Audrey’s POVThey found Marcus behind the library.Not dead, but close enough that the word kept ringing in my head anyway. Half the pack boys carried him out on a tarp because he couldn’t walk.His arms were scorched in lines I didn’t want to look at too long, silver burns crawling up his skin like someone had branded him with a hot wire.The smell stuck in my nose, it smelled like burnt flesh, wolf and metal, and I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t even stand still. My legs kept pacing in front of the nurse’s office while everyone argued.“They didn’t just provoke him,” Caleb was snarling, voice breaking with the kind of rage he couldn’t cage. “They tested him. They knew exactly what would happen when he lost control. They wanted to see if silver works inside the school walls.”“It does,” Derek shot back. His jaw clenched so tight I thought his teeth would crack. “Look at him. They’ve got a supply, and they’re not afraid to use it.”“Not just silver.” Adrian’s voice cut through like a kn
Audrey’s POVI knew something was wrong the moment Coach blew the whistle. It wasn’t just the echo bouncing off the gym walls, the way half the kids stiffened, and Caleb’s eyes darted toward the bleachers like he’d already clocked the danger before anyone else even picked up a basketball. That made me feel something is terribly wrong.The hunters were watching. Of course they were. They were always watching now. Perfectly, leaning back on the bleachers with fake grins and notebooks they didn’t write in. Nobody questioned why a bunch of transfer kids spent every period hanging around or why one of them “took an interest in sports programs” when he couldn’t dribble to save his life. Humans saw new faces. Wolves watched predators with patience.We were halfway through warmups when it snapped.Marcus Jr., built like a tank, barely keeping his wolf temper under wraps, was jogging the court when one of the hunter boys stepped too close. Not on accident. I saw it…. The guy stuck his leg out
Adrian’s POVIt started small like everything in Ravenfalls before it turned ugly. First the “transfer students.” Clean smiles, pressed shirts, polite handshakes. They acted like they’d studied how teenagers were supposed to talk but hadn’t actually lived through it. Nobody else noticed. Not one human kid blinked, because, why would they? To them, Ravenfalls High was just another boring school year. To us, it was a battlefield with desks.The wolves felt it immediately. I saw the way Caleb’s shoulders stiffened in the cafeteria, the way Derek’s jaw flexed during gym. Audrey? She noticed too. She was watching, even when she pretended not to.The school framed it like a “safety initiative.” Because of the rogue attacks, they said. Because of the “fire drill incident,” they said. Now we had a visiting “safety committee.” Right.They weren’t safety. They were hunters. I didn’t need proof. I could smell the tang of oil and steel mixed into their fake citrus deodorant. I could see it in
Audrey's POV They didn’t shut the school down after the fire drill. They should have. Someone literally said the word hunters in the hallway while alarms blared and kids screamed, and by the next morning it was like nothing had happened. New day, new lies.Except it wasn’t nothing. You could feel it the second you walked through the doors, this low buzz crawling under your skin, whispers skimming down the hall, teachers speaking too fast and pretending they weren’t watching us like hawks.Then the announcement came over the PA.“Students, please welcome our new transfer students joining us today, as well as the Ravenfalls Safety Committee, who will be on campus throughout the semester.”Safety committee. Right! My stomach dropped.The office door opened and they walked in as if the entire hallway was a runway, two boys and a girl, all in neat uniforms that somehow looked sharper than ours even though they were technically the same. Their hair, their posture, their smiles were too p
POV: Audrey“Sit down all of you” Harris said as we entered his office. Now tell me, Why are you, you and you, pointing at Caleb, Derek and Adrian causing so much trouble for this girl?They turned and stayed at each other without saying a word.“Sir she is our fated mate and we love her”. Derek said with such boldness and audacity.“Let me warn you guys, if you disturb her any further, consider being suspended. But for now,it's a note of warning “. The teacher warned.“Do you understand” he yelled at them. But non of them answered. You can go, but I would be watching.We left his office quietly. The siren started blaring in the middle of third period, that shrill metallic scream that made everyone groan and roll their eyes because….what now? Another drill? Or real fire? Nobody cared enough to actually panic. Half the class shoved books into their bags, the other half just shuffled out like zombies.I didn’t move fast enough, and Caleb was at my back the second we hit the hall, st
Audrey's POV The hallway was louder than usual the next morning, voices bouncing off lockers, sneakers squeaking against linoleum, someone laughing too hard about something that clearly wasn’t funny. I kept my head down, clutching my books to my chest like a shield, but it didn’t matter. I felt the stares. I felt the whispers trail after me like sticky cobwebs I couldn’t shake off. Ever since the lights blew out during dance practice, people had been spinning stories. Some said it was a freak accident. Some swore they saw sparks jump from me like I was some kind of human fuse box. Others whispered I was cursed, or worse….claimed. I didn’t realize anything was wrong until I opened my locker and a folded piece of paper fluttered out, hitting the floor. My stomach twisted before I even picked it up. Notes in Ravenfalls never meant good things. Choose or they’ll destroy each other. That was it, no signature, and no neat handwriting to trace back. Just sharp, rushed letters, l