Chapter 1 CHAPTER 1

CELIA’S POV

The polished marble floor of the Sterling Grove Academy hallway gleamed under the harsh fluorescent lights, a path of cold perfection I wasn’t meant to walk. My sneakers, scuffed and cheap, made no sound. Theirs—designer leather boots with soles that probably cost more than my monthly food budget—echoed like gunshots. I kept my eyes on the floor, counting the veined patterns in the stone. One. Two. Three. A scholarship omega. A trainee. A ghost. Don’t be seen. Don’t be heard. Don’t exist.

The whisper started like a rustle of dry leaves. Then it grew.

“Is that the new scholarship case?”

“Smells like… laundry soap and desperation.”

“I heard she shares a room with Krystal. Can you imagine?”

My cheeks burned. I focused on the strap of my backpack, digging into my shoulder. Just get to the library. Just get to the quiet. I hugged my textbooks tighter, the edges biting into my ribs. A group of girls clustered by the lockers ahead, all sleek hair and short skirts. I angled to slide past, my body tensing.

I didn’t see the extended foot.

My toe caught. Physics took over. My books flew from my arms, pages fluttering like wounded birds. I stumbled forward, my palms slapping the cold floor to stop my fall. A sharp jolt shot up my wrists.

Silence. Then laughter, bright and cruel.

“Oops.” The voice was sugar-coated malice. “Clumsy little thing, aren’t you?”

I looked up. Blonde. Perfect. Smirking. Helena Vance, daughter of some tech mogul. Her friends formed a half-circle, a wall of designer perfume and contempt. My books were splayed around me, one spine cracked. I scrambled to gather them, my fingers fumbling.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, the words ash in my mouth. “I didn’t see—”

“Obviously.” Helena tilted her head. “You omegas should really look where you’re going. This isn’t the gutter you crawled out from.”

Heat flooded my face, a mix of shame and a anger so hot it scared me. I kept my head down, shoving a loose worksheet back into a binder.

A new shadow fell over me. Larger. Colder. The laughter from the girls died, replaced by a sudden, attentive silence.

I felt them before I saw them. A shift in the air, a pressure that made the hair on my nape rise. Alpha presence. It rolled over me in a wave, spicy and dense, like cedar and frost. My inner omega cowered, a small, terrified thing in the pit of my stomach.

“Problem here, ladies?”

The voice was smooth, amused, and utterly in control. I dared a glance upward.

Five of them. The Hale brothers. They were a wall of muscle, tailored blazers, and casual arrogance. They moved as a unit, yet each was distinct. My heart hammered against my ribs. Everyone knew them. Stars of the hockey team. Heirs to the Hale empire. Predators.

Xavier stood at the front. Silver hair, sharp jaw, eyes like chips of gray ice. He surveyed the scene, his gaze lingering on Helena before dropping to me, still on my knees. A slow smile touched his lips. It held no warmth.

“We heard a crash,” he said, his tone conversational. “Came to see if a piece of ceiling fell.”

Helena giggled, regaining her composure. “Just the new omega, Xavier. Tripping over her own feet. Typical.”

Xavier’s eyes didn’t leave me. “Is that so?” He took a step closer. His polished loafers came into my field of vision. “You. Look at me.”

A command. My body reacted before my mind could refuse. My head lifted. His gaze was a physical weight, scanning my face, my tangled dark hair, my old sweater. It felt like being stripped naked.

“Haven’t seen you before,” he mused. “Helena, introduce us.”

Helena’s smile tightened. “This is Celia Thorne. The… scholarship student.” She made it sound like a disease.

“Celia.” Xavier tasted my name. It sounded foreign in his mouth. “And what do you have to say for yourself, Celia? Making a mess in our halls.”

I didn’t do anything. The words stuck in my throat. My mouth was desert-dry. “I… I apologize. It was an accident.”

“Accidents,” said another brother, the one with dark brown hair and a deceptive softness in his eyes—Jasper, I thought. The pre-med student. He shook his head with mock sadness. “Can be so costly here.”

“She’s sorry,” a third brother chimed in. He had a singer’s build, lean and expressive. Kaiden. He winked at Helena. “Aren’t you, sweetheart? Very, very sorry.”

