The car ride felt too long and not long enough at the same time.
Mary sat stiffly in the backseat, hands folded in her lap like she could hold herself together by force. The windows were tinted so dark she could barely see the world passing by, and the road noise sounded muffled—as if the car wasn't driving through a town, but through a tunnel that led somewhere she wasn't meant to return from.
The men in the front didn't talk.
Not once.
Two escorts. Both dressed in black. Both built like they'd been carved out of stone. Their shoulders took up most of the front seats, and their silence felt less like professionalism and more like a warning.
Mary swallowed, forcing her breathing to stay even.
They were escorts.
That's what the principal had called them.
But Mary couldn't shake the feeling that if she tried to open the door and run, they'd catch her before her feet hit the pavement.
Don't panic, she told herself, wiping her palms against her jeans.
Her hands were sweaty. Her mouth was dry. Her heartbeat kept speeding up and slowing down like it couldn't decide whether to flee or freeze.
And every time her mind went quiet for even a second, her dream rushed in to fill the space.
Moonlight.
Blood.
A dead Alpha staring at the sky.
Run… human…
Mary's stomach clenched.
She pressed her forehead lightly against the cold glass and stared at the blurred trees outside.
It was a dream, she tried to convince herself.
But it hadn't felt like one.
It had felt like a memory from a life she'd never lived.
Mary's fingers curled tighter in her lap.
Okay.
So maybe this place was dangerous.
Maybe she was walking into something bigger than an academy.
Maybe she was stepping into a world that didn't want humans breathing its air.
But if she was going to survive it, she needed to stop acting like prey.
She straightened, rolling her shoulders back.
New school, she thought. New rules.
Reinvent yourself.
She could do that. She'd been reinventing herself every time someone called her cursed. Every time someone tried to shame her into shrinking.
Obsidian Moon Academy didn't get to decide who she was.
Not anymore.
And maybe—just maybe—this place would finally give her answers.
About her hair.
About the platinum streaks that everyone feared.
About the strange moments in her life that never made sense.
About the feeling deep in her bones that she wasn't as human as everyone insisted she was.
She exhaled slowly.
And maybe… I'll even date.
The thought was ridiculous enough to ease her chest a fraction.
Because if she was going to walk into a supernatural academy with three Alphas and a murder hanging over the place like fog…
Why not be a little delusional?
Why not pretend this could be normal?
The car rounded a bend.
And the world changed.
Mary's breath caught so sharply it almost hurt.
Ahead, rising from a stretch of dark forest like it had grown out of the earth itself, were gates so massive they looked like they belonged to a kingdom, not a school.
Black iron braided with gold filigree.
A crescent moon emblem at the center, etched so deeply it looked branded into the metal.
The gates stood between two towering stone pillars, each one carved with symbols that made Mary's skin prickle just looking at them.
The escorts didn't slow down.
They didn't stop at a checkpoint.
They didn't speak.
The gates opened on their own.
Not swinging.
Not creaking.
They parted like the academy had been watching and decided she was allowed through.
Mary's pulse thudded. Her scalp tingled, and the platinum streaks in her hair felt… warm.
Okay. That's new.
The car rolled forward.
And Obsidian Moon Academy revealed itself.
It wasn't a campus.
It was a castle.
Tall towers pierced the sky like black spears. Huge windows glowed faintly, reflecting daylight in a way that looked almost… alive. Stone walls climbed higher than Mary could comfortably stare at. Vines clung to parts of the structure like the building had roots.
It reminded her of Hogwarts—if Hogwarts had been built for predators.
The view stole her breath completely.
Fountains sparkled in courtyards, water leaping in elegant arcs. Beautiful benches sat beneath twisted trees hung with lanterns. Ponds mirrored the sky so perfectly Mary could see clouds floating in them like trapped ghosts.
And then she saw the river.
It ran alongside the academy like a ribbon of liquid silver, shimmering as if sunlight had melted into it. It didn't look like water—it looked like magic.
Tiny fairies zipped through the air near the riverbank, their wings glittering, their laughter faint like wind chimes. Mary blinked hard, thinking she was imagining it.
She wasn't.
There were gardens too—massive ones—some walled and covered in glass like botanical domes. Others looked wild, filled with flowers that glowed faintly, as if they held their own moonlight.
Off in the distance were clubhouses—actual wooden lodges built in clusters—with banners hanging from them. A huge field stretched beyond that, flat and green and perfect, marked with strange rings and posts like it hosted sports Mary didn't understand.
Mary couldn't help it.
She stared.
Awe swept through her so strong it overpowered her fear for a moment.
"This is…" she whispered before she could stop herself.
One of the escorts glanced at her through the rearview mirror.
His expression didn't change.
But his eyes looked like they'd heard the same reaction a thousand times.
The car turned up a curved drive lined with black stone statues—wolves, ravens, and figures Mary couldn't identify. The statues seemed to watch her as she passed.
Mary swallowed.
The car finally stopped at the massive front entrance beneath a towering arch.
The moment she stepped out, air hit her face—crisp, clean, and laced with something sharper.
Pine. Smoke. And a wild scent underneath that made her pulse jump.