PROLOGUE
"Run, little rabbits!"
Heidi's lungs burn as she sprints, drawing ragged breaths that scrape her throat raw. She isn't alone as there are five other omegas scattered around her, all wide-eyed and terrified. Each of them is clutching their bags as if the thin straps could shield them from what's behind.
But can it? Right now, the only thing that can save Heidi is if Lucan gets here faster than he promised. He'd driven her down to the school for registration with a promise to return two hours later.
Two hours? It currently feels like Heidi has spent a decade on the school grounds, running for her life rather than an hour plus.
She doesn't dare look back. She already knows what she'll see: broad-shouldered pack boys hunting the Moon blessed for fun. Her calf screams from the earlier kick she didn't fully dodge. Another omega slips, and before Heidi can reach for her, a heavy thud reverberates. A howl of pain follows. The girl crumples, clutching her arm bent at an unnatural angle.
That doesn't stop the pack boys. Once one of their targets is down, they whoop louder and chase the next one faster. And currently, that's Heidi.
Her stomach knots. If she doesn't increase her pace, she'll end up worse than the other fallen 'rabbits'. She pushes harder, shoes skidding against the gravel and heart pounding wildly. Someone behind her sobs high-pitchedly and hopelessly, before a second thud cuts it off.
Another target down.
No. No, no, no.
"I must hide," she weeps, pain burning up her neck.
She veers left, ducking behind a crumbling wall that once might've framed a classroom window. She presses herself flat against the cold brick, chest heaving and sweat stinging her eyes. The screams outside grow distant, muffled by the thunder of blood rushing in her ears.
Her lips move soundlessly. "Don't breathe, Heidi. Don't move, Heidi. Don't…"
The sound of approaching footsteps cuts her off.
Her whole body jerks. She curls in on herself, nails biting crescents into her palms. The tang of blood floods her mouth where she's bitten her lip. The footsteps stop just beyond the wall before silence descends.
A shadow moves.
Heidi's throat closes. Every nerve in her body screams as she tries to make herself smaller and invisible, because if they find her, they'll break her next—or do worse.
She can't stop muttering silent prayers, her head buried against her knees, when a hand extends toward her.
"No. No. No. Go away!" she shudders, shaking her head against her knees.
"Come on," a calm and almost detached voice says, as if her miserable state barely stirs his interest.
But that voice… she knows it.
Slowly, Heidi lifts her eyes.
Lucan Castell stands there, hazel gaze fixed on her. His countenance carries no mischief or mockery, but only bleakness, like he's been watching her fall apart and decided now is the moment to reach in.
Her hand trembles as she raises it, but she takes his. What else can she do? When he pulls her to her feet, the cruel shouts of the pack boys seem to fade, like even the chaos bends around him.
This is hell, she thinks, rearranging her hair with shaking fingers. If this is what the Moon blessed receive on registration day, what waits when classes truly begin? Duskwind Academy doesn't sound like a school… it sounds like a hunt and she fears what awaits the moment those gates close behind her.
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CHAPTER ONE
"You're not actually wearing that, are you?" Sierra Castell exhales sharply, lowering her phone to give Heidi a disdainful once-over.
Heidi looks down at herself. She's draped in a hoodie, ripped jeans, and scuffed sneakers.
"Wear what?"
"That." Sierra scoffs, waving a hand at her. "Do you want people to think you crawled out of a bin? This is Duskwind, not a soup kitchen."
Heidi's lips twitch, but she doesn't give Sierra the satisfaction of a frown. The hoodie is all she has left of the life Sierra's pack ripped her from. She'll wear it until it falls apart.
"Yeah. I am."
Sierra slides her sunglasses down just enough to hit her with a lethal glare. "Gods, Heidi. At least try not to look like the filthy stray that you are."
From the driver's seat, Lucan Castell adjusts the rearview mirror. His hazel eyes are like Sierra's but sharper. They flicker toward Heidi for a second. He says nothing because he barely ever does. He's been silent since she arrived at their house a week ago, as if she were invisible. Except for that one day during registration.
Sierra tosses her phone into her designer bag with a huff. "Fine. If you insist on embarrassing yourself, then let's set some ground rules. Rule one: don't talk to me. Rule two: don't look at me. Honestly, rule three: if you die of humiliation, don't haunt me. Capisce?"
Heidi gives her a bright, unsettling smile, the kind she's learned to wear instead of tears. "Should I crawl into the walls, too? Or just eat out of the garbage?"
Sierra's nose wrinkles. "Ugh. Sarcastic and pathetic as expected of a nobody Omega."
Lucan's hand flexes on the steering wheel, but again, he says nothing. Then, the black gates of Duskwind Pack Academy come into view. They are iron twisted into snarling wolves, with vines curling like veins.
The SUV rolls forward as the gates creak open, groaning like the school itself is sighing at the arrival of fresh meat.
Heidi's heart pounds. This is it. This is where the nightmare begins.
Lucan pulls into a reserved spot by the courtyard. Students are in clusters, laughing too loudly in their ironed uniforms. Everything sparkles; the windows, the flowerbeds, the people. Heidi feels dull in comparison, like a stubborn stain on polished glass.
Sierra slips out gracefully, instantly swallowed by a chorus of squeals.
"Sierraaa! You look amazing!"
"Who's the troll in your back seat?"
The troll is her, but she acts like she doesn't know. Why? Because anything else will definitely not end well for her. She knows after the horrible registration day experience where she imagines she'd have been dead had Lucan not arrived on time.
Her throat is tight, and she really wishes for the earth to swallow her whole, but she forces herself out of the car. The air is too clean, the sky too bright, and her hoodie is suddenly too heavy.
Lucan opens the back door for her. His hazel eyes meet hers briefly before he turns and walks off, hands in his pockets. As if she's background noise.
Why does he even bother to be gentlemanly when all he'll ever do is snub her in the end? Heidi wonders, shutting her eyes to take a sharp nasal breath.
Lucan is the least of her problems right now, she decides as she glances at what's before her. She's not the only one who stands out. Other new omegas hover nearby in frizzy curls, shaky steps, and too-short pants. They all look shell-shocked which is understandable considering how they were humans just a week ago and wolves now. Their life transitioned on a whim, dumping them into a world where they are prey among predators.
Then the loudspeaker blares overhead. "New omegas. Report to Assembly Hall B for orientation. That's the black building to your left. Move quickly. We don't like slow learners."
Right. Quickly – because that's what this school is… a battlefield where only movement and speed can take you far.
However, before Heidi can move, a shoulder slams into her hard. "Oof—!"
She stumbles, blinking up into the smirking face of a boy with gold-brown eyes.
"Watch it, rat," he spits. "Didn't anyone teach you how to walk upright?"
Laughter breaks out and seniors begin to close in like vultures. One yanks a backpack off another newbie and tosses it into the bushes. Another kicks a boy's legs out, sending him sprawling.
Heidi crouches to help him, but a fist grips her collar, yanking her against a stone pillar. Her vision swims immediately.
"Aw," Brown Eyes croons, "is the little human gonna cry?"
Her cheek explodes with heat when a hard slap hits her, stars bursting behind her eyes. Pain radiates through her jaw, and she lets out a melancholic groan.
"Uh…"
She sees the leg, raised to deliver a kick on her stomach as if the slap wasn't enough when it suddenly pauses in the air.
The courtyard stills and the laughter dies. The seniors step back, unease flickering in their eyes. Heavy footsteps echo against the stone, but Heidi is in too much pain to catch it fast.
She finally lifts her head, breath ragged, and cheek burning when she sees them…
… Four boys. Four kings. The Alpha's sons. And every single one of them is staring straight at… her?