LUNA OF THORNS AND ASHES

ne choked the air, heavy and s

ressed in borrowed white and secrets. Around me, hundreds of wolves gathered un

ldn't

lf. No pack

like silver beneath the candlelight, said otherwise. It f

mayb

Black

ck hair. Moonlight eyes. Power coiled around him like smoke and steel. He looked like t

Blackthorn Pack didn't want

't accept a weak, hum

I'd caught glimpses of him across the courtyard. Felt his gaze scrape against my skin in

was just my

s wr

nd cold like shattered glass. "The

as locked i

lease

.. and Kiera

ll like a

look at me. Confusion. Disg

curled in

e said, voice lace

rced myself to stay upright. If I

linch. "The bond

he doesn't even smell like a

hrough the crowd.

dn't b

inch the predator. "I reject t

sharp and searing. The magic recoiled,

to keep fro

't supposed to

ad been real f

s gathering in my eyes. Not because I was weak

isper. Let

come here

to su

rvive

Hours

arked, blocking the entrance to Dorm

card with steady fingers. He barely

had faded. And yet, I still

treamed live across campus, and t

hrone Rejects

Humiliated at

thorn: No Mat

rf

room, collapsed onto my cre

il

Elara. S

nding to be just another student at Lunaris, even thou

bond choose

lifeline. Somewhere deep inside, the remna

ate

ted

ext M

as I exited Combat Theory class,

ouncil robes standing in the

n

u've been reassigned to Dormito

. that's a mistake.

those under bon

bond was

registered as active. Dorm r

red,

ha

mea

g moved in

Black

e in front of the enti

to kill the

y Alpha,

growled the second

hadow and sin. A single silver chain hung arou

to look. F

s any more than y

ms crossed. "You're a liability. I

g committee. The 'bond e

aw ti

side witho

the room and

n. Two beds. One bat

tas

grabbing his phone. "Don't touch

"Don't worry, Alpha. I wouldn't dream o

s at the word Alpha. Heat. Ann

room thickened unti

going t

Days

snapped, shoving the

for all upper-tier shifters. As a top scor

got stuck

ou?" I taunted, rai

u couldn't land a hit on me even

yours. Maybe it would s

laughed. A fe

's expression half amusemen

ringing. I ducked,

cked.

ast," he

predic

wed. "You're e

lit

pt hi

f

re Alpha flat on his back, panting, eye

si

kin tingled where it brushed his

oved me of

uch me,"

d, breathless, "I

t N

med of

re

on my

ht my p

ed in sweat, the scream s

ough the window. A sh

er

hing

e asked, voice quieter

. "None of yo

ed it. I felt.

ed the bond. You don't get

barely. Then turne

didn'

ither

r: The Gauntl

"As part of your final term, each bonded pair will ent

pted in gasp

d turne

s hand lazily. "

was recognized by the Moon hers

an stood.

not op

mach c

at me. "You'll

"And you'll g

atch," he

room l

asn't s

Gauntlet w

a dea