The Vycan's Forbidden Mate

Omen's Peak Academy

Lyra's pov

My heart sank into the very depths of my belly. A second later, the heavy plastic water bottle I had been brandishing like a weapon went tumbling uselessly into the damp dirt.

Goosebumps erupted all over my skin as I stared at the... the thing in front of me. I couldn't even find a suitable name for it. How could there be a wolf out here? And especially one of this impossible size? It stood towering before me, its luminescent gold eyes piercing straight through mine, cutting through my layers of fear and staring directly into my damn soul.

No, no, no.

I took a shaky, uncoordinated step backward, my heart racing at a deafening volume. "What... what do you want?"

Stupid, stupid me. How was a wild beast supposed to understand human words? I let out a choked shriek as I stumbled back another step. The demon before me didn't possess the normal proportions of a wolf, and its eyes held an intelligence that was far from animalistic.

Suddenly, its predatory gaze dropped down to my bare legs, specifically targeting the intricate butterfly birthmark on my ankle...the one Mom had told me was a family trait when I turned twelve. A violent shiver ran through my spine as the creature's eyes darkened to a deep, molten amber. It was as if the sight of that mark had poured gasoline directly onto its already fueling rage.

Instantly, it roared. It was an angry, agonized sound that sounded nothing like a regular wolf's howl, and then it lurched straight toward me.

I screamed, my trembling knees giving out completely as I collapsed onto the wet forest floor. I buried my face into my shrinking body, tightly curling up as I braced myself for the impending pain, waiting for the agonizing sound of my own flesh tearing apart.

But instead... silence.

Utter, suffocating silence.

Tears swelled hot in my eyes, my limbs vibrating with leftover adrenaline. Was I dead already? Was this the afterlife? A strange numbness washed over me. Will I see Mom now? Will I finally get to tell her that I loved her? That I didn't mean a single cruel word I said to her before the accident?

"Lyra?"

A shaking, terrified voice whispered my name. My eyes snapped open, and I shot upright, my gaze met with my twin brother’s panicked face. A shrieking sob escaped my throat as I lunged forward, throwing my arms around Kael's neck and clinging to him like a lifeline.

"I thought... I thought I was going to die!" I sobbed hysterically into his shoulder.

Kael’s arms wrapped around me tightly..so tightly I felt my ribs crack under the pressure of his grip, he was trembling just as hard as I was.

And though I tried to tell myself it was just my mind playing tricks on me, I could swear I heard a low, vibrating growl resonate from the deepest shadows of the woods. My skin felt it before my brain did, the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight on end.

Someone was watching us and whoever it was... they didn't seem excited about the sight of my brother holding me.

"I searched everywhere for you!" Kael pulled me back angrily, his hands gripping my shoulders as his eyes actively scanned my body for injuries. "Why the f**k did you leave the house at midnight? We just got to this town, Lyra! You can't just roam the woods when you don't know a damn thing about this place!"

I shrank into myself, my lips parting to defend myself, but I closed them just as quickly. He was right. I would have died tonight if that demon wolf had decided to strike.

"Can we please just go back to the mansion? I hate it here," I whispered, my voice cracking.

Kael's furious expression softened instantly. He nodded, hauling me to my feet and guiding me back through the dark, moonlit forest, the beam of his flashlight cutting through the shadows.

When we finally got back to the house, he tucked me into bed and locked every single silver door. I didn't speak another word to him for the rest of the night. I couldn't. Not when the only thing plaguing my mind...even as I closed my eyes to sleep...was the question of why the wolf hadn't attacked.

Why had it stopped the moment it saw the mark on my ankle? And why did I have this distant, overwhelming sensation that tonight wasn't my first time in those woods? It was a haunting feeling that I had been in that exact spot before...scared, shaking, and staring at that exact same golden-eyed being.

"Dad, we are going to be alright, I promise!"

I let out a heavy sigh, hurling my backpack over my shoulder. Across the kitchen island, Kael was casually twirling the car keys around his index finger while using his other hand to trace the physical paper map Dad had given us to navigate our way to the academy.

"Besides, it's just a school," I added, trying to sound confident. "It's going to be no different than our last one."

