lucien—his emotions dulled, his walls thinned—took it and drank.
Nia's lips parted in relief and triumph. "Now," she said softly, stepping closer, "like a mate bond, it must be sealed—emotionally and physically."
Lucien stiffened. "No."
Her eyes shimmered with enchantment, voice low and melodic. "You can't fight it, my love. You never could."
His vision blurred, body weakening as her power coiled tighter. And in that moment of haze and weakness, he yielded—committing a sin that would only carve deeper scars in his soul.
Across the academy, Nerissa stirred violently in her sleep, pain shooting through her chest like a blade. Her eyes flew open, tears streaming down her face as she gasped for air.
Riven, alarmed, caught her as she clutched her heart. "Ris? What's wrong?"
Her breath came ragged. "It hurts… it hurts so much…"
Kael sat up beside them, green eyes flashing with worry as he reached out. "Easy, sweetheart. Breathe."
But she couldn't. The pain wasn't physical—it was something deeper, something bound to her soul.
Riven wrapped his arms around her tighter, trying to steady her trembling frame. "You're safe," he murmured, though his voice was laced with fear.
Nerissa's tears wouldn't stop. "Something's wrong," she whispered, her voice cracking.
Neither of them understood, but her heart did—somewhere, somehow, a bond had been violated. And though she didn't know how…
Lucien had broken something that could never truly heal.