I waited a few minutes after the boy disappeared down the hall before forcing myself to move again. My shoes clicked down the stairs, echoing louder than they should have, each step prickling my nerves. I turned the corner—only to nearly collide with Tessa.
"There you are!" she said, relief flooding her face. "I've been looking all over for you."
I tried to steady my breath, tried not to look like I'd just seen a ghost. But she must've noticed something in my expression because her brows pulled together. "Nova… are you okay?"
I opened my mouth, but before I could answer, movement caught my eye.
Damien.
He was striding into the building like he owned the air itself, tall, unreadable, dangerous. For a split second, his gaze swept the hall—and landed on me. My pulse jumped, heat rising in my face. I quickly dropped my eyes, pretending to fiddle with the strap of my bag.
Tessa stepped closer, lowering her voice but still excited nonetheless"Ignore him. He feeds on reactions." She glanced at Damien again, then back at me, her lips pressing thin. "Anyway—what I was trying to tell you earlier…" She hesitated, almost reluctant. "I should probably warn you. My Mom is the principal."
My head snapped toward her. "Wait. Your Mom?"
Tessa gave me a small, wry smile. "Yeah. So if you ever find yourself in her office, don't panic. Just… don't let her scare you, either."
I blinked at her, processing, but before I could even respond, Damien's footsteps echoed closer, a slow, deliberate rhythm that made my throat dry.
Something told me that whatever I thought this school was… I'd been very, very wrong.
Tessa elbowed me so hard in the ribs I nearly dropped my books.
"Holy fuck," she hissed, clutching my arm like it was a lifeline. " Damien Blackthorne, in the flesh. God, I'd let him ruin me right here on these steps."
I rolled my eyes so fast I thought they might stick. "You sound pathetic."
She snapped her gum, unfazed. "Pathetic? Bitch, if sin had a face, it'd look exactly like that. Look at the way he walks, all untouchable. Fuck."
I forced myself to glance—just once again. And damn it, she wasn't lying. Damien Blackthorne walked like time bent for him, dark uniform undone at the collar, hands shoved lazily into his pockets, the air shifting around him. His father was Alpha, so of course he could roll in late, like the rules were beneath him.
But what made my stomach flip wasn't his arrogance—it was the memory. That dream. His mouth on mine, the heat of it still clinging to me like a brand I couldn't wash off. I dragged my gaze away before it betrayed me.
"Ugh, I hate him," I muttered under my breath, gripping my notebook until the pages crumpled.
Tessa snorted. "Hate? Sweetheart, if that man said 'open your legs,' you'd be dripping before your knees even hit the floor."
I didn't dignify that with a response.
But then I saw them. He wasn't alone. Two boys flanked him like shadows, one on each side. My pulse skipped.
The one to his left—my breath caught.
It was him.
The boy from the rooftop. The one who'd smiled at me before jumping straight off the edge like he didn't care if he died. The boy who should've been dead.
Our eyes met.
And his lips curled into that same wicked smirk—like he knew exactly what I'd been thinking.
I felt the hairs on my arms rise.
Damien brushed past me, close enough that his shoulder nearly grazed mine, but he didn't even glance my way. Not a flicker of recognition. Nothing. Just cold dismissal.
But the rooftop boy?
He looked straight at me.
And smirked.
Like a dare.
The third boy, on Damien's right, I didn't recognize—but his presence was sharp, dangerous no less.
Tessa groaned beside me, practically fanning herself. "Fuck me sideways, Nova, this school just got hotter than hell."
But I couldn't answer her. My heart was still racing, caught between the dream I couldn't shake of alpha's son who didn't look at me, and the stranger who did—like he already knew how to unravel me.
I blinked at her, trying to get my thoughts in order. "Wait… the blond one? The guy to Damien's left—who is he?"
Tessa practically vibrated beside me, her eyes locked on the boys' retreating forms. "Oh my god, Nova, you don't even know? That—that is Kieran Vale, didn't you read anything about this school before coming here?"
"Kieran…?" I repeated, my brow furrowing.
She threw her hands in the air like I'd just confessed I didn't know the sun existed. "Kieran Vale, babe! Golden hair, sharp-ass tongue, mouth that could make a priest cum in his robe if he wasn't careful, and a smile that will ruin your entire life before breakfast. Flirtatious as hell, reckless like he thinks gravity doesn't exist, and dangerous—oh, don't even get me started. He's literally one of the Four Kings."
