The shift in the atmosphere was so subtle at first that Violet almost missed it. One moment, they were dancing, laughing, swaying in rhythm and letting the night carry them away. Then the next, everything stopped after the strange horn blared.
The music faltered, stuttering like a broken record before cutting off completely. Conversations amongst the students trailed off mid-sentence, laughter died in the air, and a tense silence settled over the field like a thick, suffocating fog.
Violet stilled, her senses prickling. Something was wrong.
"What happened?" Ivy asked, her voice uncertain.
But she wasn’t the only one asking.
Confusion rippled through the crowd as murmurs rose among the new students. Except that was the thing— it was just the new students.
Violet’s sharp gaze darted across the crowd, and that’s when she noticed it. A pattern.
The older students weren’t asking questions.
No. They weren’t confused at all.
Their faces twisted with barely-contained amusement. Their masks of casual friendliness had cracked, revealing cruel intentions beneath. The air around them pulsed with a sick anticipation, like predators waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.
They had been waiting for this.
To make it worse, the werewolves no longer blended into the party. Their stance had shifted instead. They now stood taut, muscles coiled like springs, eyes sharp and poised for instruction. What instructions?
Her throat dried as realization clawed at her. This was it, the event Adele had warned her about. The one no one spoke of. Her gut screamed at her to make a move immediately.
"We have to get out of here. Now!" Violet’s voice cut through the growing unease, loud and desperate enough to make Lila, Ivy, and Daisy exchange uneasy glances.
Daisy, ever the sharp one, quickly fell into step beside her. "What’s going on?" she asked urgently.
Violet moved fast, weaving through the dazed crowd, her breath coming quick as she explained. "I don’t know exactly. I only caught snippets, but there’s supposed to be some sort of event today. Some kind of initiation I think..."
Daisy sucked in a sharp breath. "Hazing," she whispered, horrified.
It made sense.
No wonder no one talked about it. No wonder the upperclassmen looked so hungry for what was about to happen. It was a secret tradition.
Hazing wasn’t exactly common in high schools, but Lunaris Academy wasn’t just any school. It was an elite school built on conformity, hierarchy, and deep-rooted secrets. It only made sense that the older students would find a way to remind the newcomers of their place.
And yet, this didn’t feel like a normal hazing ritual. Nothing about Lunaris Academy felt normal.
A cold dread settled in Violet’s stomach as they hurried forward, pushing past the clueless crowd of new students who were still murmuring, still asking questions, still too slow to react.
Fools.
Couldn’t they feel it? The air itself had changed.
A thick, buzzing charge hung in the night, crawling over Violet’s skin like static, making the fine hairs on her arms stand on end.
If this was truly tradition, then they were already too late. The thought clawed at her mind, but she shoved it down.
No. No. No. Keep moving. The entrance is close. Once we’re out of sight, we run.
Just a little farther—
Then a low, vicious bark cut through the night.
A massive wolf stepped out from the trees, its hackles raised, lips curled back in a snarl so feral it sent ice racing through Violet’s veins.
Its eyes locked onto them, gleaming with intelligence
Violet’s stomach dropped. They weren’t going anywhere.
Fear tightened around her lungs as she instinctively grabbed Ivy’s wrist, yanking her back before the wolf could lunge. The girls thankfully were smart not to make a wrong move, their gasps of terror swallowed by the sudden, suffocating quiet.
There was no leaving the current situation.
They were trapped.
And then, a figure stepped into the firelight with an eerie, unshaken calm.
Asher Nightshade.
The flames from the bonfire danced over his face, casting shifting shadows that only made his presence more menacing. But it was his eyes that froze Violet in place.
They burned. Not with rage, nor violence, but with satisfaction. He had been waiting for this.
A cruel smirk curled his lips as he surveyed them, drinking in their fear like it was a fine wine.
Then, in a voice as smooth as silk but laced with iron, he spoke. "Gather the newbies from the ends of the field."
The command was so calm, so casual, as if he weren’t issuing what felt like a death sentence.
Her stomach churned.
Violet turned to her friends whose faces were pale, their eyes wide. Fear locked her lungs, until instinct shattered it.
"Run!" she screamed.
The moment Violet’s roommates bolted, it was as if a spell had been broken. The other new students finally realized what was happening and panic set in like wildfire.
Screams tore through the air as bodies crashed into each other, some students trying to run, others still too slow to grasp the danger before they were seized.
At first, Violet and her roommates stuck together, weaving through the chaos, but instinct told her they wouldn’t make it far like this.
"Split up!" she shouted.
And they did.
Daisy veered sharply to the left, her brown hair flying behind her. Lila ducked low, slipping through gaps between panicked bodies, and Ivy took off toward the far side of the field. Violet ran straight ahead.
It was madness around her.
The werewolves moved fast, plucking students from the crowd with terrifying ease. But they weren’t the only threat as the elite students had joined in, their faces alight with pleasure as they dragged their victims away.
Violet barely dodged a grasping hand, twisting her body at the last second. But it was not fast enough as a blonde elite girl lunged at her from the side.
She reacted on instinct, driving her elbow into the girl’s ribs so hard that it sent a jolt through her arm.
The girl let out a strangled gasp and stumbled back, clutching her side. If Adele didn’t step in to help her, Violet was certain she’d be feeling that for a long, long time.
However, Violet didn’t have time to gloat. Not when she was so close now. If she could just disappear into the underbrush, she could hide and wait this out. No one would find her in the academy grounds before sunrise. She would make sure of it.
Her breath came fast, her muscles burned, but Violet pushed harder only for someone to slam into her from the back.
Violet crashed to the ground, her breath rushing out of her lungs. She barely had time to recover before a figure loomed over her, the bonfire casting a glow against the stark white of his hair.
Alaric Storm.
Her boyfriend just captured her.
Her stomach dropped.
Alaric wasn’t like the others. Where the other students smirked and laughed, reveling in the chaos, his face was blank and distant like he didn’t want to be here. Like he had no choice.
"I’m sorry." was all he said before a rough fabric of a bag was pulled over her head, cutting off her vision entirely.