Moon Kissed (Corvin Academy #1)

Chapter One 2

“Hmm. I bet I can guess what stopped you. One of you naughty boys was listening in. Who was it?” I sang. “Where’s my little wind wolfy?”

The barest flick of the eyes and the slightest tensing, and my gaze turned on the tallest and most ripped among them. It was hard to equate this mountain of a man with something as light and delicate as a breeze, but this had to be him.

Edric of the Wind Wolves.

Just looking at him made my wolf purr. She loved a fine specimen of a man because of the strong pups she’d have with him, and this man invoked visions of tall, strong, curly-haired warrior men with eyes as black as night; sculpted, angular faces; and beauty that would make a grown woman weep.

“Yeah, we were listening,” Chuckles said, draping an arm over Edric’s shoulder. “Seems you thought of everything. We already couldn’t kill you, but now we also can’t punish you without the whole of the mundane world finding out about werewolves and hunting us down. Clever.”

I winked. “Thank you. One of my better ideas.”

Ice Man flashed. Seizing my throat, he shoved me up against the wall—clamping down and choking out anything I could’ve thought to say. “I told you to stop fucking smiling,” he roared. “You have no idea what you did to all of us the night your psycho ass went full homicidal maniac!”

He threw out his hand, pointing to the silent, bespectacled figure with a snarling wolf cut into his coarse hair; black, fathomless eyes; a scar slashed across his cheek; and the flexing muscles of a creature waiting to pounce.

“Orion was thrown out of his clan! Their alpha said if Luame believed his true mate was a sociopath, then that’s all he amounted to as well. If he doesn’t graduate the academy top of his class and with a new mate, she’s going to cut his ears.”

Oooh. That’s bad. A wolf could be thrown out of his clan and find a home with a new one. But if their ears were cut, it meant they committed a sin that couldn’t be forgiven. They were to be shunned by all of Wolf Nation, and if they didn’t run far and fast, they’d be killed.

Ice Man wasn’t done. He hauled me around by the neck, making me trip against him. “Edric’s mother was sick before the mating ceremony. Because of you, he was forced into hiding. She died while he was trapped in that shithole, and he wasn’t able to be with her at the end.”

He hauled me to the left. A growl leaked through my throttled neck but I endured it. The big bad wolf had a point to make. I’d let him make it.

“Nyx was next in line to be alpha, but because he had to piss away his life in the middle of nowhere for a year, his younger brother completed the academy before him and stole his birthright.

“Fucking Paxton over there”—he pointed me in the direction of the guy who was flung across the room—“he was beaten within an inch of his life because his pack believed he performed some trick or stolen magic to become your fate. We had to bring him into hiding with us, or his clan was going to kill him.”

Badr, the last name to be spoken, shoved me back against the wall—trapping me between stone and rock-hard muscle.

“And me,” he hissed. My eyes crossed as he jammed his nose against mine. “You ruined me worst of all. You killed my brother.”

Frowning, I grabbed two of his fingers and pulled them back. “Your brother? What the hell are you—?” Understanding dawned. “Ooohh. Castor and Badr. Both sun wolves, and brothers. I had no idea, but”—I mock-winced—“Castor didn’t exactly have time to share that tidbit with me.”

“Argh!” Badr roared. He punched the wall, raining limestone on my cheek. “This is all a damn joke to you, but we’ll be the last ones laughing.”

Nyx moved in. “If some chick with a video is the reason you’re not rotting in a hole right now, we’ll simply destroy the video. And the chick.”

“And until you give her up,” Badr said, “we’ll make every single second of your life hell.”

“We may not be able to kill you,” Orion added—his voice deep and smooth like a humming bass line. “But no one said anything about making you wish you were dead.”

I flicked from each of them—my mind churning as loud as my wolf was roaring in my chest. Yes, there was desire in their eyes. Yes, their wolves wanted me. But there was something each of them wanted more—

Revenge.

They were resolute, which meant they were gearing up to be a big, fat annoyance.

