Chapter 1

There are five kinds of people in this world. Well, five kinds of creatures.

At the very top, beyond comprehension, are the Eclipsed. No one really knows what they are, because no one who isn't meant to know ever gets to see them. They exist like whispers in the dark—rulers, warlords, gods among monsters. If you think you've met an Eclipsed, you haven't. If you think you've glimpsed their power, you probably won't live long enough to confirm it. They're legends wrapped in flesh, their strength hidden behind veils of magic so thick, only the truly powerful can even perceive their existence.

Beneath them are the Ascended. Strong. Dangerous. The kind of creatures whose names are carved into history with blood and fire. They don't rule like the Eclipsed, but they're the ones you hear about in stories, the ones who walk the world and leave ruins in their wake. They own empires, command armies, and bend the weak to their will. If you see an Ascended, you bow. If you're lucky, they might not even notice you.

Then there are the Veiled. The elites of the supernatural world. The nobles, the high-ranking warriors, the advisors, and the ones who operate just beneath the true rulers. They're powerful, but they aren't untouchable. Ambitious, strategic, deadly. Most of them are strong enough to tear a normal person apart with their bare hands, but they still have to play the game. They still have rules.

Next come the Embered. The soldiers, the hunters, the ones trying to claw their way up. They're stronger than the rest of us, but they still have something to prove. They fight for power, they fight for survival, and sometimes, if they're desperate enough, they fight for a place in the higher ranks.

And then, at the very bottom, there's the Duskborn. The weak. The dispensable. The ones who live and die without shaking the world. Most humans fall here, when they even get the privilege of existing in this world at all.

And that's where I was supposed to be.

Except I'm not supposed to be here at all.

My name is Kira Morraine, and until six months ago, I was a 25-year-old office worker who spent her days drowning in spreadsheets, drinking too much coffee, and avoiding awkward small talk with coworkers I barely tolerated. Life wasn't exciting, but it was predictable. Safe.

And then I died.

People always say your life flashes before your eyes when you're about to die. Maybe that's true. But for me, there was only one thing—the sight of the man with the knife, the gleam of steel under the streetlights, and the kind woman he was about to hurt. The woman who had always smiled at me, who had given me cookies when I worked late, who reminded me—just a little—of my mother.

I didn't think. I just acted.

I tried to stop him.

I failed.

I underestimated him. He was stronger than I expected, faster. He dragged me into the alley, his hands rough and cruel, muffling my screams. And then there was pain. So much pain. The sensation of something warm and wet pooling against my skin. My breath growing shallower, my vision dimming.

And then—light.

Blinding, all-consuming, searing into my skin and bones. And when I opened my eyes again, I wasn't in my world anymore.

That was six months ago.

Now, I'm standing in front of a mirror, dressed in the kind of gown I never could have afforded in my old life, with servants fussing around me, tightening corsets and adjusting delicate layers of embroidered silk. The dress is a deep, smoky silver, the fabric shimmering like moonlight trapped in water.

Tonight is the Harem Ball—an event where supernatural beings and humans alike gather, not for politics, not for war, but for something more…primal. Selection.

Some packs are already formed. Others will be created tonight. Alliances will be forged, rivalries ignited. And at the center of it all? The women.

Women like me.

I don't belong here.

I shouldn't be here.

Human women don't get invited to the Harem Ball. They don't get chosen. We're weaker, slower, fragile. Playthings, at best. Disposables, at worst.

And yet… I am here.

The whispers started the moment my presence was announced. A human in the selection? Unheard of. A human daring to stand among supernatural royalty, offering herself as a possible match for the strongest creatures in existence? Absurd.

I don't know why I'm here.

I don't know how I ended up in this position.

But there's one thing I do know—if I have any hope of surviving in this world, I need to play the game.

Because in a world where the powerful devour the weak, the only way to live is to become something that even monsters fear.

And the first step?

Walking into that ballroom.

End of Chapter One