The Luna Academy

Silver Eyes

I should have known Vivienne wouldn't wait long for revenge.

After my meeting with Lucian ended with more cryptic warnings and no real answers I returned to my room to find it destroyed. Clothes shredded and scattered across the floor. My textbooks torn apart, pages ripped out and crumpled. The mirror smashed, glass glittering on the carpet like malicious stars.

And on my bed, written in what I desperately hoped was red paint: KNOW YOUR PLACE.

My hands shook as I surveyed the damage. Everything I owned, the few possessions I'd brought from home, ruined. The message was clear: Lucian's protection meant nothing here. In this room, I was alone and vulnerable.

I should report this. Tell someone. But who? The Headmistress who barely acknowledged my existence? The instructors who'd watched Vivienne humiliate me without intervening? No. I'd clean it up myself. Stay invisible. Survive.

It took two hours to make the room livable again. Most of my clothes were beyond repair, but I salvaged what I could. The textbooks were a loss—I'd have to share with Rowan or borrow from the library. The mirror... well, seven years bad luck seemed redundant at this point.

I was picking glass out of the carpet when another knock came.

"Go away, Vivienne," I called tiredly.

"It's Rowan. Let me in."

I opened the door to find her carrying shopping bags, her expression grim.

"I heard what happened," she said, stepping inside and taking in the destruction. "Goddess, she really did a number on you." She thrust the bags at me. "Here. New clothes, new textbooks. Don't argue, I've got connections in the second-year storage rooms."

"Rowan, I can't..."

"You can and you will. We scholarship students have to stick together." She started helping me pick up glass. "Besides, you're going to need your strength for tomorrow. First day of actual classes. Luna Magic first period."

My stomach clenched. "Great."

"It's not that bad. Professor Thornwood is actually decent. Strict, but fair." Rowan paused. "Though you should know... Vivienne is in that class. Top of the year in Luna Magic."

Of course she was.

---

I barely slept that night, my dreams filled with shattered mirrors and Lucian's intense blue eyes. When dawn came, I dressed in the clothes Rowan had given me and headed to breakfast with a knot of dread in my stomach.

The dining hall fell silent when I entered.

Every eye turned to me—the scholarship student who'd somehow stolen the most eligible Alpha in the werewolf world. I felt their stares like physical touches: curious, hostile, envious, confused.

I grabbed a tray and filled it with food I had no appetite for, then looked for somewhere to sit. The Elite Circle's table was out, obviously. Most other tables seemed full or deliberately closed off as students shifted closer together when I approached.

"Ember." Lucian's voice cut through the whispers.

He sat at a corner table with two other Alpha heirs—the ones I vaguely remembered being introduced as Sebastian Wolfe and Marcus Stone. All three were devastatingly handsome, powerful, and completely out of my league.

And Lucian was gesturing for me to join them.

Every instinct screamed to refuse, to not draw more attention, to stay invisible. But refusing would be worse—a public rejection of my chosen partner.

I walked to their table on shaking legs and sat beside Lucian, acutely aware of the renewed whispers erupting around us.

"Gentlemen," Lucian said casually, "this is Ember, my training partner. Ember, this is Sebastian and Marcus. They won't bite."

"Much," Sebastian added with a grin that was probably meant to be friendly but mostly showed too many teeth.

Marcus just studied me silently, his dark eyes assessing.

"Eat," Lucian commanded quietly, and I realized I'd been sitting frozen. "You'll need your energy for Luna Magic."

"How did you know I have Luna Magic first period?"

"I know everything about your schedule." He said it matter-of-factly, like it was completely normal. "We'll meet after your morning classes for our first official training session. Don't be late."

Before I could respond, Vivienne's voice rang out across the dining hall.

"Oh, Lucian! There you are!"

She approached our table with her Elite Circle in tow, her smile bright and poisonous. "I wanted to wish you luck with your... interesting choice. Training a scholarship student must be so different from working with someone who actually knows what they're doing."

"Vivienne." Lucian's voice was ice. "Walk away."

"I'm just being friendly! We're all sisters here at Silvermoon Academy, after all. Isn't that right, Ember?" Her eyes locked onto mine. "Though some sisters are clearly more equal than others."

The Elite Circle laughed on cue.

Sebastian muttered something that sounded like "she's going to be trouble," but Lucian didn't react. He simply continued eating, completely ignoring Vivienne's presence.

The dismissal was more devastating than any insult. Vivienne's smile faltered, and fury flashed in her eyes before she caught herself.

"Enjoy your breakfast," she said sweetly, then swept away with her followers.

"She's going to make things very difficult for you," Marcus observed quietly.

"She already has," I muttered, thinking of my destroyed room.

Lucian's fork paused halfway to his mouth. "What do you mean?"

I shouldn't have said anything. "Nothing. Just... she made her feelings clear."

"Ember." His hand caught my wrist gently but firmly. "What did she do?"