“Is all of that really necessary?” I asked, voice calm. “I’m not the one who forced you all into hiding, or beat you up, or threatened to cut your ears. I’ve been minding my own damn business for the last year. Won’t you all be much happier if you do the same?”

Five smirks met my eyes. “Nope.”

They filed out one by one. Paxton lingered, rubbing his head and slowly shuffling to the door. His searching eyes couldn’t stop searching me and my state of half-dress. I winked, and he veered in my direction.

An arm shoved through the door, grabbed him, and dragged him out. I shook my head when the door slammed.

“Weirdos.” Sitting back down, I kicked my feet up on the table and sat back to wait.

Good news was I didn’t have to wait long. The Wind rep from the alpha council blew in to make all the same threats as Pantsuit, but she shut up quick when I showed her the video.

For hours we went back and forth in a useless interrogation. She asked over and over again why I killed Castor and where I’d been for the last year, and I told her I was hungry and to fetch me a bacon double cheeseburger already.

We both walked out of the room unsatisfied. Me with my empty belly and her with a fury in her eyes that couldn’t explode my head, like she so desperately wanted to.

My brows bounced up my forehead when I came face to face with our waiting audience. Dozens of people from Pantsuit, to my fates, to a bunch of young faces I only recognized from passing by them when the clans used to meet for gatherings—all packed into the hallway, awaiting the final verdict.

Clearing her throat, Sunella, the Wind alpha, lifted her chin. “Seems you’ve all been waiting in some suspense, so let me waste no more of your time. The high priestess and I have talked and she opened up, revealing her story.”

I stilled, eyeing her out of the corner of my eye.

“On the night in question, she was besieged by madness. The pressure got to her. Finding herself with six fates and the entire hope of Wolf Nation bearing down on her, she snapped.” Sunella actually looked at me with sympathy as she patted the air above my shoulder. “After coming to and realizing what she’d done, she ran away in shame. All this time she’s been away has in truth been due to her stay in a mental health facility, and we applaud her—all of us—for having the courage to seek that help.”

Sunella clapped heartily. After a beat, half the audience confusedly and half-heartedly joined in. My fates and Pantsuit didn’t.

I bit hard on my lip, stifling a laugh. I knew exactly why Sunella was spinning this web of bullshit. The very last thing an alpha was going to do was announce to the world she’d been bested and blackmailed by a twenty-year-old, homicidal outcast wolf. She had to make it seem like she was in control, even if it meant lying through her teeth.

“After talking with her, holding her, crying with her”—Sunella brushed away an invisible tear—“it is the decision of the alpha council... to choose forgiveness.

“Daciana Volana has hereby been granted a full pardon for the murder of Castor Tahan.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” Badr burst out. “This is bullshit!”

Sunella’s eyes flashed. “I’ll thank you not to take that tone with me, boy! ”

Badr rocked back on his heels, jaw clenching.

I eyed him with renewed interest. He had to be a strong alpha in his own right to weather the command in her voice. Anyone else and he would’ve cracked his forehead dropping to the ground in supplication.

You didn’t skimp out when you chose my fates, Luame. Too bad I had to kill one of them.

My wolf agreed—with the first thought, not the second. She was purring in my chest at how strong Badr was. If only she wasn’t so superficial. Anyone that wasn’t a wolf in perpetual heat... could see he was an ass.

“As I was saying,” Sunella continued. “We’ve chosen to leave all the pain and horror of the past—in the past. We welcome the mother wolf back into Wolf Nation and into the academy,” she crowed, holding her arms out to the audience. “For she assures me that not a minute after graduation, she will accept her remaining fates, complete the bond, and bring out a new, stronger generation of wolves who will endure the millennia and beyond!”

The applause that kicked off was much louder and enthusiastic.

I didn’t bother holding back my eye roll. So that was her play. She was trying to turn blackmail into quid pro quo. She pardoned my crimes and I gave her what she, the alpha council, and all of Wolf Nation wanted—the continuation of our people with shifters born even stronger than every generation before them.

