The Forbidden Plan

Selene's POV

I lost my heart as I read the message.

I had to think and wait, but waiting was not my choice. I had to inform Liam about this before the entire scene blew up in my face.

I picked up my boots and cloak, and strode through halls without being noticed. I did not have time for questions.

One of the guards tried to prevent me at the castle door. "My lady, where are you going it is already nightfall."

"My father is king here," I said. "I can go anywhere I want to."

I turned and left

Night already, moonlight drenching forest road. My heart pounding wildly—not from fear, but anticipation. Stole Liam Damfort's identity to gain access to the Alpha Academy. My cousin. My mother's nephew. The only man in my family who was worthy of their attention.

I was battling to catch my breath when I finally got to his cabin. I knocked on his door, and when he opened the door , his eyes nearly jumped out of his head.

"Selene?" he roared. "What ? Selene?It's late and no hour for you to be here alone!"

Excuse me," I said, pushing him into his cabin. "We need to talk."

"Every time you say that, I lose brain cells and sleepless."

"Well, tonight will end up being the most useful night of your life," I told him,"Just listen to me, and don't freak out. I'm serious, promise me you won't freak out.please.”

Did you kill someone?"

"No. Worse."

He opened his eyes wide. "Selene—what have you done?"

I smiled intentionally. "Liam, what would you do if someone took something that was yours without your permission ?"

He looked at me. "Depends. What'd you steal?"

I swallowed. "Your name."

"My name?" he asked, staring at me like I was insane. "For what?"

I swallowed again. "Alpha Academy."

He laughed so hard he nearly fell . "Oh, rich! You used my name to enroll in the Academy? You've lost it!"

"Shh! Quiet!" I whispered, glancing at the window. "And maybe. But it worked. I got in."

"Wait. You actually got in?"

I nodded, holding out the mail. "Selene, do you have any idea what they'll do when they figure out what's happening? They'll demote me in pack rank before they so much as question you."

"Oh, drama queen," I said to him. "I was just trying to warn you before someone else gets to hear."

"What ?" he burst out, slamming the air with his hands. "You've signed up, been accepted, and now you're reporting for duty?"

"Yeah."

He collapsed into a chair and let out a whopper of a sigh. "You're impossible."

"I know," I said, grinning. "That's why you love me."

"I lived through you," he growled. "Barely."

"Come on, Liam. I did it for a reason. You know They think that I am weak because I am a woman. They have said that I will not last the day. I am going to rub things on thier faces ."

Plus they are trying to give out our throne to others

"You're risking my reputation, your life, and your sanity. for pride?"

"Change and justice." And a dash of pride, I admit.

"Selene." He scrubbed his face. "You don't look anything like me at all. What do you do when they start questioning you?"

"I'll improvise."

He blinked. "'That's your plan?' 'I'll improvise?' You have no idea, do you?"

"Yes."

He sighed again. "You're insane."

"I'm a genius ."

He exhaled heavily, rose, and paced the room. "If I say no to you, you'll do it anyway, won't you?"

"Yeah."

"So I might as well save your skin," he said to me.

I smiled. "So you're in?"

He smiled. "You're too confident for a girl who's running a scam."

"It's thinking outside the box," I said.

He smiled and snapped his fingers together. "Wait—I might have something that can make it a whole lot easier."

"How?"

"A spell. To change your shape and your scent. Not much, just enough to mess with their scans."

I lifted an eyebrow. "A spell? Who casts one on me?"

He was grinning. "Remember Old Magda?"

"Oh no. Not her. The woman's insane."

"She is not insane. She is a morals-unquestioning mystic herbalist," he told me.

"She's insane," I told him.

"Talented," he said . "Come on, before you wake up to your senses."

"I never wake to my senses."

We both crashed through the woods. Magda's hovel seemed even more hovel-like than I'd remembered — corkscrew roof, wisps of smoke tendril-ing from her chimney, and drying herbs everywhere.

Liam knocked on the door.

"If it's collectors, I'm dead!" she yelled from behind the door.

"It's us, Magda!"

Liam yelled back.

"Us who?"

"Liam and Selene!"

"Ah, the talkative girl and the foolish boy," she sighed, opening the door wide. "What have you two gotten yourselves into now?"

I folded my arms. "Why do you always think something's wrong?"

"Because you only come by if you've gone and done something foolish," she said, holding the door open. "Get in here before the moon gets a glimpse of you."

Liam explained it all to her while I rummaged through her cluttered hut. She was smiling when he'd finished. "You I walk around with magic in my pocket? What am I, a jinie?"

"Can you or can't you?"

She arched an eyebrow. "Don't get impatient, princess. Magic's an art, not a state of mind, that takes time."

I groaned. "Then we're lost."

Liam snorted.

Magda hesitated, her trembling hand held in mid-air. "All right, all right. I can do that. But there's a catch."

"There always is," I said to her.

"The spell won't hold," she informed me. "It will dissolve if it catches a scent of blood. If you get slashed up in an accident or intentionally and start to bleed, then the glamour will start to unravel until your body can heal itself."

I shrugged.

"That's all ?"

"Girl, that's enough to get you expelled and get you killed if you're not careful."

"I'll be fine."

Magda smiled. "Stupid or brave. Can't say which."

"Both," said Liam.

She glared at him. "You're not much better, helping her with this folly."

He smiled. "Family."

She breathed harder. "Whatever. The spell won't take until tomorrow night. Until then, you'll keep projecting yourself. Try not to get yourself killed

"I am able to do that," I told her.

"Good. Out you go and give me peace in my own home."

We walked away from her hut, and Liam stood in front of me. Liam and I both will be going to the Luna Academy. "So then what?"

"I return to my house and tell my father I've been accepted into the Luna Academy,"

He doubled up with laughter, laughing so hard I feared he would choke. "You? A Luna? Ancient myth, one that has been going around for a hundred years."

"And for that reason he will accept me," I smiled. "He has been waiting for you to say it."

"Selene, be careful."

"I am being careful every minute," I assured him.

Both of my parents were awakened when I got back home. My mother was sitting beside wheezing father.

"Selene, where have you been?" my mother questioned.

"Went for a walk," I replied hastily.

"At this hour of the night?" my wheezing weak father's voice was interrupted.

"Yes, Dad." I smiled and waved the forged fake acceptance letter Liam had made for me. "Just my luck that I do have something to share with you."

I handed it to him. He opened it with shaky hands. His eyes widened. "Selene… good news," he stammered, smiling.

He pulled it out and read it to my mom. She read and wept on the verge of tears. "Selene, I am so proud of you. You've come of age. This is a day of celebration."

I tried to intervene to prevent him, but my father called the servants. Then, in an instant, a crowd — guardsmen, some relatives, revelry. I tried to laugh along with them and play it cool as if something was not wrong, but shame churned in my belly.

Once they had all left, I returned to my bedroom, exhausted. I fell on the bed and opened my tablet.

There was a message on the screen.

"Dear Liam Damfort, come in tomorrow morning."

I stared in shock.

Tomorrow morning.

But my spell won't work until tomorrow night ohh god.