If someone had told Soraya Karter that she would be caught dead at a party before her Twentieth birthday she would have laughed at the joke, but she was here, in a mask party of all, and one filled with werewolves and witches. How ironic.The welcoming mask party, Adele had called it.

The mask Soraya had worn was a blue one which she had gotten from Adele. She looked around with a bored expression as the party went on in full force, her drink hanging loosely in her hands. People lounged around in the open area and around the pool. She could hear the music playing loudly. It made her feel like the only person on earth. There were people everywhere but no one paid attention to her at all, even Adele was out of sight too. She made her way to a more quiet part.

"You look lost, like you could use a companion." Soraya turned around to see who had just spoken, as his voice did not sound familiar, and she saw the guy leaning against the pillar and looking back at her. He was wearing a black mask over his face, although his blue eyes were striking under the moonlight.

Soraya stood straight, her shoulders stiff. "And who might you be?"

"Knowing who I am takes the fun away, what's the purpose of the mask if you ask who I am? It is for anonymity, is it not?"

"Ha," she scoffed. "Fair point."

"So, witch or werewolf? I cannot seem to get a correct whiff of your scent here."

"Seems like your powers are not strong enough, mystery guy," Soraya flatly responded with an eye roll.

"Ah, right." He laughed awkwardly.

"Do you want me to get you a drink? I see yours is almost finished." His eyes narrowed down to her almost empty cup and she grinned.

"Sure, why not?"

It was a strategic move to get him out of her lair, Soraya needed space to think, and she was already regretting coming for the stupid mask welcoming party. Once the mystery guy was out of sight, she turned around and made her way to another pillar that stood far away from the one she was at before, yet still overlooked the expanse of the party.

"Soraya Karter?"

She froze. It had only been a day and yet she would recognize the rough pitch of Prince Daryl's voice anywhere. She whirled around to look at him, trying not to think of how he looked in just casual a t-shirt and a pair of joggers, not spurting a mask like every other student in the party, but he had on a pair of black gloves like she had noticed when he had come for her. She wondered why he wore them.

"I am on a mask, how do you know it is me?"

"You are hard to miss, I would know you anywhere." He had spoken in whispers, that if she had not listened carefully, she might not have heard, but she did and his words confused her.

"What do you want?"

"And why do you think I want something from you, Raya?"

Her lips trembled at the nickname. No one had called her that since she left her Father, and she hated being reminded of her life before now. "Soraya is my name, I will appreciate if you stick to that," she warned vehemently.

Prince Daryl chuckled. "Why are you on edge around me? You speak like you have some hidden hatred towards me," he said now stepping closer to her, invading her space so that she could feel his warm breath even on her face.

Soraya gripped her cup tightly, thankful that there was a mask on her face because she could already feel her skin heating up at his sudden closeness.

"Look around you, at least seventy percent of people hold a hidden hatred towards you, they just do not show it," she retorted defensively.

Never let your guard down. Never let your enemies know your next move.

"I am their Prince, why would they hate me?"

Soraya scoffed. "Are you dumb? Or are you just pretending to be? Because I hope for sure it is the latter, or I would wonder how you've managed to survive six months in this school and also fear for when someone gets the boldness to strike you to death."

"No one would try to kill me in this school," he said with so much confidence that made Soraya chuckle.

"How innocent of you to think so, Ender," she stated.

He kept his gaze on her, one that heated through her from the inside. What the hell was wrong with her?

"Do you want to?"

"What?"

"You speak about people wanting to kill me like you want to, so do you want to kill me, Soraya Karter?"

Yes, she did.

The music wafted through the pillars, reaching them, soft and almost haunting in a way. "And if I want to? Would you kill me before then?" She answered his question, her eyes now twinkling with a mischievousness so vile.

"Would I kill you?" He inquired.

"Yes," she challenged, "would you?"

He reached down and traced her jawline, she shivered at the contact, until his gloved hands reached for her neck and he suddenly pressed down, tightly, causing her to start choking. She had not expected that.

His golden-brown orbs glowed dangerously.

Soraya reached for his hand on her neck, and held onto it, trying to push it off. He lowered himself. "I figured there is something shady about you, but you better back off because you do not want to see my other side, Soraya Karter," he threatened, his fingers pressing more tightly to her neck.

