(Akilah's pov)
The academy grounds beamed with the afternoon sun. We walked slowly along the stone path towards the dormitories. The first day of school had every ounce of my strength.
"I swear," Nadira groaned beside me, dragging her feet, "If tomorrow is as brutal as today, I am catching the next flight home."
I snorted beside her, "You literally fainted during combat and defense class."
"I did not faint," she snapped, tossing her curls over her shoulder. "I strategically collapsed."
"I don't blame you," Eria said, hands on her knees. "I'm literally panting like a dog, I'm so out of shape."
"Didn't you take combat classes back in Felinara? It was actually compulsory for students to take them," I asked.
"I actually used to skip those classes," she answered.
"Eriaaa…," Nadira called out, "You bad girl, how could you do that and not tell me?"
The two started laughing while I just looked at them, shaking my head.
I suddenly zoned out for a second, wondering about the scent early and how Vee called out mate. Could it be that I had truly found my mate, and that Vee was right, but if it's true, that would mean finding my mate in Lycaria would mean he is a wolf.
"No!" I thought it might not be true.
"Akilah?" Nadira's voice snapped, breaking me out of my thoughts.
I blinked, realizing they were staring at me.
"Sorry," I murmured, forcing a small smile. "I zoned out."
"You've been zoning out more often than usual. Is everything okay?" Nadira asked with a worried look on her face.
I sighed, grabbing her hand. "Nothing's wrong, and stop worrying about me, you look weird pulling that face," I said.
"What face, I don't make faces." She stated in defense.
"Anyway, there's a party downtown tonight," Nadira announced.
"No."
We both looked at Eria.
She looked horrified.
"You didn't even let me finish."
"Because the answer is still no."
Nadira blinked.
"Have you ever actually been to a party?"
Eria hesitated.
…
"No."
Nadira gasped dramatically.
Eria groaned. "I've never been invited to parties back home."
"Most kids thought I was weird cause I loved learning about historical stuff, so no one thought to invite me to parties. I didn't even have friends. I would mostly sit alone during lunch time," she ended.
"Well, now you have us, we're your friends, and as your friends, we're inviting you to come to the party with us," Nadira said.
" I don't know."
"Come on," Nadira coaxed, "You can't possibly want to sit here, after the day we just had."
"I wouldn't even know what to wear," she replied softly.
"Leave that to me," Nadira said.
"Okay, I'll do it. I'll go to the party with you," she agreed.
"Yay, now let's go. We have a lot to do before the party starts. Akilah, we will meet you in your room. I just need to grab a few things for the party," Nadira said before pulling Eria with her and rushing to the dormitories.
I smiled to myself before walking to my room to also start getting ready.
—————————
"Where are the boots I gave you?" Nadira asked.
"I took them off; they were beginning to hurt," Eria replied.
"No, they complete the whole look," Nadira said, clearly frustrated.
"I have never worn heels before, and now you expect me to wear them the whole night. I'm beginning to regret this decision," Eria said.
"You're only regretting because you have no sense of fashion, now go change, I won't repeat myself," Nadira said, pointing to the bathroom, causing Eria to groan as she walked into the bathroom.
"I mean, honestly, why ask for help if you're not gonna take it?" Nadira retorted.
We were currently in my room getting ready for the party.
Nadira's curls bounced as she posed, checking herself in the mirror. She wore a white, cropped tank matched with baggy jeans that hung low and a shell-crafted waistband around her waist.
I, on the other hand, wore blue low-waisted jeans with a leather jacket that zipped up just enough to show the girls out. Nadira's idea, not mine.
"Tell me I don't look irresistible," she said.
"You look amazing," I replied.
"As I should," she said, causing me to laugh.
Eria finally walked out of the bathroom.
"Well, how do I look good?" she said, twirling shyly in her black dress that hugged her small frame perfectly.
"You look gorgeous," I said truthfully.
Eria lowered her eyes immediately.
"You really think so?"
The question was so quiet it almost broke my heart.
Nadira immediately grabbed her shoulders.
"No."
Eria blinked.
"I think you're criminally gorgeous."
This caused Eria to smile.
We grabbed our belongings before heading out of the building, making sure not to make any noise even though I'm sure no one was here. I'm sure all the girls left for the party too.
"So, where is the party at, the school hall?" Eria asked.
"Yah, where is it, Nadira?" I also asked. It was really quiet.
