*FERAL: claimed by my rival*

*Episode 1: The Summon* The throne room reeked of politics and blood. Twenty elders lined the walls. Five males stood in front of me like cattle at auction. And on the throne sat my father, Alpha Darius of North Ridge, looking at me like I was a weapon he couldn’t aim. “Choose,” he said. His voice didn’t shake. It never did. I didn’t look at the five males. I didn’t need to. I already knew their names. Derek. Marcus. The twins. Luca. Sons of Alphas and Betas who all wanted one thing: to be tied to me. Because I was the last piece. “Father,” I said carefully. “I’m nineteen. I’m not ready—” “You’re ready enough to end a war,” he cut in. “Marry Weston's son, and our packs join. With West Ridge and North Ridge together, we crush South Ridge. We end Ronan.” There it was. Ronan. Alpha of South Ridge. The man who ordered the raid ten years ago. The man whose blade found my mother’s chest when she jumped in front of my father. I was nine. I still saw it when I closed my eyes. And now my father wanted to use me to finish it. “Weston's son,” I repeated. “Luca.” Luca stepped forward and smiled. Like he’d already won. Like my body was a treaty he got to sign. “I don’t feel anything for him,” I said. “Or any of them. There’s no bond.” “There doesn’t need to be a bond,” my father snarled. “There needs to be an alliance. You’re not a child anymore, Elsa. You’re an heiress. Act like it.” My wolf clawed at me from inside. _No. No. No._ Love was stupid. Love made you weak. Love got my mother killed because she loved my father enough to die for him. I didn’t want love. I wanted revenge. “I’ll do it myself,” I said. “Give me a year. Let me train. Let me fight. I’ll walk into South Ridge and I’ll—” “Enough!” The throne room shook. “You think this is about revenge? This is about survival. South Ridge is getting stronger. Ronan’s son is—” “Kael,” I finished for him. The name tasted like poison. I’d heard the stories. The playboy. The heir. The one who toured other packs and broke hearts and came home laughing. My father’s jaw ticked. “You will marry Luca in three months. Or I will make you.” Three months. That was nothing. I looked at Luca. He was already imagining my ring on his finger. Already imagining my title. And I thought of my mother. Of the way she bled out in the snow. “I won’t,” I whispered. “What?” “I said I won’t.” Louder this time. “I won’t marry for politics. I won’t marry for war. I won’t marry at all until I’m ready. And I’m not ready.” The silence was worse than shouting. My father stood slowly. “Guards.” Two wolves grabbed my arms. “You ungrateful—” he started. “Send me away then,” I spat. “If I’m so useless here, send me somewhere I can actually learn how to fight instead of how to smile and breed.” His eyes narrowed. And then he smiled. Cold. “Blackthorn Academy,” he said. “You want to learn how to fight? Fine. Learn from vampires and witches and every other monster we’ve been at war with for centuries. Maybe they’ll beat the defiance out of you.” Blackthorn. The academy for “problem” creatures. The place North Ridge pretended didn’t exist. “One year,” my father said. “Two if you don’t come back begging. Maybe by then you’ll understand why we do what we do.” The guards dragged me out before I could answer. --- The drive took six hours. No one spoke to me. Tasha texted me: _You okay? I heard._ I didn’t answer. What was there to say? My father was using me as bait and I told him no. By sunset we reached the gates. Blackthorn was carved into a mountain. Fog. Iron. Screams from somewhere far away. Headmistress Vale met me at the doors. Silver hair. Eyes like winter. “Miss Elsa of North Ridge,” she said. “Problem child.” “I’m not a problem,” I said. She almost smiled. “We’ll see.” My roommates were Liora, a fairy who talked in riddles and smelled like honey, and Mira, a witch with black nails who hadn’t slept in days. “Another wolf,” Mira said. “The last one tried to hex herself.” “I’m not going to hex myself,” I said, dropping my bag. Liora grinned. “Good. We need someone who can punch. Rikka’s been running this floor like she owns it.” “Who’s Rikka?” “You’ll see,” Mira said. “Try not to die before breakfast.” That night I didn’t sleep. I planned. One year. That’s what my father gave me. One year to get stronger, to learn how every species fought, to find a way into South Ridge without an