A simple promise I made to myself after escaping a brutal childhood of abuse and being trained to enact violence on unblessed witches. Since that moment, I've managed to survive on the streets by successfully pickpocketing. Unfortunately, after years of hiding, the monster who stars in all my nightmares is closer than ever, and I'm faced with only one option—to seek refuge at the Dark Imaginarium Academy. The Academy is filled with the elite witches of our society. I should have expected I'd run into some of my previous targets. Normally, that wouldn't be a proble—except for my last hit.

I refuse to spend the rest of my life with my childhood bully for a mate. I may be a cursed shifter, incapable of shifting—but I wasn't desperate. Not till the Alpha Supreme cast me out of the House of Fire and Fluorite for rejecting his son. Now I'm packless. Homeless. No longer under the protection of a House. Until the dark vampire king of Blood and Beryl turns his sights on me. In return for protection from my former House, I have to become his fake mate. I'll be a queen and a fraud. It's a treacherous lie to live—and I find myself forgetting what's real and what's not.

My life hasn't been typical. All I remember is waking up in an alley when I was ten, scrounging for scraps to survive until I was taken to the Bronzeheart estate. That's where my life began, where I've lived for the past eight years with the ruling family, the Blitz Clan. It's where I found my best friend Gage, the future leader of this clan. At the time, I didn't question my good fortune because I was happy to know I wasn't alone in this world anymore. But maybe I should have. After landing a shocking invite to Dark Imaginarium Academy, I realized how much of a safe haven the estate was.

A witch and a Vampire Prince, bound by a dark past and forbidden desire, must unite to uncover deadly secrets before their connection destroys them. He steps out of the shadows, sending a chill straight through my soul. Eyes the deepest shade of amethyst pierced mine. His cold, handsome features tell me everything I need to know—vampire. But Gabriel de Montclair is not just any vampire. He’s the ancient Vampire Prince.

I'm the lowest-ranking wolf from a pack that only exists to guard the shifter prison in our territory, but I've been planning my escape for years. I just have to make it through one more heat, then I'm done with this pack and the alpha-holes that run it. Everything changes when my pack gets an invitation to Mating Season, the reality show where Alphas and Lunas from around the country meet to pick their chosen mates. And my Alpha is sending me.