Chapter 3

3

The North House, Celestial Moon Academy… 

“Alpha Silas,” Ethan, Silas’s beta, greeted him, his voice steady, though his eyes betrayed caution.

Silas didn’t reply—not immediately, anyway. He merely inclined his head, the faintest nod, his eyes still locked on the glowing screen of his laptop.

The pale blue light reflected off his sharp features, accentuating the cool detachment that always seemed to cling to him like a shadow.

The room was quiet except for the rhythmic tapping of his fingers against the keyboard. His private study was vast but cold; every line, every polished surface, was as precise as the man himself.

One would think that with a face like his—thick eyebrows, high cheekbones, and a chiseled jaw, a face almost too perfect, the kind that could make magazine editors weep with envy—Silas would be approachable. 

But no one dared to approach him without reason. Not unless they were tired of living.

He was beautiful, yes. But he was also terrifying.

And lately, his mood has been worse than usual.

“Alpha,” Ethan began carefully, “the schedules from the Academy—”

“Later,” Silas cut him off, voice smooth as steel. His fingers stilled over the keyboard, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“Something isn’t right.”

Ethan had served him long enough to recognize that tone. It was the tone Silas used when his plans, his perfectly laid-out plans, began to shift out of his control.

For the past four days, Silas’s irritation had simmered beneath his calm exterior. Everyone else’s ‘temporary’ chosen brides had arrived. 

Even his 2nd option, Yvonne Hunter, the temporary bride candidate he had chosen reluctantly after his plans failed, had arrived; however, “his Luna,” his “queen,” the only one for him, “his mate,” had still not arrived, even when all the other contenders and students had arrived, and it was beginning to worry him.

He had always prided himself on being the grandmaster, the master planner, always planning ahead, treating everyone as chess pieces on his grand chessboard, and making sure everything went according to plan. 

However, Olivia Quinn, his carefully chosen piece on the board, was four days late.

He’d handpicked her personally after what happened when he saw her for the first time in the Central Plains three months ago, plus months of quiet investigation. 

He had clearly felt their mate bond, but she didn't even glance at him.

She was a wolf-less girl, a probable reason that could explain why she didn't react to the bond. 

And if she was his mate, even though it was highly unlikely, making her earn a spot in the Luna trials was the way to find out. 

She would be underestimated and easy to place where he needed her. Even if he didn't want to believe it, he knew what he had felt. That shift in her power, even if it was just for a brief second.

He’d seen the hidden potential in her when others saw weakness. 

She was different… A storm waiting to be unleashed. His perfect storm for everything he had in mind for Celestial Moon Academy's Luna competition.

She was going to be his perfect Luna to rule the world by his side after this stupid competition came to an end.

“I came to report as soon as I found out,” Ethan said, breaking the tense silence.

“Miss Olivia Quinn, the bride candidate from the Central Plains, has arrived.”

Silas’s head snapped up, his dark eyes gleaming. “Where is she?”

Ethan almost stepped back at the sudden shift in his Alpha’s demeanor. That rare flicker of interest, a dangerous spark behind eyes usually dull with boredom, was unnerving to witness.

“She must be on her way to the dormitory for the Luna candidates after registration, but…” Ethan paused, as if hesitating. 

“Would you stop stalling and get to the point?” Silas growled impatiently. 

“I think you shouldn't go there since you've barely spared your temporary bride any attention since she arrived. We might also run into the Southern Alpha since she is registered under the Southern Alpha's faction as his temporary bride, and that might complicate things,” Ethan blabbered without realizing how Silas's expression was turning dark the more he spoke. 

He only stopped speaking when he felt how cold the temperature in the room had become.

For a heartbeat, the air in the room stilled.

Then Silas rose from his chair. The sleek laptop snapped shut with a soft click, but the sound carried the weight of a closing trap. 

If someone was interested in Olivia's presence in Celestial Moon Academy, it was none other than Silas. After all, it was because of his “meddling” that Olivia had even been selected in the first place. 

He’d maneuvered the council, nudged the decision-makers, and made sure the long-ignored Central Plains got a candidate slot this year.

It was supposed to be his perfect little secret. She was “his miracle,” something his other cardinal brothers would never experience.

There was something different about her, and the competition was the best way to find out. 

Helping her make it here was his way of keeping her close and watching her quietly from the shadows without question or competition. 

He needed her in Celestial Moon Academy so that he could understand why she didn't feel what he had felt when she brushed past him that day in the Central Plains.

But in his arrogance, Silas thought that none of the cardinal Alphas would be interested in ‘his queen’ because she was from the Central Plains, thereby leaving the choosing of the potential brides to chance. 

However, Nikolas, the Southern cardinal Alpha, chose her first, ruining his plans. 

From the beginning, Silas’s plan was simple: to choose Olivia as his temporary bride and then put his plans into action by keeping her close and finding out why he could feel their bond but she didn't. 

“Overconfidence,” Silas murmured under his breath, almost amused. “A rare mistake.”

‘He didn’t plan to repeat it. It wasn't too late; he was going to make sure Olivia recognized him sooner or later.’ 

She was supposed to be his—chosen, positioned, and drawn into his orbit until there was no escaping it. 

Nikolas’s interference changed nothing. If anything, it made the game more interesting. 

“You seem to be interested in Olivia Quinn,” Ethan observed. 

Silas’s lips curved into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “Interested is too small a word, Ethan.”

He turned, the long black coat draped over his shoulders swaying slightly as he moved. His presence filled the room, cold and controlled, brushing past Ethan as he made for the door. 

“I suppose I should offer my congratulations.”

Ethan’s brow furrowed. “Congratulations, Alpha?”

Silas’s eyes flicked toward him, sharp and unreadable. 

“To Nikolas, of course. For borrowing something that doesn’t belong to him.”

And then he was gone.