The room was quiet, the wall clock ticking. I couldn’t sleep, my thoughts racing even though I’d had the best first evening at school—all thanks to Jayden.

He had dropped me off at my dorm.

“See you around?” he smiled.

“Sure.”

Then a shower followed. No dinner. A little sleep. Then… nothing.

My mind was all over the place, especially when I realized I was beginning to forget some core aspects of my previous life. I had noticed this after meeting Jayden. The conversations were new, the experiences different. And every time I relived a moment differently, the old memories blurred—names and motives first, before faces.

Panic set in.

How was I supposed to alter my unfortunate end when I was beginning to forget the past?

Why was the moon goddess switching up the program?

---

The beep of the alarm woke me. I hadn’t realized I’d slept off again. I checked the time—7:00 A.M.

Holy sh*t!

I rushed to the bathroom and had a quick bath, but as I was coming out, something stirred inside me. A sharp growl, then a quick splurge of energy—as pure as could be.

I recognized this sensation. It was my inner wolf awakening.

“Please,” I begged. “Stay put. Don’t ever show yourself in this school or we’ll be dead before you even see the moonlight…”

My plea was in vain as my chest grew heavy, my breathing erratic. I desperately tried to hold onto something—anything—while my muscles spasmed vehemently.

It took a while, plus some miracle, before calmness returned to me. By then, I was already sprawled on the floor, quivering like an epileptic.

Gradually, I steadied my breath. Then, I got up.

I had claimed to be able to see the future, but it seemed Courtney was the one who actually could. It was as if she knew this confrontation with my inner wolf would happen, hence why she demanded I live alone.

It was all making sense now.

The truth was that if anyone had witnessed me like this, I would have been in trouble. Courtney knew this. She knew more than she let on.

I got dressed in record time and, before long, was already in school, searching for my class. The hallway was swarming with wolves—tall, short, fine, and ugly. I could smell them all since my inner wolf was getting increasingly sensitive by the hour.

“Hello,” a girl in round spectacles hollered at me.

I turned. “Hi.”

“I’m Kim Opera.” She smiled, clasping her books tighter to her chest.

My eyes trailed her from head to toe. She was somewhat chubby, her uniform a little loose. I could smell her Omega wolf from a distance.

God, no!

She wasn’t the kind of person I had been hoping to connect with. Nonetheless, I smiled back. “Zoe Aukland here.”

We shook hands.

“You must be the new girl?” she yelped.

My brows furrowed.

“Don’t worry, everyone knows.” She chuckled.

I glanced around sharply. “Everyone?”

“Yeah.”

“How?”

“We’re just three students in final year. So when we heard you were coming, we were all excited.”

I peeked at the crowd in the lobby again, wondering how there were only three students in finals.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Kim continued, but I remained mute.

“Most parents usually pull their children from the school when they reach the finals because they’re not certain if they’ll make it.”

“They prefer to take their chances with the humans, huh?”

“Yeah, at least they get to live.”

“Hmm… isn’t that dangerous? What if they later turn successfully? That close, they could hurt humans. That’s an unforgivable sin.”

“True. This is why the hunters were established in the first place. But obviously, they’re doing worse than that now and the purpose has been defeated.”

“I see.”

“Let’s leave matters like this to the Crescent Seat, shall we?”

“Yeah. But I must say, you sound well-learned and smart.”

“Nerd—” she corrected me, flashing a nervous smile. “That’s what the cool kids call me. P.S., I don’t usually roll with the cool kids.”

“There are cool kids here?”

“Of course!” She giggled. “Come, let me show you around.”

“Are we not supposed to be having class now?” I asked, trying to avoid her company by all means but failing woefully.

“Zoe Aukland, class starts after breakfast. Can you not see everyone rushing to the Dining Hall?”

“Oh,” I shrugged. “Yeah, sure. Breakfast it is then.”

She grabbed my hand with excitement. “There’s a lot to learn.”

“I’m good. I’ll learn later—”

“Come on!” she pulled me on.

---

The dining hall was a large, luxurious space with numerous round mahogany tables and glistening yellow chandelier lights that gave the expanse a golden hue.

White ceramic plates were already set, tablecloths spread neatly, and gold cutlery arranged down to the detail.

“Breathtaking, huh?” Kim mused.

I nodded.

“I could never get used to it,” she added. “They say the first Crescent Alpha built this hall with his bare hands.”

“Come on, Kim. You know that’s a lie.”

“It’s not!” her eyes widened. “You see, that is why this hall is the only place we get to mingle with the students at the Tertiary. It’s the one place that reminds us that we are all wolves alike.”

My heart leaped with excitement when I heard that people from the Tertiary were coming.

Jayden.

“Speaking of the devil…” Kim gestured at a group of people swaggering in.

They looked bigger, more refined, yet with a sexual appeal that could murder anyone. I noticed the colors of their eyes from a distance with my wolf senses. Some had sea-green eyes, others ocean-blue, hazel, wood-brown, or gray…

“My goodness!” I exclaimed in a whisper.

“I know, right? They’re hot as hell.”

“Yeah. Were they hand-picked? I mean, how are they so fine—a sharp contrast to us?”

“The turning does that to them, Zoe.”

“So you mean, when I turn, I become drop-dead gorgeous?”

