Born of Dust and Shadows
705 Words
The bell echoed through the sandstone hallways of Mesa Ridge University , sharp and ancient like everything else carved into this sun-bleached desert. Our school was built right into the rocks—a place where heat shimmered off the cracked flagstone courtyard and every window rattled with dry wind and wolf howls from the training grounds beyond.
I could feel the stares before I even made it to my locker. I always did.
Some held curiosity. Some, pity.
Most just held fear.
Because in a pack this size, where every kid shifted by twenty one—where their wolves were marks of strength and pride—I was the freak that never changed.
“Careful,” a voice hissed near my shoulder. “Might catch her broken blood if you breathe too close.”
That was Briar. Alpha’s daughter. Pain in my ass.
I rolled my eyes, but my throat still tightened. Not because it hurt—because it didn’t anymore. It just made me want to burn something.
“She’s not broken,” a low voice said behind me.
Boris.
Great. The only thing worse than being stared at for being shiftless was having the pack’s most dangerous golden boy defend me in front of everyone.
I didn’t turn around. Just opened my locker slowly, deliberately. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I know,” he said. “But I want to.”
Of course he did. Because Boris didn’t care about rules. Or reputation. Or the fact that one day his mate wear a mark on her shoulder—and it sure as hell wouldn’t be me.
Not if I didn’t even have a wolf.
“Mr. Blackthorn, Miss Wild,” came a sharp voice from behind. “Flirting in the hallways again?”
Headmaster Calder stepped between us like a thundercloud in worn boots and a linen shirt, his presence carrying the weight of something older than his clipped tone suggested.
“No, sir,” I said.
“Just being kind,” Boris added.
Calder’s gaze lingered on me too long. Like he knew. Like he’d always known.
“Come see me after last bell, Millie.”
Great. What now?
The crowd in the hallway parted like instinct the second he stepped through the arch.
Dorian Solace.
Firstborn of Alpha Solace. Future ruler of the Ashfang Pack. And the last person I wanted to lock eyes with while Boris was standing too close.
He moved like he owned the ground beneath his boots—which, technically, he did. Built like a soldier, jaw sharp enough to cut through steel, and a wolf that had manifested in full bloodsilver by the time he was fourteen. Rumor was, his first shift cracked stone and frightened grown men. He was all dominance and legacy, and none of it was an act.
His gaze landed on me.
“Still haven’t shifted?” he asked. Voice flat. Sharp. Loud enough to be heard by half the hallway.
I held my ground. “Still obsessed with it?”
A few people snorted. Briar looked like she’d swallowed a lemon.
Dorian’s mouth twitched—not quite a smile. “Careful, Wild. That tongue of yours won’t protect you when real teeth come out.”
“She doesn’t need protection,” Boris said, stepping between us now.
And there it was.
The air tensed. The boys stood just far enough apart to keep from touching, just close enough that their wolves stirred beneath the surface. Boris didn’t have rank, but he had presence—the kind that made alphas nervous.
Dorian glanced down at him, unimpressed. “You forget your place, Blackthorn.”
“Maybe you’re too comfortable in yours.”
“Enough,” Headmaster Calder snapped as he reappeared from thin air—how did he do that? “Solace, walk. Blackthorn, back to class. Millie—don’t forget our meeting.”
As they all peeled off in different directions, my pulse still hammered behind my ribs.
What happens when you don’t belong to a bloodline?
What happens when the future alpha thinks you’re nothing but a myth waiting to be buried?
I swallowed hard and shut my locker.
I had a meeting to get to.
- Writer
