SEREN POV
The nightmare in the kitchen was nothing compared to my first day at Lunar Peak Academy.
I'm standing in the hallway, and everyone is staring at me.
"That's her," someone whispers. "The wolfless freak living with the Voss brothers."
"I heard her mom's a gold-digger who trapped the Alpha Supreme."
"Can you imagine being that pathetic? No wolf at nineteen?"
I keep my head down and walk faster. Just get to class. Survive the day. Go home.
Except home isn't home anymore. It's a mansion full of people who hate me.
My first three classes are torture. Teachers make me introduce myself. "This is Seren Thorne, joining us from... oh." They look at my file and their faces change. Pity. Disgust. "She's wolfless, so please be... understanding."
Like I'm broken. Like I'm less than everyone else.
By lunch, I'm ready to hide in the bathroom and never come out.
But Vesper finds me first.
"Seren!" My best friend from my old school runs up and hugs me. "I've been looking for you everywhere! I can't believe you go here now!"
I hug her back, almost crying. "Vesper, it's so good to see you."
"Come on, let's get lunch." She links her arm through mine. "Ignore these snobs. They're just jealous."
"Jealous of what? I have nothing."
"You have the Voss brothers' attention," she says with a grin. "Everyone's talking about how you're living with the five hottest Alphas in the territory."
My stomach drops. "They hate me, Vesper."
"Well, everyone ELSE is obsessed with them. Especially Elowen Creste." Vesper points across the cafeteria. "See that blonde girl? She's been engaged to Daxion since they were kids. Or she thought she was. Apparently, he broke it off last month."
I look where she's pointing. A gorgeous blonde girl is sitting with a group of equally pretty girls, all of them staring at me with murder in their eyes.
"Maybe we should eat outside," I suggest.
Too late.
Elowen stands up and walks toward us. Her friends follow like a pack of wolves circling prey.
"So you're the charity case," Elowen says, looking me up and down. "Seren Thorne. The wolfless freak."
I try to walk past her. "Excuse me."
She blocks my path. "I don't think so. We need to have a conversation."
"I don't want any trouble."
"Too bad." She steps closer. "You don't belong here. Daxion was MINE before your slut mother seduced his father and—"
"Stop." The word comes out stronger than I expected. "My mother's choices aren't mine. I don't want anything from Daxion or any of your precious Voss brothers. Just leave me alone."
The cafeteria goes quiet. Everyone's watching now.
Elowen's face turns red. "You dare interrupt me? You're NOTHING. A defect. A mistake of nature."
"Maybe," I say quietly. "But at least I don't have to put other people down to feel important."
Her hand moves so fast I don't see it coming.
SLAP.
The sound echoes through the silent cafeteria. My cheek explodes with pain. My head snaps to the side.
I stand there, tasting blood in my mouth, and I don't fight back.
What's the point? This always happens. People hurt me, and I take it, because fighting back only makes it worse.
"Know your place, wolfless," Elowen hisses.
I turn to leave, tears burning my eyes.
Then I hear it.
A growl so deep and powerful it shakes the windows.
Every wolf in the cafeteria drops their head in submission. The lights flicker. The air turns electric with Alpha power.
I look up.
Daxion is standing across the cafeteria with his four brothers. All five of them are staring at Elowen with expressions that promise death.
"What. Did. You. Do." Daxion's voice is quiet. Deadly.
Elowen's face goes white. "I... Daxion, I was just—"
"You hit her." Korrin takes a step forward. His amber eyes are glowing. "You HIT our—"
He stops. Doesn't finish the sentence.
But everyone heard what he almost said.
OUR.
Thayer's charming smile is gone, replaced by something dangerous. "Big mistake, Elowen."
Jove's calm mask has cracked. He looks furious.
And Lysander—beautiful, broken Lysander—is shaking with rage.
"She deserved it!" Elowen shouts. "She's nobody! She's—"
"OURS TO PROTECT." Daxion's Alpha command slams into everyone like a physical force. Wolves drop to their knees. "No one touches what belongs to us."
I can't breathe. They're defending me? The same brothers who told me I wasn't family?
Elowen is trembling now. "But... but I thought you hated her. You said she was an intruder!"
"We changed our minds," Daxion says coldly. "And you just made an enemy of the Voss family. All of us."
He starts walking toward us. His brothers follow.
I panic.
I can't deal with this. Can't handle the confusion, the fear, the hope that's rising in my chest.
So I run.
I push past Vesper, past the staring students, out of the cafeteria and into the hallway. My vision is blurry with tears. My cheek is throbbing.
I run to the nearest bathroom and lock myself in a stall.
And I cry.
Why are they protecting me? They hate me. They told me to stay away. This doesn't make sense.
Unless...
Unless something changed. Something happened that I don't understand.
My hands start tingling again. That silver light is back, dancing across my fingers like electricity.
"What ARE you?" I whisper to myself.
The bathroom door slams open.
"Seren!" It's Vesper. "Girl, you need to get out here. The Voss brothers are tearing the cafeteria apart looking for you!"
My heart stops. "What?"
"Daxion's using his Alpha command on everyone, demanding to know where you went. Korrin punched a hole in the wall. Thayer's threatening to ruin Elowen's family. It's CHAOS."
I stand up on shaking legs. "They're really looking for me?"
"YES. And Seren..." Vesper's voice gets quiet. "The way they were looking at you. The way they defended you. That wasn't brotherly protection."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean they were looking at you like you're their MATE."
The word hits me like lightning.
Mate.
But that's impossible. I don't have a wolf. I can't be anyone's mate.
Can I?
The silver light on my hands gets brighter. So bright I have to hide them behind my back.
"Vesper, I need to go home. Can you cover for me?"
"Sure, but—"
I'm already running. Out the back door, across the parking lot, away from the school and the brothers and the confusion.
I run until my lungs burn and my legs give out.
Then I collapse on the sidewalk and stare at my glowing hands.
Something inside me is waking up. Something powerful and ancient and REAL.
And when it finally breaks free...
Everything is going to change.
My phone buzzes. A text from an unknown number:
"You can run, little wolf. But we will always find you. You're ours now. Whether you accept it or not."
Then another text, this time from a different number:
"We know what you are, Seren. And we're never letting you go."
My hands explode with silver light so bright I have to close my eyes.
And deep inside my chest, something howls.