Chapter 1
1.Mine
"An Omega at Blackthorn Academy?"
The girl standing beside me hadn't even bothered lowering her voice.
"She isn't going to last two weeks."
My fingers tightened around the strap of my bag.
Then I slowly turned around.
"Two weeks?" I repeated. "That's actually very generous of you."
The girl was taken aback.
"I thought you people would give me three days." I smiled sweetly.
Her friend covered her mouth to hide a laugh.
"You're going to regret having that mouth." She said.
"Probably." I shrugged and turned around before she could say anything else.
The gates of Blackthorn Academy stood directly ahead of me in an intimidating way as I stepped through it.
My name is Sorscha Erod, and I was officially a student at Blackthorn Academy.
Still didn't feel real.
I peeked down at myself.
My clothing consisted of a fitted white blouse tucked into a black pleated skirt that rode above my knees, almost reaching the middle of my thighs.
My black knee-high boots made the outfit look a little less innocent, which was exactly how I preferred it. My dark hair fell past my shoulders in loose waves.
A black Audi rolled past me making me step aside so as to avoid getting flattened on my first day.
"Welcome to Blackthorn." A voice sounded from behind and I turned, looking startled.
A girl stood several feet away, staring at me with eyes that seemed too wide for her small face.
Her gaze travelled from my boots to my skirt, then to the small silver scholarship pin attached to my bag and her lips curled.
"Scholarship?"
I touched the pin.
"Apparently." I scratched my neck.
She looked amused.
"Good luck."
Then she walked away.
I didn't need to ask what she meant because I already knew Blackthorn wasn't just a school.
It was a hierarchy and I was at the bottom of it.
Omega.
The word had followed me my entire life.
People said it differently depending on what they wanted from me.
Sometimes it was pity, sometimes disgust.
But it always meant the same thing.
Weak
I started toward the main building.
The elites weren't difficult to identify as they moved differently and elegantly.
My first class was History, and thankfully, it was comfortable enough to survive.
By lunchtime, I had already memorized the fastest route from the dormitories to the academic wing.
The dining hall was a minefield. Every table was either full or strategically empty. I approached one with an open chair and a white-haired boy immediately draped his jacket across it.
"Taken," he said
I glanced at the chair.
Then at him.
"By your jacket?" I frowned and that earned a laughter from his friends.
"By someone." He cackled.
"Then your someone should get here before the food gets cold." I said clearly and pulled the chair back.
His eyes narrowed as I sat but to my astonishment he didn't make another move.
I finished half my meal before the atmosphere suddenly changed.
A strange quiet spread through the dining hall and I peered up.
People were staring toward the entrance.
I followed their gaze to behold three guys making their entrance but I seem to be more focused on the first guy.
The two beside him were laughing about something but he wasn't.
Power rolled off him so naturally that I almost missed it.
Then his scent reached me and my body went still.
I didn't understand what happened.
My fingers tightened around my fork as a strange heat spread beneath my skin.
My wolf stirred hard and I swallowed.
No.
She had never reacted like this before.
He also stopped walking and slowly, his head turned.
As our eyes met, pain ripped through my chest.
My wolf surged forward so violently that I nearly fell from my chair.
Mine.
The word came from somewhere inside me.
His scent kept flooding my lungs dangerously and my heart slammed against my ribs.
No. No, no, no.
I knew what this was.
I stared at him and realized he was also staring back and from the look on his face, he had sensed it.
For one heartbeat, neither of us moved.
Then his expression changed into pure, vicious rage that made my stomach dropped.
He was my mate but why is he looking at me like he'd rather watch me die.
Someone beside me whispered, "Holy shit."
Another voice answered, barely audible.
"That's Slade."
Slade.
I have heard that name earlier this morning from my roommates in the dormitory.
Slade, the Lycan and he was my mate.
Of all the people in Blackthorn.
My wolf whimpered as Slade's hand curled into a fist.
He glanced at me for another second.
Then he started walking.
My heart stopped.
People watched him cross the dining hall.
Toward me.
I gripped the edge of the table.
He walks straight past me and leaves the dining hall.
I watch him disappear through the doors, then I notice the blood on the floor.
He had been digging his nails into his palm hard enough to draw blood just to keep himself from touching her.
For the first time since arriving at Blackthorn Academy, I wished I could become invisible again.
Because somehow, being invisible had been safer.
Now the most powerful Lycan in the academy knew exactly who I was.
And he already hated me.