army. I would make Ronan pay. Myself. No marriage. No alliance. Just me and my claws. --- Morning was hell. The courtyard was chaos. Fae flying. Vampires dueling. A hybrid set a tree on fire. And there he was. Leaning against a pillar. Black jacket. Gray eyes. Smirking like the world owed him something. Kael. Son of Alpha Ronan. The reason my mother was dead. He saw me. His eyes dragged over me, slow, assessing. Then the smirk grew. “Well,” he said, voice carrying. “If it isn’t the North Ridge princess. Heard you got exiled for saying no to a wedding.” A red-haired girl beside him laughed. Rikka. “Pathetic.” My wolf surged. I took a step forward before— BONG. BONG. BONG. The bell. Everywhere went silent. Headmistress Vale’s voice filled my head, and everyone else’s. “_All first years. Main hall. Now. The Summoning begins._” Panic. “The Summoning?” Liora whispered, face white. “That’s early. That’s not for another month.” “What is it?” I asked. Mira grabbed my wrist. Hard. “Pairings. Bonds. For war training. Sometimes... for more.” My stomach dropped. Bonds. Like the ones my father wanted to force on me. We ran to the main hall with 200 other first years. In the center: a black stone pedestal. A bowl. Red steam rising from it. It smelled like copper and old magic. “Due to increased hostility between territories,” Headmistress Vale said, “the Summoning has been moved up. Today you will be bound. By fate. Not choice.” The steam twisted. And I felt it. A tug. From across the room. I looked up. Kael. He was staring at me too. And for once, the smirk was gone. He looked furious. The steam split in two. One stream shot to me. One to him. The hall gasped. “Step forward,” Headmistress Vale said. “Elsa of North Ridge. Kael of South Ridge.” My legs moved. His did too. We stopped in front of each other. Three feet apart. Close enough to kill him. The red steam wrapped around our wrists. Burning cold. “By the academy’s law,” Vale said, “you are now bound. Partners. You will train together. Protect each other. If one dies, the other weakens.” She paused. “And the bond cannot be broken for one year.” One year. The same amount of time my father gave me. Kael’s jaw clenched. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” I stared at him. The son of my mother’s killer. The reason my father wanted to marry me off. Now I was magically tied to him. The steam sank into our skin. Leaving two marks. A crescent moon, split in half. Mine on the left wrist. His on the right. They throbbed. Rikka shoved through the crowd. “That’s wrong! He was supposed to be paired with me!” No one listened. The hall emptied fast. Everyone whispering. Kael and I stood there, alone with the bowl that was now empty. “Don’t touch me,” he said quietly. “Don’t worry,” I shot back. “The last thing I want is you.” He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Good. Because my father would skin me alive if he found out I was bound to you.” “My father would do the same.” We stared at each other. Enemies. Bound. And then my mark burned. Sharp. Like a knife. Kael hissed and grabbed his wrist too. “What—” I started. A voice. Not Vale’s. Older. Whispering from the bowl. “_Blood for blood. Enemy for enemy. The war begins with you two._” The bowl cracked. And the red steam poured out, filling the hall, and the last thing I saw before everything went black was Kael’s eyes. Not angry. Afraid.... I woke up with his pain in my ribs. It was sharp. Cold. Like someone had shoved a knife under my left shoulder blade. I gasped and sat up. My room was dark. Liora was snoring. Mira was muttering in her sleep. And my wrist burned. The crescent moon mark. Split in half. Across the hall, I felt it. Kael. He was hurting. _No._ I shoved the thought away. I didn’t care if he was dying. But the pain got worse. I threw off the blanket and stormed out of the room in bare feet and pajamas. I didn’t knock. His door was already open. He was on the floor. Shirt off. Blood running down his back from three claw marks. And standing over him was Rikka, claws out, smiling. “What the hell are you doing?” I shouted. Rikka turned. “Oh. The leash arrived.” Kael pushed himself up. His gray eyes met mine and he flinched. Not from Rikka. From me seeing him like this. “Get out,” he growled at both of us. “Like hell,” I said. My wolf was already rising. Rikka lunged at me. I caught her wrist. We