“If—” she corrected me. Then I noticed her face assume a more melancholy expression. “If we make it, then we’ll be like that. Or even hotter. I’m really counting on that, you know, because I don’t look any good.”

I sensed her sadness deep in my soul, so I grabbed her hand. “You will survive this, Kim.”

She pressed her lips together, shaking off teary eyes. “Next month…”

“Yes, next month you’ll be prettier than you ever dreamed of, and get yourself a sweet mate.”

“A Sigma?” She smiled wildly.

I nodded. “Yes, a Sigma.”

“How do you know that?”

“I just do. We are the brave ones, remember?”

“We are. The ones who stayed when everybody ran for their lives.”

“Exactly! Even the moon goddess knows this.”

We shared a moment of quiet, full of smiles and dreams.

“You’re different, you know.” Kim finally let out.

My brows crumpled. “How?”

“Well, for one, everyone tries to avoid me. The boys, they call me fat. But you—you don’t care. You’re not about all of that. You sound older too, more focused, eager to learn...”

Alarms went off in my head. This Kim was too smart. I’d better shut up from now on. Or better still, stay away, before she figured me out.

“Hey, little wolves, this is our spot now,” a familiar voice cut through the conversation.

I veered around. It was Sara.

She had an evil smirk plastered on her face.

Not good.

---

Sara set her palm flat on the table—claiming it. Two seniors at the next table dipped their chins in acknowledgment. It wasn’t a rule; it was older than rules.

I knew this from memory. It was a Wolf code embedded in those who had turned.

Sara stood beside a blonde colleague, elegant and striking in a way she wasn’t—and I recognized the game instantly.

“Hey, sister.” I grinned.

The other girl’s eyes widened.

“She is your sister?” she asked Sara.

“F*ck no, I don’t know that ugly b*tch,” Sara retorted, her face twisting like just the sight of me disgusted her.

“Ugly?” Kim intoned. “No way, Zoe is fine as f*ck—”

“Shut up, fat face!” Sara shot back, then turned to her new friend. “Could you imagine, Ciara? No one was talking to that bag of rice.”

“It’s Ciara now, huh? That’s why you’re being unnecessarily rude?” I sneered.

“Just get out of this place. Find somewhere else to sit, girl.”

I stood up, my face set like a flint. “No.”

“What the heck? Who do you think you are?” Ciara cut in.

“Oh, she is a member of the Crescent Seat family!” Kim protested.

“I will say this one last time. Omega mouths speak last!”

“I’m not an Omega!” Kim’s lips folded in defiance.

“Fat face!”

“Call her that one more time,” I squared up to Ciara. Hard eyes. Heavy breath.

“Get out of my face, girl.” She pushed me back. I nearly stumbled and fell—she was way stronger than I expected.

My inner wolf thrashed. But I stilled it, veins rising on my neck as I passed my gaze from Ciara to Sara.

“So, this was your plan all along, huh? You’d do anything just to belong—to be called a cool kid?”

“Your friend should have told you this is our space,” Ciara intoned.

“I don’t see your names written anywhere on the tables.”

“Oh well, I don’t expect a junior wanna-be wolf to understand that there are rules around here—”

Our standoff was quickly cut off by a strong sensation picked up by my inner wolf. The chandelier chimed. The note was exactly the pitch of a chain snapping. For a breath, the hall blurred—then a scent—cedar and warm rain—cut through…

“What do we have here? It’s the new girls…”

I veered around, and my heart skipped.

“Jayden!”

He smiled, pulling me into a warm hug regardless of my state. His smell was cosmic. And his strength—peaceful. I always lost myself in the moment, but he pulled away, flashing me that killer smile.

“Nice to see you again, Zoe.”

“Same here.” I smiled back.

“Have you met my brother?” His hand went around another male’s shoulders. Then I looked at his face—and froze.

“Zoe, meet Brad. My younger brother.”

“Hello,” he tried to shake my hand, but I didn’t move. An awkward air lingered as my wolf senses assessed him. A silver ring on his middle finger flashed in my eye. He saw me see it and smiled a fraction too slow, like a man who enjoys the wince.

Could he be Bloodhound?

Perhaps it was his aura or my PTSD, but I couldn’t breathe until he changed his focus to the girls behind.

I could tell he was immediately smitten by Sara from the way his pupils dilated on seeing her. He even adjusted his tone, lowering his voice to a deeper edge.

“Wow, you look like heaven,” he said to her.

“Thank you.” Sara brushed a strand of hair off her face.

Then I saw it.

Her eyes were constantly swaying toward Jayden, even while Brad couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“This is wonderful. Beautiful women everywhere.” Brad continued.

“Hi, I’m Kimberly Fleetwood,” Kim waved nervously at no one in particular.

It was only Jayden who looked in her direction and waved back.

“Hey, Kim. How are you?”

“I—I am g—good,” she stammered.

“Perfect! Let’s all dine together.” Jayden’s larger-than-life personality was already showing. At this point, his warmth was almost contagious.

“What?” Ciara fumed.

“Of course. It will be fun getting to know you all.”

“I agree,” Brad echoed, eyes still fixed on Sara.

And just like that, it began—the countdown to hell.

Slowly, we all took our seats. Hearts pounding. Eyes searching. Utensils clinking.

The smell of freshly baked bread began to ooze from the servers nearby.

Breakfast was ready.