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Even the stone you trip on is part of your destiny.

-Japanese Proverb

Chapter One : The Beginning

The morning air was exceptionally cold for this time of the year. Each breath that broke past my chapped lips was accompanied by a puff of steam. My toes were starting to lose feeling from the frigid water I had been splashing through. Despite the cold, I was lathered in sweat that caused my clothing to cling to my body like a second skin before seemingly freezing to me from the early morning chill.

I've never been a fan of the weather in British Columbia. I missed Northern California—the sun, sand, fog, and sandals—but I'm stuck here.

The last signs of fall were crunching under my feet as I ran for my life through the ancient maples, occasionally sliding on the frost-covered leaves. Between the lack of visibility from the dense fog hanging at tree level, the frost covering everything it touched, and the songs of the birds still in the area, it's a beautiful morning...

That is if you overlook the two hundred-thirty-five-pound vyras quickly gaining on me.

His snarling white fangs glistened with saliva, breath came out in hard frozen puffs out his black nose, and razor-sharp claws tore into the frozen ground as he closed the distance between us.

Welcome to my life.

Each stride I made covered more than a yard, but he was gaining on me, and fast.

I splashed through a freezing creek that I missed, slipping and sliding, nearly face-planting in the grass.

"Damn it," I complained under my breath, regaining my footing.

The vyras growled; they don't particularly like freezing water, so he jumped the creek in a single bound.

I could have as well if I had been paying attention but something pulled my attention from the task at hand.

"Ugh, this sucks!" I complained.

Once I broke through the trees, I ran across the lacrosse fields in a full sprint; heart racing, ears filled with the deafening pounding of my adrenaline-charged blood, my entire body felt as if tiny needles were piercing every inch of my skin from the cold.

The storm that had settled over the region earlier in the week caused the drainage fields to flood, so I veered towards them and started trudging through the frigid, knee-deep water.

The vyras growled loudly in protest.

The water wasn't deep, but it wasn't something he wanted to wade through either.

I looked over my shoulder at the snarling beast and smiled, flipping him off.

That set him off and he started after me.

"Damn it! Why do I have to antagonize them?"

What are them, you ask? Vyras, werewolves, lycans, verr, fear, vir, wulf, weir, warg, garoul.

Take your pick, but at the moment it all translates to the same thing; pissed off wolf man.

At the end of the drainage field was a ditch, two meters and three meters wide.

Few know it's there because it is filled with long grass and thick foliage that makes it look flat. I knew it was there because last year I had to help the groundskeeper for two hundred hours' worth of community service after I put the former headmaster's car in the aquatics center.

Okay, that's a stretch, put is a little too vague, so let me rephrase that; after I placed the former headmaster's new Mercedes in the bottom of the lap pool before a swim meet.

Some would say that I have problems with authority.

For once I was in complete agreement with their assessment.

The vyras was closing in on me, but it wouldn't be much longer.

And the sensation that we weren't alone out there was overwhelming so I had to end it now because I wouldn't put it past them to throw an unwanted guest in the mix when I had the advantage.

Either this plan was brilliant or was going to get me wet with a damn vyras on top of me.

The russet-colored wolf snapped at my heels so I tapped into the last reserve of energy I had to put more distance between us; teeth in the back of my ankle hurt.

The ditch was veiled in fog.

I knew exactly where it was, I used to hide there and drink beers with Slevin while he animated the push mower, another strange and unusual punishment from the former headmaster. Drinking cold beers was the perfect way to combat the summer heat...

Slevin drank the beers while I drank Coca-Cola, I'm not much of a drinker.

When I was two strides from the edge of the ditch, I stuck my foot down on the flat rock I knew was there and pushed off as hard as I could. I seemingly flew over the fog-covered ditch as I kicked through the air.

"Please let me make it to the other side without rolling an ankle or getting taken out by whoever is flanking us along the tree line," I pleaded.

Just as my feet touched down on the other side, I heard a loud splash coming from behind me.

"Looks like you're all wet!" I called out over my shoulder, sliding across the grass as I pivoted towards the academy.

Loud growling filled the air; unfortunately, he was quicker than I expected him to be, and he jumped from the ditch, flying through the air before landing not far behind me and quickly closing the distance.

I was tired and was running out of energy.

We had been at it for nearly an hour, and there was only so much adrenaline the body could produce for survival before even that ran out.

