The lycan prince's ruin

CHAPTER ONE 

ZORA’S POV

“Move your luggage or I will have my men toss it off the platform while the train is still moving,” a deep, gritty voice commanded.

The voice belonged to a tall, heavily built guy wearing a thick black leather jacket with the academy’s silver crest stamped on the shoulder. 

He was standing in the narrow, cramped aisle of the mountain train carriage, viciously looking down at a younger Beta student who was trembling while trying to jam a heavy trunk into the overhead compartment. 

The rest of the students in the cabin kept their heads down, completely ignoring the blatant bullying because they recognized the elite varsity hockey uniform the guy wore. They wouldn’t dare to speak up because if the case was reversed the beta wouldn’t speak up for them.

I leaned back against my hard ass seat, crossing my arms over my chest as I watched the display unfold just three rows ahead of me.

My blood boiled, not just because the guy was obviously an obnoxious and arrogant prick, but because his entire posture screamed the kind of inherited Alpha entitlement that had destroyed my life. 

I adjusted the strap of my canvas duffel bag on my lap, feeling the forged admission documents slightly against my ribs under my heavy winter coat. 

Those stolen papers were my only ticket into this exclusive mountain fortress, and I could not afford to draw attention to myself, but watching this brute power trip was pushing me past my limit.

I was weak to my true nature. Empathic to a fault. Even at the detriment of my own existence. A majority feature of my clan. The creatures with fins. The ones who filled the seas. Until—

“He is clearly struggling with the weight, so you could either help him or walk around him instead of barking orders like a rabid dog,” I said, my voice cutting cleanly through the low hum of the train engine.

The entire carriage went completely silent. The trembling Beta student froze, his hands still glued to his trunk, while every head slowly turned in my direction with expressions of absolute terror and disbelief.

The heavy-built guy in the leather jacket blinked in confusion, his jaw tightening as his eyes locked onto me, clearly not used to anyone challenging his authority.

The bully stepped aside, and that was when I noticed the guy standing right behind him in the shadows of the aisle. 

The crowd of students in the surrounding seats shrunk back instantly to clear a path for him. 

He was taller, with broad shoulders that filled out a tailored dark wool coat, and sharp, striking features that looked like they had been carved out of the mountain ice outside the window.

His dark, lifeless eyes locked onto mine, carrying a heavy, suffocating pressure that sent an immediate warning signal through my body.

That was Valen Morwen. Even without an introduction, the expensive cut of his clothes and the immediate submission of everyone around him made his identity obvious. 

He was the top striker of the varsity hockey team, the undisputed king of the academy, and the son of the man who had ruined my life. Looking at his face, all I could see was the primary target of my revenge, the exact person I had traveled into these frozen mountains to destroy.

A sharp, painful memory flashed through my mind, vivid and sudden. I saw the orange flames consuming our clan manor, heard the agonizing screams of my mother as the unwanted breached the doors.

I remembered the tight grip of my older brother as he dragged me to the hidden cellar escape hatch. 

‘Run, Tressa, and never look back,’ he had whispered right before he closed the door and surrendered himself to the armed enforcers so I could get away.

My family had been framed for embezzlement, their lives stolen to protect a dark secret, and the evidence I now carried pointed directly to Valen’s family.

I forced the memory down, clenching my fists inside my coat pockets until my nails dug into my palms, keeping my expression entirely flat as Valen stepped closer to my row.

He stopped right in front of my seat, leaning down slightly so his face was only inches from mine. 

Up close, I could smell the crisp scent of winter air, expensive cologne, and a faint, braze like undertone that made my skin tingle with an unexpected, sudden jolt of electricity. 

The heat radiating off his body was intense, completely contrasting with the freezing temperature of the carriage, and it seemed to roll over me in waves.

He let his gaze drift slowly down to my lips, his eyes darkened for a moment as he took his time inspecting me, before snapping his gaze back up to mine. A mocking smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“You have a very loud mouth for a stray scholarship student who barely belongs on this train,” he murmured, his voice a low, smooth purr that vibrated right through my chest, causing an unwanted shiver to run down my spine.

“And you have a very large ego for someone who needs an entire security detail just to walk down a train aisle,” I shot back, refusing to break eye contact.

The air between us became thick and heavy, making it feel almost impossible to breathe in the small space between our faces. 

He reached out, his long fingers brushing against the side of my neck as he tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear, his warm skin sparking another intense wave of heat against my flesh that made my breath hitch. 

“For a nobody you have a lot of pride.” He chuckled. Up close his lashes fluttered like a butterfly’s wing.

He squeezed my jaw just firmly enough to let me feel his immense physical strength, his thumb brushing over my lower lip in a slow, deliberate movement that felt incredibly intimate and deeply threatening at the same time.

“I have common sense not pride,” I tried pushing away from his weirdly intoxicating touch. “I don’t use my power to trample on others.”