A Queen's Rise From The Flames

Episode 3

Officially The Alpha's Prey

Jax POV

There are only two types of people in this academy: predators, and the prey who think they can hide from us.

I leaned back in the squeaky little wooden chair, tracking every single movement of Darbie’s face. She was doing it right now. She was putting on that stupid mask of a fragile, trembling pack maid, trembling right on cue like a flawless little actress.

It was really amusing to watch because I knew with certainty, that it was a bold-faced lie.

I love chaos. I live for the moments when the neat, boring structure of this academy shatters into a million pieces, and Darbie was easily the most interesting puzzle to land in this place in years.

Gideon thought he needed to give her time as there's no way she could simply hide away forever. It was true, yes, but I wanted to push the buttons. I wanted to see what happened when the mouse bared its teeth.

"You don't have much to say, do you?" I teased, standing up from her desk.

The room was so small I could cross it in three steps. I walked past her, intentionally brushing my shoulder against hers just to see if she'd flinch. She did, but it was too performative. Too slow. It was more like she was consciously delaying her reactions to match what a pathetic, unawakened omega was supposed to feel.

I strolled over to her small window, pushing it open and stepping out onto the narrow balcony that overlooked the courtyard below. The night air was freezing, biting at my skin, but I didn't care. I leaned my hips casually against the low balcony edge, turning back to face her as she stood frozen near her closed door.

"You see, Darbie, the thing about lying is that your body usually remembers the truth, even when your mind is trying to play dead," I said, reaching into my jacket pocket.

I pulled out my signet ring. It wasn't just any piece of jewelry; it was an incredibly rare, heirloom passed down through generations of my Alpha bloodline. The metal gleamed under the faint moonlight, the crest catching the shadows.

I placed it on the tip of my index finger, lazily twirling it over the balcony railing.

"Whoops," I murmured, devoid of actual surprise, and let it slip right from my fingers toward the courtyard far below.

It was a trap so simple. An ordinary human or a weak omega would have watched it fall, maybe gasped, maybe reached out at a normal human speed. But before her brain could even process the conscious choice to play weak, Darbie’s supernatural reflexes took over.

She immediately blurs, and my oh my…. It was a sight to behold. A literal flash of motion so fast the human eye would have missed it completely. In less than a fraction of a second, she crossed the room, tore past me on the balcony, and lunged over the edge, her right hand shooting down into the dark.

Snap.

She caught the ring exactly an inch before it dropped out of her reach.

I let out a loud, genuine laugh, clapping my hands together in delight as she slowly pulled herself back over the railing. "Look at that!" I cheered, my voice dripping with amusement. "Caught her red-handed."

Darbie froze, her knuckles white as she gripped the ring. The mask had shattered, leaving her face pale, and her eyes blazing with a dangerous, feral intensity that made my inner wolf howl with excitement.

She braced herself, her shoulders locking as if she was preparing for me to call the guards, shout her secrets to the world, or expose her right then and there.

But I didn't move. I merely leaned back against the brick wall, crossing my arms and keeping that lazy smirk fixed on my face.

"Relax, little mouse," I murmured, watching her chest rise and fall with panicked breaths. "I haven't decided whether you're worth exposing to the Council yet. A secret this good? It's much more fun when I keep it all to myself."

She slowly held out her hand, dropping the ring back into my palm. Her fingers were ice-cold, but the heat of her gaze was scorching. "What do you want, Alpha Jax?" she asked, her voice dropping the stuttering maid act entirely as she sounded remarkably steady.

"Leverage, of course," I said, stepping closer until I could whisper right in her ear. "Tomorrow night. The underground fighting rings beneath the academy's tunnels. The warriors are having a tournament, and I need a little entertainment. You're going to act as my lucky charm and accompany me."

She narrowed her eyes. "And if I say no?"

"Then Gideon gets that little piece of the lock I found," I smiled, patting her cheek lightly. "And we both know the king doesn't play as nice as the devil does. See you tomorrow, Darbie."

I didn't wait for her response. I vaulted over the balcony railing, dropping effortlessly into the ground of the courtyard below, leaving her alone with her choices.

The victory carried me all through the next day, but the universe apparently had other plans for our little mystery girl.

By the afternoon, the academy was buzzing with the usual boring lectures. I was cutting through the grand library, looking for a place to doze off, when I spotted a familiar head of messy hair tucked away in the back rows of the historical archives. Darbie was trying to lose herself in the stacks, probably hiding from me.

But she hadn't noticed the shadow looming over her. From the end of the aisle, Kaelen stepped out.

He was the third Alpha of our apex trio. Leaving out the fact that I was almost like his best friend—even though he'd rather die than say it aloud— Kae was cold and ruthlessly disciplined.

He never smiled or played games and he damn well didn't accept a single millimeter of disorder.

He was dressed in his perfectly pressed academy uniform, holding a thin, manila official dossier in his gloved hands. Darbie tried to pull her cart of books back, attempting to slip into her usual timid girl story the second she saw him, but Kaelen didn't give her the chance.

He moved forward, blocking her exit, the freezing authority of his aura making the surrounding students immediately scatter out of the aisle, leaving the two of them isolated.

Well, this is quite the show. I leaned against the nearest shelf with folded arms as I decided to grace them with my audience. Silently, of course.

"Darbie," Kaelen coldly called. He dropped the thin dossier onto the top of her book cart with a hollow thud. She looked down at it, her fingers twitching.

"Your fake adoption records," Kaelen continued, his icy blue eyes fixed onto hers without a single shred of human warmth. "I've been tracking the signatures from the Bloodmoon Pack. Fabricating identity documents to gain entry to Alpha Academy is a treasonous violation of academy law."

I stiffled a laugh as I watched how Darbie's breath caught in her throat, her eyes widening as she stared at the official seal on the paperwork.

Kaelen leaned down slightly, his expression carved from ice. "You are officially under my investigation. And unlike my peers, I don't stop until the target is dismantled.”