CLAIRE'S POV

"You will never be my mate." 

I looked up at Zane, and I couldn't bear the fury in his eyes as he said those words. He glared down at me with a rage that felt almost murderous. He didn't look at me like I was his mate, like I was a person worthy of love but rather, like the daughter of a murderer.

I clenched my fists and sniffled, trying to hold back my tears, but they came anyway. My lips trembled as I told him, "I'm not my father."

Zane smirked, almost amused as he stepped closer. "No, you're not." He said. "But I'll enjoy destroying you like he destroyed my life."

"I'll enjoy watching you break like he broke my family," He added and I took a step back, feeling my wolf stir painfully inside me.

"Are you scared?" He asked, taunting me, his golden eyes piercing mine. 

"Y-Yes," I choked out, tears spilling from my eyes.

"Good," He replied, standing straight. "Because the moment you walked into this school, you walked into hell. And here, I'm the devil in charge." 

My chest tightened, his threat making my legs unsteady and weak. I wanted to speak, but it felt like wood was lodged in my throat.

"Please…" I managed to say, holding my hands together. "My fa—father may have done things in the past, but he has changed. He's not like that anymore. He's not that man..." 

Zane chuckled coldly, and the sound sent chills down my spine, silencing me mid-sentence. 

"Can he bring back my father?" He asked. I could hear the pain and anger in his voice but I couldn't do anything about it. I just stood there, helpless, my heart shattering into a thousand pieces. 

I looked up at him once more and saw that he was waiting for an answer but what could I say?

"Answer me!!" He suddenly yelled, and I flinched. "Can he bring him back?" 

"N-No," I cried, taking a step back as my body trembled. 

Zane exhaled deeply as if that's what he'd been waiting to hear. He straightened his jacket, staring down at me with disdain. 

"I, Zane Wolfe Ravenscroft," He began to say, and I stared up, slowly shaking my head. But he continued, "Reject you, Claire Hunter, as my mate."

A rush of pain hit me and I groaned, bending over and clutching my chest. I bit down on my lips to stop myself from screaming, while my wolf thrashed inside me. 

She was in pain but it was worse for me, my chest burning like a part of me had been ripped out. 

Zane started to walk away but paused. "You shouldn't have come here," He said before disappearing around the corner. 

I leaned against a locker, crying, my shoulders shaking. Why was this happening to me? Why was all this pain coming at me all at once? Why would the moon goddess fate me to him? 

First, I lost the comfort of my home, and then I met a mate who despised me. Why?

"Mum…" I whispered, still crying. Maybe she could hear me. Maybe she would come and take me away from this place because Zane was right. 

I shouldn't have come here. I should have stayed with my family. I shouldn't have come to a school where everyone hated me. 

So how exactly did I end up at Carnemore?

********

7 Days Ago

I pushed the door to my father's study open and walked in. My eyes immediately fell on him sitting behind his desk, and he had his hands on his chin, looking really worried. 

Next to him, mother sat on the couch, trying to hide her tear-stained face. 

What was going on? Why did father ask to see me, and why did they both look so gloomy? 

My heart pounded as I took a few steps forward, approaching father's desk.

"Sit," he said without looking at me. 

I threw a quick glance at mother before taking a seat, feeling uneasy.

Father slid a newspaper across to me. With shaky hands, I picked it up and proceeded to read the headline: "3 FAMILIES KILLED IN THE RECENT ATTACK ON GREENSHADE PACK. IS HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF?"

My lips parted in shock. This was devastating.

This was the fourth attack on werewolves just this week. Who was doing this? And why?

I gently placed the newspaper back on the desk and returned my gaze to father. Everyone knew about the attacks, and mother had even reminded us to be security conscious, so what was this meeting really about? 

Father wasn't one to involve me in such matters so this was strange. 

Quietly, I waited for him to say something but he just remained silent, his expression sad. For almost a minute, the entire room was quiet and I couldn't understand what was happening. 

