The classroom doors opened halfway through the murmuring chaos of students settling into their seats.
For a moment no one noticed.
Then someone near the front inhaled sharply.
Heads turned.The man standing in the doorway wasn’t unfamiliar. In fact, most of the room recognized him instantly, which made the silence even stranger.
Nathan Wolfe looked nothing like the Sanctum’s other instructors.Most teachers moved carefully, robes pristine, voices measured with the weight of authority. Nathan walked in as if he’d just stepped off a mountain trail—coat slung carelessly over one shoulder, sleeves rolled, wind still tangled faintly in his dark hair.
He paused in the doorway, glancing around the room with an expression halfway between amusement and curiosity.
“Well,” he said lightly, stepping inside, “either this class is unusually disciplined or you’re all deciding whether I look qualified enough to survive the semester.”
A ripple of laughter broke the silence.
He dropped his coat over the desk at the front of the room and leaned against it casually, arms crossing.
“Relax,” he continued. “I’m not replacing anyone permanently. Your previous alchemy instructor made an unfortunate decision involving unstable reagents and two very stubborn flasks.”
He tapped the desk once.
“He’ll recover. His pride might not.”
More laughter followed, louder this time.
“Until then,” he said, straightening slightly, “you’re stuck with me.”His gaze swept across the room before settling on the back row.
“Name’s Nathan Wolfe.”
The moment he said it, several students turned instinctively toward Damon.
Nathan followed their gaze and grinned.
“Yes,” he said, pointing lazily toward the back of the room. “That one is my younger brother.”
A wave of whispers spread through the classroom.Damon rolled his eyes.
Nathan tilted his head thoughtfully. “And before anyone asks—no, he doesn’t smile like a normal person.”
The room erupted into laughter.
Damon exhaled slowly through his nose.
Nathan’s grin widened.
“Don’t worry,” he added. “He’s perfectly harmless. Mostly.”
Beside Damon, Emanuel leaned slightly murmuring something to Damon which ended up frustrating him more.
Nathan clapped his hands once.
“Right. Enough family humiliation. Let’s see how many of you can handle volatile compounds without removing your eyebrows.”
The lesson began.
I sat two rows from the window, watching Nathan move through the classroom as he spoke. There was something effortless about him, something warm that made even the most nervous students relax.
When he demonstrated a reaction at the front table, the room leaned forward together.
Even the Aranya students near the back paid attention.
Nathan spoke about alchemy the way some people spoke about music—like it was alive.
“Alchemy,” he said, holding a vial up to the light, “isn’t about control. It’s about persuasion. You’re convincing volatile things not to destroy each other long enough to create something new.”
The mixture flared briefly with silver light.
A collective “whoa” rippled through the room.
Nathan laughed.
“See? Cooperation.”
His gaze flicked toward Damon again.
“And sometimes,” he added mildly, “you need a little patience with stubborn elements.”
Damon ignored him.
Across the room, I found myself smiling despite everything.The class passed quickly.
By the time the bell rang, the Sanctum had already shifted into the restless energy that came before the ball.
Students flooded the corridors.Lanterns were being hoisted along the balconies.Servants carried armfuls of silk banners through the halls.Music drifted faintly from somewhere near the west wing.
Natalie found me outside the classroom.
“You saw who our new teacher is, right?” she whispered excitedly.
“Everyone saw,” I said.
Willow appeared beside us, pale braids brushing her shoulders.
“He feels like sunlight,” she murmured.
Natalie blinked at her. “That’s… strangely accurate.”
I glanced back toward the classroom.
Nathan was still there, laughing with a group of students while Damon waited near the door, arms crossed.
Something about the way they stood together—similar height, same sharp features—made it impossible not to notice the difference between them.
Nathan was warmth.
Damon was Cold as a Bear
Natalie nudged me.
“You’re staring.”
“I’m observing.”
“Sure.”
The rest of the day blurred past in fragments—training sessions, rushed fittings for the ball, whispered gossip in every corridor.
