In the central city, inside a modest bungalow house, a family of five is sitting down to eat a meal. Suddenly, their harmonious mealtime is rudely interrupted by a loud bang on their door, followed by a crash, and then an influx of darkly dressed individuals bearing assault rifles.
Their violent entrance startles the family. The young twins begin to wail in fear, the father moves to take up his weapon, but the feel of several red dots on different parts of his body dissuades him.
The mother takes her young children into her arms and tries to console them, while her five-year-old son, with big blue eyes, watches the strangers with curiosity, confused about what is going on around him. Echoes of heavy footfalls break through the tensed silence.
The sea of security men parts to reveal a tall, slender man, dressed in an expensive trench coat, with no hair out of place. Looking at his appearance, it is obvious this individual is a man of importance.
"Jeremy!" The husband calls out, recognizing the newcomer. The man's piercing grey eyes rest on the worried father.
"I am sorry, Jason. The Empress has ordered the arrest of you and your mate," the man delivers flatly, with no emotion.
"What!" Both husband and wife look shocked and confused at this. The young boy's interest escalates, his eyes following everything happening around him with an intelligence beyond his age.
"What are you talking about?" Jason speaks, eager to understand what is going on.
Jeremy's impassive expression doesn't change. "I can't say much until we get to the Oval Office."
The Oval Office, as the name suggests, is a big oval building that serves as the city's center of intelligence.
Jason looks to his wife, asking what they should do. A part of them understands what this is about, but what confuses them is why they are being arrested.
"And our kids?"
Jeremy looks at the brunette, answering coldly. "One of my men will stay with them and ensure they get to your sister's."
This solution doesn't sit well with the woman, but she doesn't have a choice. Two of the soldiers moved forward to take the twins from her hand, but before their hands could touch the kids, something strange happened.
Jesse blinks back the memory of that night, the last time he ever saw his parents, his focus returning to the present to reveal the seaside filled with anchored boats and ships, with lots of people on the dock.
The car comes to a stop at the parking area on the docks.
"We are here," the blonde woman driving the station wagon turns to tell the teenager beside her.
Jesse nods and turns to leave the car when his aunt reaches out to stop him.
"Wait."
He stops and faces her, his expression blank, while his icy blue eyes stare at the worried brown ones watching him.
"You are going to be okay, right?"
The Vulcan Academy opens today. A school for the gifted–werewolves with the gift of the element. As a Gifted, Jesse received an invitation to attend the academy this session a few weeks ago.
The academy is not the reason behind the worried look in Jesse's aunt's eyes, but rather who his nephew is. She worries how her sister's son would fare in the academy when the other students learns of who he is.
"I will be fine," Jesse reassures her in a level voice, his eyes expressing no emotions.
The blonde sighs, knowing she will not get anything else from her nephew. Ever since her sister and her mate died, the boy had retreated into himself, hardly living. She can't remember the last time she saw any spark in the boy's eyes.
"I love you," she whispers.
Jesse nods and leaves the car without returning the sentiment, leaving the blonde more worried than ever. The blonde sighs again, praying that she hasn't made a mistake letting her nephew come here, not that she had any choice. Jesse wanted to come. The reason behind his decision, one that the blonde doesn't know.
Her station wagon reverses and leaves the dock, just as another car drives past it, heading to the docks. The car is fancier and sleeker than the blonde.
Jesse, who stood in the middle of the dock, hanging on to his meagre backpack, turned around to watch the new car.
The arrival of the new car has drawn so much attention. Most of the students hanging around the dock know who is going to emerge from the car. They all watched with excited whispers for her appearance.
The young woman, with stunning features, sits at the owner's angle, her expression bored, arms crossed at her chest, and hesitates to get down, as if building up the expectations of the watching students.
A security guard, highlighted from the passenger's side, moves to the girl's side and opens the door. The girl takes her time to emerge, her action regal and elegant. When she finally made an appearance, most of the student body gushed at her beauty, sighs of admiration, whispers of envy trailed around the dock as eyes ate up the gorgeous appearance of the girl.
"Princess," the security guard bows, but the girl doesn't acknowledge his greeting; instead walks ahead, head held high, ignoring the admiring eyes trailing behind her.
The blue-eyed boy watching her wasn't impressed by her lofty attitude, nor did he see anything special about her looks, nor did he recognize who she was. He was the only one not impressed by the girl's appearance, though his stare was the only one to leave a mark on the girl.
As if she could sense him watching her, Victoria stops in her stride and slowly turns around to meet the blue eyes watching her.
They both freeze as violet eyes land on blue eyes, creating an instant connection and spark neither saw coming.