Father's lips thinned into a tight, strained line, though he tried to mask his anxiety with a forced smile. "I know, I know, Pumpkin. It's just... I'm trying to make sure you both stay safe. The people in this town are quite... different."

I raised a skeptical brow, and he rolled his eyes, quickly covering his slip-of-the-tongue with a small, nervous laugh.

Neither Kael nor I had mentioned a single word about the giant wolf from last night, we had mutually decided it was best to keep that terror between the two of us.

Dad waved goodbye from the porch, and a minute later, Kael was navigating the truck down the long, gravel driveway toward the main road. Just like that, we were speeding down a deserted highway surrounded by endless rows of dense, towering trees.

"It's almost like this entire town is permanently stuck in the nineties," Kael groaned, tapping his finger against the paper map again. "Do these people have a personal vendetta against technology? Why use a physical map when the rest of the civilized world uses GPS?"

"What bothers me more is the fact that we haven't seen a single soul for over a mile," I muttered, staring out the window. "I can't believe Dad and Mom actually grew up here. It's just so..." I shook my head, unable to find the right word to describe the eerie isolation.

I let out a breath of relief when the dense forest finally gave way to actual streets lined with buildings.

The shops looked ancient..as old as our mansion..but at least we weren't living in a literal ghost town. Eventually, Kael pulled the truck up to a set of massive iron gates.

Omen's Peak Academy.

A faint smile touched my lips as I read the rusted silver lettering. I recognized that name. Mom had kept a leather-bound diary that had been gifted to her when she attended school here. For a split second, a spark of warmth bloomed in my chest. Being here meant I could finally connect with her memory. In some small way.

Kael parked, and we climbed out of the truck.

"Stay out of trouble, little brother," I teased, adjusting the straps of my bag.

Without even bothering to turn around, Kael casually threw his middle finger up at me as he walked toward the athletic building. I giggled, shaking my head as I turned toward the main entrance. Students were scattered across the courtyard, displaying an array of different styles and outfits. They seemed like the only normal thing about this town so far.

But the moment I stepped into the grand hallways of the academy, that illusion of normalcy shattered.

"The full moon? Of course I went to the bonfire, duh!" a girl near the lockers said, rolling her eyes at her friend. "But for some reason, Vane was absent."

"I know, right?" the other girl groaned, leaning against the metal. "The feast was literally held in his honor. Plus, I even signed up to be a blood donor this semester." She leaned in, attempting and completely failing to whisper. "I literally pumped my blood with sugar just to give him the best experience."

I stopped dead in my tracks, my face contorting into an expression of utter disgust. "What the f**k?" I muttered under my breath.

Why would a human being willingly offer their blood to another student? Okay, I took it back. This entire town was absolutely out of their minds.

"What do you think you're looking at, b***h?"

I gasped as the sugar-blood girl suddenly snapped her head around, sneering directly at me. My stomach dropped. How had she possibly heard me? I had spoken in a literal whisper from ten feet away.

"Oh my gosh! There you are!"

Suddenly, a body collided with mine, wrapping a frantic arm over my shoulders.

"What do you think you're do..."

"I've been looking everywhere for you! I'm Tia, your student guide for the day!" The girl beamed a smile so bright it was practically blinding, and with a burst of speed that I could barely process, she dragged me down the hallway, away from the lockers.

Once we turned a corner into a secluded corridor, Tia moved backward, her cheerful demeanor vanishing in a fraction of a second.

Anger burned hot at my fingertips as I adjusted my shirt. "You lied," I frowned, glaring at her. "Why did you do that?"

"I would stay far away from those girls if I were you," Tia warned, her eyes darting back toward the main hall. The former warmth in her voice was entirely gone. She looked at me, a sudden, shocked expression marring her features as she scanned my face. "Wait... you're new here. And you're... human?" She actually sneered the word, as if it were a disease.

"Aren't we all?" My frown deepened, a defensive edge creeping into my voice. "What the hell is wrong with you people?"

Tia’s eyes widened in genuine horror. She grabbed my arm with a grip that felt entirely too tight and hauled me further into a dark corridor completely void of other students. Slowly, she tilted her head, analyzing me. "You really have no idea what... who we are, do you?"

