Chapter 1

Eden

Scrub harder, Eden. You missed a spot on my heel." Tinsley's voice was loud enough for the whole courtyard, and no one was going to stop her. Nobody ever stopped the Alpha's daughter.

I stayed on my hands and knees on the freezing tile. The sleeves of my oversized grey sweater soaking through my skin. Using the rough wool of my sleeve to wipe fresh mud off Tinsley's white designer boots.

Around us the dozens of elite students lined and stood by their tables of this Academy, their snickers and murmurs cutting through the morning air.

"She really is just a glorified maid," Gen whispered from Tinsley's side, her laughter sharp. "Look at her. The Alpha adopts her, and she can't be grateful, can she be any slower? also She smells like a wet dog."

A heavy, metallic scent presses down the back of my neck. It's Tinsley's Beta friends, all flaring their auras , trying to force my head into the dirt.

Inside my chest, something snapped. Let me tear them apart. Kia growled. Her voice was a low vibrating hum in my mind that made my gums ache. Let me paint this courtyard red.

Down, I commanded her, gripping the edge of the grey sweater, so tightly that my knuckles turned white. Stay small. Stay invisible. We just have to survive this school.

Ever since my eighteenth birthday last week, Kia wasn’t acting like the useless Omega wolf everyone thought she was. She was growing massive, furious, and hungry. If Tinsley found out my wolf had teeth, she would have her father lock me in a silver cage before the sun sets today.

"I'm waiting, sister," Tinsley sneered, kicking her foot slightly, knocking my hand off her shoes.

The courtyard suddenly went dead silent, and the snickers vanished. The court parted and students were instantly dropping their heads. The academy's three apex Alpha predators walked into the cafeteria.

Professor Jaxon Vance led the trio. He wore the black and gold of the disciplinary head, his dark hair pushed back. His jaw locked in a permanent, rigid line.

He didn't just walk, he commanded the space. His scent hit the courtyard a second later, crushing cedar and winter's frost.

Right behind him came Killian Cross, his uniform shirt, half buttoned, a smirk plastered across his face as he flipped a silver coin.

And beside him was Asher Sterling. The academy's tech genius, his clothes perfectly pressed, his eyes scanning the mud with visible disgust.

Tinsley's entire demeanor shifted, she dropped her foot, her unhinged sneer melting from her face into a sweet fragile pout. " Professor Vance," she purred, taking a step towards them. "Eden tripped and ruined my boots. I was just trying to help her up."

I stayed on the ground, glaring through the damp strands of hair falling over my face. Killian stopped right in front of me, tilting his paper cup, deliberately spilling a dark stream of hot coffee into the mud an inch from my hand.

"Missed a spot, charity case," Killian purred, his erratic, unpredictable energy rolling off him, making Kia snarl in my head but also fantasizing bringing him to heel, weird.

I didn’t flinch, I didn't look up.

I just ignored him, shifting my gaze to the left. Asher Sterling stood there, pulling a white handkerchief from his pocket to wipe a speck of dirt from his cuff, and I locked eyes with him.

The sharp jawline of his face hit me like a physical blow.

It was him, the older boy from the foster home, the one who used to make me oatmeal, when the heat went out. The one who looked me in the eyes and promised he would never leave me behind.

My chest throbbed with a raw, agonizing ache, the mud and suffering didn’t matter anymore, the crowd didn’t matter.

Caleb, I thought, my breath catching.

He looked right through me, his gaze swept over my mud - stained sweater and my cold blistered fingers, with disdain.

He didn’t see me, the little girl from the foster home, he saw trash, he folded his handkerchief, stepped over my fingers and walked past me.

The injustice burned hotter than the coffee Killian had spilled. "Stand up."

Professor Jaxon Vance's voice cuts through the courtyard like a blade. He stood directly over me, his dark bleeding into pitch black as he unleashed a wave of dominant Alpha energy.

The pressure was suffocating, nearby Betas dropped their heads gasping for air. Jaxon pointed to a leather gloved hand at Tinsley's heavy designer bags resting on the bench. "Pick up your sister's things and go to class. Now."

My composure cracked, the humiliation, the heartbreak and unfairness of this entire goddessforsaken school boiled over.

I stood up. I didn't bow.

"Right away, professor," I snapped, my voice dripping with bitter sarcasm. "Should I also breathe for her, or does she have a maid for that too?"

The crowd gasped.Tinsley went pale.

Jaxon's nostrils flared, the dominant pressure in the air doubled with a crushing weight meant to force me to the ground.

But inside me, Kia roared, slamming against the barriers of my mind, a strange explosive heat rushed through my veins.

My spine stayed perfectly straight, I stared directly back into Jaxon's eyes, refusing to submit.

Shock flashed through his face, gone as quickly as it came, his wolf reacted instantly, his chest heaving as he took a half - step towards me, his eyes scanning my face as if searching for something.

An hour later, the tension was still boiling in the advanced alchemy lab. "You think you're special?" Tinsley hissed, cornering me against the back counter, where the second class students belonged.

The rest of the class was busy setting up their vials, but Jaxon was at the front desk, his eyes dark and fixed in our row. "You embarrassed me in front of Jaxon. Let's get the script straight, peasant, you're nothing but a stray my father brought home."

"Then stop making the stray do your homework, Tinsley," I muttered to myself, turning my back on her to check my experiment. The liquid was boiling.

"Don't turn your back on me!" Tinsley shrieked, lunging forward, her hand shoving my shoulders with all the strength she could muster.

My balance broke, I tipped backwards, straight toward the boiling explosive liquid, if I fell into the acid it would cause burns on my skin.

Panic seized me, as I threw my hands out to catch the edge, slamming down on Kia's powers with everything I had trying to keep her hidden, but a tiny spark of her untamed energy leaked through my palms.

The vial ratted, but it didn't splash or explode, it broke but turned into a thick white, cloud . The sweet, clean scent of mint, erasing every trace of chemical.

I locked it down immediately, Omegas couldn't manipulate high - tier elements. Only a strong lineage Omegas could purify a toxin by touch.

The entire lab went silent.

Tinsley stumbled back, her eyes wide with confusion. "What did you do?" Footsteps clicked heavily against the tile.

Jaxon stepped through the white mist, he looked at the glowing white crystals lining the rim of the vial, locking his green irises onto my face.

He didn't know what I was yet, but he could smell a lie. He leaned down, his breath brushing my ear, his voice a low, terrifying growl that made my blood run cold.

"My office. Now, Eden. And don't bring your sister."