Soraya glowered at him, her grip on his hand tightening. "I see you are not as stupid as I thought you were, Prince Daryl Ender," she managed to sputter out.

"So my hunch was right, you are here for me."

"Unfortunately, you cannot prove that."

He growled, low and menacing. "Do not test me, Soraya."

"I won't until I have to," she answered and finally wrenched his loosened grip from her neck. "You should be careful, your highness, not everyone wants you alive."

•

Alpha Prince Daryl Ender hated that he was right about her all along. He had been so carried away by seeing the human girl again that he wished his theory about her was wrong. He applauded her though, because she was the first person in all of Fenrir to verbally admit to wanting to end him, and that intrigued him.

And as he made his way to his first class that morning, he mentally prepared himself to meet with his newfound enemy - Soraya Karter, as she was admitted into the Academy as a second-year student, which he also was.

"Prince Daryl!" He was snapped out of his thoughts by the calling of his name. He paused to wait for his friends as they approached him. Axel and Dolly were werewolves just like he was, and although when he had first arrived they had avoided him like the plague since they were Fenrir Pack members, it only took two weeks before they finally warmed up to him.

The Fenrir Pack still very much hated the Monarch, but at least they tried to be subtle about it. His mind drifted back to Soraya, that one hated him and he had seen it as clear as day in her gaze, and her words last night.

"Hey, good morning! I heard you have met the new girl. They say she is a witch," Axel commented when they got to his front.

"The Dorm Mistress asked for me to accompany her. That is all I know," Daryl answered Axel, lying through his teeth as they began to walk together to their class, passing by chatty students in the hallway. He intentionally kept quiet about his run-in with her at the party, he would deal with that himself.

"I do not like her," Dolly spoke up.

Axel scoffed. "Do you ever like anyone?"

Dolly glared at Axel, who immediately raised his hands in surrender. "She seems fake. There is something amiss about her," she concluded.

So Dolly had caught on.

"Maybe you are jealous because she is more pretty than you are?"

"How about you keep your mouth shut before I shut it for you, Axel," Dolly hissed. Daryl had never understood the love-hate relationship between those two and did not even want to understand it now. He had a lot on his mind to worry about them, especially now that Dolly seemed to have picked up on Soraya's plight. Dolly had always been an intuitive one.

They entered their class and went to their seat which was behind the class.

"I see that Alpha Prince Daryl has decided to grace us with his presence this morning."

If there was anyone Daryl hated apart from his stepbrother Enzo, it was the son of the Alpha of the Fenrir Pack, Ethan Farrow. That one was a thorn in his flesh and he could not count how many times he had tried not to bash the bastard's face against the wall. Every other member of Fenrir's pack never for once threw their hatred at his face, although he knew the time would come when they would, Ethan Farrow danced upon that notion with pride, and he never hid his distaste for the monarch at all.

"Not today, Ethan," Elle, Ethan's sister spoke up from her seat, glaring at her brother. Where Ethan hated Daryl, his sister Elle was the direct opposite, the latter had a crazy unhealthy obsession with the Alpha Prince. One that made her so territorial of him even to other ladies on campus.

Daryl only tolerated her but barely, and he had never returned her advances.

"Shut up, Elle. You always want to find a chance to kiss his ass, always!"

Daryl sighed. He was not ready for this today.

"At least that is much better than you trying to intimidate someone who is higher ranked than you are!" She shot back.

"Can you both cut it out? This is a class not a space for your family problems." She spoke so calmly, so gently, yet firm enough for everyone to hear and turn to heed to her entrance. She exuded such command of the room for someone who was supposed to be just a human, or witch as she claimed.

"And who the hell are you?" Elle snapped.

Soraya smirked and went for Elle's seat, placing her hands on the desk, she answered. "Soraya Karter is my name and I am new here. I hope we get along..." She looked down at Elle's name tag and then back at her face and with a wink she added, "Elle Farrow."

Daryl Ender's heart probably skipped a bit at the smug look on Soraya's face. Was it wrong to be attracted to her more because of her attitude?

It was wrong, totally wrong, because the girl had secrets that he needed to find out, like why she seemed to be after his head on a platter. But then again, Daryl was always a sucker for doing things the wrong way.

He smirked.