“This is your room.” June turned her back to the cherry-red door decorated with postcards from across the world. A few faux sunflowers were stuck haphazardly in between. “You’ll be sharing it with another girl. Ariah Winter. I think you should get along quite well. She’s a bit shy, but a sweet girl, non-the-less.”
I nodded, stepping toward the door.
“I see you only brought this.” June pointed at my two duffel bags. “We have a store room filled with second-hand goodies for those who come over empty handed. You know, not everyone’s parent’s, especially those coming from human ones, are exactly keen on helping their young ones settle in and make their stay as comfortable as possible.”
“Yeah, well…” What could I say? I was still having a hard time processing the fact that my mom did this to me. I wondered how Dad was going to react. I shook the thought from my head—not that he cared, anyway.
“The point is.” June rested a hand on my arm. “You’re welcome to visit me and take a few things for your side of the room. Make it a bit more homely.”
I strongly doubted I could turn a foreign place into a home, but the gesture was sweet. “Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Ariah was born into a werewolf family,” June explained. “If anything, I think she’s a great fit for you because you can learn a lot from her about our world.”
Again, I nodded.
“Right, I supposed this settles it then. You know where to find me.” June smiled, but I didn’t miss the concern shadowing her features.
I knew she’s worried about the whole Luca incident and what all this would mean for me. Luca—whose full name turned out to be Lucian—was a rogue wolf, outcasted by his own kind. When you’re outcasted, your powers get stripped, and you can’t get in touch with the spiritual realm or with the huntress. Somehow he managed to bypass it, and here we were.
They’ve threatened him with torture before I was escorted from the room if he didn’t talk. I had a feeling there was a lot they didn’t tell me. The question was, what?
I watched as June rushed down the cavernous hallway as if the soles of her feet had caught fire. I frowned, curious what that was about.
There was a clicking sound behind me, and light spilled onto the floor, lining my dark shadow in a halo of gold.
I turned to find a girl my age gaping at me with a lollipop in her cheek. “Aphf newf girlf?” She struggled to speak, tearing the lollipop from her mouth. “You're staying in this room?” She waved a hand behind her. “As in, I get a roommate?”
My brows shot up. “Yeah, I guess this is my room too.”
She startled me with a loud squeal and threw her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. “Welcome!” When she stepped back, she spoke in a breathless tone. “You have no idea how miserable it’s been without a roomie. Come in!”
I followed her into the room. “Wow,” was all I managed. Ariah was set up well. “Are all the rooms like this?”
“Nope.” She waved me off. “My parents are just awesome and made sure I had everything I needed.”
A sad lump formed inside my throat as I scanned the large space. The room was decorated in all tones of autumn. A desk in the corner came with a laptop, coffee maker, and popcorn machine.
I kid you not.
“Uh, which bed is yours?” I asked, my eyes bouncing between two twin beds decorated with rich brown bedding with orange leaves on them.
“This one here.” She waved an arm to the bed on the left. “I bought some bedding for the second bed when my previous roomie passed away, you know, to fill up the space.” Her brows furrowed. “You don’t like it? I can take it off if you want?”
Ariah reached for the pillow on my bed. I shook my head. “No, it’s not that. The bedding is pretty, actually, it’s just...The previous girl died?”
“Oh.” Ariah straightened. “Yeah, she was murdered.”
“Murdered?” my voice echoed. “While she was here, at this place?”
Ariah shifted, regret visible on her face. “Yeah, in this room.”
“Please don’t tell me...On my bed?”
“She was found stabbed in her bed,” she said, then quickly added, “But don’t worry, they threw it out and burned the bed after. They replaced it with a brand new one.”
I peered nervously back at the door. “Is this a regular thing around here?”
“If it was, do you think I’d be here?” she snorted. “No, it happened during class. The girl, Sally, said she wasn’t feeling well and got sent to her room. Later the day when one of her friends checked up on her, she was found in a pool of blood in her bed.”
“Where were you?”
She heaved a sigh. “In class. I’m so grateful I didn’t get to see it. I can’t imagine what her friends had to go through seeing her like that. Sally and I weren't besties, but I liked her. She was nice to have around.”
“Don’t you feel uncomfortable sleeping in a room knowing a girl was murdered in?”