By nightfall the Sanctum courtyard had transformed.A bonfire roared in the center, flames rising high enough to send sparks spiraling into the dark sky.
Blankets covered the grass in loose clusters.
Students sprawled across them in relaxed groups, cheeks flushed with laughter and cider.The air smelled like woodsmoke, roasted chestnuts, and the sharp sweetness of spiced fruit.
Tomorrow the ball would turn the Sanctum into something polished and ceremonial.
Tonight was the last moment of freedom before that.
I sat cross-legged on a blanket near the edge of the firelight, watching the flames twist and curl.Damon’s voice from the library earlier that week still echoed in my head.
I’ll mark you.
The most absurd thing i have ever heard.We didn't get a chance to speak after that.Dont know if i even want to..
My fingers tightened around my sleeves.
Natalie dropped down beside me with a mug of cider.
“You’re doing the haunted stare again.”
“I am not.”
“You absolutely are.”
Willow settled on my other side, gaze drifting toward the fire.
“Your thoughts are loud tonight,” she said softly.
“Helpful,” I muttered.
Across the flames Damon sat with Dev and Nakshit, half reclined against a log.
He wasn’t laughing like the others, but he didn’t look entirely miserable either.
Nathan suddenly appeared near the bonfire, clapping his hands once to get everyone’s attention.
“Alright,” he announced, voice carrying easily across the courtyard, “this gathering is far too peaceful.”
Several students groaned.“Oh no,” someone muttered.
Nathan lifted a glass jar.Inside it glowed a soft pink firefly.The moment students recognized it, the courtyard erupted with excitement.
“Artis Motus~ Trade of Emotions!”
“Gods, not that again—”
“Yes!”
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Emanuel stepped up beside Nathan, already shaking his head.“This is your fault if someone throws a punch.”
“That’s half the point,” Nathan said cheerfully.
He popped the jar open.The firefly burst into the air, trailing a thin ribbon of pink light.It darted above the courtyard like a wandering star.Students leaned back to follow it.
I felt my stomach tighten.
Please not me.
Please—
The firefly circled once… twice…
Then dipped toward two Rumya boys sitting near the center fire ring.
A roar of laughter went up immediately.
“Oh this is bad.”
“Very bad.”
Emanuel passed them the small glass vials.
They drank.For a moment nothing happened.
Then one of them stiffened.
“What are you looking at?” he snapped suddenly.His friend blinked, confused.
“What?”
“You think you’re better than me?”
“Where did that come from?”
“You’ve always thought that!”
The crowd erupted in delighted shouting as the tension escalated.Within seconds both boys were on their feet, shoving each other.
Someone yelled, “There it is!”
A punch flew.
The courtyard exploded into cheers as they tumbled into the grass wrestling while their friends dragged them apart.Nathan laughed openly.“Alright, maybe that one was predictable.”
Emanuel sighed.
“Next.”
The firefly darted upward again.This time it hovered between Natalie and Anderson.
Natalie looked horrified.
Anderson accepted the vial calmly.
Natalie drank hers with visible dread.
The shift was immediate.
Anderson blinked slowly, her gaze drifting toward Natalie with sudden curiosity.
His pupils widened slightly.
Natalie recoiled.
“Oh gods,” she groaned.
Anderson tilted her head, studying him with new interest.
“You’re… fascinating,” he murmured.
She felt uncomfortable as the crowd hooted clearly seeing Anderson lust over Natalie.
“I need this to end,” Natalie said miserably.
The firefly rose again.
My pulse climbed.
Not me.
Please—
The pink glow hovered directly in front of my face.Then zipped across the fire.
And stopped in front of Damon.
The courtyard exploded.
“No way!”
“This is perfect!”
“Wolf and witch!”
Emanuel handed us each a vial.Blue liquid shimmered inside.
“Drink,” he said.I hesitated.
Then I did.
The potion burned down my throat.For a moment nothing happened.Then the world tilted.Emotion crashed into me like a breaking wave.Confusion first.Deep and tangled, like running into a wall you couldn’t understand.
