Welcome to Lunaris

AMELIA ‘Declan’ SILVER

                He’s the one!

If there was ever a moment my lungs forgot how to work, it was that second… sitting in Damien’s car, realizing I wasn’t staring at some random student but at him. Lennox Hale…

The same Lennox I almost got forced to marry. The same Lennox whose father had laughed while talking about “taming” his future Luna… me.

And here he was, feet away, breathing the same air, completely unaware that the “strange boy” sitting beside him was the girl he had nearly claimed like property.

I felt my pulse drum loudly in my throat. For a second, I wondered if wolves could hear heartbeats the way vampires were rumored to. If he could, then I was done for, because mine sounded like thunder trapped inside a metal drum.

He looked at me briefly again, eyes sharp and unreadable. His scent… cedar and storm… hit me harder this time. I forced my face to stay neutral. Declan, not Amelia. A boy, not a girl. Calm. Breathe.

Damien cleared his throat and grinned. “So, uh, Declan, you good?”

“I don't look like I am?,” I asked.

“You look like you just saw the Alpha King naked,” he teased.

I blinked rapidly. “I’m fine. Just… a long trip.” I forced my voice deeper, rougher.

Lennox raised a brow. “Is that so? You looked like you recognized me for a second.”

“No. Not at all,” I lied so fast even I almost believed myself.

He didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t push. Instead, he turned his eyes to the road once again. The silence stretched awkwardly for a moment until Damien… bless his dramatic soul… gasped out loud like he had discovered gold.

“You know what?” he said, snapping his fingers. “Maybe he really did see the Alpha King naked. I mean, I would probably panic too. That’s like… sacred.”

Lennox didn’t even blink. “You’re an idiot, Damien.”

“And yet you keep me around,” Damien replied cheerfully.

The corner of Lennox’s lips twitched… barely… but the amusement was there.

Damien leaned his head back toward me. “So, new guy. How did you find out about Lunaris Academy? Internet? Rumor? Some weird prophecy in a dream?”

I swallowed. “My cousin talked about it. Said it trains the strongest wolves. Future leaders. I… thought it would be good to learn here.”

“‘Good’?” Damien repeated. “Boy, you’re aiming low. People bleed, cry, break, and crawl through this place hoping to survive. But hey, good is a start.”

Lennox spoke again, voice calm but firm. “Why Lunaris though? There are other academies for heirs.”

I shrugged casually… at least I hoped it looked casual. “I want to be strong enough to protect my people. That’s all.”

“Simple,” Damien nodded, as if I had said the secret to life.

But Lennox kept watching me. It wasn’t suspicion, yet, but interest. His eyes kept flicking over my posture, the way I held my shoulders, even my jaw like he was mentally dissecting me. Did he see through the disguise? No. He couldn’t. Declan and I practiced for days. Posture, voice, walking, breathing patterns… everything. Still, being stared at by him felt like being inspected by a predator deciding whether to hunt or tolerate.

“So Declan,” he said slowly, “which pack?”

IronCl…

No.

I nearly said it.

“Stone Ridge,” I answered smoothly. “Northern border.”

His brows lifted a bit. “Stone Ridge? Lone Alpha, right?”

I nodded firmly. “Yes.”

“Interesting. Never pegged him as someone who’d send an heir here. Heard he keeps his wolves close.”

“Maybe he likes surprises.”

Damien choked on laughter. “Oh he will love you. You talk like you swallowed sarcasm for breakfast.”

Lennox didn’t laugh, but his eyes lightened slightly like he was trying not to show amusement. “You’re bold.”

“Thank you.”

“That wasn’t a compliment,” he replied flatly.

“I still accept it,” I answered.

Damien slapped his thigh. “Oh Moon, this one’s either suicidal or blessed by the spirits.”

Lennox’s gaze sharpened. “You’ll learn soon enough that Lunaris Academy isn’t a playground. There are rules.”

Damien whispered loudly, “Rules Lennox breaks for fun, by the way.”

Lennox ignored him. “There are unbreakable ones. For your own survival, don’t test them.”

I leaned back and forced a calm breath. “Like what?”

He held up one finger.

“One—never shift outside designated grounds. They monitor scent trails and energy signatures. You shift unauthorized, you get punished.”

Damien leaned toward me and stage whispered, “He shifted in the hallway once.”

Lennox shot him a side-eye. “That rumor is exaggerated.”

“You broke two lockers and a fire exit.”