"No, silly, we have to get there," she said, checking her holo-pad. "It's located downtown in the city."
"Wait, what?" both Eria and I said in unison.
"No, a-a, you didn't mention anything about going outside the school grounds. We could get in trouble if we leave." Eria said clearly, panicking.
"Would you relax? No one is getting into trouble; I just need to book us a car to take us to and from the party. Ahhh, here you go, it'll be here in 10 minutes."
I looked at her, shaking my head.
"Come on, we already got ready, do you really want to go back after all that prep?" She questioned.
Sighing, I reluctantly agreed.
"What's the worst that could happen?" I said.
"We could get expelled," Eria said.
"Ohh, come on, the car is going to be here any minute now," Nadira said, grabbing her hand and dragging her behind her.
—————————
We finally arrived at our destination.
The club was impossible to miss.
Nestled between mirrored skyscrapers, it pulsed with color and life. The bass thumped through the pavement like a heartbeat.
We were welcomed with a bright neon sign that lit the entrance of the building.
"Okay, we are here. Are you guys ready to have fun?" Nadira said excitedly before walking inside.
"I should have stayed back at the dorm. My insides feel like they are about to spill out," Eria nervously stated.
"Just relax, it will be fun," I reassured her, encouraging her to go in.
Upon walking inside, it was chaos—beautiful, intoxicating chaos.
Light danced across walls of glass and chrome. Holographic vines twisted from the ceiling, glowing faintly violet.
The bass throbbed through the floor, music crashing like thunder as lights rippled over sweating bodies. The scent of liquor, heat, and ozone filled the air. On the smaller platforms, dancers moved in sync with the pounding rhythm, all flashing skin that glowed.
I felt Nadira grab my hand, pulling me onto the dance floor just as a new song slid through the speakers. It was slow, hypnotic, the kind that made your hips move without permission.
We found ourselves swallowed by the rhythm.
As the beat changed to a faster, dirtier song, I pulled Eria to the dance floor to loosen her up. The three of us wound our waists to the rhythm of the beat.
For the first time since arriving in Lycaria, I stopped thinking.
No politics.
No alliances.
No expectations.
Just music.
Just movement.
Just freedom.
———————-
Kael's pov
The bass was a living thing — throbbing through the walls, vibrating in my chest like a second heartbeat.
I sat in a booth with Darian, Taylor, Seraphine, and her two shadow friends, pretending to care about whatever the hell they were laughing at. My drink was untouched. My jaw was tight.
A half-full glass of dark liquor rested untouched in front of me, condensation sliding slowly down its side.
"Alright," Darien said, leaning forward across the table, studying me. "I've officially decided something is wrong."
I didn't answer.
The music swelled louder, drowning out half the conversations around us, but I still caught the shift in his tone — amused, but curious.
"You haven't touched your drink," he continued. "Normally, you would have down it before the second beat drops."
Seraphina, seated across from me, tilted her head slightly, her glossy lips curving with interest. "He's thinking," she murmured.
Darien nudged the glass closer to me. "Drink it.You're making the rest of us uncomfortable."
A faint smirk tugged at my mouth.
Without breaking eye contact with the dance floor, I grabbed the glass and tipped it back. The burning sensation slipping down my throat caused me to lightly release a satisfying gasp.
The table erupted in cheers and whistles.
"There he is!" Darien laughed, wrapping his arm around me.
I set the empty glass down.
But my attention was already elsewhere. From the moment the liquor started to hit. My senses had sharpened. The familiar scent of vanilla hit my nose.
The scent cut through the smoke and sweat of the club like a blade, threading through the air straight to me.
My spine went rigid.
The bond reacted instantly — a sharp pull beneath my ribs, heat igniting through my veins. My senses sharpened without permission.
I scanned the dance floor slowly until my eyes landed on a familiar dark-haired girl.
She stood in the center of the crowd, on the dance floor. Her dark hair cascaded down her back, swaying with every subtle movement.
Her body rolled fluidly against the rhythm of the music as, I assume, her friends laughed beside her. The other girl leaned closer, hands on her waist, their bodies grinding on each other.
Her head tilted back slightly, and her lips parted as if she was savouring the music.
My grip tightened on the edge of the table.My jaw clenched.
The bond thrummed violently — possessive, territorial, demanding.
I didn't like it.
