BLOOD MOON ACADEMY

Arwens povThe pack house smells like wet dog and expensive cologne, which is basically what happens when you mix supernatural creatures trying to look civilized with a bunch of visiting alphas who've driven for hours to inspect potential mates. I can feel the testosterone in the air before I even walk through the door.Margaret squeezes my hand as we step inside, which means she's nervous about something. Margaret doesn't get nervous. She handles pack drama with the same calm she uses to make breakfast, so whatever's about to happen today must be significant enough to rattle her."Stay close," she whispers.The gathering room is packed. I recognize most of the faces from our territory, but there are about twenty people I've never seen before. The visiting alphas stand in a loose group near the fireplace, watching everyone with the kind of intensity that makes me want to disappear. They're evaluating. That's what these things are really about, even though everyone pretends it's just a

DRAVEN'S POVThe courtyard smells like rain and old stone, the way it always does this time of year. I'm supposed to be helping Headmistress Thorne with new student logistics, which is basically code for standing around looking intimidating while lesser alphas pretend they're not terrified of me. It's not my favorite way to spend an afternoon."You could try smiling," Marcus says, leaning against the stone wall next to me. "Just once. Show the new kids that alphas have feelings too.""Alphas have one feeling. Dominance."Marcus laughs like I'm joking. I'm not joking. I've spent the last seven years making sure everyone at Blood Moon Academy understands exactly what I am and exactly what happens if they challenge me. Smiling would undermine all of that work.The gates swing open and the first batch of arrivals start filtering through. New students are always the same type. Nervous humans with one supernatural parent, looking for answers. Vampires who move like they're calculating the d

Draven's POVI don't sleep.This isn't new. I stopped sleeping through the night seven years ago and at this point insomnia is just part of the routine. I train from midnight to two. I review pack correspondence until four. I sit at my desk and stare at nothing and try very hard not to think about my mother's face on another girl's body.Tonight is different.Tonight my wolf won't stop pacing."You need to stop," I tell her, not out loud because I'm not completely unhinged, but in that interior space where the two parts of me have been negotiating power since I was twelve years old. "She's not ours. She's a threat and we're going to treat her accordingly."My wolf does not care about any of this.Marcus is leaning against the wall of my room when I emerge from the shower at five in the morning. He has coffee and the expression of someone who didn't sleep either, for different reasons."Tell me I'm wrong," I say."About which part?" He hands me a coffee. "The part where she's a Blackth