LOGINAt the Lycan’s Garden HouseScarlet knelt in the dirt like she belonged there.Gloved hands cradled the stem of a lily as if it were something fragile enough to die from a wrong touch. The soil stained her knees. Sweat kissed the nape of her neck beneath the wide gardener’s hat. Anyone watching would think she was harmless...just another servant tending flowers for a powerful household.That illusion pissed her off. She watered the lilies slowly, deliberately, even as Liora’s mind-link still echoed in her skull like poison seeping through cracks."Grey publicly announced Mira as his fated mate.He ditched you without blinking. Told the whole academy that you're nothing to him but a toy to play with before he finds his mate."Scarlet let out a short, humorless laugh. “So that’s how it ends,” she muttered under her breath. “With a fucking announcement.”The water kept pouring. Her hands didn’t shake.Liora’s voice slithered back in, smug and oily. "You see now, Scarlet? Mira isn’t the s
Scarlet escorted Grey out like she hadn’t just watched her world crack open and bleed all over the dorm floor.Her face was calm. Too calm.The kind of calm that comes right before something inside you snaps permanently.“See you tomorrow,” she said, voice smooth, polite but dead. Grey hesitated in the hallway, fingers curling around the strap of his jacket. “Tomorrow?” he repeated, hopeful. “At our spot. I’ll make it a date.”She nodded once. No smile. No spark. “Sure.”That single word carried nothing. No warmth. No promise. Just permission to leave.Grey lit up anyway, clueless bastard. “I’ll be there early,” he said, already backing away. “Don’t flake on me.”Scarlet shut the door before he could say another word.The click of the lock echoed louder than the burnfire drums still pounding faintly outside.She stood there for a second, forehead resting against the wood, lungs burning like she’d been holding her breath for years. Then she turned slowly.Mira lay on her bed, shoes st
Grey’s eyes widened the second Mira smashed her mouth against his. It wasn’t just romantic, it was desperate as hell.Her fingers clawed into his arms like she was drowning and he was the last fucking log floating. Her nails dug deep enough that his skin broke...thin red lines blooming under the firelight.Gasps erupted around them.Grey froze.Not because he wanted her.But because his eyes...traitorous, stupid...locked straight onto Scarlet.She was walking toward them and she saw everything.Scarlet’s steps slowed.Then stopped.The world didn’t shatter loudly. It cracked quietly, right inside her chest. A sharp, ugly snap she felt more than heard."Of course," she thought bitterly. "Of fucking course."Her lips twitched upward into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. A practiced smile. The kind you wear when you refuse to bleed in public.“So dramatic,” she muttered to herself.The muscular stranger, Blade ...the one with scars like he’d survived hell and crawled back with trophie
The sound of flesh meeting flesh. Bone cracking. A low, savage growl that vibrated through the soil beneath her feet.Scarlet didn’t hesitate.She slipped away from the light, from the warmth, from safety, pushing through the tall bushes at the edge of the clearing. Branches clawed at her arms, thorns snagging her dress, but she barely felt it. Her wolf wasn’t screaming danger.Her wolf was alert and interested. Curious in a way that made Scarlet’s pulse spike.Her wolf murmured. "Whatever’s out here… it’s not prey."The clearing opened abruptly...and Scarlet froze. Blood soaked the ground like spilled ink.A massive tiger lay crumpled to the earth, its throat ripped open, eyes dull and lifeless. A bear...huge, brutal, terrifying...was sprawled nearby, chest torn apart, ribs exposed, breath long gone. Steam rose from their bodies, the metallic stench of death thick enough to taste.And standing over them.. A werewolf.No.A monster.He was enormous. Taller than any Alpha she’d seen. M
“You talk a lot for someone who survives by clinging to other people’s shadows.”Her voice didn’t rise. It didn’t shake. It landed flat and sharp, like a blade pressed against skin...not cutting yet, just promising it could.Liora stiffened.Just for half a second.But Scarlet saw it. The hitch in her breath. The way her fingers curled too tight around the plastic cup she was holding. The way her smirk twitched before snapping back into place like a cracked mask glued together.Liora laughed, light and fake. “Threatened already?” she purred, stepping closer, invading space like she owned it. “Because I have Alpha Ronan wrapped around my fingers?”Scarlet didn’t flinch.Didn’t blink.Didn’t even bother to look impressed.She rolled her eyes slowly, deliberately, the kind of dismissal that burned worse than any insult. “If that’s what you call desperation these days, congratulations.”Liora’s smile thinned. “Wow, Scarlet.”Scarlet turned away, lifting the two glasses she’d collected, a
Scarlet exhaled shakily once the room was quiet again.The book was gone.Ash.Nothing left but a scorched memory and the faint smell of smoke clinging to the curtains.Her hands trembled as she smoothed the sheets, stripped the candles away, folded the silk ribbons she’d laid out like bait. Every trace of seduction was erased with surgical precision. If anyone walked in now, they’d see nothing but an ordinary dorm room...and a girl pretending her heart hadn’t just tried to claw its way out of her chest.She sat on the edge of the bed, spine straight, face calm.Footsteps approached.Her pulse jumped.The door opened, and Mira stepped in, arms full of envelopes.“Scar,” Mira said breathlessly, dumping the letters onto the table. “We have mail. Like...a lot of it.”Scarlet nodded too fast. “Yeah. Right. Mail.”Her eyes locked onto the pile instantly, scanning for one thing...thick paper, gold trim, the faint scent of ink and power.Mira moved to the mirror, brushing her hair. “Do you t







