Chapter 1 The girl on the Cliff

Ophelia's POV

"The video is fake!" My voice cracked in the Headmistress's office. "I would never jump off a cliff for attention."

Headmistress Crane didn't raise her voice. She just folded her hands on the desk and studied me with cold eyes.

“The footage shows you standing at the edge of Blackthorn Cliff in your academy blazer,” She sighed heavily. "Sit down, Miss Ashford. I've already had one call about you this morning, before I called you in."

My stomach dropped. "A call from who?"

"One of the biggest board members of this school, and I was told in no uncertain terms, that there are three families who are already discussing withdrawal over this, and more will follow if this isn't handled today." She tapped a folder on her desk without opening it. "So understand that whatever I decide here, it's not because I'm some wicked person or something. I have grounds for this."

"It is me in the video," I said, forcing my voice steady amidst the frustration that was growing. "But I wasn't trying to jump. Someone stole my mother's necklace and threw it over the edge of the cliff. I just climbed down at dawn to get it back. They just cut out the part where I was climbing." I tried to explain, hiding the tears that threatened to spill from my eyes. "Whoever filmed it stood across the ravine. The ledge below the cliff doesn't show from that angle. All the footage shows is me standing at the edge before it cuts."

She leaned back and folded her arms across her chest. "I believe you might are telling the truth, Miss Ashford, but that isn't the problem."

"Then what is?" My shoulders slumped in exhaustion.

"The problem is the reputation of this academy, and it is what keeps this academy funded. We already have lots of academies that are competing with us, and a lot of parents know that too." Her voice stayed flat. "By this afternoon every parent with a child here will have seen that video. Some will decide Silver Claw is a school where students attempt suicide, just like last year and the year prior to last year. It won't matter to them whether it's true or not, our competitors will chew on it when advertising their schools, and what do you think will happen next, huh?" Her voice rose sharply. "Enrollment into our school will drop, Alumni donors will ask questions, the insurance underwriters reopen our policy, this school will be under scrutiny! That is the conversation happening in the Board room right now, and that is what the Board member on the phone this morning made very clear to me."

Cold crawled up my spine. "But the truth..."

"Right now, there is no truth. Just the rumors that are busy spreading as to why you 'jumped' off the cliff." she said. "My hands are tied here, Ophelia. Any student seen beyond the safety barrier is removed from campus pending investigation after we had no more than three suicides on that same cliff. That's the policy. Today, I have no room to bend it, and I've been told exactly whose reputation the Board intends to protect if this drags on."

"Whose?"

"That isn't something I should be discussing with you." She met my eyes. "For the sake of of this academy and to save our face, bring me credible witnesses who can confirm your necklace story by Friday. If you cannot, the withdrawal process begins."

My throat tightened. "Without proof, it's just my word against a video which everyone has already decided that they understand what's happening."

"Then find the proof." She said it almost gently, which somehow made it worse. "And Miss Ashford, please stay away from Blackthorn Cliff. If you're seen near it again, I won't wait for Friday, Board call or not."

I walked out on shaky legs and shut the door with a soft click.

The hallway felt endless. Students moved out of my way like I was contagious. Phones tilted toward me. Whispers followed.

"There she is. The cliff jumper."

"Pathetic omega. Probably wanted some alpha to save her."

"I heard she did it because Damon Frost rejected her."

That one made me stumble. Of course. Everything came back to him.

I ducked into the music room, the only place that still felt safe, and pressed my back to the locked door. My chest hurt. Tears burned behind my eyes but I refused to let them fall.

Eighteen. An omega. And now the academy's suicidal omega.

My fingers found the silver locket under my blouse. The one I'd tried to get back. Inside was the only photo I had left of my mother. Her death was still a mystery. She'd worked at Silver Claw Academy as a healer, the one everyone came to when pack medicine failed or pride kept them from asking their own Alpha for help. Students still mentioned her sometimes, usually without knowing she was mine.

I couldn't leave until I found out what really happened to her.

The locket felt warm against my skin. On the back, that strange crest was still there, the same shape carved into the old oak tree on Frost land when I was a kid. I still didn't know what it meant.

My phone buzzed. Another notification. Another share.

@SilverClawGossip: Omega girl tries to end it all at Blackthorn Cliff. Damon Frost nowhere to be found. Guess he's finally free of his desperate little shadow. #CliffJumper #OmegaDrama

The comments were worse.

"She's been obsessed with him since childhood. This is pathetic."

"Omega and crazy? Expel her already."

"Someone send this to the Frost brothers. Caden would actually show up. He's always been softer than Damon."

I shoved the phone into my bag and pressed my forehead to the cold wall. I went there for my mom's locket. In less than a day it was already about him.

Damon Frost. My childhood best friend. My first love. The boy who promised me forever when we were nine and carved our initials into that old oak tree.