I nodded, desperate to disappear. “Yes. I’m sorry.”

Xavier crouched down. Suddenly, he was at my level. His scent enveloped me, intense and confusing. My breath caught. His eyes raked over my features, and something flickered in them—not interest, but a cold, appraising curiosity. “You know,” he said, his voice dropping to a murmur meant only for me and the circle of listeners. “She’s not that bad to look at. Once you scrape off the… scholarship.” He looked over his shoulder at his brothers. “Might be a fun distraction. For a week or two.”

The insult was so casual, so demeaning, it cut through the fog of my fear. A spark ignited in my chest. It was small, but it was mine. My mother’s voice, tired but firm, echoed in my head. Don’t let them see it hurt.

I met his gaze. My voice came out quieter than I wanted, but it didn’t shake. “I wouldn’t let you touch me if you were the last alpha on earth. You couldn’t afford the heel prints on your face.”

The hallway went utterly silent.

Xavier’s amused mask cracked. His eyes narrowed, the gray turning stormy. The air grew heavier, his alpha aura pressing down, demanding submission. My omega instincts screamed to bare my throat, to whimper an apology. I clenched my jaw until it ached, holding his stare.

Helena moved first. “You disgusting little bitch!” she shrieked. Her hand flew out—a flash of glittering nails.

The slap connected with my cheek. A sharp, stinging explosion. My head snapped to the side. Stars danced in my vision.

“You think you can talk to Xavier like that?” she hissed. “You worthless piece of omega trash!”

Before I could even register the pain, her foot, clad in a sharp, stiletto-heeled boot, came down. Not on me. On my hand, which was still flat on the floor, bracing my weight.

The pain was immediate and blinding. A white-hot crush of pressure on my knuckles. I cried out, a raw, strangled sound. I tried to pull away, but she ground her heel down, twisting slowly.

“Apologize,” she demanded.

Tears sprang to my eyes, blurring the smug faces of the Hale brothers. They watched. Jasper’s expression was unreadable. Kaiden looked entertained. Xavier’s was pure, icy contempt. The pain was a fire in my hand, shooting up my arm. A sob tore from my throat.

“I’m sorry,” I gasped, the fight utterly crushed out of me. “I’m sorry, I’m unworthy, I’m—”

“Helena. That’s enough.”

The new voice was melodic, firm, and cut through the tension like a knife. The pressure on my hand vanished. I cradled it to my chest, tears streaming down my face, staring at the red, imprinted mark on my skin.

A girl stepped between me and Helena. She was stunning. Long, honey-gold hair, eyes the color of warm caramel. She wore the academy uniform like it was a runway outfit. Krystal.

“Bullying is so passé, Helena,” Krystal said, her tone light but with an edge of steel. “Don’t you have a spa appointment to gossip at? Shoo.”

Helena flushed, but she took a step back. “She insulted Xavier.”

“And I’m sure his ego will recover,” Krystal said, glancing at Xavier with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Leave the stray pup to me. You’re wrinkling your blouse.”

With a final glare at me, Helena flipped her hair and stalked off, her friends trailing behind. The Hale brothers lingered. Xavier’s gaze moved from me to Krystal, something complex passing between them.

“Playing the hero, Krys?” Xavier asked.

“Just cleaning up your messes, as usual,” she replied sweetly. “Don’t you have a puck to chase?”

Kaiden laughed. Jasper gave me one last, lingering look—it wasn’t cruel, more like a doctor assessing an interesting symptom—before they all turned and sauntered away, their alpha aura receding, leaving me trembling in its wake.

Then it was just me, the broken books, and Krystal. She knelt down, her sweet, floral scent a balm after the aggressive alpha musk. “Hey,” she said softly. “You okay? Let me see your hand.”

I flinched as she gently took my wrist. Her touch was cool, careful. “It’s… it’s fine,” I stammered.

“It’s not. She’s a vicious cow in Prada.” Krystal examined the red mark. “Nothing broken, I think. Just a brutal crush.” She looked up at me, her eyes full of a sympathy I hadn’t seen in months. “I’m Krystal.”

“C-Celia,” I managed.