I didn't like how my body reacted before my mind could restrain it.Didn't like how every other male within ten feet of her suddenly felt like a threat.
I leaned back slowly in the booth, forcing myself to appear unaffected.
But my eyes never left her.
"You know if you keep staring at them like that, they might notice," Taylor said, smirking as he followed my gaze.
Darian snorted into his drink. Seraphine froze, eyes snapping toward the floor where they danced, disgust twisting her features.
"Ugh, first school and now here, are we literally going to be sharing everything with them? I mean, look at them, they're not even mere standards werewolves."
Taylor chuckled, "I think you're jealous of them. Let's face it, you're mad that you're not the prettiest anymore."
"No one asked for your opinions, plus as long as I have Kael, it doesn't matter to me. Right Kaely," she said, batting her eyelashes at me.
I didn't answer.
Taylor leaned forward.
"The princess is beautiful."
Nobody answered.
Unfortunately, he kept talking.
"I might ask her out."
Something cold twisted inside my chest when he mentioned asking her out.
Violent.
Irrational.
Something, all I know is that I felt like ripping his throat out.
The thought appeared before I could stop it.
I hated it instantly.
It was because of this stupid beast that I was feeling like this. He had to understand that she was nothing and that she would never be my mate.
Darien stood up, " Bathroom," he said casually before leaving.
Seraphina took the opportunity to slide from her seat across the table and settled smoothly onto my lap like she usually does. Her scent clashed against the vanilla still lingering in my senses.
Her fingers trailed up my chest slowly.
"You've been distant tonight," she whispered against my ear.
Her lips brushed my jaw, then my neck softly, leaving wet kisses.
Normally, I would have been turned on by this, but I didn't feel anything. My mind was too clouded, thinking I had barely touched Akilah, and somehow she still managed to make me feel something.
Seraphina's nails pressed lightly into my collar as she shifted against me. "Do you want to leave?" she murmured. "We could go back to your room."
"I'm not in the mood," I replied, my voice was calm yet detached.
Her hand slid lower stopping at my waistband, her breath hot against my skin. "Since when?"
"I said," I repeated, tone sharpening, "I'm not in the mood."
Seraphina's fingers tightened. Irritation flashed across her face.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" she snapped quietly. "I'm trying to get close to you, and you keep pushing me away."
Her voice rose slightly above the music.
I finally looked at her.
Really looked at her.
There was no softness in my expression.
"No," I said evenly. "You're trying to distract me."
Her eyes widened.
I lifted her off my lap without warning and set her back onto the seat beside me.
She gasped. "Are you serious right now?"
"I don't have time for this," I replied calmly.
"For what?" she demanded. "For me?"
"For games."
Her lips parted, anger and humiliation flickering across her features.
But I was already walking away not giving her opportunity to argue, the room was beginning to feel cramped, and I needed some air.
—————————
Akilah's pov~
We had been dancing for what seemed like forever before heading to an open table to rest.
"My feet are killing me," Nadira groaned.
"With the way you were dancing, I'm sure of it," Eria said with a chuckle.
Rolling her eyes, " I need to use the bathroom," she said before standing up and heading to look for the bathroom.
The music continues to blast around the room. Eria and I enjoyed our drinks. As we waited for her to get back.
Ten minutes.
Then fifteen.
"What's taking Nadira so long?" Eria shouted over the loud music.
"I don't know, maybe long lines," I said. "I'm going to go check, cause I also need the bathroom. You wait here," I said as I scooted out of my seat and headed in the direction where I believed the bathroom would be.
I finally reached the bathroom, but no sign of Nadira, just a long line.
Groaning, I stood in line waiting for my turn, as I really needed to go.
Closing my eyes to relax the pressure building up down there, I caught a faint whiff of a familiar scent.
Opening my eyes, I tried looking around, trying to see in which direction the scent came from. I moved from my position in line as I sniffed out the direction from which the scent was coming.
The scent thickened, which caused my pulse to stumble.
Vespera, who had been M.I.A picked up her head.
Which terrified me more. Was this it? I was going to find out if I had found my mate.
I moved from my spot, bumping into strangers as I eagerly chased the scent. It led me to what seemed like a back entrance.
I pushed open the back door and stepped into the alley.
Cool night air brushed against my skin instantly, a sharp contrast to the suffocating heat of the club. The alley stretched out in both directions, dimly lit by a flickering streetlamp that cast long shadows across wet pavement.