Then I turned eighteen and no wolf came.

He started pulling away. I became the Ashford embarrassment, an omega unworthy of the Frost name. His parents cut off contact. His friends mocked me. Damon let it happen.

One month ago he started dating Clara Voss, daughter of the Alpha King's Beta. Gorgeous. Powerful. Wolf awakened at fifteen. Everything I wasn't.

Three days ago he announced their courtship in front of the entire pack. I found out the same way everyone else did. Heartbroken, I reached for my mother's locket for comfort and found it gone.

Someone stole it and threw it off Blackthorn Cliff. I climbed down at dawn to get it. Someone filmed it. Now the whole academy thinks I tried to kill myself over Damon Frost.

The door handle rattled.

"Occupied," I called, voice shaking.

"Ophelia."

I froze. Deep. Familiar. The voice that still lived in my dreams.

"Open the door. We need to talk."

"Damon." I unlocked it and stepped back.

Damon Frost stood in the doorway. Six feet tall, dark hair still damp from morning practice, hockey jersey with FROST #17 across the chest. His eyes looked tired and angry at once.

Behind him stood his younger brother Caden, quieter, jaw tight as he studied my face. The Frost brothers, Silver Claw's hockey untouchables, here for me.

"We saw the video," Damon said, stepping inside. Caden closed the door behind them. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I wanted my mother's necklace back," I said flatly. "Not that it's your business."

"It became my business when my name started trending next to yours," Damon snapped. "Everyone thinks you tried to kill yourself because of me."

"Then issue a statement. Tell everyone how you dropped me the second you found out I was an omega. Oh wait, that would make you look bad."

Damon flinched. "I never wanted any of this. You know what my parents are like."

"I know you're a coward," I said, voice steady. "I know you let your family and your girlfriend and this whole academy treat me like garbage while you stood there and watched. So forgive me if I don't care about your reputation right now."

Caden stepped between us. His hand caught my chin and tilted my face up. "You've been crying," he murmured.

I jerked away. "Don't."

"We're not here to fight with you," he said, softer.

"Then why are you here?"

Damon and Caden's eyes met, some silent twin conversation passing between them. Then Damon spoke.

"Because something happened when we watched that video." He rubbed his chest like it still hurt. "Something that doesn't make sense."

Cold dread pooled in me. "What are you talking about?"

"The bond," Caden said quietly. "We both felt it."

I stumbled back until my shoulders hit the wall. "That's not possible. I'm an omega. There's nothing to sense and you know that."

"We know," Damon said, something like wonder flickering across his face. "But it happened anyway."

An omega. Two alpha brothers. A mating bond that shouldn't exist.

"You're wrong," I said. "You have to be wrong."

Caden stepped closer. I could smell ice and cologne on him. His hand lifted like he wanted to touch my cheek, then dropped. "We thought the same thing. Until Damon tried to reject it."

"And?" The word scraped out of my throat.

Damon's jaw tightened, fingers curling at his side. "And I nearly passed out in the locker room. Coach thought I was having a panic attack."

A bitter laugh bubbled up. "So the Moon Goddess decided to curse all three of us?"

I needed a second to breathe. I didn't get one.

"Three mates, actually."

The new voice came from the doorway.

Deus Veyra stood there, phone in hand, the viral video paused on the screen. Captain of the rival hockey team. Veronica's betrothed. And apparently.

"No," I breathed.

His silver eyes met mine. "Afraid, little omega."

The room went dead quiet.

Damon's jaw dropped. "This is insane. She's an omega."

"Then explain why my chest felt like it was splitting open when I saw her on that cliff," Caden said, voice low but steady. "Explain why I couldn't breathe until I knew she was okay."

Damon turned on him. "Could be stress. The game. Anything."

"You felt it too. Stop lying to yourself."

Deus leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. "I don't believe in fate. Especially not with an omega. But I haven't been able to get that video out of my head since I saw it. My wolf has been pacing ever since."

I looked between the three of them. My heart beat too fast. I was sure they could hear it. "You all felt it," I whispered. "From the video."

Damon ran a hand through his hair. "I thought staying away kept you safe from my family, from the pressure. I was wrong. But this bond, I don't know what it means yet."

Caden's eyes stayed on me. "I should have said something sooner. I stayed quiet because I didn't want to make it harder for you, or for the team. That was a mistake."

Deus pushed off the doorframe. "I'm not promising anything. I don't trust this. But it's real. And we need to figure out what it means, fast."

Three mates. Three alpha hockey players. And still no wolf of my own.

I touched the locket again. It felt heavier than before. The crest on the back seemed to burn against my fingers, hotter than it had ever felt.

If the bond was real, why did my wolf still feel completely dead inside me?

And somewhere against my collarbone, the locket kept burning.