“I know.” She helped me gather my last book. “Look, those guys… the Hales… they’re a pack of wolves. Literally and figuratively. They own this school. You don’t want their attention.”

“I didn’t ask for it,” I whispered, the humiliation fresh and bitter.

“It doesn’t matter. They take what they want.” She stood, offering me a hand. After a second’s hesitation, I took it with my good hand, letting her pull me up. She was stronger than she looked. “Come on. Let’s get you to the clinic for some ice. We’re roommates, by the way. I saw the assignment list.”

Roommates? With her? Shock momentarily overrode the pain. Krystal was legendary. Beautiful, popular, from a family almost as powerful as the Hales. And she was being… kind?

“Oh,” was all I could say.

“Don’t sound so thrilled,” she laughed, looping her arm through mine in a gesture that felt impossibly familiar. “I promise I don’t bite. Unlike some people.”

As she led me away from the scene of my shame, I felt a dizzying mix of relief and suspicion. No one was ever this nice. Not here. But her arm was warm linked with mine, and she was shielding me from the lingering stares. For the first time since I’d arrived at Sterling Grove, I wasn’t alone. It felt like a miracle.

The next few days passed in a strange new rhythm. Having Krystal as a roommate was like having a personal force field. People still looked at me oddly, whispers still followed me, but the direct attacks stopped. She shared her expensive skincare products, let me borrow a sweater when mine was in the wash (“That thing belongs in a museum, Celia, I swear”), and always saved me a seat in the cafeteria.

But the Hale brothers were a constant, looming threat. Our paths crossed more now, maybe because I was always with Krystal. In Advanced Alchemical Principles, the professor paired me with Xavier for a semester project. “Top of the class with our star athlete! Synergy!” he’d announced. Xavier had just stared at me, that cold smirk playing on his lips, before turning back to his phone.

A week later, I spent three nights working on the first project outline. I left the printed draft on my desk in the library study carrel for just ten minutes to get a coffee. When I returned, it was gone. The digital file on the shared drive was corrupted. Xavier shrugged when I confronted him after class, his friends snickering around him.

“Sounds like a you problem, omega. Better start over.”

The frustration was a hot coal in my gut. That night, I vented to Krystal in our room, clutching an ice pack to my throbbing hand—it still ached sometimes.

“They’re trying to make me fail,” I said, voice thick. “They ruin everything I touch.”

Krystal was painting her nails a shimmering pearl. She blew on them thoughtfully. “They’re bored. You’re a new toy. They’ll break you just to see how you sound.” She looked at me, her eyes sharp. “You need to fight back. But not their way.”

“How?” The word felt pathetic.

“Power,” she said simply. “You need a platform. Be someone they can’t just step on.” She put the polish down and reached into her leather tote, pulling out a crisp sheaf of papers. “The Student Council presidential election. Nominations close Friday.”

I blinked. “Me? For President? Krystal, no one would vote for me.”

“They would if you had the right backing. If you stood for something.” She pushed the papers toward me. “I’ve been working on this. A manifesto. Reforms for scholarship students, stricter anti-bullying policies. It’s good. It’s angry. It’s what this school needs.”

I looked at the document. The header was already filled out: CELIA THORNE FOR STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT. It looked official. Powerful. “You… you did this for me?”

“For us,” she corrected with a warm smile. “We’re roomies. We stick together. This is how you stop being their victim. You become a threat.” She handed me a sleek pen. “Just need your signature on the nomination forms. Bottom of pages three, five, and seven. Then it’s official. I’ll handle the campaign. You just have to be the face.”

My heart pounded. It was insane. It was terrifying. But the image of Xavier’s smirk, of Helena’s heel grinding into my hand, flashed in my mind. This was a chance. A real one. To not just survive, but to fight back.

I was so overwhelmed, so desperate to grasp this lifeline she was throwing, that I didn’t read the pages. I just saw the bold lines for signature. The promise of safety, of power, of making them see me.

“Okay,” I breathed, the word full of hope and terror. “Okay.”

I took the pen. It felt heavy. I flipped to the marked pages, the legalese blurring before my eyes. My name, printed neatly. My future. I signed.

Celia Thorne.

The ink was dark and final.