Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1 

Raina's Standpoint.

The suitcase hit the floor of my new dorm room with a thud that seemed to echo through my entire body. Staring at the small, messy room, it felt just like me. 

It had been three months since everything I knew about my life crumbled to dust. 

The blood moon still haunted my dreams. Most wolves celebrated their first shift, but mine brought nothing but death and lies. My dad's funeral was still fresh in my mind, his body attacked by Lunar Fever. It was two weeks ago when I received a letter:

Your mother, Elena Hogan, recently passed away. As her only living heir, you have inherited everything she owned.

Suitors, they called themselves. Wolves who had heard about my father's death and saw an opportunity in my grief. Men twice my age with scarred knuckles and hungry, lustful eyes, promising to take good care of me if I'd be their good little breeder. Remembering it made my fingers curl into a fist.

Standing in my dorm, my fingers traced the acceptance letter into Elmira University. It should have been a dream come true, instead, it felt like running away.

But there was not enough time to dwell on my thoughts, I was getting late for my first class.

Throwing my backpack against my shoulder, my sneakers squeaked against the floor as I rushed out of the room and down the hallway, clutching my classes schedule tightly. 

The Gothic Literature classroom had to be around here somewhere.

My heart pounded against my ribs. It was my first day, first class, and I was already fifteen minutes late.

The thrift backpack bounced against my hop as I speed-walked past students who looked like they had just stepped out of magazine covers, with their designer clothes, perfectly styled hair and confident smiles. 

I turned the corner too fast and slammed straight into a wall of muscle. Strong hands gripped my arm, steadying me before I could hit the floor. His scent filled my nose, despite the weird encounter and my wolf, who had been silent since three months ago, shifted and suddenly purred with interest.

“Whoa there.”

I looked up into the most beautiful face I had ever seen. His golden hair bathed in the sunlight seeping through the opened windows in the hallway, and green eyes that seemed to see straight through me.

“I'm so sorry,” I stammered, trying to step back, but his hands tightened on my arms, hauling me closer. “I'm late for class, and I wasn't watching where I…”

“Shh.” His voice sounded like warm honey, making my skin tingle. “No harm done.” He grinned.

His green eyes darkened, and I felt my cheeks burn under his stare.

“You smell… wonderful, by the way.” 

My heart skipped a beat. I noticed the look on his face. The “wonderful” was just a cover-up.

“I should really get to class.” I briskly said, but he wasn't listening. His gaze had shifted to something behind me and his jaw clenched. “Perfect timing.”

Before I could ask what he meant, his hands slid up to cue my face. My wolf purred in excitement, leaving me confused, but only for a moment.

“Sorry about this, beautiful.” He whispered.

Then his lips crashed against mine.

Shocked and confused, fire shot through my veins. It was my first kiss, stolen by a stranger, but it was stealing my breath, my thoughts, and my ability to think straight. 

But just as suddenly as it started, it ended. He pulled back, leaving me dizzy and gasping.

“Thanks for the help,” he said with a cocky grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. “She needed to see that.”

Swiftly, I turned to see a blonde girl standing a few feet away from us, her face twisted with hurt and rage. She had the kind of polished beauty that screamed money and privilege. The kind of girl who probably knew exactly who she was and where she belonged.

Unlike me.

“You used me!” I snapped in a voice barely above a whisper as I turned to him. I would rather not make things worse than it already was by attracting more attention to me.

He had the grace to look ashamed. “Look, I'm sorry. Cassandra has been driving me crazy all week. I just needed to get her to back off and, you were…" He paused and gestured vaguely at me. “Available.”

“Right. Well, mission accomplished.” I stepped back, wrapping my arms around myself. “I need to get to class.”

“Wait…” He called out, but I was already walking away, my face buried with embarrassment.

The Gothic Literature classroom was mercifully easy to find after that. I slipped through the door just as a deep voice was saying something about forbidden desires. Several students turned to look at me, and I wanted to disappear into the floor. 

“How kind of you to join us, miss.” The voice came from a man who looked like he had stepped out of a gothic novel himself. He was probably in his thirties, and his storm-gray eyes seemed to see the embarrassment on my face. 

“I'm sorry, Professor…” I quickly glanced at my schedule and my eyes darted back to him. “Professor Vane. I got lost.”

His eyes narrowed slightly as they fixed on me. “And you are?”

“Raina Hogan. I'm transferring in.” My lips were cornered with a fake smile.

Something flashed across his face, but it was too brief for me to name. 

“Miss Hogan.” The way he said my name as though he knew me made me shudder. “Take a seat.”

I found an empty chair in the back room, hyper aware of his eyes following me. When I finally settled in and looked up, he was staring at me with an expression I couldn't read. 

“As I was saying,” Professor Vane continued, “Gothic literature explores the forbidden, what the world as we know it now calls abnormal, the desires we tell ourselves we shouldn't have. The attractions that defy logic and morality.”

Each time his eyes flicked back to me, my cheeks burned.

The class dragged on forever. Professor Vane was brilliant, there was no denying that, but he was also intimidating as hell. Every time he called on a student, I noticed how they shivered. When he finally dismissed us, I gathered my things quickly and headed for the exit.

“Miss Hogan.”

I froze at the door, as if being controlled. The classroom had emptied, leaving us alone, when I turned to him. Professor Vane stood behind his desk, his hands clasped behind his back.

“A word, if you please.”

I approached his desk on unsteady legs. Up close, I could see the fine lines around his eyes and the way his jaw tightened slightly. 

“I trust punctuality won't be an issue going forward.”

“No, sir. It won't happen again.”

“See that it doesn't.” He stared at me with an uncomfortable gaze. “Hogan… just the same as what I'm expecting.”

My brows twitched confused, but the longer I stayed with him, the harder it felt to resist how good words danced in his lips.

“Thanks, I suppose. It was my dad's name.”

“And your mom?”

The question caught me off guard and I swallowed hard despite my dry throat. “She… she died when I was young.”

“I'm sorry for your loss.” He said, but his voice was strangely distant. “What was her maiden name?”

“I… why do you care?”

Professor Vane stepped closer, and my breath hitched. He was tall enough that I had to tilt my head back to meet his eyes.

“You remind me of someone,” he said softly. “Someone I used to know and perhaps someone I'm expecting.”

Before I could ask who, he stepped back, the professional mask sliding into place.

“Don't be late again, Miss Hogan.”

I nodded and practically fled the room with my heart racing. First, it was the mysterious boy who kissed me like his life depended on it, making my wolf restless ever since. Now, it was a professor who looked at me like I was something in between a line he couldn't have, even when his eyes said it all and my body yearned for him.

My phone buzzed as I walked across campus. It was a text from an unknown number.

Let's meet at the estate at 4 PM today. The location is pinned to this message. It's time you saw what Elena left you.

Elena? 

It sounded weird coming from her lawyer, as though they were close.

I had no idea I was about to discover that my past and present were more connected than I could ever imagine.