All Chapters of The Alpha's Forbidden Witch {Academy Romance}: Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

SERENA I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand and kept scrubbing the stone floor. My knees hurt from kneeling so long, but I did not stop. If I did, Mother would find something else to scream about. The bucket of dirty water sat beside me, cold and gray. Same as every morning. "Serena! Are you still on that floor? Lazy girl!" Mother's voice cut through the kitchen like a knife. She stood in the doorway, arms crossed, staring down at me like I was something stuck to her shoe. "Your father wants his breakfast and you are wasting time. Move faster." "Yes, Mother," I said quietly. I did not look up. Looking up only made things worse. She was not my real mother. Not by blood. My real parents died in the fire when I was little. The fire everyone said I started. I was only six. I do not even remember it right, but they told me I did it. That my cursed blood brought bad luck to the family. So they took me in, my aunt and uncle, and made sure I never forgot what I co

SERENA My hands were still tingling from that purple light I could not hide. I shoved them under my legs and looked at the floor.Headmistress Vale leaned forward. Her eyes were sharp but not mean. At least not yet. "Serena Blackthorn. Your file says you come from a troubled family. The fire. The blame. Yet here you are."I nodded but did not speak. What was I supposed to say? That my own family treated me like trash every single day? That I still had nightmares about the fire I did not even remember starting?She tapped a paper on her desk. "You were not supposed to get in. The normal process would have rejected you. Someone pulled strings. I want to know who and why."My head snapped up. "I do not know. I swear. My uncle just threw the letter at me and said I was leaving. I thought it was some mistake."Darius made a sound like a laugh but meaner. "Mistake. Right. Witches always have their tricks. Especially the weak ones trying to sneak in."I felt my face get hot. Weak. There it

SERENA Headmistress Vale sat at her desk. This time there were more papers spread out and a glowing crystal ball thing in the middle. She looked tired. "Sit down both of you. This concerns you more than you know Darius."I took the chair. Darius stayed standing like he was ready to fight whatever came next. His silver eyes kept flicking to me then away. I wondered if he felt that same pull every time we got close.The headmistress picked up one of the papers. "Your blood test Serena. It is not normal. There is an old marker in it. Eclipse blood. Very rare. Almost forgotten. It explains the purple flares. But it also means you are tied to something bigger. Something that could break the balance between wolves and witches."I stared at her. "What does that mean? I am just trying to survive here. I did not ask for special blood or whatever."Darius made a low sound. "Eclipse blood. That is a curse word in my pack. It means hybrid. He looked at me like I might explode any second. But