Chapter two

The Mate Who Refused Me  

Nora

I didn’t sleep a single wink.

Every time I shut my eyes, that icy voice echoed in the dark: *Because I watched you die.*

By dawn I was tearing through the lower cloisters of Ravenholm. I needed Zane Vale. I needed him by the collar until he told me why his voice was the last thing I heard while my family burned.

“Have you seen Prince Zane?” I grabbed a young dhampir courier by the arm near the archive rotunda.

The boy looked at my uniform, then at the faint silver glow under my collar, and his skin turned gray. “Are you crazy? Let go of me!” He yanked free. “Nobody asks about the royal bloodline. Nobody.”

He ran. It was the same everywhere. The second Zane’s name left my mouth, students disappeared into alcoves and guards stared straight ahead like statues.

“Stop digging, Nora.”

A hand closed over my elbow and dragged me into the shadow of a stone archway outside the combat hall.

The scent hit me first—crushed pine, ozone, and open fire. My knees almost buckled.

Sebastian.

He stood too close, black combat tunic damp from training, jaw clenched hard enough that the tendons stood out. His blue eyes were ringed with molten amber that made my mark throb.

“Get your hands off me,” I hissed, jerking my arm.

He didn’t let go. “You’re making a fool of yourself out here. Running around asking about the Vampire Crown Prince. Do you have a death wish?”

“What I do is none of your business.” I shoved my free hand against his chest. “Why do you care? You looked like you wanted to vomit when you touched me yesterday. What was that shockwave? What does this mark mean?”

He went still. The gold in his eyes flickered, then the mask slammed shut. He dropped my arm like it burned him.

“It means nothing,” he said, voice coated in ice. “Whatever happened yesterday was a biological mistake. A freak anomaly.”

The humiliation from Roland’s rejection rushed back up my throat.

“A mistake?” My voice trembled with heat. “You sent half the dining hall flying into the wall. Your wolf was clawing at your throat.”

“Listen carefully, Nora.” He leaned down so the words cut straight into my face. “I am the future Alpha of the Moon Flame Pack. I have an entire lineage to protect. I cannot—and will not—accept a disgraced half-blood as my mate.”

The rejection landed like a punch.

I laughed, sharp enough that a group of second-years stopped to stare.

“Did you honestly think I was going to beg you?” I stepped into his space. “I don’t want you, Sebastian. I never asked for your magic, I never asked for your mark, and I sure as hell don’t want an arrogant dog who’s terrified of his own destiny. Keep your title.”

I turned and walked away.

Behind me a low, guttural roar ripped out of his throat. Alpha aura exploded down the hall, rattling the stained-glass windows. Students screamed. I glanced back—his fangs were bared, claws tearing through his gloves, body trembling as the beast fought to come after me. It took three senior pack members pinning him to the wall before he forced it down.

“Look at the stray trying to bark!”

Alexandra HowlBorne stepped out of the combat hall, platinum hair swept back, pure-blood privilege radiating off her.

“Did you really think an Alpha heir would ever choose trash like you?” she sneered. “You’re a pathetic mutt with dead parents and no pack. Know your place.”

The rage that had been simmering since Roland finally went white-hot.

“If I’m trash, Alexandra,” I called out, voice calm and clear, “then what does that make you? You’ve thrown yourself at his feet for three years and his wolf didn’t even twitch. One touch from me and he nearly tore the hall down.”

The crowd sucked in a collective breath. Alexandra’s face turned scarlet.

“Sparring ring. After combat class,” I said. “Unless the high-born Lycan heiress is terrified of a mutt.”

“You’re dead,” she hissed.

Two hours later the indoor arena was packed. Half the academy had skipped lectures to watch the HowlBorne heiress put the half-blood in her place. Sebastian stood alone on the observation balcony, arms crossed, gaze locked on me.

The whistle blew.

Alexandra didn’t bother with a stance. Lavender light flared in her eyes—domination magic.

“Kneel,” she commanded. The pressure slammed into my skull, trying to force my head down.

*Bow. Bow to your better.*

“No,” I growled.

The silver crescent under my collarbone burned white-hot. The mental chains shattered. I lunged.

Alexandra’s eyes widened in terror. I closed the distance, spun, and drove my boot into her chest.

The impact lifted her clean off her feet. She crashed into the wooden fence and landed face-down, out cold.

Silence swallowed the arena. Up on the balcony Sebastian gripped the railing so hard the stone crumbled. He looked pale, shaken, staring at me like he couldn’t understand what he was seeing.

I spit blood into the sand and walked out.

Three fourth-year Lycans stepped out of the shadows in the equipment corridor.

“Nobody resists HowlBorne domination without black magic,” the biggest one snarled, claws extending. “You’re using forbidden hexes—”

His hand shot toward my hair.

Sebastian appeared between us faster than human sight, grabbed the wrist mid-air, and twisted. A sickening snap. The student screamed.

“Touch her again,” Sebastian snarled, voice a double-layered growl that didn’t sound human, “and I will rip your throat out through your teeth.”

His fangs were fully extended, pupils jagged gold. The other two backed away, grabbed their friend, and ran.

Sebastian stood with his back to me, shoulders heaving.

“Why do you keep doing that?” I asked quietly.

“Doing what?”

“Pretending you don’t care. You tell me I’m a mistake. You reject me. Then the second someone reaches for me your beast tries to tear them in half. Why are you lying to yourself?”

He stayed frozen. No answer. Finally he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked away.

Coward.

Twenty minutes later I found Zane in the restricted royal corridor. He stood by a narrow window, hands clasped behind his back, staring into the misty woods.

“Prince Zane,” I said.

He didn’t turn. “You are trespassing, little half-blood. My guards have orders to execute intruders.”

“Your guards aren’t here. I want the truth. About the night the Hawthorne estate burned. About my family.”

Zane let out a tired sigh. “Go back to your dorm, Nora. Some graves are meant to stay closed.”

“You were there! You told me you watched me die!”

He turned slowly, crimson eyes cold and empty. He lifted a hand to dismiss me—

The blue light caught the lace of his left cuff.

Dark, crusty blood soaked the white fabric.

My stomach dropped. The memory slammed into me—burning timber, my mother’s scream, a pale hand dragging me out of the cellar wearing a coat with the exact same stain on the left cuff.

“It was you,” I whispered.

I lunged and clamped my hand around his wrist.

“You were there. Were you the one who murdered them?”

Zane’s expression hardened into stone. He looked down at my hand, then up into my face.

“If you want to live, forget my face.”