The scent flooded my senses, and I could get a better sense of it. It smelt of rain on stone mixed with mint.
My gaze swept the alley.
Empty.
No footsteps.
No movement.
No one.
My brows pulled together as irritation flickered through me. I had chased this scent through the crowd, through the hallway, all the way out here.
And yet—
Nothing.
I stepped farther into the alley, my heels tapping softly against the pavement as I scanned the darkness again. The air stirred gently, carrying the scent in slow waves around me.
I exhaled slowly and turned back toward the door, deciding I'd wasted enough time chasing ghosts.
Walking to the door, I notice a figure leaning against the brick wall beside the door.
I hadn't seen him when walking through the door. He was staring curiously at me.
For a moment, I simply stared.
Because beautiful didn't begin to describe him.
His gaze didn't waver.
It held mine with quiet authority, as if he'd been waiting for this exact moment.
Waiting for me.
The scent surged around me again.
Rain.
Mint.
My breath caught.
It was him.
Vee reacted instantly as a violent surge of energy rippled through me as she stirred beneath my skin. The sensation was sharp enough to make my fingers curl slightly at my sides.
"Mate."
For one impossible second, something flashed across his face.
Shock.
Pure shock.
Then it disappeared.
Buried beneath something colder.
His expression, once filled with curiosity now full of anger as he slowly pushed himself off the wall and moved towards me.
My breath hitched in the back of my throat as I stood frozen, unable to move.
No.
That couldn't be right.
Of all the creatures in this world, of all the possibilities fate could choose from—
My mate is a wolf.
His shoes scraped lightly against the pavement as he stepped forward, shadows sliding across the sharp lines of his face.
His gaze moved over my face slowly, like he was committing every detail to memory.
Then his hand lifted.
My breath caught.
His fingers brushed a strand of hair that had fallen across my cheek, pushing it back with surprising gentleness.
His knuckles grazed my temple as he tucked the strand behind my ear, and for a split second, something electric shot down my spine.
Tracing his fingers lower, the pad of his thumb traced the curve of my cheek as if testing the softness of my skin. My pulse hammered violently beneath his touch.
His fingers drifted lower.
Across my jaw.
Then toward my throat.
The shift in his expression was almost imperceptible — the softness vanishing as something darker replaced it.
Before I could react—
His hand closed around my throat roughly.
My back hit the brick wall with a dull thud as he pushed me against it, his body caging me in before I could even process what had happened.
But his grip wasn't crushing like he wasn't trying to hurt me. He was trying to control himself.
His arm braced against the wall beside my head, trapping me between the cold brick and the heat of his body.Our faces only inches apart.
I could feel the warmth of his breath brushing my skin.
The scent of rain and mint wrapped around me completely now, suffocating and intoxicating at the same time.
Vee practically purred beneath my skin.
"Mate," The word echoed again, louder than before.
His eyes burned into mine.
"Why are you following me?" he said quietly, his voice deep and rough.
The accusation hung between us.
I forced my chin up slightly despite the hand at my throat.
"I-I wasn't following you," the words struggling to come out.
A faint spark of amusement flickered across his expression.
Then it vanished just as quickly.
His thumb shifted slightly against my throat, the movement sending another jolt of heat down my spine.
"You shouldn't chase things you don't understand," he murmured.
My pulse quickened.
"And you shouldn't lurk in dark alleys like some kind of creep," I replied evenly, which caused him to chuckle.
For a moment, the air went completely still, and then he leaned closer.
"Tell me, kitty," he murmured. "Does your kingdom teach you how to handle monsters?"
"Only how to kill them," I shot back.
His eyes flickered dangerously. "Try it."
Tightening his grip, he pulled my face closer to his, our lips almost touching.
"I will never be with a disgusting hairball like you. Your pathetic," He said before slamming my head hard against the wall.
Groaning at the impact, I stared at him, the words cutting sharper than claws. He smirked, satisfied.
"Fate made a mistake. And I don't intend to live with it, "He walked away, leaving me stunned with an aching headache.
The alley was empty long after he'd gone.
Yet I could still feel his hand against my throat. Smell his scent, rain, and mint lingering in the air as if he had never left.
I thought that meeting your mate was supposed to be the greatest thing one could achieve, but the moment we first met, a tone had already been set for our relationship.
One thing he did get right, though, was that fate was mistaken, and I also don't intend to live with it.