Arianna’s POV

Voices drifted through the thin wall of my dorm room. Both laughter and footsteps, I think they were laughing at a joke.

I enjoyed their laughter and voices, and deep inside me, I wanted to join them.

I pulled my knees tighter to my chest, sitting on the edge of my bed, debating whether I should go out or just pretend I was asleep.

My room smelled like cardboard and dust from unpacked boxes, my duffel bag half-zipped beside the closet.

Everything felt temporary, like I hadn’t truly arrived yet. Another burst of laughter echoed through the living room. I bit the inside of my cheek. I couldn’t hide forever.

Taking a deep breath, I slid off the bed, my bare feet brushing against the cool tile floor. I hesitated at the door, hand hovering over the knob.

For a second, I imagined opening it and stepping into a room full of judging stares, just like in the cafeteria. I just didn’t have energy for another drama.

But I wasn’t going to cower, not after what happened earlier. I turned the knob and stepped out.

The hallway was quiet except for the murmur of voices from the living room. I walked slowly, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear as I reached

the corner.

Two girls sat scattered across the space. One on the couch, legs tucked under her and the other sprawled across a beanbag with a bowl of popcorn in her hands.

Then they looked up, their eyes darting in unison towards me as I stepped into the living room.

All of them.

Two pairs of eyes, different colours, different shapes. They looked at me as if they could recognise me, their lips contorting into a smile.

’Ok, no drama, they are smiling. But what for?’

"Hey!" the girl with the wild curls and oversized hoodie called out, waving like we were old friends. "You’re Arya, right?"

"Yeah." My voice came out quieter than I meant it to.

"Finally! We were starting to think you were a ghost," the girl on the beanbag said with a grin. "I’m Mel, by the way, and that’s ayeesha over there, scrolling like her life depends on it.

"Shut up, I’m texting my cousin," ayeesha said without looking up, then glanced my way. "You’ve got good timing. We were just talking about you."

That made my stomach twist. "Me?"

magdalena leaned forward, smiling. "You’re kind of famous now, we didn’t think the famous girl was our flatmate until now. "

"Oh god," I muttered.

ayeesha set her phone down and crossed her arms, her smirk widening. "juliet, Victoria, and Alexia? That cafeteria takedown? Legendary."

magdalena nodded so fast I thought her curls might bounce off her head. "You completely destroyed them. Like, I was waiting for a mic drop or something."

I felt my face heat up. "I didn’t mean to make a scene. I just... couldn’t take their crap anymore."

"Well, you did more than stand up for yourself," magdalena said. "You humiliated them. Deservedly."

"They’ve been ruling this place with side-eyes and insults for too long," ayeesha added. "It was refreshing seeing someone put them in their place the way you did."

A small laugh escaped me, half relief, half disbelief. "I thought I’d get in trouble."

"Nope," ayeesha said. "You got fans instead."

They all laughed, and I found myself smiling too, even though I felt awkward just standing there in my socks and oversized sweater.

For a second, I felt like maybe I wasn’t completely alone.

"Well..." I shifted on my feet. "Thanks. I didn’t really know anyone noticed." I took steps forward to the sofa to join them fully in their conversation.

"We noticed," Jules said. "And you’ve got guts. Respect."

It got quiet for a beat after that. Not an uncomfortable silence, but one of those moments where everyone had said what they needed to and didn’t know what came next.

"Anyway, I think I’ll just, um, finish unpacking. But it was nice meeting you guys."

"Anytime," magdalena said cheerfully. "We’re usually out here annoying each other if you ever wanna join."

I nodded and slipped back into my room.

I shut the door behind me, and I leaned against it for a second, exhaling slowly.

They were nice .

That shouldn’t have surprised me as much as it did, but it did. After weeks of snide remarks, cold shoulders, and people pretending I didn’t exist or worse, pretending I was just something to whisper about. This was... new. Normal. Kind.

I sat on the bed again, fingers tugging at the frayed seam of my blanket. My thoughts were a whirlwind. Maybe not everyone here was a vulture waiting to pounce. Maybe this place wasn’t entirely terrible. Maybe...

Then suddenly I started to feel so uneasy. ’What is wrong with me?’

That creeping, twisting unease. Like something inside me was out of place.

I swallowed hard, my throat dry, nauseous, faint, but persistent, like an itch I couldn’t reach. I stood up abruptly and walked to the small bathroom attached to the suite.

The mirror above the sink was slightly cracked on the corner. I splashed cold water on my face, hoping to chase the feeling away.

It clung to me.

My reflection stared back with tired eyes and flushed cheeks. Something inside me was humming, low and constant, like a sound only I could hear. My fingers trembled slightly as I dried my face with a towel. .

I knew what it was. I didn’t want to admit it, but deep down, I knew.

The thirst. The pull. The hollow ache I’d been ignoring since lunch. It had only gotten worse since then.

I couldn’t stay here, not like this, not in this manner.

I grabbed my scarf from the desk chair and wrapped it tight around my neck, pulling my hood over my head.

Quietly, I eased the window open. The cool night air kissed my skin, and I stepped outside making sure I wasn’t followed.

