The Missing Chosen Ones

Thirteen years ago, the supernatural world shook as Alpha King Tatum’s newborn twins vanished from their nursery. Blood soaked the royal cradle. The Luna Queen’s screams echoed through the palace, her shaking hands clutching the empty blankets. A shadow had slipped into the night with both infants pressed to its chest—one crying, one ominously silent. The kingdom searched, but no trail was ever found. The royal heirs simply… disappeared. — Thirteen years later Embry, Ireland Riley Falls jolted awake to the sound of her foster father cursing downstairs. She didn’t flinch. Fear was something she’d learned to swallow a long time ago. Silence was safer. Her tiny attic room was cold enough that her breath fogged as she sat up. A thin sheet and a squeaky old mattress were all she had, but she pulled her knees close and tried to make herself smaller, invisible. “Should’ve left her at the hospital,” her foster mother spat below. Riley closed her eyes. They said that often. They meant it. Her fingers traced the frayed edges of her blanket while the familiar ache in her chest pulsed—an ache she’d had for as long as she could remember. It felt like something inside her was trying to wake up… or escape. She didn’t know where she came from. She didn’t know why she’d been abandoned. She only knew she didn’t belong anywhere. Books were the only place she felt whole. Tonight, she needed to breathe. Needed to be somewhere that wasn’t this house. The private school’s massive library called to her again—it always did. A place she wasn’t allowed to be. A place filled with books about things no one believed in anymore: witches, werewolves, fae, royal bloodlines. Creatures she thought weren’t real. Creatures she wished were. When the house finally fell quiet, Riley climbed out her attic window and dropped silently into the grass. Night air stung her cheeks as she crossed the empty field and slipped through the shadows until she reached the gates of the private academy funded by the powerful McKinnley family. Her heart pounded as she pushed the library door open. The scent of old paper and dust welcomed her—warm, safe. She moved between the shelves like a ghost, fingers brushing over the worn titles. Werewolf Physiology. Royal Shifter Bloodlines. Fae Courts and Their Secrets. Her pulse sparked. Her fingertips tingled. A flicker of light danced across her skin before fading. She froze. That wasn’t normal. Nothing about her had ever been normal. She grabbed a book about werewolves and slipped behind a tall shelf. Curling into the shadows, she opened to a section about the senses of alpha-born children. Something about the description tugged at her chest, sharp and painful. As if her body recognized something her mind didn’t. She shook it off and kept reading until her eyes burned. — Across campus, Alexandra McKinnley leaned against the stone balcony overlooking the training fields. The night run had ended, and wolves shifted back into human form, laughing and shoving each other playfully. Alex watched them with a carefully crafted smile. Everyone here belonged to something—packs, covens, bloodlines. Everyone but her. She was supposed to be a witch. Her powers were supposed to manifest by sixteen. She was almost thirteen now and had nothing but pressure and disappointment. Her life was charity wrapped in privilege. Designer clothes. A beautiful home. A school paid for by her mother’s donations. And still, she felt empty. She turned to head back inside when she smelled it. Warm vanilla. Rain-soaked pine. Something soft… and familiar. Her heart skipped. The scent led her straight to the library. Alex stepped inside, staying in the shadows as her pulse climbed. That smell—why did it make her chest tighten? Why did it stir her magic for the first time in her life? Then she saw her. A girl sitting cross-legged on the floor, blonde hair tumbling down her back like spun gold under the dim lamp. She hugged a worn library book to her chest, green eyes scanning the page with hunger—like she was starved for knowledge, starved for something deeper. She looked about Alex’s age. But it wasn’t her age that made Alex freeze. It was her face. She looked like Alex. Not identical… but close enough that Alex’s breath hitched. Same hair. Similar features. A strange glow beneath the skin neither girl should have. Who was she? Why was she here? Why did Alex’s magic react to her of all people? And why did Alex suddenly feel like this girl wasn’t just a stranger sneaking into a library… …but someone connected to her in a way she couldn’t explain? Alex stepped closer, heart pounding. The girl didn’t look up. But the moment Alex crossed the threshold, Riley’s body tensed—like she sensed her. Two lives. Two stolen histories. Two girls who didn’t belong anywhere. Until now. Because destiny was beginning to wake up. And it had found both of them.