Beneath the grand tower and moonlit court yard of Whitethorn, buried deep in the stone belly of the academy, there was a room students didn't know existed.
Hidden from the rest of the school, there were no doors, no windows, no direct passage to its entrance.
It wasn't even on the school's map.
Its existence known only to those who were sworn to the old orders, long before the physical structure of Whitethorn was built.
The Room of Echoes.
Living up to its legacy.
Twelve chairs stood in a circle. But just eight were occupied tonight.
At the head of the circle, Principal Maren sat in her signature blood-red robe, her entire body void of any accessory except a black ring that shone on her right pinky finger. Her face, usually calm for assemblies, now radiated something far more ancient. She was a picture of black and red.
To her right, Mallory Woods clicked her pen against a thin ledger, her lips pursed as she read from the night's reports.
"She crossed over," Mallory said grimly, snapping the ledger closed. "Her crossing was triggered by the full moon. The mark on her wrist activated immediately. The trance followed exactly as the prophecy warned. She's starting to remember."
A murmur spread around the room. The shadows leaned in.
"And the wolf vision?" asked one of the figures seated in the darker side of the circle, a tall, thin silhouette of a man. No one spoke his name.
Mallory nodded stiffly. "Confirmed by her dormmates. She saw the vision and heard her name. In another vision, she saw herself as the Alpha of a pack."
The thin man made a noise in his throat that sounded like a mocking laugh.
"This complicates everything," came a new female growl. "It's not yet time to remember. We had an edge over her. We had time! Hell, she barely resumed what, three weeks ago? It's too sudden."
"Hush now," Maren said again.
"The demon attack didn't break her like I thought. It woke her."
"She wasn't supposed to survive it," said another voice hoarse and bitter. "But she did."
"We underestimated her bond to her Old Blood," Maren said, eyes narrowed. "She's further along than we expected."
"Then we should end it now," said the thin man, fingers flexing like claws. "While her mind is still clouded. A clean kill. Quick. Before she comes to full realization."
"No," Maren snapped. "She is under full academy protection. There are eyes everywhere, ears, even those boys… If she dies now, her death becomes a cause. A rallying cry. We cannot afford a rebellion in her name. We may not survive it."
Mallory gave a tight nod. "Besides… she doesn't yet know who she was. Only flashes and fragments and dreams."
"But the dreams are dangerous," said the female wolf. "Her dreams will awaken her memories. And those memories become her power."
A long silence followed.
Then another figure leaned forward, his face hidden beneath a heavy cloak. His voice was deep and distorted. He was in a semi-shifting form, half-human, half-wolf.
"She was born for war. If we let her ripen into what she was always meant to be… not even the Twelve Houses will be able to contain her."
"She must be splintered before the Convergence," Mallory added.
Another figure at the edge of the room, tall and amber-eyed, spoke for the first time. "We tried fear. We tried betrayal. We tried heartbreak. We tried misdirection. We tried pain. Hell, a lot of things to dampen her spirits. But the wolf inside her is not afraid. Not as weak as we hoped. It's hungry and now seeking vengeance."
"Her soul is starting to hunt even though she doesn't know it yet. She's seeking answers desperately," Maren said coldly. "Which means the old prophecy was correct. The Moonblood awakens, and when she does… it becomes harder to stop the revolution her awakening would birth."
The air thickened.
"That's why we were meant to silence her before her rebirth!" the thin man shouted in anger.
"Why didn't that accident kill her?" he demanded.
"Foolish Carla took the fall for her," Maren spoke through gritted teeth.
"And why wasn't another orchestrated immediately?" the amber-eyed man asked from the other end of the room.
Maren sighed. "We decided to bring her here for closer monitoring."
Magic sizzled through the walls, their wolves prowling within in anger.
"So," said Mallory, setting her ledger down, "what now?"
Maren's eyes glowed faintly. "Now we use another means."
Someone in the circle chuckled.
"How far are we prepared to go?" asked the amber-eyed man.
"As far as we must. She must be stopped, now or never," Maren said.
"Shall we awaken the Hollowborn, since the demons couldn't do the job?" the female wolf asked.