Good, I wouldn’t want them to find out what I was.

Because if they knew what I truly was, no amount of cafeteria bravery would matter.

And I couldn’t lose this, not now or when I’d just started to feel like this is my place.

So, I had to go somewhere in the woods surrounding the school, to sort out my unease.

Gina’s POV

"You can’t seriously be considering it." Dad’s voice was low and sharp, the kind that meant he was trying not to explode.

"I’m not considering it," Mom hissed back. "I’m simply telling you. The Alpha King’s nephew arrives in less than a week, and he’s already asked for a girl from our pack. ’Arianna’ was his choice."

"No!" Dad snapped. "I won’t have that girl representing our pack in the royal palace. Not her. Not with that blood running through her."

"She’s the only one they’d want," Mom said bitterly. "You think they’re going to pick Gina, when she barely survived her last duel?. When she’s

constantly second to a vampire?"

My breath caught in my throat as the last statement from my mother hit me. I was in the hallway, and the wall barely separating me from them did little to filter their conversation.

They were talking about Arianna . Again. And from the way it sounded, it was clear that they thought, or instead knew, I was beneath her.

"She’s not one of us," Dad said, his voice hard as granite. "I wish we had never adopted her in the first place."

"Well, you did, and there is nothing you can do about it, unless we act fast," Mom said with a low, contemplative tone.

"She won’t marry him," Dad growled. "I’ll see to it myself.

I didn’t hear the rest. I didn’t really need to. Everything inside me burned. Was it out of jealousy? Yes, but more than that ’ panic’ .

If Arianna married the Alpha King’s nephew, she’d become royalty. Immediately attaining a status that makes her untouchable. She’d be granted royal blood binding, maybe even immunity from werewolf laws.

The past wouldn’t matter anymore. And that would be the end of me because if she rose... she might come for us, especially me.

She had every reason to, given how I’ve been treating her.

That night, I waited until the house was dark, then I slipped into Mom’s room while she was getting prepared to retire to bed.

"I heard you," I said softly, leaning against the wall. "You and Dad. About the Alpha King’s nephew."

She didn’t flinch. Didn’t even bother denying it.

Instead, she looked at me over the rim of her cup. "Then you know we can’t let that happen."

"I have an idea," I whispered.

***The Next Day***Colewas easy.

If I could get him to play his role the way I needed, framing Arianna and ruining her chances with the Alpha King’s nephew would fall right into place.

"I think Arianna’s planning something," I murmured. "She’s been acting strange ever since she found out the Alpha King’s nephew is coming."

Cole frowned. "She barely even talks to anyone."

"Exactly. She’s hiding something. And what if she seduces him?" I leaned in. "She is a vampire. They’re good at that sort of thing, using their charm to manipulate a person’s mind and gain control.

What if she marries him and then uses it to take revenge on my family? On us?"

His jaw clenched in annoyance, as if he was digesting the news. The idea was working its way under his skin.

"She wouldn’t dare do that..." he voiced out in a sinister tone, uncertainty clear in his expression.

"She told me once," I whispered, "that she dreams of burning this house down one day. Of making everyone who hurt her pay." That was a lie; she never said that, but I had to make him see what I wanted him to see.

"I’m scared,Cole," I said gently. "What if she ends up with him? Don’t you see? We’re going to be doomed, not just my family, but you and I.

She can manipulate him against us because the power would be in her hands." I said, gently caressingCole’s palm to ease my worry.

He hesitated, then nodded slowly.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

That was exactly the words I was expecting from his mouth in order to set my plans in motion.

He would go to her room. Pretend to care or maybe repent of his shortcomings, try to make her see that he would pick her side henceforth and then draw in for a fake kiss.

I’d handle the rest.

The plan worked perfectly. Dad was highly disappointed in Arianna, and I saw him vent his anger on her.

The pure pleasure I derived from seeing her in misery, from seeing her humiliated and hated over and over again by my parents.

No matter how good she gets at anything, no matter how hard she works to best me, that doesn’t change a thing.

She is still the illegitimate, outcast, vampire, black sheep of the family

*******************

Later that night, I found Mom in the sitting room, pretending to read a book.

"It’s done," I said, simply looking straight at her side view.

She looked up, and for once, her smile didn’t feel fake. It was cold, calculating and proud.

"She’ll never be chosen now that her reputation has been dragged through the mud ", she said. No Alpha in his right mind would take a mate with a reputation like that."

"Do you think Dad will believe it?" I said gradually, taking a seat next to her.

"Your father will see what he wants to see," Mom said with a knowing glance. "The girl reminds him too much of the monster who killed his mother. He’ll take any excuse to punish her."

That reply brought me so much satisfaction, and I guess she knew that because she looked at me knowingly, the corner of her lips curling up in a slow smile.

I looked toward the hallway where Arianna’s room stood, silent and dark. I wondered if she was already up from the lawn and in her room, nursing her wounds. But I didn’t care, she has

"She’ll hate me forever," I said, bile rising in my throat. But I didn’t care, after all, I never even liked her; she made my blood boil.

She looked up at me with one eyebrow raised, and as if on cue, we started laughing.