And all the while I’m sure she and the council will dig up any leverage they can to put the leash around my neck, and ensure this ends exactly how they want—video or no video.

Pantsuit approached us—expression unreadable. “This is the decision of the council?” she asked tightly.

Sunella met her gaze. “It is. We expect the mother wolf to be supported, nurtured, and guided on the path to fulfilling her destiny. I trust that won’t be a problem, will it, Makena?”

Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “No problem at all. It is the will of us to see the mother wolf do exactly what she’s supposed to do.” Pantsuit stepped back. “Welcome to Corvin Academy, High Priestess Daciana. I am your headmistress, Makena Dagem.” She laughed. “I’m sure I’ll see much of you this year. No doubt you’ll earn many a visit to the headmistress’s chambers, but I don’t want you to worry.” She squeezed my arm, a disturbing smile on her lips. “I won’t give you any special treatment. You’ll be treated just the same as anyone in your position would.”

I flashed her the same phony-baloney smile. “That’s such a weight off my shoulders, Headmistress, since someone in my position would’ve been fed and given the grand tour by now. And be quick about it,” I said, snapping my fingers. “I’m starved.”

Growls leaked through Dagem’s lips, melting that smile away fast.

“Yes, of course,” Sunella said quickly, pulling me away before Dagem pounced. “I’ll need a volunteer to give Daciana a tour of the campus, show her to her dorms, and send word down to the mess hall to bring her meal.”

I sought a face in the crowd. “Paxxy will, won’t you, Paxxy?”

Paxton jerked, looking around like I could be talking to someone else.

Winking, I blew him a kiss. “There’s a treat in it for you if you do.”

He was moving before I finished the sentence—his eyes shining with the hunger of his wolf.

Badr and Orion shoved him none-too-gently back.

Oh yes, definitely the weak link in the pack.

“That won’t be necessary,” Dagem sliced in. “I am headmistress. I will take over from here.” She inclined her head to Sunella, then turned to me. “Return to the meeting room, High Priestess. Your meal will be brought to you in there. While you eat, I will gather your orientation materials, and see about finding you a dorm. We weren’t expecting you. It may take some time to shuffle things around.”

I shrugged. No point arguing with someone when they were giving you everything you wanted. All that mattered was that I was free and enrolled in Corvin Academy. And here I was thinking this step would be the hard part.

Turning back, something made me chance a look at my fates. The Wind one, Eddy or something, pinned me through as he tapped his ear, then shook his head—lips peeling back from his sharpened canines.

They say that the bond between fated mates could become so strong, they can read each other’s minds as easily as breathing. That was not what was happening here, and still I understood his meaning without a word needed.

Dear old Eddy was listening to every word said between me and Sunella, and he knew everything she told the crowd was bullshit. He knew I wasn’t sorry or crying, and he was still coming after me.

I skimmed over my fates’ glares.

They all were.

“Bring it on, boys,” I whispered—knowing they’d hear me clear as day. “I love playing with my food before I take a...” Snapping the air, I licked my lips. “Bite.”

I SAT IN THE MEETING room for another eternity.

Someone did come in and bring me food as promised, and then they had to come in again and bring me another meal, and then another. That’s how long the blessed headmistress kept me waiting while she “gathered materials” and “shuffled things around.”

I didn’t need windows to know it was the middle of the night when a short, stocky creature stuck her head through the door. “High Priestess?”

“Daciana.”

She nodded. “Hello, Daciana, my name is Nia. Come with me, please. I’ve got your class schedule, dorm assignment, and orientation packet.”

“Very well.” Following her out, I studied her. Then I studied her even closer when I noticed she was alone.

Dagem wouldn’t let me be alone with Paxton, but she’ll have me walk through the dark, empty halls with this girl? Why?

Looking at her, she looked no different from every other short, stocky shifter girl who wore oversized blue sweaters, ratty jeans, and an excessive number of butterfly clips in her short, brown hair. That’s when I noticed my wolf.

“You’re an omega,” I blurted.