"Not yet. They're not easily controlled. We can't risk that attention. She's fought them before, it'll only help awaken her senses," Maren explained. "We'll start with the Refracted."
There was a murmur, low, unsettled ripple of breath.
"You want to send shadows into her dreams?" asked another female wolf with a streak of pink fur. "They are even weaker. The Refracted cannot control Moonblood."
"She won't need to be controlled," Maren replied. "Only distracted. Confused. Pushed into questioning her instincts more than ever. Mess with her thoughts. If she fears her own reasoning, she will automatically delay herself. Buy us more time."
Mallory scratched a note into the ledger. "And her roommates?"
"Elara and Corinne?" Maren smiled slightly. "Let them play their roles. I put her in that room for a reason. One nurtures while the other stings. I have a plan for them. It'll unfold with time."
"She's not stupid," muttered the hooded man. "She'll find out soon enough."
"Then we'll have to ensure that when she does… It'll be too late. She doesn't suspect them now. There's still time."
"Huh. Same thing we said three weeks ago. She's becoming more aware by the minute. We have no time!" the pink-furred wolf cried.
Maren turned sharply. "Then do you have an alternative plan?"
A heavy silence fell again.
Then Maren stood, her red robes swooshing around her ankles.
"She is not yet the monster we feared. She is only a girl who doesn't remember being a god. For now.
But the full moon will come again. Her powers will gather like storms. And when she wakes fully…"
She looked around the room, gaze settling on each ancient face.
"…none of us will be safe."
"So we need to make sure she's knocked out during that full moon. If her body is not in line with her soul, then the full moon can only do little for her.
That is the plan now. Make sure she's unconscious during the next new moon."
"So what about the boys drawn to her scent?"
Maren's jaw twitched.
Her eyes narrowed to twin shards of red-glowing coal.
"Which boys?"
Mallory sighed and glanced back down at the ledger. "Luca Damaris. Killian Wolfe. Rafe Holloway. And Cassian Vale. All have shown signs of being her emotional anchor since her arrival. Especially Damaris. He's already marked her scent."
"She saw Rafe in her dream," the pink-furred woman added grimly. "Before she even knew his name."
"It's not coincidence either," Maren snapped.
"They're not just drawn to her," the cloaked man growled. "They are also very protective."
"Has she kissed any of them yet?" someone asked.
Maren's face darkened. "Yes. That Luca Damaris. she's begun to feel things for him. The bond is waking inside her."
"And the moment she accepts even him... I fear she will tap into her full power," Mallory said.
"She won't," Maren said coldly, cutting the voice off. "We'll fracture it before it binds."
"How?" Mallory asked.
"Killian is easy to manipulate," the pink-furred wolf said. "Remind him of his past and he'll pull away."
"Rafe's loyalty lies with his pack," added the cloaked figure. "Threaten their safety, and he'll keep his distance."
"Luca's the most dangerous," Mallory muttered. "He's already emotionally attached. He acts like he has known her before…"
"He has," Maren said flatly. "In her past life."
"Then we target Bella now," the amber-eyed man said.
"Yes," Maren said, her voice sharp with excitement. "As of this moment, we begin psychic interference. Let her dream, yes, but twist it. Pollute it. Break her sense of self. If we can't kill her outright…"
Maren turned toward the ancient stone altar at the center of the circle, where a small silver dagger lay wrapped in cursed cloth.
"We'll have a failsafe. One last chain to bind her."
"Does it still work?" asked the amber-eyed man, eyeing the blade.
"It's never been used," Maren said, unwrapping the cloth. "But it was made for her."
A beat of silence passed.
Then Mallory spoke, softly, cautiously. "And if we fail?"
Maren didn't answer at first. Her fingers ran along the blade's hilt.
"She won't just take her throne," she whispered. "She'll tear ours apart. One by one. From the inside."
And then, looking up, her voice rang with finality:
"We cannot fail."
The circle of eight rose, one by one.
They disappeared into the smoke, vanishing like they were never there.
Only Maren remained for a moment longer, cradling the dagger in both hands like it was a relic.