Smoke & Shadow Book 1: Alpha Julian

Outside the window of the bus, the forests blurred past, dark pines twisting into the looming mountains. Drakenhold Academy lay beyond them, carved into the cliffs like an ancient fortress.

I exhaled slowly. Whatever awaited us, there was no turning back.

The closer we got, the more the landscape shifted—wild and untamed, perfect for dragons.

I stared out the window, my nerves building. My sister nudged me. “You’re quiet.”

I shrugged. “Just thinking.”

She didn’t press, but I knew she was just as on edge as I was.

Addison was a slim but athletic girl with long, dark hair that fell past her shoulders in loose waves. Her deep-blue eyes always carried an edge of calm I would never have.

My green eyes—bright, sharp, and restless—were the only thing that set me apart from her. We were identical in almost every other way. Same sharp cheekbones, same full lips, same stubborn tilt of the chin.

But people never mixed us up for long. Addison moved like she was always in control, unshaken and composed.

Me? I’d been told I was all fire and wind, fast to act, fast to react.

We were raised among the Windbreaker Clan, living in the high cliffs of our territory our entire lives. Our small town was nestled in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, full of dragon shifters—though most people thought dragons were the stuff of fairytales.

They were wrong.

There were four great clans, each tied to one of the elements—Fire Breathers, Water Dragons, Earth Dragons, and Windbreakers. But not all dragons were the same. Some, like the alphas, could shift into their dragon forms at will, powerful and untouchable. Others, like my sister and me, carried the dragon trait in our bloodline but could not shift.

That’s why the academy existed. So that if war came, if the prophecy was real…we wouldn’t be caught unprepared.

I shifted my bag onto my lap, my fingers tightening around the strap.

A few seats ahead, some of the others were chatting.

“So, what do you think it’s gonna be like?” a guy asked, throwing his arm over the seat in front of us. He was built like a linebacker and loud enough to fill a room with his presence.

A thin boy with glasses shifted uncomfortably across the aisle from me. “My brother was here last year. Made it two weeks before they sent him home in a box.”

I shrugged. “People say it’s hell.”

Someone laughed. “Yeah, but no one ever quits.”

That’s the thing—no one quits, because you’re not allowed to quit. You either survived training…or you didn’t.

The girl who said it twisted around in her seat, one leg tucked underneath her. Her golden curls were piled in a messy bun, and her grin was all teeth and trouble.

“I’m Gemma, by the way,” she said, eyeing me and Addison. “Water Clan. You two must be the Windbreaker twins. Heard about you.”

“Good things or bad?” Addison asked, arching a brow.

Gemma winked. “Depends on who you ask.”

“You either survive…or you become a great cautionary tale.”

He extended a hand like we were all best friends already. “Isaac. Earth Clan. And yes, I know I’m charming. So, try to keep your swooning to a minimum.”

I stared at his hand, unimpressed. “I’ll try my best.”

Addison smirked. “No promises.”

The boy sitting next to Isaac twisted around in his seat—lean and wiry with sandy-brown hair and the kind of eager smile that said he was trying too hard to make friends.

“I’m Shay,” he said with a friendly smile, then blinked like he was seeing double. “Wait…you’re twins?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Very observant.”

Addison chuckled. “Yep. Madison and Addison. Windbreaker Clan.”

“That’s so rare,” Shay said, still wide-eyed. “Like… biologically rare. Dragon-blood twins almost never make it to training age.”

“Guess we like to beat the odds,” I said, crossing my arms.

“Or rewrite them,” Addison added.

A quiet voice spoke up from across the aisle. “You’re lucky to have each other.”

I turned to see a girl with straight, dark hair pulled back in a simple ponytail, her pale hands folded neatly in her lap. She had the kind of stillness that made you forget she was there until she spoke.

“I’m Autumn,” she said softly, offering a small smile. “Fire Clan.”

“Nice to meet you,” Addison said warmly.

Just behind us, Kayla sat by the window, absently humming to herself. She didn’t speak often about serious things, but when she did, people listened.