My lungs were on fire, the needles of ice piercing my legs were agonizing, the numbness in my feet and toes caused me to stumble and catch the toe of my running shoes more than once, and my heart was racing so fast that I was certain I was having a heart attack!

The last of my strength was starting to falter as I ran into the campus' main courtyard.

A group of students were lingering and looking bored and cold as they mingled, waiting for First Hour to start.

"Coming through!" I called out, dancing around them as the vyras slid into the courtyard behind me. "Watch out for the other one," I warned.

I leaped over a grouping of benches, getting a couple of laughs from some of the students in return.

I couldn't run anymore.

This was crap and totally unfair!

I beeline towards a circular bench that wrapped around a tall maple tree.

I stepped up on it then scrambled up the tree, high into its upper branches where he couldn't reach me, and panted, struggling to catch my breath.

The vyras climbed up on the bench and growled at me.

"I told you that you couldn't beat me," I taunted, gasping for air. "Not even with help this time."

Another loud growl rolled from his chest.

The vyras' body started to elongate as he erected himself, standing on his hind legs. The russet-colored fur blended away into delicious caramel-colored flesh that covered his perfect muscular body; tall and lean with abs I could wash clothes on, shoulder-length light brown hair with golden highlights, and large black eyes. Magical shorts act as a second skin, otherwise, he'd be standing there completely naked.

You've got to love the Academy's fashion department.

"Oh yeah," I huffed, then pulled the strapped rubber stake from my calf and hurled it at him.

Harper's hand snapped out and caught it before it could hit him. "Bloody hell, Love. Really? That is not how you use a bloody stake!" he scolded; his English accent makes everything he says sound prim and proper, even when he's chewing my ass.

"Oh, come on," I teased, flipping around so I was hanging upside down from one of the branches, my hair within his reach. "It isn't as if I cheated or anything," I said as innocently as possible. "Not like Master Dade was. I just improvised a little as I went because they threw a second player in there."

"A little me ass," Harper argued. "I really didn't feel like going for a bloody swim this early in the morning," he complained, wrapping a lock of my hair around his fingers. "You are, without question, the biggest pain in the ass I have ever had the great misfortune of calling me best mate."

I smiled wide.

"What is that now, thirteen to six?" he asked.

I snorted. "Yeah right! Try twenty-four to seven, my luscious, caramel-colored friend," I corrected, flipping off of the branch, and landing in front of him before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Rematch tomorrow?" I beamed, snatching the practice stake he held up from him.

Before he could tell me no, Harper always told me no, Master Dade joined us.

"What in the hell was that, Ari? Can't you follow directions at all?" Master Dade demanded, running a slender hand through his graying hair.

"I'm sorry, did you just meet me?" I ask, making a mocking face. "Honestly, Master Dade, how are we supposed to get real-world training when you give us boundaries and rubber stakes?" I asked, shaking the rubber stake at him in a scolding manner, causing Harper to clasp a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing.

He gave me a look.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Big-Bad-Terrible-Soulless-and-Terrifying Upír, you stepped out of bounds so will you please throw yourself on this stake?" I asked, holding out the rubber stake. "Pretty please?" I asked, batting my lashes. "Poke. Poke. Poke," I said, stabbing the stake at him.

Harper jabbed me in the side with his elbow, silently warning me to stop pushing my luck. "Simmer down, Buffy the Vampire Slayer," he whispered.

Master Dade rolled his eyes and jotted down our time on the call sheet before motioning over to the other students.

"And you're one to talk about adhering to the rules," I scolded. "You had someone trailing us for the last twenty-seven minutes of our engagement."

Master Dade gave me a look.

"A threat?" Harper mumbled under his breath.

"Only to Master Dade's horrible attempt at one-upping me, because I'm just that awesome," I tauntingly sang.

Master Dade shook his head. "Ari and Harper, fifty-nine minutes and seventeen seconds," he eventually said.

"Is that a new record?" I beamed, jumping up and down with excitement.

"No," he dryly informed me.

"What?" I demanded. "That can't be right! We had nearly a full hour of active evasion. Harper didn't even make contact, not for your lack of trying to cheat!"

I really needed to work on my hyper-competitive nature.

Master Dade shook his head. "First of all, I have no idea what you're talking about. And second, you were treed-"

"By choice," I interrupted. "It was for a tactical advantage."

