LOGINKaelen POVI did not follow her back to the Frost Tower. I told myself that was restraint.It wasn't. It was cowardice, and I knew it the moment I turned the other way, toward the sparring rings, where at least I understood the rules of engagement. Hit. Get hit. Repeat until the anger burns down to something manageable.It didn't burn down.I put my fist through the third practice dummy of the morning and didn't feel it until the stuffing scattered across the sand like snow, and even then what I felt wasn't pain. It was the memory of her hand, cupped over her mouth, red seeping between her fingers while she tried so hard to make sure none of us saw.I had seen.I had smelled it before I saw it, actually — copper, faint under the mist, wrong in a way my body understood before my mind caught up — and something in my chest had gone through the floor.I didn't understand it. That was the maddening part. I had hated Seraphina Frost for three years. She'd humiliated a boy from my own pack in
Ariana POVNobody answered Marcus. The mist had thickened while we sat there, and for a moment I thought it might swallow the whole field, dummies and students and cracked crystal and all. I wished it would. I wished it would swallow me first."I don't know," I said, which was true, and also the least useful sentence in the history of language.Marcus's hands were still shaking around the broken Lens. He wrapped it in a strip of black cloth, the way you'd wrap something that might still be dangerous."The Lens has never shown a death before," he said. "Not once, in three hundred years of recorded use. It shows arguments. Betrayals. First kisses people would rather forget." A ghost of a smile, gone as fast as it came. "It does not show corpses.""Maybe it's wrong," Kaelen said. His voice had dropped an octave, rough at the edges."The Lens doesn't lie, Ashbourne.""Then maybe it's not her." Cassian's tone was light again, but his eyes weren't. They kept flicking to my mouth, to the pla
Ariana POVI didn't sleep. Somewhere around four in the morning, I gave up pretending and lay on my back, counting the silver stars painted on the canopy of Seraphina's bed. Twenty. Twenty. Twenty. Even the ceiling seemed to be making a point.Before graduation, I had to choose.Before graduation, I had to escape.Somewhere in the space between those two sentences was supposed to be a plan, and I hadn't found it yet."Mistress, you look like a corpse that lost an argument," Luna announced, holding up a comb like a weapon. She had tied her headscarf in a knot today, and it leaned dangerously to the left. "Sit. I'm doing your hair.""I can do my own hair.""Not with those hands. They're still shaking."I looked down. She was right.By the time we reached the Training Grounds, the sun had barely cleared the towers. A cold mist hung across the field, and rows of wooden dummies stood in it like sentries who had given up. Students in black practice uniforms whispered in clusters. Every clust
Ariana POVI poked at my lunch, a fruit that looked like a star and tasted like honey, but I wasn't hungry."You look like you're trying to solve a math problem with your eyes," a smooth,melodic voice said.I looked up to see Eryx.He slid into the seat across from me, his movements as graceful as a cat."I’m just thinking," I said, trying to keep my voice steady."About the mate?" Eryx leaned in closer. "It’s a heavy burden for a Queen. Three potential mates." He said.I sighed, putting down my spoon. "It's not that simple, Eryx.""But it could be," he whispered,with a playful smirk."If you’re confused about who to choose, maybe I can help you see clearly."I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And how would you do that?"He counted on his long, slender fingers. "First, let’s talk about the Vampire.Cassian,he’s charming, yes. But did you know he already has a girlfriend? A beautiful noble witch from the Night Realm. He’s probably just playing a game here." "A girlfriend?" I asked, unable
Ariana POVBy the time I reached my classroom, I was completely out of breath.I leaned against the wooden door and took a deep breath.Calm down, Ariana.It was just the mate bond."I shook my head.This world is insane.The classroom was already half full.Rows of polished oak desks curved around the room in a semicircle, all facing a floating crystal board where glowing words appeared by themselves. Enchanted windows stretched from floor to ceiling, allowing warm sunlight to pour inside while tiny blue butterflies fluttered around magical flowers growing from stone planters.The moment I stepped inside, every conversation stopped, as dozens of eyes followed me.I walked to the seat at the very back of the room without looking at anyone."Morning, Lady Seraphina.""Good morning, Ice Queen."A few students greeted me nervously.I simply nodded.If Seraphina rarely spoke, then I wasn't about to start giving cheerful speeches.A few moments later, Professor Marcus entered.His long robe
Ariana POVThe next morning, Avalon Academy looked as though nothing had happened, well I guess nothing had happened, except that I was humiliated in front of everyone by those three Alpha bullies.Students filled the stone walkways, chatting and laughing as enchanted birds circled the towers overhead. Floating lanterns drifted lazily through the morning sky while magical carriages landed one after another near the academy gates.Meanwhile, I looked like someone who hadn't slept in three days, but to be fair, I hadn't exactly slept.Every time I closed my eyes, I heard the Moon Goddess's voice.Choose one true mate, or die.Not exactly the kind of bedtime story anyone wanted, right?I tightened my grip around the strap of my leather school bag and sighed."One problem at a time, Ariana."First, survive school. Then figure out how not to die.The marble corridors buzzed with students as I made my way toward the locker hall.Almost every conversation stopped when I walked past."That's