"The… Four Kings?" I asked, completely lost.
Tessa groaned dramatically. "The top senior badasses of the academy, duh. The cream of the crop. The guys who were basically born with a full curriculum shoved into their brains and muscles that could crush a grown werewolf like a grape. They're like… prodigies from birth, Nova. Unstoppable, untouchable, untamed. And yes, they are ridiculously hot."
I tried to ignore the way my pulse ticked just thinking about the blonde haired guy, Kieran was it?
Tessa's grin widened as she leaned closer, lowering her voice like she was about to reveal government secrets.
"Okay, so, let's do a proper rundown," she said, gesturing toward the hallway where the boys were disappearing. "First, Kieran Vale—the blonde hottie you just noticed. He is called the Golden rebel. He hates girls who try to play coy with him because he doesn't do patience. He likes it when you just say what you want, get straight to the point. Otherwise… he'll ghost you, toy with you, or straight-up humiliate you. And trust me, babe, he's way worse than Damien if you cross him."
I tried to absorb that without hyperventilating. Way worse than Damien? could there me anyone worse than Damien.
Tessa's eyes sparkled with mania. "Then there's Malakai Draven, He's not in school today again—total mysterious broody genius. Quiet, smart as a whip, tragic past that makes you want to wrap him in a blanket and take care of him but also kind of scary as fuck. Dude's like poetry and knives rolled into one. Don't get caught staring at him too long. You'll lose your soul."
I shivered involuntarily.
"And the third…" she continued, voice dropping into a teasing purr, "Lucien… or Lucius Vale depending on who you ask. He's the guy to Damien's right. Dark hair, dark eyes, the kind of guy who walks in a room and your stomach flips like you swallowed a rollercoaster. Sneaky as hell, brilliant in combat, and a total manipulator. Girls literally beg to get on his radar. You. Would. Die."
My chest was tightening with something that was definitely not school-induced anxiety.
Tessa's voice went lower, reverent almost. "And last… the one you already hate with every cell in your body, Damien Blackthorne. The baddest of the bad. Everyone knows he's the top. No one outranks him in fear or… desirability. He doesn't need a crown to be the king of the Four Kings—he just is. And yes, he's gorgeous, entitled, sexist, and everything you're gonna swear to despise… and secretly kind of wish he wasn't."
My stomach twisted. She had me pegged.
She leaned back, clapping her hands like she'd just finished the most important lecture in history. "So, yeah. That's the Four Kings, babe. Each one a walking catastrophe for every girl in the academy. And now you know."
I bit back a groan, trying not to think about the blond one who had jumped off a roof just minutes ago. Or the dark storm-cloud of Damien. Or… hell, I didn't even want to admit how many thoughts Tessa had just dragged into my head.
She gave me a cheeky nudge. "Welcome to the big leagues, Nova. Don't faint before lunch."
****
Our next class was combact we were informed by the principal that the instructors could not make it so some seniors would be in charge of our training today.
What I was not expecting was them.
The doors of the combat hall slammed open, and suddenly the air wasn't just thick—it was suffocating. Every head snapped toward the entrance.
They walked in like they owned the ground, like the tiles should have burned with every step. Three of them.
The room bowed, not literally, but in the hush that followed.
Lucian spoke first, voice low and sharp, the kind that crawled under your skin.
"Welcome to Noctis Dominium," he said, eyes raking over the trembling first-years. "Here, you'll learn quickly. Or you'll break faster."
A nervous shuffle rippled through the students.
Kieran was next, leaning casually against the railing as though the whole room was his personal stage. His grin was sharp, his tone mocking.
"Don't worry. Some of you won't last long enough to embarrass yourselves. Consider that mercy."
A few chuckles rose, desperate and awkward. His eyes glittered as if he fed on the discomfort.
"Survival here isn't about strength. It's about cruelty. Learn the difference."
That silence afterward was heavier than any roar.
And then—Damien.
He hadn't moved until then, but when he did, it was like the floor itself gave way. His presence pressed on the room like a storm building, his gaze slicing through every body until it pinned and burned.
"We don't tolerate weakness in Noctis Dominium," he said simply, each word deliberate, final. His eyes cut like a blade. "Pair off."
The command cracked like thunder. The hall erupted in movement, students scrambling to find partners before they were left standing alone, exposed.
And that's when Damien turned his head—straight toward me.
"Omega you're with me,"