Chapter 1
Dahlia ~
The imposing gates of Kingmaker Academy stood proudly before me.
I turned to my twin, Sienna, who looked equally awed.
“I’m having second thoughts about this, Dahlia,” she said.
“It’s too late to turn back now, you know what’s at stake,” I remind her.
She nodded and stepped forward, but the gates groaned open before she could knock.
This revealed perfectly cut grass and hedges lined the roads, the place was beautiful.
Even the air smelled of wealth, the kind I had never imagined.
“Do people actually learn here?” Sienna asked.
“Indeed they do.”
We gasped and turned toward the aged man approaching from a nearby maze.
He carried an elegant walking stick and wore a formal black tuxedo.
“And what are you two young men here for?” he asked, raising a curious brow.
For a moment, I was stunned that he saw us as boys, but then I remembered how I cut off my silver hair to look boyish and bandaged my breasts to hide them.
“We’re here to enroll in this Alpha Academy, sir,” Sienna said in an extremely deep, almost comically fake voice.
I fought the urge to laugh under his skeptical stare.
“You’re three weeks late. Admissions are closed,” he says.
I cursed inwardly.
We should have come sooner. Our foster parents had recently adopted a young man and sent him here four weeks ago.
We should have hidden in the trunk and followed him, but Sienna had called the idea foolish.
Maybe it was, but it would have been better than failing to get admitted.
Our foster parents needed someone to become the family’s new Alpha and inherit their fortune, that’s why the young man was adopted.
Sometimes I wondered why they had adopted us at all.
“However, you both seem particularly bright,” the man said. “I’ll speak to the Proprietress about your admission. Follow me.”
Relief flooded through me as we followed him into the main building.
Everything in this school looked luxurious, airy and exotic.
I couldn’t believe I’d be studying there for three months. I’d barely arrived and already wanted to stay forever.
“Sit here,” The man pointed to two beige chairs outside a gigantic white door that had to be twenty feet tall.
Was this place built for giants?
He disappeared inside before returning moments later.
“You can come in. The Proprietress will see you now.”
We entered to find a surprisingly young woman behind the desk.
She looked around our age, far too young to run such a grand academy, with bright red curly hair tied by a ribbon, loose curls framing her face and thickly rimmed glasses over a menacing, all-knowing gaze.
“They’re in,” Those were her first words to us.
“What?” the elderly man beside us asked, clearly shocked.
“I said they’re in, Vincent. Have someone show them around and give them their uniforms. They’re three weeks behind and need to catch up quickly.”
I stared at her in confusion.
She simply winked and gestured for us to follow Vincent.
We obeyed. Hopefully, during our three months here, she’d reveal why she had accepted us so easily.
Vincent led us through the grand corridors.
“First, I’ll show you your dormitory. You’ll find everything you need there, but remember,” he turned to us.
“This isn’t an ordinary academy. Your fellow students are future Alphas, so they’re unhinged and constantly fighting for dominance. With no girls here, they fight over practically everything else.”
His eyes moved over us.
“You both seem like calm little Omegas. That’s unfortunate, because these boys will gobble you up.”
I gulped.
We were girls. If anyone discovered our secret, we were doomed.
We soon reached a sprawling courtyard enclosed by ivy-covered walls, where students lounged on benches and lush lawns.
Several curious gazes followed us, making me lower my head.
Everyone looked so masculine that my fake boyish clothes and tightly bound chest suddenly felt ridiculous. We would definitely be the shortest here.
Then I saw them.
Four young men leaned around a decorated stone fountain, immediately commanding everyone’s attention.
They were tall, athletic and devastatingly handsome, their polished uniforms fitting as though tailored by gods.
One had striking platinum-blond hair like a halo and striking ice blue eyes.
Beside him stood a quiet red-haired boy with a sharp jawline, piercing green eyes and full red lips.
The third was broad shouldered, with messy dark brown hair, a chiseled jaw and a permanent-looking scowl.
Their collective presence was magneticand dangerous and all four seemed to be sizing us up.
“Those young men are known as the Vicious Boys,” Vincent warned. “You’d do well to stay away from them. They’ve earned their reputation.”
I nodded, determined to avoid them.
Then my heart nearly stopped.
My foster brother, Kaden, was among them.
My foster parents certainly had a strange habit of picking up unusual people.
Sienna and I had our shock of white hair and piercing silver eyes.
Kaden, meanwhile, had impossibly soft black hair and strange markings covering his body.
The markings crawled up his neck like black vines against his olive skin, resembling corrupting curse sigils.
One mark crossed his face and turned his left eye pale blue, contrasting sharply with his hazel right eye.
He stood slightly apart from the others, tall, lean and muscular, his sharp gaze was fixed on us.
There was suspicion and recognition in his gaze and at that moment.
We were utterly screwed and we had to avoid him at all costs.