ISLA POV
"I can't breathe!" I gasped, pulling at the tight dress Maya had squeezed me into.
"That's because you keep sucking in!" Maya slapped my hands away from the zipper. "Stop trying to escape. You look amazing."
"I look like I'm playing dress-up in someone else's life." I stared at my reflection in Maya's full-length mirror. The red dress hugged curves I usually hid under baggy hoodies. My hair was down for once, falling in waves past my shoulders. "This isn't me."
"Tonight it is." Maya grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to meet her eyes. "Listen to me. You've spent four years being invisible. Four years letting them make you feel small. Not tonight. Tonight, you walk in there with your head high."
My phone buzzed on the dresser. Another message from that unknown number.
"Tick tock, charity case. We're waiting."
Ice flooded my veins. "Maya, maybe this is a bad idea—"
"No!" She snatched my phone before I could read more. "Whatever that says, ignore it. You're going to this party. You're going to show them you're not afraid. Then you graduate in three days and never see these jerks again."
She made it sound so simple. But my wolf was pacing inside me, anxious and alert. Something felt wrong. Dangerous.
"One hour," I said firmly. "I'll stay for exactly one hour. Then I'm leaving whether you're ready or not."
"Deal." Maya grinned and grabbed her keys. "Let's go crash a rich kid party."
The drive to the Blackwood estate felt too short. Every mile closer made my stomach twist tighter. I kept thinking about that email from the academy. The scholarship review tomorrow morning. The veiled threats.
"Several influential families have raised concerns about your behavior..."
What if going to this party made everything worse?
"Stop overthinking," Maya said, reading my face. "You deserve to be there as much as any of them. More, actually. You earned your spot at that school."
We pulled through massive iron gates that probably cost more than my entire apartment building. The driveway wound upward, lined with fancy cars I'd only seen in magazines. My beat-up Honda looked like a toy next to them.
"Oh wow," Maya whispered as the mansion came into view. "This is obscene."
She wasn't wrong. The Blackwood mansion sprawled across the hilltop like a castle. Every window blazed with light. Music pulsed loud enough to hear from the driveway. Beautiful people in expensive clothes filled the front lawn, laughing and dancing and belonging.
I wanted to turn around and run.
"Nope." Maya grabbed my arm like she could read my mind. "You're not backing out now. Come on."
We walked toward the party, and I felt every eye turn to stare. Whispers started immediately.
"Is that Isla Monroe?"
"The scholarship girl? What's she doing here?"
"Someone should tell her this party isn't for charity cases."
Laughter rippled through the crowd. My face burned, but I kept walking. Maya's grip on my arm was the only thing keeping me from bolting.
"Ignore them," she muttered. "They're just jealous you're smarter than all of them combined."
We made it through the front door into chaos. The mansion was packed with people—dancing, drinking, showing off. Everything screamed money and privilege. I'd never felt more out of place in my life.
"There's a drinks table," Maya pointed. "Let's grab something and find a corner to hide in."
But before we could move, a familiar cruel voice cut through the noise.
"Oh my God, everyone look! The charity case actually came!"
My heart sank. Celeste Hartley stood on the grand staircase, phone already out and recording. She wore a dress that probably cost more than my tuition. Her perfect blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders as she descended the stairs like a queen approaching peasants.
"I didn't know we were doing a 'come as you aren't' theme," Celeste announced loudly. "Someone should've told me so I could dress down too."
The crowd around us laughed. Phones appeared everywhere, recording my humiliation.
"Let's go," I told Maya quietly.
"No way." Maya stepped forward, but I grabbed her arm.
"Please. This was a mistake. Let's just leave."
But Celeste blocked our path, flanked by her pack of rich friends. "Leaving so soon? But you just got here. Stay. Mingle. Maybe you'll catch yourself a rich husband. That's why you came, right?"
"Move," I said through clenched teeth.
"Make me." Celeste's smile was pure poison. "Oh wait, you can't. Because you're just a weak little omega who doesn't belong—"
"Celeste."
The single word cut through the noise like a knife. Everyone froze.
I turned and my breath caught.
Damien Blackwood stood ten feet away, and every instinct in my body screamed danger. He was taller than I expected. Darker. More intense. His ice-blue eyes locked onto mine for half a second before moving to Celeste.
"Leave her alone," he said quietly.