Then Attraction.The sudden awareness of how close he was across the fire.How easily he could reach me.
My pulse jumped.
Protectiveness followed.A fierce instinct to shield.To stand between me and anything dangerous.And beneath all of it—
Possession.
Not cruel.
Just absolute.
Mine.
Heat rushed to my face.
The courtyard roared with laughter.
“Elara’s blushing!”
“Wolfe, what did you do?”
Across the fire Damon sat completely still.
His gaze locked onto mine.
Dark.Focused.Unmoving.Whatever emotions he had taken from me, he gave no sign.
That calm steadiness unsettled me more than anything.
The courtyard slowly began to empty as the game dissolved into scattered conversations and tired laughter.Blankets were folded.Lanterns dimmed.Students drifted back toward the dormitories in loose groups.
Only the fire remained, crackling softly in the cool night air.I was taking leave as well when Damon called for me. I told my friends not to wait for me as I made my way towards Damon who was leaving towards the gardens.
Emanuel stepped in front of Damon before he could leave.“Hold on.”
Damon stopped.
I hesitated beside them.
Emanuel’s expression was serious now, the playful mood from earlier gone.
“Why did you send a word to Aunt Maria?”
The question landed heavily.
Damon’s jaw tightened.
“What are you talking about?” he said.
Emanuel didn’t blink.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. Maria of Domas doesn’t travel halfway across realms on a whim. Not unless someone called her.”
A cold realization crept up my spine.
“Aunt Maria?”The name left my mouth before I could stop it.
Both of them looked at me.
“My aunt Maria?” I asked slowly.
Emanuel nodded once.
My mind spun.
Maria. My mother’s sister. The one witch in the family who openly despised Amery, who was also aunt of Emanuel’s through her marriage to his uncle who was dragon lord.
I turned sharply toward Damon.
“You called her?”Damon didn’t answer.
My voice rose.
“Why?”
Silence stretched between us.The fire popped behind us.
“You don’t get to drag my family into whatever scheme you’re planning,” I snapped. “First you tell me you’re going to mark me, now you’re summoning my aunt to the Sanctum—”
The words tumbled out before I could stop them.
“—do you want my mother to annihilate the entire realm or what?”
The air went still.Behind us, a voice spoke slowly.“…you’re going to do what?”
Nathan Wolfe stepped into the firelight.
I hadn’t even realized he was still nearby.
His eyes moved from me to Damon, sharp and suddenly very awake.
“Mark her?”
Damon didn’t look away.
Nathan stared at him in disbelief.
“Are you out of your mind?”
Emanuel exhaled quietly.
“Finally someone else said it.”
Nathan stepped closer now, his voice dropping.“Marking someone isn’t a childish threat, Damon. It’s not some drunken dare you make at a bonfire.”
Damon’s shoulders squared.
Nathan continued, more serious now.
“Only true soulmates can survive a wolf’s mark.”
Emanuel nodded grimly.
“And when it’s not mutual—”
Nathan finished the sentence.
“—the body rejects it.”
His gaze flicked toward me briefly before returning to Damon.
“Violently.”The fire crackled between us.
Nathan’s voice hardened.
“Wolves have tried before. Out of obsession. Out of arrogance.”
He shook his head once.
“It ends the same way every time. Agony. Rejection. Sometimes death.”
My stomach dropped.
Emanuel added quietly,
“The bond tears itself apart if it isn’t real.”
Silence pressed down over the courtyard.
Damon finally spoke calmly and defiantly
“And who says Elara’s body will reject my mark?”The words landed like a stone dropped in deep water.
My breath caught. “What?”
The sound barely left my throat.
Damon’s eyes met mine across the fire.
Unwavering and Certain.
“I don’t believe it will.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Nathan's eyes widened in certain realization “ Aw Hell No ..Mother is going to have field day..Damon you didn't tell me.”
Emanuel looked like he wanted to strangle Damon “This is going to be catastrophic.”
And I could only stand there, stunned, staring at the werewolf who had just declared something that should have been impossible.
