The Crimson Academy Series by Adriana Steel

She's the powerless scholarship student who doesn't belong. He's the dangerous professor who should never want her. And their forbidden lessons are about to ignite something neither of them can control. Verity Blackwell failed her magical awakening at fourteen and has spent five years being called mundane. Powerless. Nothing... moreShe's the powerless scholarship student who doesn't belong. He's the dangerous professor who should never want her. And their forbidden lessons are about to ignite something neither of them can control. Verity Blackwell failed her magical awakening at fourteen and has spent five years being called mundane. Powerless. Nothing. When a rare late-bloomer scholarship gets her into the prestigious Crimson Academy, she's determined to prove everyone wrong—even if it means working twice as hard as students who've had magic their whole lives. Professor Cassian Deveraux is brilliant, brooding, and absolutely off-limits. He's also the only person at the Academy who sees potential in Verity instead of failure. When he offers private tutoring sessions to help unlock her shadow magic, she knows it's dangerous. But she's desperate to survive. What starts as innocent lessons becomes something far more complicated. His touch ignites her magic. His voice makes her shadows dance. And the way he looks at her—like she's powerful, extraordinary, worth everything—makes her forget why this is wrong. But they're not alone in watching her transformation. Zayden Ashford—cruel, gorgeous, the boy who's made her life hell—has secrets of his own. Secrets about why he torments her. Why he can't seem to stay away. And why watching her grow close to Professor Deveraux is breaking something inside him. Verity came to Crimson Academy to learn magic. She never expected to become the center of a forbidden romance that could destroy them all. Can a powerless girl become powerful enough to choose her own destiny? Or will the Academy's dark secrets consume her before she gets the chance? less

He was supposed to be my destiny. The fated mate bond said so. But destiny never asked what I wanted. I'm Ember Solaire—rare phoenix shifter, final year at Crimson Academy, and the girl who just rejected the most powerful alpha wolf in the academy. The bond snapped like fate itself, pulling me toward Rowan Thornwick with a force I couldn't fight. He claimed me before the entire school. Called me his. Expected me to submit because some cosmic force decided we belonged together. I ran instead... moreHe was supposed to be my destiny. The fated mate bond said so. But destiny never asked what I wanted. I'm Ember Solaire—rare phoenix shifter, final year at Crimson Academy, and the girl who just rejected the most powerful alpha wolf in the academy. The bond snapped like fate itself, pulling me toward Rowan Thornwick with a force I couldn't fight. He claimed me before the entire school. Called me his. Expected me to submit because some cosmic force decided we belonged together. I ran instead. Right into the arms of his rival. An ice mage with frost-blue eyes and a reputation for being as cold as his magic. Sage Winterthorn should be my opposite—fire and ice, chaos and control, everything that shouldn't work. But when his cool touch soothes the burning ache of my rejected bond, when his magic wraps around mine creating something that shouldn't exist, I realize destiny got it wrong. The bond with Rowan feels like chains. The connection with Sage feels like freedom. Now I have an impossible Accept the fated mate I don't want to save my place in phoenix society, or fight for the ice mage I'm falling for and risk losing everything—my heritage, my magic, my life. The Phoenix Council says I can't choose love over destiny. The alpha I rejected says I'm making a mistake. And the ice mage I'm falling for might be the only one who sees me as more than a prize to be claimed. But I'm done burning alone. And I'm about to prove that some magic can't be fated—it has to be chosen. Perfect for fans of rejected fated mates, enemies to lovers romance, touch starvation, and heroines who rewrite destiny. A complete standalone with HEA in the Crimson Academy series. less