He ignored me. "Regardless, the record was set earlier today at sixty-two minutes and eight seconds, and they even allowed for the one hunting them to tag out due to exhaustion."

"Son of a bitch," I said with a growl of irritation; I hated losing. "How is that even possible? I'm number one in the class! Who in the Hell thinks they can come into my program and beat me?" I demanded, looking at the gathered students. "Better question, who was not able to maintain sixty-two minutes of active evasion and needed to tap out?!" I shrieked.

Yes, that would be more of a concern of mine as their Captain.

They looked away from me and backed up.

They knew better than to get on my bad side, and whoever it was that couldn't handle their role and needed to tag someone else in just caused the entire class to increase their endurance training by fifteen percent.

"It was not that difficult really," someone said with a heavy French accent from the other side of the tree before they stepped around it; I hadn't noticed that anyone was even over there. "And treeing oneself and insultingly calling it a tactical advantage is the farthest thing from being tactical or an advantage. Not to mention, you failed to stake or engage the enemy."

My eyes widened before they narrowed and my hands balled into fists.

The stranger was surprisingly tall, solidly built with wide shoulders and a broad chest, his sweat-drenched long-sleeve shirt looked like a second skin on him, emphasizing his defined body.

All of that was expected in someone who beat the time of the top-ranked student in Combative Arts for the past four years, but his face held my attention the longest.

There was something strangely familiar about it, but I hadn't seen him before.

That I was certain of.

"Déjà vu," I mumbled under my breath, causing him to cock a thick eyebrow.

The stranger's smooth skin was pale, features manly and rugged; lips full, the top being slightly larger than the bottom causing the Cupid's bow to blend away, but it worked with his wide, square jaw. His almond-shaped eyes were encased in thick black lashes and were hidden under a pair of full black brows that were knitted together, his unusual eyes were in multiple shades of green that blended towards the pupil and moved over my face as if scrutinizing it. His obsidian hair was longer and in loose curls that he had half of it pulled back away from his face with a tie, but some strands framing his face had come free and clung to his skin.

Why does he look familiar? I've never seen him before... Have I?

I'm having the weirdest case of déjà vu ever.

Wait! Was that where? The Imperial Court, right? He has to be one of the Sentinels or an Imperial Guard from around the Palace or Court, and is visiting or has a new assignment on campus and wanted to make their presence known since Mother is part of the Court and Father oversees the household of the Unified House...

Damn, his eyes are so beautiful...

"Ow!" I winced and rubbed the side of my head from the sudden stabbing that flared from the cold. "Not now," I grumbled, rubbing my head.

"You alright, Love?" Harper asked, concerned.

I shook my head. "Just irritated a visiting Sentinel thought they'd try to make me look like a punk in front of my team, that's all," I assured him.

The male smirked. "I am no Sentinel, nor am I in training to be one," he assured me. "I just transferred in from the Stockholm Academy."

His condescending smile made the jerk even more handsome, but with his perfect white smile was a double set of fangs.

Damn. I wasn't the biggest fan of Vampires. Most of them were self-righteous, pompous assholes, but those with two sets of fangs were even worse because that meant they were of pure blood decent that's traceable to the founding five Houses of Vampires.

"It is a pleasure to see you at this early hour," he said with a bow.

His French accent was kind of sexy...

But then again, since I'm a sore loser I flipped him off with one hand before hurling my rubber practice stake at him with the other.

In a surprisingly fast movement, his hand snapped out and he caught it before it could make contact with his face, and I inadvertently moaned.

That wasn't normal for me.

Harper turned and looked at me with a weird look on his face.

Yeah, that wasn't normal for me in the least.

"Miss Li, go to the Headmaster," Master Dade said.

"I expect nothing less," I agreed. "Stay this time," I scolded, wagging a scolding finger at the Vampire that I knew had been trailing me and Harper during our active evasion.

His smell was unmistakable, in a very inconvenient way.

I cut across the sleeping campus, taking my time to the Administration Office because I was thinking about those beautiful green eyes.

"Why do the most beautiful packages have to be from the most stomach-turning and unattainable sources?" I rhetorically asked. "It isn't as if it matters though. Vampires, males, classmates, none of it matters and will only prove to be a distraction," I reminded myself...

But I knew I was lying to myself for the first time in my life.