Lennox gave him a look that said stop talking, but Damien only grinned proudly.

I raised a brow. “Why did you do that?”

Lennox shrugged. “Someone provoked me.”

Damien nodded like this was poetic.

“Yeah. He said Lennox can't keep a mate.”

My heartbeat stopped. My throat tightened. So this was how he handled humiliation. Violence.

Hearing it… stung.

I forced my face still. “People say stupid things.”

“Some deserve consequences,” Lennox replied, voice cold.

Did I deserve consequences too? Was that what he believed? The thought churned my stomach.

Lennox held up a second finger. “Two… never challenge or disrespect a ranked wolf unless you’re prepared to bleed. Badly.”

Damien pointed helpfully at Lennox. “He challenged four in his first week.”

Lennox didn’t deny it. “They were weak. The academy filters out the unworthy. This place is not for weaklings.”

His arrogance rolled off him like heat. Normally I hated arrogance, but something about the way he wore it… quiet, assured, practiced… made it feel like he earned it.

He lifted a third finger. “Three… no romantic involvement inside the academy walls.”

Damien gasped. “Oh no. You did not just say that rule like you don’t break it.”

Lennox glared. “I don’t.”

Damien blinked slowly. “Lennox, you literally got betrothed while enrolled here.”

“That was arranged…and I didn't like her”

“Yes,” Damien clapped, “but you still *kissed her behind the training ground twice a week…”

“Damien,” Lennox snapped.

Damien froze. “Sorry. Did I say twice? Totally once. Maybe.”

Lennox’s jaw tensed. I stared out the window instead of at him. It hurt to hear about it. Even if it was fake. Even if he didn’t know it was me.

He exhaled slowly. “Never mention her again.”

Damien's smile faded. “Lennox…”

“Drop it.”

The tension wrapped around my chest like iron. Lennox turned to me. “Point is, no romance. It distracts. It weakens.”

He didn’t know he was speaking to the girl who escaped marrying him. Fate had a cruel sense of humor.

“Good to know,” I murmured.

Another silence stretched until Damien broke it again. “Okay, next question. Declan, what are your expectations for this place? Like… are you hoping to graduate alive or are you aiming higher, like not dying in the first week?”

“I plan to survive,” I muttered. “And learn.”

“Boring,” he groaned.

Timid Declan. Quiet Declan. That was the plan. No attention. No trouble. No history.

But Lennox tilted his head again, studying me. “You don’t talk like someone who plans to be invisible.”

“I never said I planned to be invisible.”

“Yet you look like you’re trying to disappear into the seat.”

I shifted. “I like observing.”

“You like hiding,” he corrected. “There’s a difference.”

A shiver ran through me. Not fear… annoyance. Or something else. Something that felt like being seen.

“I don't hide,” I said quietly.

“Oh?” he asked, voice low, unreadable. “We’ll see.”

Damien clapped suddenly. “Anyway! Survival tips. Number one: don’t get in fights unless you can win. Number two… don’t eat the eggs on Wednesdays. They smell like sadness.”

I blinked at him. “Sadness?”

“You’ll see.”

Lennox sighed like babysitting Damien was his life’s punishment. “Ignore him.”

Damien gasped. “Rude.”

Then he turned back to me. “Just remember, if you ever feel like crying, I have tissues. Lavender scented. I protect emotional dignity.”

I smiled despite myself. “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Lennox’s voice cut in again, controlled and steady. “You said you want to protect your people. Then learn fast. Lunaris isn’t forgiving. The weak get crushed. And no one here cares who you are outside those gates.”

I nodded. “Fine by me.”

He held my gaze for a moment longer than necessary. Studying me again. Why did it feel like my skin burned under his attention?

The car slowed.

“We’re here,” Damien announced. “Home of pain, glory, and terrible cafeteria bread.”

Damien parked. I grabbed my bag and opened the door.

“Declan,” Lennox called quietly.

I paused and looked back.

He didn’t smile. Didn’t soften. But his voice carried something… warning? Challenge? I couldn’t tell.

“Whatever you’re hiding… don’t let it break you here.”

My heart jumped. “I’m not hiding anything.”

He leaned back lazily, eyes burning with a knowing edge. “Everyone here is hiding something.”

I swallowed.

“Welcome to Lunaris,” he said simply.

I stepped out, the door closing behind me. The building rose in front of me like judgement. My disguise felt suddenly heavy. My fate felt too close.

I squared my shoulders.

Declan was here now. Amelia had to disappear.