Chapter 1 HUNTING SEASON

"Look, I'll be blunt; I didn't come here to get a diploma or learn pack politics."

Ria applied the latest shade of lipstick to her lips, blew a sexy kiss to her reflection in the mirror, and then grinned, slapping my legs as they dangled from the bunk bed.

"I have one goal, Elara: To snag a rich, powerful Alpha—preferably one with a last name heavy enough to rule a kingdom. Everything else? Just details."

I couldn't help but laugh. It had only been two hours since I met Ria, but the girl's honesty was disarming. She had come to Blackwood Academy to "hunt a husband"; I had come to "save my life."

I unzipped my bag and pulled out the cold, silver flask. My grandmother's voice echoed in my mind: "You feel the wolf inside, but you cannot hear it. It is rotting inside that cage, Elara. This curse has silenced your voice. If you don't go to that school, you will remain trapped in your own body and die."

I tipped the flask back. It tasted like rusty iron and stale coffee. It was disgusting, but I had no choice. This potion suppressed the scent of death radiating from the "cursed and locked" wolf inside me, masking me to smell like a faint Beta. Wolves lived by scent. If you smelled "wrong," they would tear you apart. Years ago, my pack was cursed. And I had been forced to come to this school to find the ciphers for the potion that would break it. I wished I had an easy life like Ria.

"Come on!" Ria was waiting at the door, wearing a skirt short enough to make cheerleaders jealous. "Wolves don't wait when they're hungry. Besides, the captains of the Lacrosse team are sitting at that table."

I took a deep breath and followed her out. Time to act.

The dining hall resembled a runway more than a school cafeteria. The moment we stepped in, the noise, the expensive perfume, and the heavy scent of testosterone made my head spin. This wasn't a classic high school; this was an arena where the toothed ate the toothless.

Ria guided me through the crowd like a professional agent.

"Over there is the Nerd Pack, the tech crew. That corner is the Southerners, rough types, don't mess with them. And over there..." She subtly nodded toward a table at the far end of the hall, raised slightly higher than the others.

Those at that table were different. They wore leather jackets bearing the school crest. Their posture, their laughter... screamed "This place is ours."

"It's our lucky day," Ria said in a hushed voice. "Kael Draven is there."

I looked out of reflex.

Kael Draven. The heir to the family that owned the school. The strongest Alpha.

He sat sprawled in his chair. His jet-black hair was messy. The blonde boy next to him was telling a story and laughing, but there wasn't a single expression on Kael's face. He was bored. He looked bored with the world, the school, everything.

Suddenly, he stopped.

He dropped the fork in his hand.

He lifted his nose into the air. It was the movement a predator makes the moment it catches a scent.

He turned his head and, despite us being on the other side of the hall, he noticed me. His eyes were light blue. Ice blue.

"Shit," Ria said. "He noticed you. But... that’s not a 'I like you' look."

Kael stood up, pushing his chair back with a loud scrape. The hum in the hall cut off like a knife. Everyone's eyes turned to him. He was looking only at me.

He started walking. The crowd parted before him like Moses parting the Red Sea. My heart was battering against my chest. Was the potion not enough? Did he sense the curse?

He stopped right in front of our table. Up close, he was much taller, and the dominant energy he radiated cut off my breath.

He didn't look at me. He leaned in, his face getting so close to my neck that I felt his hot breath on my skin.

He took a deep breath.

His brows furrowed. With an expression mixed with disgust and anger, he locked his eyes on mine.

"You..." he said, his voice clear and full enough to echo through the entire hall. "You look normal on the outside. But..." he made a face as if talking about a dumpster, "something inside has died."

The whole hall held its breath, watching us. This was a social execution.

"Something smells rotten here. You smell like a carcass, new girl."

When he turned and walked away, the silence in the hall gave way to whispers and snickers. Kael Draven had branded me. My name was no longer Elara; it was "Rotten."