All Chapters of Larkin College: The Alpha's Catastrophe : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

“That'll be eighty-six dollars.” Mara Vale stared at the cab driver through the rearview mirror. “For ten minutes?” “Traffic.” “There were three cars.” The driver shrugged. “Welcome to the city.”Mara looked painfully at the two hundred dollars she had arrived with that morning. One bill had already broken into smaller suffering. Grandma Ruth had warned her city people charged extra for breathing near expensive buildings. Apparently she had not been joking.With the expression of somebody donating blood against her will, Mara handed over the money and climbed out onto the curb dragging her battered suitcase behind her. One wheel immediately began squealing loud enough to announce financial hardship to the entire neighborhood. Then she looked up and stopped moving.Larkin College rose behind enormous black iron gates wrapped around pale stone pillars carved with silver crests. Ivy climbed towering stone buildings that looked older than some governments. Sunlight flashed across cathedra

Mara spent the next fifteen minutes pretending she was not curious about the man on the mezzanine. By the time she left the cafeteria, she had already developed several theories.Theory one, rich schools employed decorative aristocrats purely for atmosphere. Theory two, Larkin College secretly operated a cult with excellent tailoring. Theory three, she needed significantly more sleep.The black dining card remained tucked between her fingers as she crossed the courtyard. Students still stared occasionally, though now the stares no longer carried mockery but wariness beneath them. Mara disliked that even more.She had grown up around dangerous things before. Men with tempers. Storms that flattened crops. Debt collectors. People who smiled before throwing punches. Fear had a rhythm and for some reason, this campus kept stumbling into it whenever certain students appeared.Cold wind stirred through the courtyard and Mara adjusted her bag higher against her shoulder while mentally calcula

For several long seconds, nobody moved. The silence inside the gymnasium stretched strangely thick beneath the bright overhead lights while students exchanged uncertain glances. Most of the humans looked confused. The wolves looked disciplined. That difference, Mara noticed immediately.The boy who had nearly started the fight stepped backward first, lowering his gaze briefly toward Alaric before muttering something that sounded suspiciously like an apology. Mara’s suspicion deepened instantly because o normal college student commanded silence like that. No normal student stopped people mid-conflict without speaking. And no normal student made an entire gymnasium feel like weather had changed indoors.The instructor cleared his throat loudly. “Enough drama. Back to laps.” Relief spread visibly through the room. Which was also weird. Mara turned slowly toward Alaric. “You.” His expression remained unreadable. “Yes?” “What exactly was that?” “A disagreement.” “No,” Mara replied immed

Alaric Blackthorne had spent most of his life being studied. Teachers studied him. Council members studied him. Pack leaders studied him. Even strangers studied him whenever his name appeared in the news. Future Alpha. Future King. The Heir.Titles had a way of turning people into spectacles. By now, he had become accustomed to it. What he had never become accustomed to was being ignored. Yet somehow Mara Vale managed it effortlessly.The gymnasium had emptied nearly twenty minutes ago. Students filtered toward showers, lockers, study halls and afternoon lectures, carrying with them the day's gossip. Most of that gossip revolved around one unbelievable event. Mara Vale had almost knocked Alaric Blackthorne flat on his back.The story would grow with every retelling. By dinner, she would have defeated him. By tomorrow, she would probably have challenged him to single combat atop the library. Alaric found himself smiling at the thought. "You're doing it again." His wolf's voice echoed t

For the remainder of the afternoon, Mara found herself thinking about Seraphina Valecrest far more than she wanted to. Not because the woman had been openly hostile. Open hostility was easy. She understood hostility because it announced itself and usually arrived shouting. However, Seraphina had smiled. That was significantly more concerning.By the time Mara reached her final lecture of the day, she had concluded that beautiful, polite women were responsible for at least half of history's disasters. Possibly more.The lecture itself passed in a blur of economic theories and graphs that looked increasingly personal in their attacks. When class finally ended, Mara emerged into the cool evening air with a headache and a growing resentment toward statistics.Unfortunately, her schedule informed her that tomorrow morning included an athletic assessment for all first-year students. Apparently Larkin believed suffering should be well-rounded.The following day only confirmed her suspicion.