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I bit down on my lip, flustered as heat rose to my face.

But no one said anything.

I held my breath until the moment passed.

Their eyes drifted away, and they resumed their conversations.

Footsteps carried on and flirtatious laughter hummed at the edges.

It was like I hadn't spoken at all.

But I didn’t care. Not really.

Because I got in.

I felt so pleased and excited to experience this new life that my heart wouldn't stop fluttering in my chest.

“I… I got into Blackcroft, Desmond,” I whispered under my breath. “This… half-fae bitch… got in. And you didn’t.”

I let out a sly, almost hateful laugh but the satisfaction was short-lived.

Guilt crept in, intense and unwelcome.

Did I really deserve this chance more than him?

I quickly shook my head to shed off the disturbing shame.

I belonged here.

“I am worthy of this rare opportunity and more,” I affirmed to myself, but a deep voice beside me said:

“Yes, you are worthy of everything, my lady.”

I turned to see a boy- man- no-demon.

His features had me salivating. He has short black hair, two elegant black horns that curved regally from his head, and the most mesmerizing dark-red eyes I have ever seen. Unlike the Demons I’d read about, there was no demonic aura surrounding him.

“You don’t really look like her,” he frowned, eyes narrowing slightly as his gaze swept over me.

Her?

The single word echoed in my head.

My stomach clenched.

“Who is her?” I wanted to ask. But there was something in his face. A flicker of hesitation, like he'd said too much already. His frown deepened for half a second, then smoothed back into a lazy, dangerous grin.

“Blackcroft has already chosen you. The rest? That just depends… survival.”

I couldn't tear my eyes away from him as he spoke. His eyes, his face, his mouth, and the way he was looking at me all curious and confident, like he could already see himself peeling off my uniform.

A shiver slid down my spine, and I hated how easily my mind filled in the blanks, how easily I imagined him doing exactly that.

“You're—”

“Dominic,” he finished for me, offering a hand tipped with faint black claws. “I am one of the school’s five most powerful Alphas. You’ve met Corin. He escorted you here.”

Corin? So that was the fallen angel’s name?

What a beautiful name for a beautiful angel.

“I’m Juno,” I introduced myself, but his smirk only widened. A wave of embarrassment hit me a second later. Obviously, he already knew who I was.

“Do you even know who you truly are?” Dominic asked.

I stared at him, confused as my thoughts scrambled to catch up. I blinked, trying to process what he meant by his question.

“Do you think I'm not Juno?” I asked, the words leaving my lips with hesitant uncertainty.

He chuckled after my childish curiosity clapback, and his laughter turned into that lazy, dangerous grin.

“You are Juno… and you aren’t,” he finally said. “Juno Sterling is the name you've known, the life you've lived. But you are someone far greater than any of these dusties. You are my lady.”

A chill ran down my spine. “What are you even talking about?”

Dominic stepped closer and leaned until his mouth was brushing my right ear. His woodsy, spicy smell nearly drowned me as he spoke.

“You receive a Calling to join Blackcroft because of who you truly are, Juno. Come with me if you wish to find out how powerful you are.”

I hesitated, my heart thudding hard against my chest. His words unsettled me greatly.

Was there really more to me than I knew? Was I more than a curse? A half-fae bitch? A useless half blood?

I felt compelled to know, but doubt and fear twisted my tongue.

“All newly Called, report to the Dark Hall.” A deep and commanding voice echoed through the building like a sudden gust of wind.

I froze. My eyes scanned the room, searching for the source, but there was no one—nothing.

The voice was hauntingly familiar, and it seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

I couldn’t begin to imagine the kind of power it would take to sound like that. And what unsettled me even more was how I recognized it. I knew who it belonged to without knowing why.

I turned toward Dominic, ready to ask him who the voice was but as I turned to him, he suddenly struck me, and everything went black.

***

“Why is she not waking up?”

“Because you used your force on her.”

“I only used two percent of my force. Damn it. I didn't know that she's this weak.”

“She’s not weak. You know who she is.”

“What if she's not her?”

I discerned Corin and Dominic's argument the moment I regained consciousness.

“She’s definitely her.”

I was startled when I heard that deep commanding voice that had spoken to the newly called students reverberate in the air.

It took everything in me not to crack my eyes open and steal a glance at him.

His voice felt familiar, as if in another life, it was always close to my ears.

Who was this her they were mistaking me for?

“I know you're awake, Juno,” that deep, commanding voice murmured, and my entire body shuddered in response.

I felt compelled to obey.

My eyes fluttered open slowly, and it was attacked by the glowing light from Corin’s wing.

He stared at me with an apologetic look but I knew none of this was his fault. It was mine because I was weak.

I blinked in shock when I realized that I was back at the cold, massive stone chamber lit by pale-blue fire. The same one he had brought me into before, and I was lying on the same bed.

Surrounding me were five figures. Two I recognized instantly: Corin,and Dominic, who knocked me out.

The others were unfamiliar, but they were as hot and unmistakable.

A tall, lanky vampire stood at the far end.

When we made eye contact, he smiled at me like he already knew what I tasted like, and he couldn't wait to taste me all over again.

Beside him loomed a weredragon, his golden eyes flickering with caution. The way he looked at me sent a flutter through my chest. He was someone everyone would notice in the room.

I was certain he was the one who had spoken.

For a reason I couldn’t explain, an intense ache settled in my heart. I didn't know if it was guilt or longing.

And then… him.

The moment my gaze landed on the last man, something inside of me snapped awake.

A pulse surged through my core and I felt my heart beating faster as a magnetic pull pushed me up from the bed and right in front of him.

Mate.

My wolf howled the word in my head. She was acting wild and breathless. She was more alive in me than she had ever been, and I was overwhelmed with the urge to shift and mark him.