“Yes,” she replied without skipping a beat. “Okay, here’s your schedule. You were put in the alpha track as requested, but because the alpha class is full, Headmistress Dagem had to—”

“Sacrifice you to deliver the bad news?” I cut in. “Why in the hell would she leave me alone with an omega? I didn’t think she trusted me that much.”

Nia shrugged, pushing her glasses up her nose. “I’m sure she doesn’t. But she sent me because you won’t hurt me.”

I arched a brow. “I won’t? Why is that?”

“Because my omega power is the strongest ever seen.” She dropped this like we were talking about the weather. “No one has ever hurt me. Or will.”

“But I’m an epsilon,” I gritted, towering over her. “So how does that apply to me?”

“Mhh. Well, sure, you could fight it to attack me.” She tipped her head, studying me back like I was a curious thing. “But you don’t even want to, do you?”

I locked on her, growl leaking through my teeth. I raised my hand and my claws erupted from my fingertips—springing forth with the power of the full moon. And inside—

—my wolf couldn’t be less interested. I’m pretty sure she was sleeping.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I said, bursting out laughing. My claws disappeared in a blink. “I don’t want to at all. Guess that means we’re friends.” I clapped her on the shoulders, tugging her in for a hug.

She eeped , eyes blowing wide. My claws didn’t surprise her for a second, but my hug sure fucking did.

I set off, bringing her stumbling along with me. “So, tell me more about that. Has no one really never hurt you before? So when a girl catches you fucking her boyfriend, she just runs up to smack the shit out of you, gets hit with your omega magic, then simply shrugs and walks away?”

“I’ve never fucked someone’s boyfriend!”

I sighed gustily. “Wow. The best powers are always wasted on the worst people.”

“Funny, I was going to say the same thing about you!”

“Oooh.” I laughed. “You’ve got claws, omega. I like it. We’re definitely going to be friends.”

“No, we’re not!” She flailed getting away. Escaping my hold, she fixed herself—visibly trying to reclaim her calm. “Excuse me, High Priestess, but the headmistress was very clear. I’m to give you the information you need, then take you straight to your dorm. No detours. No fraternizing.”

Smiling, I fluttered my hand. “After you.”

“Good.” She sounded a bit breathless—like all that yelling and standing up for herself against an epsilon took it out of her. “Like I was saying, there’s no room in the alpha dorm, so she’s put you in the priestess dorm. But you’ll have a private room and you’re still in the alpha track, so not a bad upgrade.”

I said nothing. Nia stared at me like she was waiting for me to give an opinion, then she set off, expecting me to follow.

“I also have your orientation packet. It took longer to put together because—uh—the headmistress included additional rules and procedures for you.”

Course she fucking did. No special treatment, my very fine ass.

Nia led me down the simple, bare hallway to a pair of large, oak double doors. Shoving on the wood, she swung them open—affording me my first official welcome to Corvin Academy.

My wolf would’ve howled if Nia’s knockout juice didn’t have her snoring away in that sacred part of me where she lived. It was beautiful. Magnificent.

It was home.

I didn’t need to have lived here before to know this was where I belonged. Where every wolf belonged.

I spun on my heels, dancing under the chandelier. Breathtaking scenes of wolves running through the forest carved into the stone walls. Tinkling glass dripped from the chandeliers, bending light into hundreds of shimmering rainbows playing on my skin.

High up the walls, portraits of famous alphas and priestesses looked down on me. Were those disappointed glares on their faces?

“Judgmental pricks.” I skipped over them and tipped my head, soaking in the gorgeous night sky painted on the ceiling.

“This way, please.” Nia tugged on my arm, leading to one of the four grand staircases dominating the grand entrance.

I should’ve snapped at her not to touch me, but I couldn’t summon the will to any more than my wolf could peel her eyes open. The same tranquil calm that infected her infected me. I didn’t want to yell at Nia. Why would anyone want to yell at Nia?

“These are the stairs to the priestess or epsilon dorm,” she said. She pointed to the other three. “That’s for the alphas, the betas, and omegas. We’re not allowed to enter any dorm but our own.”

“We or just me?”

