LOGINBlondie's gaze is like a panthress. The corner of her lips curves into a sneer, and for a moment, I almost falter.
Almost.
Lola is still bent on the floor, swiping over Brunette's shoes with a bland expression.
Hierarchy.
The word echoes in my ear, and I straighten my bac
He’s amongst the rest of the five yet blends out in a way I can’t describe, and he’s been watching before I found him.For a hot minute, he doesn’t look away until one of the five gives a slight pat to his shoulders, only then does Nathan walk alongside them as they trail towards the back of the hall.Towards the empty row of seats I’d been sent out of. I watch them settle on the seats without the high principal saying a word, and the minute the last of them sits, the entire hall follows.I settle, but my chest wouldn’t.It’s beating fast. Too fast for me to keep up.The five I had seen earlier weren’t just popular celebrities; they’re the thread that holds the school toge
Blondie's gaze is like a panthress. The corner of her lips curves into a sneer, and for a moment, I almost falter.Almost.Lola is still bent on the floor, swiping over Brunette's shoes with a bland expression.Hierarchy.The word echoes in my ear, and I straighten my back. As far as I'm concerned, I'm a noble just like they are, and they can't do anything to me."Renna Mortimer.""Doesn't ring a bell." Blondie smacks her lips. "You've got such huge balls to even speak to Nathan, not to mention yelling at him."Nathan.The reason they'd go out of their way to humiliate a w
I surface, coughing with the piercing eyes surrounding me, cameras pointed. Laughter. Their gazes. Their mockery. Like I had to endure in Winterhowl, but worse.And Ballard, his eyes slice away from mine. Remorseless.He walks away without looking back. I'm in the cold fountain, humiliated on the first day of a new elite school, but I can't bring myself to blame him. It's my fault for believing there's ever a good in people like these.Heaving in the cold air, I drag my soaked body towards the edge of the fountain, struggling to climb through the slippery algae habitat of a wall.The fabric is clinging to my skin, exposing my insecurities of a body. And suddenly, I'm no longer a pretend wolf in the Wolfspire Empire but the timid heir in Winterhowl, being mocked and laughed at.I can see their piercing gazes, assessing. Closing in on me like a fox to a rabbit."Is he?" Mute hushes ring from around me. I lift my head to see the boy from earlier, but this time he's not only staring at me
I can't do this.I swallow—or rather attempt to swallow the heavy feeling tightening around my throat like a barbwire.But it was of no use.My nails find the tips of my fingers, picking. Until splints of skin rip. Until my fingers stain red.But this time I don't stop. I can't.Quill Ascendancy.The car drives through the massive gates lined with symmetrical trees on both sides of the road. Through the window, I can see them.Young wolves.All dressed in the same uniform I am wearing. Big smiles on their faces.Friends reunite. Lovers make out. And the others…they stare, as if they can see through the tinted windows and straight into my soul.As if they can see what I truly am.A tainted blood. An abomination.I exhale, knees dancing against the car floor."Stop the car!"My breath hitches with my head snapping to the side.He's been here the whole time. But I barely noticed through the shuddering of my nerves and the thundering of my heart in my ears.Ballard.The twin brother."But
"No!" Air rips from my lungs, body trembling as my eyes fly wide open.My head won't stop throbbing. The ringing in my ears only makes my hazy vision worse.“Finally.”I gasp, turning toward the direction of the groaning voice, but all I can see are silhouettes of two people—one sitting, the other standing.“Two weeks…” the voice rasps. “...later.”I wince, moaning in pain."What's going on?"Silence.My head throbs harder as the hazy vision slowly settles into a perfect image of people I've never seen in my life.Two pairs of brown eyes observe me with stoic expressions, radiating auras I've never witnessed.Wolves? Yes.But more.Then…I gasp, throwing my head away from their gaze like a girl gone mad as the realization settles on me.My eyes!My eyes!!Oh goddess, my fucking blue eyes!!!"Is she stable?"A mirror.I need a mirror.I scramble across the room, head bent to the ground in search of the one thing that will determine the fate of my life.Whether I get to live or die.If
"My precious!" I can hear my father calling after me, but I don't wait.I don't want to.I rip my butterfly mask off.This is all his fault. If only he had just provided the birthday gift I asked for then all would've been well. I never asked for this."Moonbeam!""Don't call me that!" The words tear from within me as I come to a pause in the foyer, chest rising and falling like a rabid dog. "This is all your fault!"He exhales."They all think of me as some insignificant matter that can never be their alpha and we both know they're right so why did you have to force me into this?" A single tear slips from my cheeks, then the rest follow before I can stop it. "I'm not even meant to be here.""I'm an abomination." My voice lowers. "Not even a wolf or your real daughter.""You are my daughter!" His voice is stern, almost like a caution."But not a wolf, and I'll never be.""You have your mother's blood in you, she was a great wolf.""A stupid one who laid with a human." I whisper."Moon