The commanding tone left no room for evasion. I told him about my room.

The temperature at our table seemed to drop ten degrees. Sebastian and Marcus exchanged looks while Lucian's jaw tightened, his eyes going flat and cold in a way that made him terrifying.

"That ends now," he said quietly.

"Lucian, it's fine. I can handle—"

"No." He released my wrist but his gaze held me captive. "You're under my protection now. An attack on you is an attack on me. Vivienne needs to understand that."

"You can't fight my battles for me," I protested. "That'll just make everyone think I'm weak, that I can't handle being your partner."

Something flickered in his expression—surprise? Respect? "You're right. But there's a difference between fighting your battles and making sure the playing field is level." He stood. "Excuse me. I need to have a conversation with Headmistress Corvina."

---

Luna Magic class met in a circular tower room lined with windows, moonlight-filtering crystals hanging from the ceiling even though it was daytime. Professor Iris Thornwood was a striking woman in her forties with silver-streaked auburn hair and sharp green eyes that missed nothing.

Twenty first-year students sat in a circle, and I carefully chose a seat between two girls who seemed neutral—not part of Vivienne's Elite Circle but not openly hostile either.

Vivienne sat directly across from me, her perfect posture and confident smile declaring her dominance in this subject.

"Welcome," Professor Thornwood began, "to Luna Magic. This is not simple healing or basic ward work. Luna Magic is the ancient art that separates pack members from leaders, that gives Lunas the power to protect, strengthen, and guide their packs." She paused. "Today, we'll assess your baseline abilities. Simple healing exercise. Partner with the student beside you."

The girl next to me—blonde, nervous-looking—turned to me reluctantly. "I'm Hannah."

"Ember."

"I know. Everyone knows."

Professor Thornwood demonstrated the exercise: a small cut on the palm, then using Luna Magic to heal your partner's wound. Basic first-year work.

Hannah went first, making a shallow cut on her palm with the provided silver blade. I placed my hands over hers, reaching for... whatever Luna Magic was supposed to feel like.

I'd never trained in this. In Pinewood Pack, we had one elderly Luna who'd taught me basic first aid, but nothing magical.

I closed my eyes, focusing on Hannah's cut, on the desire to heal. And something inside me stirred—a warmth, a tingling sensation that flowed from my core down through my arms into my hands.

Hannah gasped.

I opened my eyes to see her palm completely healed, not even a scar remaining. But that wasn't what made her gasp.

My hands were glowing with soft silver light.

"Professor," Hannah whispered, staring at me with wide eyes. "Her... her eyes..."

Professor Thornwood was beside us in an instant. "Ember, look at me."

I met her gaze, and her expression shifted—shock, recognition, and was that fear?

"Your eyes are silver," she said softly. "Pure silver."

The room went completely silent.

"What does that mean?" I asked, my voice shaking.

Professor Thornwood's face was carefully blank. "It means you have a very rare gift. Ancient Luna bloodlines sometimes manifest silver eyes during healing."

"Silver eyes are just a myth," Vivienne called out. "Everyone knows that."

"They are not a myth, Miss Blackthorn. They're simply extremely rare." She looked back at me. "Ember, have your eyes done this before?"

"I... I don't know. I've never really tried healing before."

"Then we have much work to do. Continue with your exercises. Ember, stay after class."

When everyone filed out, Professor Thornwood closed the door behind them.

"Sit," she commanded.

She studied me for a long moment. "Do you know what silver eyes mean, Ember?"

"You said ancient bloodlines—"

"I said that for the class. The truth is more complicated. Silver eyes are the mark of Luna Astrid Silvermoon's descendants. The founder of this academy. A woman who possessed power that threatened every Alpha in the werewolf world two hundred years ago."

My blood went cold. "I don't understand."

"You will. But for now, you must be very careful. There are people at this academy who would rather see your abilities suppressed than developed. Do you understand?"

A knock at the door interrupted us.

"Enter," Professor Thornwood called.

Lucian stepped inside, his gaze immediately finding me. "I'm here to escort Ember to our training session."

As Lucian led me from the tower, I felt like the ground had shifted beneath my feet.

"What happened in there?" Lucian asked quietly. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

I stopped walking and turned to face him. "Did you know? Is this why you chose me?"

His expression gave nothing away. "Know what?"

"That I have silver eyes when I heal. That I'm descended from Luna Astrid Silvermoon."

Lucian was silent for a long moment.

Then he smiled—not his usual controlled expression, but something genuine and almost satisfied.

"No," he said softly. "I didn't know. But I suspected you were special. Now I'm certain."

"What does that mean? Lucian, what's really going on?"

He glanced around the corridor, then lowered his voice. "Not here. Come with me. It's time I told you the truth about why I really chose you."

He started walking toward the f*******n north wing, and despite every instinct screaming that I should demand answers here and now, I followed him into the shadows.

Because I was beginning to suspect that whatever truth he was about to reveal would change everything.