"They think we did it," Father finally said after the silence.

"What?" I asked, confused. 

"They think I have mobilized hunters to go after werewolves," he said, leaning forward and placing his hands on the table.

"But that's not true," I cut in. "Dad, you would never do that again."

"I know, Claire," he replied. "But it's our word against theirs, and it's not enough. I've done many terrible things in the past, so I'm a prime suspect in these attacks."

"Why do they think you'd do that?" I asked, my eyes widening. "You have a family now. What do they think you would gain by killing all those families?"

He fell silent, and I tried to wrap my head around what was happening. My own father, a prime suspect? Yes, he used to be a vicious head hunter who killed supernaturals many years ago. But he fell in love with my mother and eventually worked out a peace treaty between hunters and supernaturals. 

Why would he choose to destroy everything he built?

"I had a meeting with the werewolf council yesterday," Father said, snapping me back to reality. "They are launching an investigation into our family, but…" He paused, his green eyes meeting mine. "They've given us a chance to prove we are innocent."

At that moment, mother choked out a sob and started to cry. I turned to her, seeing her tears spill and then slowly, I started to understand what was happening. 

I turned back to father with teary eyes. "Are you leaving? Are they taking you from us?"

Mother's sobs increased, and I knew I was right. They were taking father. 

But to my surprise, he shook his head before answering. "No. I'm not leaving."

I turned to him sharply, searching his face for reassurance.

"You are," he finished.

"W-What?" I stammered with wide eyes.

"To prove the peace treaty is still effective, you'll be transferred to Carnemore Academy this semester," Father said with so much sadness, his eyes filling with tears. The room fell silent immediately. 

For a moment, I couldn't breathe. 

There was a sharp ringing in my ears as I tried to make out whether he was joking from his expression. And when I saw no atom of a joke on his face, it felt like the air in my lungs had been sucked out. 

"No…" I whispered, leaning back. "No, Dad."

"Claire…"

"No," I said, tears streaming down my face.

"We don't have a choice," he insisted. "I've trained you since you were six. There is nothing at Carnemore that would be strange to you."

"Dad, p-please don't send me there," I cried, my knees falling to the ground as I clasped my hands together. "I can't go there."

"Claire, listen to me!" He slammed his hands down on the table, but his voice was shaking. "I can't intervene. If you don't do this, they'll tear apart our family and pin these murders on us. Do you want that to happen?"

"Sending her there is murder itself!" Mother cut in, crying.

"I told you to leave if you won't cooperate!" Father yelled back at her, rising to his feet. "Don't you understand what's at stake here?"

I felt my body shake as their voices overlapped in an argument. "If we refuse to cooperate, they'll arrest us all! Don't you get it?" 

Arrest us? My stomach twisted, my entire body going numb as I lay on the ground. This couldn't be real. It couldn't be. I just had to wake up from this nightmare. 

But mother's voice rang out, "They're taking our daughter away from us. She won't even be allowed to call us because of the investigation! She'll be all alone!"

I was going to Carnemore? Impossible. Nobody would take me from my family, I thought firmly, tears pouring from my eyes. 

Sending me to that school felt like a death sentence. The place was crawling with wolves, vampires and every being who had a reason to hate me. And with this recent unrest, what would they do with the daughter of the suspect under investigation? 

And no calls from my family? I couldn't imagine that. I couldn't go there, but the thought of not doing it made my stomach churn. 

If I didn't go, they would surely pin these murders on my father, and I would never see him again.

Could I live with that? No. 

The image of my younger sister and brother in pain flashed through my mind, and I felt a wave of hopelessness wash over me. 

I couldn't bear the thought of them suffering, and I couldn't live without my parents. But at the same time, Carnemore was a nightmare to me. A sob tore through me and I shut my eyes tightly, praying that this was just a horrible dream. 

But when I opened them, my parents had stopped arguing and father was now looking down at me. 

"There's no alternative." He said, shaking his head. "You must go to Carnemore."