She didn’t answer, which was answer enough.

Alpha, beta, epsilon, and omega. All of us shifter wolves, but all of us different from the other. In addition to the elemental powers gifted to us by different mother wolves throughout the generations, there were our natural-born wolf powers.

Alphas could command with a voice that had to be obeyed. Betas had a similar power, but not similar enough to make them alphas. Their words also had power, but more of a persuasive one. If a beta poured enough whispers in your ear for long enough, you’d wake up one day and find yourself falling in line with their way of thinking.

There were limits on that of course. A beta couldn’t persuade you to do something you’d never in a million years do—like kill your own mother or rob a bank. While an alpha can make you do something you’d normally never do.

But still. If there were any doubts or openings lingering in your mind, a beta’s voice would slip right in and fill in the gaps.

With an alpha telling you what to do, and a beta making you believe you wanted to do it, they were a strong, unbeatable pair. The only choices to lead a clan.

And making up the overwhelming majority of our clans were omega wolves—who had a power of their own.

It was hard to put into words, but the best comparison is the natural instinct we feel when we come across an infant in distress. We jump to making sure they’re okay, fed, and cared for. Pretty much every species that didn’t wish to die out has an instinct to care for their young and ensure they grow to lead the next generation.

Somehow, omegas have an ability to trigger that instinct in alpha and beta wolves. They feel they had to lead them, protect them, watch over them, and above all, not harm them.

It seemed a strange arrangement to an outsider looking in. All of us banded together the way we were even though we spent most of our time living as mundanes, and could do so permanently. How simple it would be to leave the forests and take up the regular, boring lives that earned the mundanes their names.

But the wolves would never do it. I myself refuse to do it. One year sheltering among the mundanes and pretending to be them, and I was driven out of my fucking skull with boredom.

True living was feeling the wind whipping through my fur. It was becoming one with the moonlight and basking in my goddess-given power. It was being strong enough to do whatever the fuck I wanted whenever I wanted.

As strange as it all seemed, the elemental wolves have survived for a millennium—strong and enduring—while the vampires hid in their holes, the demigods fought a never-ending war, and the fae slowly died out. One thing the wolves could say that every other being on the planet couldn’t... was that we’d never been to war with each other.

We never fought each other for territory, wealth, or riches. We never bothered with stupid power plays. We all had our place in our society, and we didn’t ask for more. Everyone including the wolves like me.

The epsilons. Or another way to describe us—the lone wolves.

For whatever reason, epsilon wolves were born with their own power. The power to resist alpha and beta wolves. If an alpha told me to jump, I’d bend my knees, prepare to jump, and then go— hold on, wait. I don’t feel like jumping. And walk off.

True wolves would kick a lone wolf out of the pack. But for us shifters, that wasn’t so easy when the epsilon was your mother, sister, daughter, or wife. At the end of the day, we weren’t animals. Humanity is what makes us human. Instead when a female epsilon was born, and they were always female, we were named priestess—since Luame herself was a lone wolf. And when I was born an epsilon with no belly button, I became the high priestess.

Yes, many envied the shifter wolves and how we knew our path in lives from the moment we were born. But that was only because they were damn fucking fools. Life has no meaning when everything is decided for you.

Including who you were allowed to love.

My eyes traveled up the alpha staircase. That’s where they were keeping my fates. Or, I should say, that’s where they were keeping them away from me. The true reason they didn’t want me in the alpha dorm.

Oh, well. I flicked away as we stepped into the priestess wing. Since when did I let a silly little thing like a wall get in my way?

“Your room is at the very end,” Nia said, breaking into my thoughts.

Normally there isn’t much to say about a hallway, but the priestess wing defied the stereotype. My boots clomped on radiant, sapphire-blue tiles. Like the grand hall, scenes were carved into the stone. Impossible mermaids swam through undulating kelp and fields of coral.

As we passed the dozen or so doors on both sides of me, my wolf ears picked up nothing.

Not a whisper. Not a giggle.

