Chapter 1
I am the only daughter of the Lycan King, the future queen destined to rule all packs. Yet my wolf, Nyx, is abnormally weak—like a stunted pup that never grew.
My parents told me that Lycan blood runs too strong, that I need to find my fated mate. Only through the mate bond can the seal be fully broken.
Ten days ago, Nyx suddenly whimpered in my mind, guiding my gaze toward Silvercrown Academy.
To find him, I concealed my identity as the Lycan King's heir and enrolled here as an ordinary transfer student.
I came here expecting a fairytale. Instead, what waited for me was brutal humiliation.
At the start of my first full week at Silvercrown Academy, the hallway was crammed with rowdy students, the air thick with teenage hormones and wolf aggression.
I took a deep breath, nails digging into my palms, fighting to suppress the tremor surging through my veins.
Since dawn, my wolf Nyx had been pacing restlessly in my mind.
This was completely abnormal. As an unawakened Lycan, she'd spent most of the past eighteen years dormant. But now, urgent whimpers kept rolling from her throat.
Mate! He's here, Elara... I can smell him! Nyx's weak voice couldn't hide her wild joy.
I followed that thread of scent cutting through the chaos—cold fir mixed with fresh snow, crisp and dangerously intoxicating.
The commotion ahead suddenly died.
The crowd seemed to part on instinct, a survival reflex clearing a wide path down the center.
A tall figure strode forward. His black T-shirt stretched tight across his broad chest, the fabric shifting with each lazy step to reveal explosive muscle beneath.
Beneath tousled black hair, those ice-blue eyes swept carelessly over the crowd.
He did nothing, yet his presence made the air feel electric and suffocating.
Kaelen. Future Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack.
As the distance closed, that intoxicating scent wrapped around me completely.
My heart slammed against my ribs. The dormant Lycan in my blood roared to life, screaming at me to touch him, claim him, mark him.
I lost almost all control. Pure instinct drove me forward, and I planted myself directly in his path.
"Kaelen..." His name slipped out before I could stop it.
But those ice-blue eyes barely paused on my face for half a second before sliding away with complete indifference.
No surprise. No shock. Not even a flicker of recognition in his pupils.
My heart plummeted. The roiling heat in my veins flash-froze. A tearing pain spread from my chest.
This was impossible. The mate bond was a soul-deep pull that could shatter any resistance. How could he be completely unaffected?
What's happening? Nyx's voice cracked with hurt. The bond goes both ways—why isn't his wolf responding?!
The dull ache of being ignored bloomed in my chest. I bit down hard, ready to step forward again and demand answers, when a girl in a low-cut bodysuit blocked my view.
She wrapped herself around Kaelen's arm, practically draping herself over him, her body pressed intimately against his side.
"Kaelen, you're sparring with me this afternoon, right?" Her voice dripped with sweetness as she melted against him.
Kaelen glanced down at her. Something hollow and rigid flashed briefly in those ice-blue depths, but in the next second, his large hand settled around her slim waist.
"Of course, Sienna." His low, gravelly voice carried indulgence. "Whatever you want."
So this was Sienna, daughter of the Blood Moon Pack's Beta. No wonder she dared act like she already owned him.
As they brushed past me, pressed intimately together, a breeze stirred.
Cutting through Sienna's cloying perfume, I caught a faint bitter scent.
My blood went cold.
Wolfsbane. Processed and diluted—the chronic kind used to suppress wolves without killing them.
Years of royal toxicology training had made me sensitive to even trace amounts of aconite. Someone had been poisoning him systematically.
I stared at Kaelen's profile in shock.
No wonder he appeared cold and flawless on the surface, yet I couldn't sense his wolf—
His wolf had been forced into deathly dormancy by poison!
"Hey, new girl, seen enough?" A voice dripping with venom cut through my thoughts.
Sienna stopped, looking me up and down like I was a piece of trash stuck to her shoe.
"Wipe that desperate look off your face. Kaelen is mine." Her lips curled into a cruel smile. "I don't care what gutter you crawled out of, omega—get lost. You're not even worth the dirt under his feet."
The hallway erupted in harsh laughter.
"Look at her—doesn't even have a pack mark. Bet she's some rogue trash."
"God, another wannabe Luna throwing herself at him. Pathetic."
I clenched my fists until my nails broke skin, using the sharp pain to force back the claws threatening to burst from my knuckles.
Every Lycan instinct screamed at me to rip out her throat. But reason held me back at the edge of losing control.
I couldn't act. Kaelen's wolf was in an extremely vulnerable state under the wolfsbane. If I released Lycan pressure now to forcibly awaken the bond, he could suffer fatal backlash.
And whoever poisoned him was still out there, watching. One wrong move would push defenseless Kaelen straight into a trap.
I had to endure this.
"I'm sorry." I released my bleeding palms, bowing my head to hide the cold gold flames surging in my eyes. "I made a mistake."
Another round of cruel laughter filled the hallway.
"Smart choice, rogue." Sienna snorted, then pressed sweetly against Kaelen again. "Let's go, baby. Don't let this trash ruin our day."
Kaelen didn't spare me a single glance.
He strode forward, his hard shoulder shoving me aside without mercy as he walked away through the gauntlet of mockery.
Pain bloomed where he'd struck me. I stood frozen, watching their retreating figures.
Be patient, Nyx. I soothed my agonized, restless wolf silently, the submission in my eyes hardening to ice.
I'll uncover the truth and bring him back.
No matter what it takes.