Celeste's confident smile faltered. "Damien, I was just—"
"I know exactly what you were doing." His voice stayed calm, but something dangerous lurked underneath. "Go find someone else to bother."
The crowd held its breath. Celeste's face flushed red—embarrassment or anger, I couldn't tell. She shot me a look of pure hatred before stalking away, her friends trailing behind.
The music started again. People went back to partying, already forgetting the drama.
But Damien was still staring at me.
"Thank you," I forced out, even though accepting help from him felt like swallowing glass. "You didn't have to—"
"Are you okay?" He took a step closer, and something weird happened in my chest. Like my heart skipped. My wolf perked up suddenly, interested.
No. Absolutely not.
"I'm fine." I stepped back. "Maya, let's go."
"Wait." Damien reached out like he wanted to stop me, then dropped his hand. "I don't think we've officially met. I'm—"
"I know who you are." Everyone knew Damien Blackwood. Rich. Handsome. Future Alpha. Player who went through girls like tissues. Everything I despised. "And I'm leaving."
I turned away, but Maya wasn't next to me anymore. I spun around frantically.
She was across the room, cornered by Marcus Steele and two other guys. They weren't threatening her—just talking—but she was too far away.
"Your friend's fine," Damien said. "Marcus won't let anything happen to her."
"I need to—" I started toward Maya, but the crowd had gotten thicker. Bodies pressed in from all sides. The music was too loud. Too many people. Too overwhelming.
My wolf suddenly went crazy, snarling and clawing to get out. Panic flooded through me for no reason I could understand.
Then I smelled it.
Smoke.
"Fire!" someone screamed from upstairs.
Chaos exploded. People ran in every direction, pushing and shoving. I got separated from Maya immediately, swept away by the panicking crowd.
"Maya!" I screamed, but my voice disappeared in the noise.
Strong hands grabbed my arm. Damien.
"This way!" He pulled me toward a side door, fighting against the crowd. "We need to get out!"
But I yanked free. "My friend! I need to find Maya!"
"I'll find her!" Damien yelled over the screams. "You need to get outside now!"
Smoke was filling the room fast. My eyes burned. People were trampling each other trying to reach the exits. This was bad. Really bad.
Then I saw her. Maya, trapped against a wall as people shoved past her. She looked terrified.
I fought my way toward her, choking on smoke. My wolf was going insane, flooding me with adrenaline and fear and something else. Something that screamed danger louder than the fire.
Because this wasn't an accident.
Someone had planned this.
Someone had known I'd be here tonight.
I reached Maya and grabbed her hand. "Come on!"
We ran for the nearest door, but it wouldn't open. Locked from the outside.
"Isla!" Maya's voice cracked with terror. "We're trapped!"
The smoke was getting thicker. I could barely see. My lungs burned. People were screaming everywhere.
Then Damien appeared through the smoke like a ghost, his face grim. "Follow me! I know another way!"
He led us through a maze of hallways I'd never have found alone. My vision was blurring. My legs felt weak. Maya was coughing so hard she could barely walk.
We burst through a side door into the cool night air. People were everywhere, crying and coughing. Fire trucks wailed in the distance.
I collapsed on the grass, gulping air. Maya fell beside me.
"You're okay," Damien said, kneeling next to us. "You're both okay."
But as the adrenaline faded, reality hit me.
Someone had set that fire.
And I had a horrible feeling it was meant for me.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. With shaking hands, I pulled it out.
A new message from that unknown number.
"Did you enjoy the party? That was just a warning. Tomorrow's scholarship review will be much worse. Unless you disappear tonight and never come back. Your choice, charity case. Vanish, or burn."
My blood turned to ice.
I looked up at the burning mansion, at the chaos around me, at Damien watching me with those intense blue eyes.
Someone wanted me gone badly enough to burn down a building full of people.
And tomorrow morning, I had to walk into that review meeting knowing they'd already won.
Unless I ran tonight and never looked back.
"Isla?" Maya grabbed my hand. "Why do you look like that? What's wrong?"
I couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't think past the terror flooding through me.
Because I'd just realized something worse than the threats.
When I'd been trapped in that burning building, choking on smoke and sure I was going to die...
My wolf had been screaming for one person to save me.
And that person was standing right in front of me, smelling like pine and winter storms and something that made my soul recognize him even though my mind was screaming no.
Mate.
No. No, no, no.
This couldn't be happening.
Not him.
Anyone but him.