My Stepbrother, My Mate (a Frostveil academy book)

Elari 

Snow drifts across the courtyard as I stepped from the car, my mother’s hand on my shoulder guiding me forward like she was afraid I would bolt at any second. And she was right. I didn’t want to be here. I wanted to go home. To my usual school, with my few friends. Where my life had been peaceful and invisible.

Only as  the stepdaughter of the head of the conclave, the ruling council of all wolves could never be allowed to go to an inner city school , one where humans shared classes. I had to come here. 

To Frostveil. The most elite and prestigious school on the continent. If you were a werewolf anyway.

Blowing out a breath that turned to steam, in the frosty evening air, I looked around.. Frostveil Academy rose above me like a frozen fortress, towers glinting in the pale setting  winter sun, each one connected by narrow bridges glistening with icicles and stone stairways that looked treacherous. And between, snow tipped pine trees filled the rocky ravines. 

It was kind of beautiful, in an old fashioned, something out of a medieval fantasy kind of way. I was a modern girl, I had lived in the modern world. Right until my mom remarried anyway. And then it was all about the rituals and the old rules. Rules I didn’t have a clue about. 

Students in crisp deep blue  uniforms scuttled between buildings, laughter and chatter filling the air, punctuated by the dull muted  scrape of blades across the ice of the central arena. They were all headed to the stadium in the centre of the complex. All headed down to watch the first interhouse game play out. 

I guess that part wasn’t so different. Back in my old school, I’d tried to support our school teams as well, although I wasn’t gifted in the sports department at all. But that had been other sports and not ice hockey. I didn’t know anything about that.  I sighed. I guess I would have to learn.

I didn’t belong here. I wasn’t  in uniform and the people who passed us kept giving me side long glances which I desperately tried to ignore. I definitely didn’t belong here not in status and  not in spirit either. I felt like an outsider because I was an outsider. And apparently, everyone else knew it. Eyes followed me the moment I touched the stone steps. Whispers followed me downwards, some of them curious, most of them judgmental, and more than a few out right hostile.

My wolf wasn’t awake yet, it wouldn’t start to wake up until my eighteenth birthday, if ever —but even dormant, I could feel faint, flickering instincts kick in . A prickle of unease , a sense of being watched, something inside me telling me to run. Frostveil’s magic seemed to  tease it awake, tugging at threads I didn’t fully understand yet. 

I’d heard of people getting their wolves early but that was strong wolves. Alphas, or soon to be alphas. The stronger your bloodline was the earlier the wolf showed itself. No one in my old pack had seen a hint of their wolf until they were twenty.

Although I guessed they were my old pack now.

Hand on the icy railing to help keep my balance on the icy stairs I hesitated. My eyes narrowed as I looked at the scene in front of me.

The mass of people, the lights illuminating it all. Students trudged downwards, shooting me hostile looks because I wasn’t getting out of their way. And I couldn’t move. I was frozen to the spot.

“Don’t let them see you afraid,” my mom murmured. “Just… walk tall, Elari. You’ll find your place. Remember who you are.”

She alway said things like that. Like we were something special when in fact we had been nobodies until she remarried. Swallowing hard, I lifted my head high and straightened my spine. “I’ll try mom.” I promised , though every step toward the rink made me feel smaller, I still kept my back straight.. I’d spent my life moving, blending in, hiding whenI could because I hated any sort of attention.

Here, hiding wasn’t going to work. I was too different.

The arena and rink were  alive. Students in their navy blue uniforms waved flags and scarfs of their  house colors excitedly  cheering on their teams, sticks clashing as players from both sides skated and showed off, their  skates biting ice, sparks of magic curling faintly from their gloves. I’d never seen anything like it—the combination of sports, skill, and raw elemental energy.

This wasn’t just any ice hockey game! It was a game between elemtal wolves. Played to show skill and power and brute strength. 

In other words, everything I didn’t have.

I tried to focus on staying invisible because I was safer that way., walking along the edge, letting the crowd swallow me, I let my mother guide me to our seats. Tugging the thick red wooden scarf  around the bottom half of my face. Red wasn’t the colour of Frostveil but it was all I had.

Shuffling to my seat I sank down into it and wrapped my arms around myself to stop myself from shivering. I might have been born a Frostborne, but that was just a name. It didn’t mean I liked the cold. In fact I hated it. “Mom please.” I started to beg her to change her mind again and froze.

I felt it. The eyes. Someone was watching me. Goosebumps erupted all over my skin. 

Across the rink, he stood. Strong. Powerful. Commanding. Kade Pyrrhos. My step brother. He was everything I had read about and more. Even from here with a mass of people and ice between us, I could sense the pull of his wolf.the energy surrounding him was sharp and confident, fully awake. My dormant animal  instincts stirred uncomfortably, a ripple of tension spiralled down my spine that  I didn’t understand.

If I’d had a wolf she would have cowered before him on her belly and whined but I didn’t have that luxury. I forced myself to look away. Focus on anything but him as he glided across the ice.  Focus on not staring at him like a fool.

I couldn’t help it, my  gaze betrayed me, flicking back. And his eyes met mine. Just for a second. A single, fleeting connection—but enough to make the air between us crackle like electricity. Every hair on my body stood on end with the static.

He paused on the ice, missing a shot which his opponents quickly took and stared right back. Frowning at someone in the crowd, with a look of pure - well pure something I didn’t understand.

I turned toward the stands, hoping to see what he was glaring at, only to see students leaning forward, whispering and pointing directly at me. Something about me had them all frowning. Maybe it was my absence of uniform, my hunched shouldered posture, or maybe it was because Kade , the star of Frostveil, was staring at me like I was public enemy number one. His lips had pulled back from his teeth and - I swallowed hard. Was he growling? 

It was impossible to tell but it looked like he was growling.

A puck skidded across the ice, too fast for anyone to catch. It shattered through the magical wards that protected the crowd , heading straight toward me.

Before I could react, before I could even throw a hand up to protect myself from the flying projectile heading straight towards my face, a strange, tingling feeling  flared downward towards  my feet. Frost curled along the edges of my boots   and spiked upwards to make an impenetrable wall of ice that the puck shattered against . some part of me, some raw, hidden thread of power, had awakened just enough to protect me and my mother.

But how was that even possible? I was seventeen. No one got their power before their wolf. Not ever.

The crowd gasped. Snow drifted unnaturally down on my head, caught in an invisible swirl like a mini tornado. I fell back against my seat. My heart hammering.. I hadn’t meant to do that- I hadn’t 

I glanced up,meaning to turn to my mother for reassurance but somehow my eyes found him again.. Kade was watching. No amusement, no anger and no amazement like the excited whispers around me. just that same intense, unreadable gaze, as if he could see something stirring inside me that I didn’t yet understand.

The snow fell harder. The crowd murmured,I heard the word “freak” more than once and  mother’s hand tightened on my shoulder. “Ignore them Elari  Remember who you are.”

I barely heard her and I didn’t hear the horrible whispers, I couldn’t take my eyes off my stepbrother as the game restarted.

I didn’t belong here in Frostveil, so why did I suddenly feel like I belonged to him?