I scoffed, ripping my arm away from her hold. "Look, thank you for saving me from whatever that locker drama was, but I think I've officially hit my limit of weird for one week."

"Tia Crawford."

A thick, gravelly male voice resonated from behind us, cutting through the silence of the corridor.

The sound was so deep it felt like a physical vibration in the floorboards. Tia turned around, and I watched the life instantly drain from her face.

"Vane," she literally whimpered.

My brows creased. Vane? Was this the guy the girls at the lockers were gossiping about? I turned around to face the voice, and the moment my eyes locked onto him, I instantly understood why Tia had paled. Because my own breath left my lungs in a sharp gasp.

The man standing before us was nothing short of a dark god. I could feel the strength leave my limbs, my knees threatening to turn to water just from looking at him. He was terrifyingly tall..so tall I had to strain my neck just to look him in the eyes. Dark hair fell lazily over his forehead, framing a sharp, sculpted jawline.

"Take a picture, Butterfly. It'll last longer," he practically growled, his dark eyes locking onto mine.

I snapped my gaze away, a burning, suffocating heat rushing up my neck to coat my cheeks. What the hell was wrong with me? Why was I reacting to him like this?

"Leave us," Vane ordered smoothly.

I assumed the command applied to me, so I turned on my heel and began walking away with Tia. But before I could take a second step, a pair of harsh, iron-grip hands clamped around my wrist and with a brutal tug, he yanked me backward until my spine flattened flush against a wall of rock-hard muscle.

I let out a startled shriek as his massive arm wrapped securely around my waist, pinning me against his chest and trapping me in a vice-like hold. The heat radiating off him was intoxicating.

"Not you," his deep voice vibrated straight through my spine, sending a terrifying jolt through my core. "You, Tia. Leave us."

Tia didn't need to be told twice. She stumbled backward, turning and sprinting out of the hallway like a hunted animal. I wanted to scream after her, to beg her not to leave me alone with him, but my tongue felt heavy and completely tied.

The moment Tia rounded the corner, Vane released his grip on my waist.

Anger blurred my senses, the absolute audacity of this guy. The second my feet hit the floor properly, I turned around, my hand flying up through the air and connecting with his cheek in a stinging, echoing slap. His face snapped to the side from the sheer force of the impact.

And the moment the sound echoed off the lockers, I knew I had made a grave, irreversible mistake.

My heart hammered against my ribs as I spun around to sprint toward the exit, but I didn't even make it two steps. In a literal blur of motion that completely defied the laws of physics, Vane appeared directly in front of me. Before I could even register his movement, his hand shot out, wrapping fully around my waist as he slammed my back into the stone wall with enough force to rattle my teeth. I knew instantly I would have a massive bruise.

"What... what do you want from me?!" I screamed into his chest, trying to push him away.

But then, I made the fatal error of looking up into his face.

The dark irises he had possessed a moment ago were gone. In their place sat a pair of glowing, predatory gold eyes...irises so bright they seemed to burn right through the dim lighting of the corridor, anchoring me in place with terror.

They were the exact same eyes from my bedroom window. The exact same eyes of the monstrous wolf from last night.

"f**k!" Vane growled, tightly shutting his eyes as he forcefully wrenched himself away from me, his chest heaving. The thick veins in his neck strained against his skin, pulsing violently. "Your scent, Butterfly. Your. f*****g. Scent."

When his eyes snapped open again, the brilliant gold was fighting a losing battle to stay dominant against the darkness of his pupils.

"What... what are you?" I whispered, my heart racing so fast I felt lightheaded.

He closed his eyes again, his jaw clenching so hard I thought it might shatter, fighting an invisible war inside his own mind. Then, as if giving me the terrifying confirmation I dreaded, his lips parted. His eyes blasted a brilliant, blinding gold as two elongated, razor-sharp canines grew from his upper teeth, glistening in the dim light.

The air left my chest completely. I took a panicked step back, my fingers instinctively flying up to tightly grip the silver necklace Mom had gifted me before she died.

"I'm going to chase you, Little Butterfly, and you are going to run," Vane promised, his fully formed fangs bared in a terrifying smirk that made my visibly shiver. "And if I catch you, I will mark you. Trust me, Love... you do not want that."