Ever since Kayla got bitten by a snake during a summer storm, she started “seeing things,” as she put it, with a grin that made it somehow sound fun and terrifying all at once.

“Speaking of rewriting,” Kayla said suddenly, her voice taking on that dreamy quality it got when the visions came. Her eyes went distant, unfocused. “The old blood stirs beneath mountain stone. When shadow meets fire, when twin flames burn as one, the Obsidian will rise.”

The bus went quiet. Even Isaac stopped his casual flirting.

Kayla’s voice grew stronger, more certain. “Born of storm and starlight, crowned in ash and bone. The king who was promised shall wake from ancient sleep. His scales will drink the moonlight, his fire will judge the wicked.”

She turned in her seat, her gaze finding mine with unsettling precision. “And at his side, a queen of wind and fury. Two hearts beating as one, two souls forged in battle’s flame. Together they will stand against the rising dark, together they will bind what was broken.”

A chill raced down my spine.

“The prophecy speaks of endings,” Kayla continued, her smile widening. “But every ending is just a beginning wearing a different face. The Obsidian Dragon comes, and with him, the age of fire.”

Then, like she hadn’t just delivered a world-changing prophecy, she beamed at all of us. “This summer is going to be so much fun!”

“Creepy much?” someone muttered, giving a nervous laugh.

“Ignore her,” a voice said from the back—Bran, a stocky boy with dark hair and serious eyes who rarely smiled. “She said last week she saw a shadow with wings in the sky. It was a cloud.”

But none of us were laughing.

Because Kayla’s prophecies had a way of coming true.

I glanced at my sister, who sat beside me, practically vibrating with excitement despite Kayla’s ominous words.

“We’re finally going,” she murmured, leaning in. “No more being stuck in the same old routines. No more pack rules and limits.”

I exhaled, pressing my forehead against the cool glass. “No, just a bunch of dragons that could kill us if we make one wrong move.”

She rolled her eyes. “You always look at the worst-case scenario.”

The academy didn’t take just anyone. You had to be born into this life with dragon blood running in your veins, even if you couldn’t shift yourself. It wasn’t just a school, it was a proving ground. But just because we belonged didn’t mean we’d survive.

“So,” asked Courtney—our friend from our clan—“are you ready?”

“You mean, ready to get eaten alive by a dragon?” Gemma added, raising a brow.

“Only if you screw up,” Isaac shot back.

I sighed. “I don’t think any of us are ready. But we don’t have a choice.”

Courtney leaned in. “I heard the Elite Squad is watching the new arrivals.”

The Elite Squad. The best of the best. The alphas of the four dragon clans, the strongest shifters alive.

“They say Julian doesn’t bond,” Courtney whispered. “He thinks riders are a joke.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Everyone had stories about Julian—that he was ruthless, that he didn’t trust riders, that he had never let a single one near his dragon.

“The entrance exam is a death trap,” Gemma muttered. “Last year, two recruits didn’t even make it past the gates.”

“I heard they don’t stop the exam,” Shay added. “No matter what happens. If you die, you die. Part of the process.”

The farther the bus rolled into the valley, the more everything changed. The air grew heavy, like it had weight. Clouds thickened above the cliffs, and the road narrowed into a pass barely wide enough for the transport.

Addison leaned forward, peering out the window. “Are we almost there?”

I squinted past the fog smeared across the glass. “Doesn’t feel like it.”

Gemma popped her gum two rows back. “Kinda creepy, right? It’s giving ‘accidental horror movie detour’ vibes.”

The driver’s knuckles tightened on the wheel, but he didn’t say a word.

Then the first shadow dropped from the treetops.

The bus jolted sideways as something slammed into the roof—fast, heavy, and deliberate. Metal groaned. Screams broke out.

Addison grabbed my arm. A second shadow smashed into the window beside us, the glass spiderwebbing on impact.

“What the hell is that?!” someone shouted.

Then came the sound—tearing, grinding. Claws ripped through the ceiling. Chaos exploded. They weren’t here to scare us. They were here to kill us.

And they were dragons.