“Yeah. I had a terrible time at first, but you kind of get over it,” she explained. “Anyway, they caught him. The boy who did it. It was her ex-boyfriend who fell into a fit of jealous rage. So, you don’t have to worry about some psychopath being on the loose. He got punished for what he did.”
“Oh.” Relief washed over me. I eyed my bed, not sure how I felt about sleeping in this room. I crossed the room, placing down my duffels on top of my neatly-made bed. It wasn’t until I unpacked that Ariah spoke up again.
“Lucian Greene got what he deserved,” she breathed, tearing open a pack of candy. “I just feel sorry for her brother. Don’t know if you’ve met him yet. Elijah? Like, insanely hot future alpha?”
I dropped my hairbrush. “Luca?” I could feel the color drain from my face. Also, the fact that it was Elijah’s sister made it somehow worse. I would have never guessed he’d lost someone so close to him, based on how warm and inviting he was toward me.
“Not sure who that is, but he went by the name Lucian. They stripped him of his power and sent him to Nightfall prison. Exactly where he belongs. Trust me, no one gets out of there.”
What were the chances of there being two boys with that name? “This Lucian, what did he look like?”
“Also super hot. Such a waste,” Ariah sighed, then held up a finger. “Wait, I think I’ve got a picture of the two of them in here somewhere.”
Ariah ducked her head into our shared closet and withdrew a large pink photo album, flipping it open. “Give me a—ah! Here it is. See?”
I moved in beside her, and my heart climbed into my throat the second my eyes settled on the picture. Right in front of me was a shot of a couple, their smiles almost contagious.
Almost.
If one of them wasn’t Luca, I might have gushed at how cute they looked.
It was the same Luca who had marked me.
My skin turned cold as I stared down at them. They looked so...happy. What went wrong?
And how the hell was Luca free?
“You’ve never been to the moon festival before?” Ariah’s eyes bulged. “I’m not from a werewolf family,” I explained, placing my neatly folded clothes into our shared closet. Ariah had moved her clothes to her side to make space for mine, but it was a tight fit. Where her side was overflooded, mine was mostly empty. I wasn’t sure how werewolves worked for money, but it was at the top of my list of things to do. “Like I said, humans don’t go out of their way to take part of anything out of the human norm.” “Hmm,” Ariah responded. “I’ve seen a lot of humans partake in our festivities.” “My parents are anti-werewolf.” “Oh, you’ve got one of those.” Ariah remained silent for what could be a minute. “I’m sorry, Hailey. That must really suck.” “Things happen, I guess.” “Hey, you can always join mine during the holidays,” she perked. “Then you don’t have to be stuck here in old people’s company.” I offered her a smile. “You barely know me.” Ariah tapped the tip of her nose with a fore
The dining hall carried a happy vibe interwoven with color and the aroma of baked goodies. Ariah grabbed me by the wrist, practically dragging me across the room. Slowly, heads turned and took notice of me. Few nudged their friends, while others pointed shamelessly. I think it might be because I had my neck fully exposed, with my hair tied in a high ponytail, and everyone could see my mark. It became painfully clear that I was an anomaly. Not a single other student had a mark like mine. Theirs were all a smaller version of the one Elijah had, minus the paw-like print. And, minus the hideous veins—which Elijah claimed went away eventually. “I’m introducing you to our friends. I just know you’re going to love them,” Ariah exclaimed, steering me to the left side of the room toward a table where two other students waited. There was confetti scattered across the table, with two large bowls; one filled with candy and the other with potato chips. In the center of the table was a plate sta
“How do you talk to the huntress?” I asked, trailing after Ariah. She was showing me around and getting me acquainted with everyone. People were mostly friendly, but no one passed an opportunity to ask about my mark. Hopefully, by next week people would have grown used to it and forgotten about it. It was getting tiresome to explain the same thing, over and over again. No one seemed to come to grips with the fact that I had no clue why mine was the way it was. If anything, I’d like some answers too. “You tap into the spiritual realm. It’s quite a process, so I can’t just explain it to you. In separate lessons, you will be taught how to, most likely, since we already covered it at the beginning of the year. They always do that with new pups. Catch them up on the essentials in separate lessons, most of the time, with the headmistress.” “I see.” I didn’t know how I felt about extra classes since, from what I’ve seen, my schedule was going to be packed as it is. “This is the girl’s c