It was no easy feat keeping whispers from the ear of a wolf. Clearly the dorms were all reinforced for our privacy. A fact that would come in handy sooner rather than later.

Nia paused beside the door on the end. She handed me the key rather than letting herself in.

I took care of that. Stepping inside, I got the first proper look at my home for the next year.

My feelings were mixed to say the least.

A large queen-sized bed dominated the middle of the room, but it didn’t have any pillows or sheets. Nothing but a mattress with two large brown stains I didn’t want to look at.

All four bedposts were attacked at some point. Their tops were sliced off if the uneven cuts and hacking marks were anything to go by.

Beside the bed was a large bay window. A nice addition, but again someone went at it, and removed the curtain rods and the curtains, from the wall. The ruined screw holes were proof.

I turned on the carpet—taking in the grand fireplace that was boarded-over, the marks on the walls where portraits used to hang, and the open bathroom that boasted a shower with no shower curtain. The only thing that didn’t look out of place were the stacks of books on the side table, and three changes of simple clothes.

“The headmistress says you have to stay in here at all hours. You’re only allowed out for classes, detention, extracurriculars, or an emergency. If you leave your room for any other reason, you’ll receive an automatic demerit. Five demerits and you’re expelled.”

I whistled. “Harsh.”

“I know what you’re thinking, but the five-demerit rule applies to everyone in the alpha track. The standards for someone who wants to lead a clan are much higher,” she explained. “If they can’t follow the rules, why should anyone follow theirs?”

“That does make some sense,” I murmured. “So what happened here? The headmistress ordered the staff to remove any and everything that could be used as a weapon?”

Nia didn’t answer, which again was answer enough.

“Will you be needing anything else, Daciana?”

She said my name like it sounded strange on her tongue. I got the sense she wanted to call me High Priestess. Or bitch .

I clapped, making her jump. “Nope! That’s all for now, but I will be needing you here bright and early tomorrow morning to give me my tour, show me where my classes are, and tell me who’s who.” I grabbed her arm, leading her out the door. “See you then.”

“Oh, but— I can’t,” she cried. “All of that will be in the alpha wing. Omegas aren’t allowed to go over there. We aren’t allowed to mix with the alphas, betas, or epsilons at all except for special classes or extracurriculars.”

“Then it’s a good thing you don’t have to worry about the five-demerit punishment, because you’re about to break the rules.”

“But—!”

“Bye!” I dumped her over the threshold and slammed the door. But not fast enough to miss her yelling—

“Ass!”

Laughing, I made for the bed, thought better of it, then veered over to the cushioned seat at the bay window. Fishing out my phone, I dialed Lucia.

“Fuck’s sake,” she sounded off. “They still haven’t killed you? What the hell will it take?”

I rolled my eyes. “Give it a fucking rest. You’ll never be rid of me. I’m going to haunt you long after I die.”

She scoffed. “Knowing my luck, you fucking would. So, what? What do you want?”

“To tell you that it worked. I’m in.”

Lucia sobered, dropping her pitying whine over my continued beating heart. “This is it, wolf. There’s no going back now. Are you sure you’re up for this? You’re crazy as hell, but that can only get you so far. At some point, you’re going to need skill, and I can’t bust in there to save you.

“I also wouldn’t if I could,” she muttered—adding that last bit for no damn reason.

“I won’t need you to bust in here and save me. You just do your part, and I’ll do mine. Everything will come together in the end.”

“The end,” she repeated. “We both know how this ends. Are you sure you can do it?”

I gazed over the darkened wood. “Am I sure I can take over Corvin Academy, subjugate an army of wolves that’ll raze Wolf Nation to the ground and crown me its first and undisputed queen?” The mirror reflected my smirk. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.

“Wolf Nation has existed for a millennium without a single civil war, and that ends to-fucking-day.” My nails pierced my palm. “They’re in a war, and it’s one they’re going to lose. What started with Castor ends with me. And I can promise you this, I’ll be the last one standing.”

She laughed, and I joined in—louder, freer, and truer than I have in months.

“Finally,” Lucia said. “It’s about to get interesting.”