CHARACTER PROFILES
✨ Ariana Sterling (14)
Bloodline: Sterling (strong, multi-ability)
Known Abilities:
Light manipulation
Telekinesis
Aura sensing
Lunar-Blood Wolf (rare, ancient, uncontrollable)
Strengths: empathy, intelligence, strong instincts
Weaknesses: fear of shifting, emotional overload
Arc: finding confidence + bonding with her wolf
✨ Kai Vesper (16)
Bloodline: Vesper, Sun-Blood Wolves
Abilities:
Sun Wolf shifting (full control)
Shadow-light hybrid magic
Combat talent
Role: Ariana's guide, counterpart wolf
Arc: learning to protect without controlling
The Four Pillars
Rylan Drake – Fire/Dragon-blood hybrid
Bold, protective, loud.
Calen Frost – Ice/Water hybrid
Calm, sarcastic, strategic.
Zane Ashford – Telepath
Quiet, analytical, strongest mentalist.
Kai Vesper – Wolf/Holy magic hybrid
Leader, strongest student in the academy.
________________
In the entire city of Halden, the name Sterling carried weight heavier than gold. Their wealth was old, respected, and practically woven into the foundation of the country itself. Politicians consulted them, CEOs greeted them with bowed heads, and the tabloids watched them like hawks.
But all of that meant nothing to Ariana Sterling.
Fourteen years old, the only girl in a mansion filled with six annoyingly tall, annoyingly handsome, annoyingly protective older brothers. And worst of all?
A daddy who adored her so much he barely let her breathe.
Normally, she didn't mind. She was a daddy's girl after all. But today?
Today she wanted to scream.
Because lying on the marble table in the center of the family lounge was the one thing she had spent three whole years avoiding:
A thick white envelope stamped with the dark blue crest of Elmwood Academy for the Elite, the most prestigious, most strict, most suffocating school in the country.
Her father stood behind her, his arms folded, his expression the definition of finality.
"Ariana," Mr. Sterling said gently. "No more running away from this. You're enrolling next week."
Her jaw dropped. "Daddy, I told you I don't want to go to that place! They keep sending letters every year. Every. Single. Year. I don't want to join!"
"You need discipline," he replied with a smile that was way too calm for the situation. "And structure. And friends your own age."
"I have friends," she argued.
"You have bodyguards," her brother Cassian corrected as he walked into the room, adjusting his tie.
A chorus of agreement followed because, of course, her other brothers—Landon, Luca, Adrian, Theo, and Max—had suddenly decided to show up and form a judging audience.
"I don't see why you're making such a big deal," Luca shrugged. "It's just school."
"It's not just school," Ariana groaned. "It's Elmwood. They have a uniform. A *gray* one. I'll look like a sad pigeon."
Max snorted. "You'll look like a cute pigeon."
"Max," Cassian warned, "stop encouraging her."
Mr. Sterling cleared his throat. Immediately, all six brothers snapped to attention like soldiers. Ariana rolled her eyes. Of course they did. Daddy snapped a finger, they moved. Meanwhile she—
—still had a chance to escape this conversation.
"Daddy, please," she tried again softly, tugging at his sleeve the way she always did when she wanted something. "I just… don't want to go."
His expression softened. He cupped her cheek, brushing a finger over the small beauty mark beneath her eye—the one she inherited from him.
"I know, sweetheart," he said quietly. "But it's time."
Ariana felt her chest tighten. When her dad used *that* voice, the conversation was over. She sank into the couch, defeated.
Six older brothers stared at her with different flavors of sympathy, amusement, and mild panic—because a sulking Ariana Sterling was not something they ever knew how to handle.
Finally, Theo walked over and patted her head.
"Hey," he said. "It's just school. And if anyone bothers you—"
"—we'll deal with them," the brothers finished in unison.
Ariana sighed dramatically.
"Of course. Because nothing says normal school experience like six overprotective giants watching my every move."
Mr. Sterling laughed.
"You'll be fine, princess."
But Ariana wasn't so sure.
Elmwood Academy had sent her letters for years. She'd ignored the first one, thrown away the second, and pretended the third never arrived.
And now… she was going.
Not because she wanted to.
Not because she was ready.
But because her father—the one person she could never refuse—had told her it was time.
She didn't know it yet, but life at Elmwood Academy was about to change everything.
She never wanted power. But destiny chose her anyway.