It was Beth who first gave me the news. I had woken up with a mild headache, something courtesy of the nightmare that had threaded my night.
I remember holding my head in a turban and wishing I had no class to attend. I could probably brighten my day a lil bit by lying in bed instead. But as always, in the Academy, wishes could never be horses. Somehow I think the teachers conspire to keep our peace stripped away. Because tell me, how on earth one can manage five back to back classes a day.
Urrrhhhh.
And then there was Miranda Straus who reserved nothing but a haughty glare for me and who unfortunately, Ms. Styles had paired me with.
Any wonder I detest Alchemy class ?
Beth was hunched on her bed perching on her phone, a scalding look in her eyes. Her fangs opened and closed and opened again in something akin to awe. Or fear. Or any of those emotions that means we can barely keep our mouth tightly shut. Her corpse white skin dully sparkled in the daylight ; strange, wilting, almost grotesque but oddly beautiful.
"Morning, Beth" I yawn, stretching tiredly on my bed, the turban unwrapping itself and semi concealing my face.
"There's nothing good about the morning. Night, have you checked your phone yet?" Her voice was breathless but devoid of the cheeriness she was so famous for.
I dart my eyes to my phone that lay forgotten on the bedside table but felt too lazy to reach out to it.
"Oh please don't tell me Principal Scavenger woke up half dead... Again" I snort.
"I wish " Beth rolls her eyes "But no. This is something more severe than Principal Scavenger."
"You are scaring me " I laugh, removing the turban and letting my hair cascade silkily down my naked back. I wrapt the blanket tighter around my body.
To ward off the early morning cold.
To ward off the chill that always accompanied Beth's non enthusiastic gists.
"You wouldn't laugh if you checked it out".
"Now, I'm really scared". But my hand reach for my phone and I dive straight into the The Fahrenheit, the Academy's all students WhatsApp group where I was a very silent member.
Theres nothing weird at first. There's the usual lycanthropic cockiness from the wolves in the group , the savage daily doze of thrills from the vampires, and the awkward less confident Snickers from humans who could barely breathe from the usual half wars / competitions between the two supernatural breed.
Then there was a something carved up boldly. My eyes stayed glued to my screen even as my chest threatened to burst.
ZaneBloodline 🐺: Yo, someone tell me this is a joke—Maren Fenwick? With a wolf?
LiraTheBae 💋: Not just a wolf, darling. Darian Raincloud. The Beta himself. 😏
AshSnows 🧛🏽♂️: That explains why she always smelled a little bit like regret.
CallieMoonlight 🐺: Careful what you say. Council's watching the chats today.
ZaneBloodline 🐺: Let them watch. It's about time they reminded the humans why the old rules exist.
LiraTheBae💋: Oh, please. You wolves break the rules every full moon, just not with humans.
Greyson 🧍🏽♂️: Wait—what rules exactly?
AshSnows 🧛🏽♂️: Rule #1, baby human: no cross-bonding. Last time it happened, kingdoms burned.
TessWolfe 🐺: Don't exaggerate. Nobody burned—
LiraTheBae 💋: Check the feed, sweetie. Someone definitely burned.
And then a link appeared. A video. The thumbnail showed flames licking the night sky.
The chat exploded.
ZaneBloodline 🐺: They actually did it?
TessWolfe 🐺: The Council ordered a purification. First one in a century.
Greyson 🧍🏽♂️: That's barbaric!
AshSnows 🧛🏽♂️: Barbaric? Maybe. Effective? Definitely. Keeps the species from tearing each other apart.
LiraTheBae 💋: Oh, I don't know. A little inter-species romance keeps the world spicy.
ZaneBloodline 🐺: Tell that to the cursed Beta. They stripped his mark—he's a ghost now.
Greyson 🧍🏽♂️: You mean… a Loner?
TessWolfe 🐺: Exactly. No pack, no shift, no moon.
LiraTheBae 💋: Tragic. Romantic. Disgustingly stupid.
AshSnows 🧛🏽♂️: Raise a glass for lovebirds turned barbecue.
The emojis that followed were a nauseating parade of fire, wolves, and broken hearts.
Beth's voice cut through it, soft but taut. "You see why I said it's bad?"
I didn't answer. My phone buzzed again—someone added a new comment.
CallieMoonlight 🐺: It's the first taboo in over a hundred years. Council says they'll tighten patrols.
Tighten patrols.
That meant eyes. Everywhere.
I locked my screen before my pulse could give me away.
Beth's eyes were wide, lips parted in something between fascination and dread.
"They're saying Darian didn't even resist the curse," she murmured. "He let them take it. His pack mark. His shift. Everything."
"Maybe he didn't have a choice." My voice came out quieter than I intended.
Her head snapped toward me, the blue veins at her temple glowing faintly like frost. "Would you?"
I shrugged, pretending the question didn't hit a little too close. "Depends on who I was giving it up for."
Beth groaned, falling back onto her bed. "God, humans and their tragic romanticism. You all act like dying for love is noble instead of dumb."
"It's not dumb," I muttered, tracing a line on the blanket that wasn't there. "It's…"
"It's insanity." She finished for me, propping herself on one elbow. "They burned Maren, Night. Alive."
The words slipped in cold and stayed there. I swallowed hard. "God. And this is the 21st century. How can they do this ?"
"So?" Beth's brows drew together, frustration flickering across her perfect, death-pale face. "That's the law. No human-werewolf pairings. Ever. The energy balance doesn't hold. It breaks the bonds of the world. You know that."
I forced a small, brittle laugh. "Beth, please. You sound like Professor Wane in Ethics of Interbreed Relations."
She didn't smile. "They say when a wolf marks a human, the Moon rejects it. That's why the punishment's so harsh. It's not just taboo, it's… blasphemy."
Blasphemy.
The word sank through me like a stone dropped in still water.
My body felt too warm all of a sudden. Maybe it was the scent of Jordan's jacket stashed somewhere in my wardrobe , smelling of silver and fur and something dangerously sacred, something I should not be drawn to if I didn't want to end up like Maren.
Disgust and unbelief sat in my belly.
"Anyway," Beth sighed, scrolling again, "I heard the Council's sending investigators to the Academy. They want to make sure none of this nonsense is happening here."
My chest tightened.
None of this nonsense.
If only she knew.
"Guess we'll be safe then," I said, forcing a smirk. "I mean, it's not like any of us have a thing for fur and fangs."
Beth laughed lightly, unaware of the storm brewing under my skin. "Exactly."
I turned away so she wouldn't see the panic blooming in my reflection across the mirror—foggy, accusing, bleak.