The hockey alpha marked me

Awakening of Power

Keira Nash POV

Keira sat at her usual spot in the cafeteria, staring at the crowded room without really seeing it. Her thoughts were tangled, replaying the words she had heard from Natalie and the rival academy students.

The things they whispered, the way they looked at her, the way they seemed to know something about her she didn’t yet understand. It was terrifying and thrilling all at once.

Her heart beat faster as she thought about the dark realm, her powers, and the weight of what she might become if she fully awakened.

She took a slow sip of her smoothie, hoping the cool sweetness would calm her nerves. Prom week was coming up, and all over Iron Frost Academy, students were buzzing with excitement.

The announcement of the next prom king and queen was the talk of every classroom. Keira tried to focus on the idea of normal teenage things, but normal was not hers anymore.

Raven Steele and her clique were not far away. Keira could feel the tension even without looking. Raven had always dreamed of being prom queen, and with Jax Monroe as her so-called prince, she had expected everything to go her way. But now Jax wasn’t giving her the same attention, wasn’t giving her any vibe of care or affection, and that made Raven furious. She was planning something. Something dark. Something that would make sure Keira would not interfere with her plans.

Keira shook her head slightly, trying to push the thought away. She didn’t want to think about Raven. Not now. She had bigger problems to consider. Henry, her ex, was still lingering in her mind. But at least the academy had punished him for hurting her. Detention for crossing boundaries, and Jax had been given two days suspension for shifting into his wolf form in public.

It was forbidden, but Jax had given a proper explanation, which is why his punishment was lighter. Keira couldn’t stop worrying about him, though. That wolf form, that bond, it scared her a little, but it also made her feel safe in a way she didn’t understand yet.

The cafeteria quieted a little as students prepared for a meeting about prom week. Decorations, music, lights, and banners were all being planned. Keira tried to focus on helping where she could, but she felt an icy gaze on her. She looked up, and her heart skipped.

Raven and her clique were standing by the counter, pretending to be casual, but their eyes burned straight into her. Keira thought they were just glaring, but there was more to it. There was calculation. There was malice.

Raven smirked and whispered something to her friends. Keira couldn’t hear the words, but she felt the energy shift around her. She lifted her smoothie to her lips and took another sip, not noticing the subtle movement behind her. Raven’s friends had moved quickly, slipping something into the drink while Keira’s attention was elsewhere.

She swallowed, enjoying the cool taste, when suddenly a strange heat spread through her chest.

Her fingers tingled. Her vision suddenly went off panic rose in her throat. She tried to speak, but no sound came out. Her arms shook violently as the feeling spread to her legs.

Her body screamed in pain, a scream so loud it startled nearby students. Keira’s vision darkened at the edges, and she tried to stand, but her legs gave out. She collapsed onto the floor, sending her smoothie spilling across the tile.

Students screamed and backed away. Some ran for help. Theresa’s phone was already live again, recording everything. The comments and likes began to flood instantly. Hundreds of thousands of people watching.

Keira’s body began to change in ways she couldn’t understand. Her skin darkened slightly, with her veins glowing faintly beneath the surface.

Heat surged through her chest and limbs, her heart beating faster than it ever had. Pain, yes, but also power. Energy she had never felt before. Her screams were so loud but the sound seemed to awaken something deep inside her.

Raven gasped from across the cafeteria, her smirk faltering. This wasn’t how she had planned it. Keira’s body wasn’t breaking like she expected. It was transforming. The poison had triggered something, yes, but it hadn’t weakened Keira. Instead, it was forcing her powers to rise.

Her hands glowed faintly in the low light. Her hair lifted slightly, as if caught in a wind no one else could feel. Her eyes, once brown, flickered with a strange light, burning with energy. The cafeteria fell silent. No one dared to move. Some students whispered prayers, others just stared.

Keira could feel the strength growing inside her. She wanted to control it, but it was too sudden and too raw. She tried to speak, tried to call out, but her voice caught in her throat. Her stomach turned, her body trembling. The poison was still in her system, but now it felt like it was working with her, not against her.

“This isn’t over,” a whisper in her mind. Not hers, but someone else’s. The words sent chills down her spine. The power inside her responded, pulsing, growing, as if acknowledging the voice.

Raven stared, frozen in horror and disbelief. She had expected Keira to collapse silently, to be humiliated and beaten down. She had not expected this. Not the glowing energy, not the sudden force radiating from her.

Theresa’s camera kept rolling. “This…this is insane!” she shouted, laughing nervously. “Keira’s changing…she’s like—oh my god, look at her!”

Keira felt the eyes of everyone in the room, the whispers, the fear, and the awe. Her mind tried to process it all. Rival academies. Powers awakening. Dark realms. Witches, demons, balance of light and dark. The words she had overheard the other day in her mind had not been lies. They were truth, or at least the beginning of it.

Her chest heaved. Pain and power battled within her. The black spreading across her skin wasn’t death—it was strength. Energy she had never tapped before.She felt invincible and terrified all at once.

Then, slowly, she tried to move. Her fingers flexed. She could feel control returning. Not fully, but enough to make her realize something important. She was not weak. She was not just a girl who had been hurt, humiliated, or underestimated. She was something more. Something dangerous.

The cafeteria around her seemed small now, insignificant. Keira’s focus narrowed on the shadows around her, on the forces whispering through their magic. She didn’t need them to speak aloud for her to hear. She knew they were here. Waiting to see what she would do.

And she knew that if she did not rise to meet her power, chaos would follow.

Her body glowed brighter, veins pulsing like lightning beneath her skin. She could feel energy surging up her legs, her arms, her chest. It was raw and wild, untamed, and yet there was something comforting about it. It was hers. Fully hers.

The poison that had been meant to destroy her had instead awakened her.

No one in that room, not Raven, not her clique, not the watching students, could possibly imagine what was coming next. The power inside her was ancient, raw, and unstoppable. She could feel it reaching for the world beyond this academy, for realms she had never seen, for forces she had only begun to understand.

And this time, Keira was not afraid.

Theresa was still filming, screaming into her live stream. The numbers were climbing at an impossible rate. Millions were watching. Everyone in the academy had to see this. They couldn’t look away.