Ariah parted ways with me before lunchtime, informing me she promised one of the teachers she’d help him with something. I agreed to meet up later with her, Nate and Celeste, making my way up a flight of stairs toward the library. I wanted to find the book of the divine, among things, to see if I could learn anything about my mark or the meaning of it. I scarcely rounded the corner where the library was, spotting a sign that said: Be back in an hour. I sighed, falling back against a wall, contemplating what I could do next. I didn’t know how long an hour would be, considering there wasn’t a time stating when it was written. I didn’t want to go back to my room because I have virtually nothing there to keep me occupied. Maybe this would be a good time for me to drop in by June and see what there was that I could use for my side of the room? As I stretched out my arms, yawning and turning back the way I came when low voices behind me drew my attention. “I told you to leave me alone,
Katie’s big silver eyes sparkled as she peered around our table with anticipation. “Elijah says one of you is new here as well?” I offered her a small wave. “That would be me.” She stuck out her hand to me. “Hi, I’m so glad I’m not the only one.” I awkwardly shook it, noticing Nate hiding a smirk behind his palm. “Honestly, I’m glad too. But unfortunately, because of my mark, I stick out like a sore thumb.” “Worse than a sore thumb,” Nate supplied. I sputtered a laugh. “Yeah, thanks.” “Are you born into the club or specially hand-picked from the planet of norm?” Celeste asked. Katie smiled. “Born and bred.” “Born and bred?” Nate wiggled his brows. “No offense to you, but why do they always say born and bred? Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?” Celeste choked on her milkshake. “Nate, bred, as in raised, not the other bred you're thinking of.” “You mean produced? Made? Formed—” “Good gracious, Nate, you need to get laid. Your mind is in the gutter,” Ariah snorted.
Elijah didn’t stay much longer after, claiming he had some guardian business to tend. I hoped he’d make better progress regarding finding information about the mark on my neck than I have thus far. It would have helped a great deal if I knew more about this world I now find myself bound to. A sad tug inside my chest was hard to ignore each time I thought of my parents. A big part of me hoped my dad would reason with my mom, or maybe bother to call me, or send a message at the least. I haven't heard a thing from them since Mom dumped me at that train station. I gathered my things, about to leave, when my eyes caught the small sign that said the library was hiring assistants. I remembered Ariah—or was it Celeste?—mentioning it. It was getting hard for me to keep up with everything, but I couldn’t wait to get a job. I needed to take care of myself, even if I was overwhelmed. I stuffed my books into my backpack and headed for the front desk, thinking of how I could confidently phrase
A loud screech tore me from my sleep. A thud sounded beside me, and Ariah cursed. “Oh crap,” she bit out. “Hailey, you awake?” I sat up, blinking at her inky shape in the dark bedroom. “Who can sleep through this noise? What’s going on?” “I have no idea,” she answered, her shape moving toward the wall, and she flicked on the light. I cringed, taking a moment to adjust my eyes to the light. “Sound like some kind of alarm.” Ariah unlocked our bedroom door and poked her head out. “What’s going on?” she asked someone outside. I kicked the covers off from me and threw my legs over the side of the bed. I got up and headed for our shared closet, pulling out a hoodie and pulling it over my head. When I turned, Ariah was grabbing her slippers. “Everyone needs to go to the dining hall, right now.” I blinked. “Why? Did they say what’s up?” She nudged on her slippers, glancing up at me. “No, they didn’t. Just that it was urgent and those who fail to show up will get in trouble.” “Wow, oka
The crowd fell silent when the headmistress appeared, and the gigantic doors slammed shut behind her. The click of her heels echoed through the cavernous room, and every set of eyes traced after her. I felt drowsy and stifled a yawn behind my hand, trying my best to stay upright. I leaned toward Elijah. “What time is it, anyway?” Without taking his eyes of Humphrey, he stuck his hand into the pocket of his sweats and pulled out his cellphone. He waited for the headmistress to focus her attention on one of the teachers before he flicked on the screen and peered down at his phone. “Three-forty-five.” “No wonder I’m this tired,” I muttered. “I probably had like three hours of sleep, if I’m lucky.” He sighed. “You and me both.” I peered at him. “You didn’t sleep either?” “It’s complicated.” I frowned. “You always give me that answer. I’d like to know at some point what is so complicated.” He glanced at me, his brows knitted together, and didn’t say anything. I shifted, offering hi