crashed into the wall. And then it happened. The bond yanked. Pain exploded in my ribs again, but this time it wasn’t mine. It was his. From when Rikka hit him earlier. I cried out. Kael did too, from across the room. Rikka froze. “What—” “Get. Out,” Kael said. His voice was low and dangerous. Rikka looked between us, at our matching wrist marks, and her face went ugly. “You’re bound to her? To _her_?” She spat on the floor and left. The door slammed. Silence. Me. Him. Blood. “You’re hurt,” I said stupidly. “No s**t,” he shot back. But he didn’t move. I crossed the room before I could stop myself. My hands hovered over his back. “Don’t touch me,” he said. “I’m not going to.” Liar. I pressed my palm to the deepest cut. His skin was hot. The bond flared. Suddenly I could _feel_ him. Not just the pain. The anger. The exhaustion. The way he’d been awake all night because the mark wouldn’t stop burning. And he could feel me too. Because his eyes widened. “Get off me.” I pulled my hand back like I’d been burned. “Headmistress called it,” I said, voice shaky. “Partners. Protection.” “Protection from what? Each other?” “From dying.” He laughed, bitter. “Great. My enemy is now my bodyguard.” “My father would love that,” I muttered. We stared at each other. Then Headmistress Vale’s voice came through the halls again. “_Bound pairs. Move to shared quarters. Immediately. This is for your safety._” Kael and I said at the same time: “What.” --- Our new room was twice the size of the old one. Two beds. One bathroom. One window. And zero privacy. “This is a joke,” Kael said, dropping his bag. “This is your fault,” I said. “My fault? You’re the one who got exiled.” “You’re the one whose dad killed my mom.” The air went tight. We didn’t speak for an hour. Night came. I took the bed by the window. He took the one by the door. I tried to sleep. I couldn’t. Because every time he shifted, I felt it. Every time he dreamed, I saw flashes. A boy. Training. A man yelling: _Be stronger than her._ Ronan. Then my own memories hit me back through the bond. My mother. Snow. Blood. I woke up gasping at 3am. Kael was already awake, sitting on the edge of his bed, head in his hands. “You too?” he asked quietly. “Yeah.” We didn’t talk about it. Training the next day was hell. Combat class. We were paired. Obviously. “Rule 1,” the instructor said. “Don’t kill your partner. Rule 2. Don’t let your partner die.” Kael and I circled each other. He threw the first punch. I dodged. The bond let me. I could feel where he was going to hit before he did. He realized it too. “Cheating,” he muttered. “Surviving,” I said. We fought for 20 minutes. No one else could land a hit on either of us. Because we were already moving together. It was terrifying. After class, I was in the library trying to research the bond when the pain hit again. Not mine. His. Sharp. In his chest this time. I dropped the book and ran. I found him in the courtyard. On his knees. Rikka and two other girls standing over him. “Heard you were weak without your leash,” Rikka said. One of them kicked him. I saw red. I didn’t think. I just moved. I hit the first girl. Then the second. The bond was feeding me Kael’s adrenaline, his anger, his wolf. When I turned to Rikka, Kael was already on his feet. “Don’t,” he said to her. Quiet. Rikka sneered. “Or what? You’ll let your pet defend you?” Kael looked at me. And for the first time, he didn’t look angry. He looked tired. “Leave,” he told her. Rikka left. It was just us. “Why did you do that?” he asked me. “Because the bond—” “Don’t,” he cut me off. “Don’t blame the bond.” He walked away. That night, we got a note slipped under the door. _The bond is unstable. Meet in the West Tower at midnight. Come alone. - V_ V. Vale. We both got one. At 11:59 we were standing outside the West Tower door. Together. “Did you—” “Yeah,” Kael said. We went in. The tower was empty except for a mirror. Old. Cracked. And in the mirror, we didn’t see ourselves. We saw a battlefield. Two armies. North Ridge and South Ridge. And in the middle, us. Bound by a red chain. A voice whispered from the mirror. The same voice from the bowl. “_Blood for blood. One must fall for the other to rise. The bond will choose._” The mirror cracked down the middle. Right between us. Kael and I looked at each other. And the mark on our wrists started bleeding........ to be continued........