Chapter 7: A Witch Roommate

Kila – POV

I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling as the memories of earlier played on repeat in my mind.

Every look. Every touch. Every mistake.

God, what was I thinking?

Shame twisted in my stomach, hot and heavy. I buried my face in my pillow, groaning. If I could erase the last few hours—or at least rewind to before I let my guard down—I would.

A loud knock on the door jolted me upright.

I blinked, heart racing. “Who is it?” I called, trying to sound more alert than I felt.

There was a pause. Then a voice came through, muffled but clear enough.

“Your new roommate.”

Roommate?

Right. I’d completely forgotten they were assigning rooms today.

I took a deep breath, brushing a hand over my hair to make myself look somewhat presentable. The last thing I needed was a stranger seeing me like this—messy, emotionally scrambled, and totally humiliated.

I stood up, hesitated for half a second, then walked to the door and opened it.

I opened the door slowly, expecting someone shy or awkward.

What I got was silver hair, a cocked eyebrow, and the smirk of someone who’d already made up their mind about me.

“Hi,” she said, stepping inside without waiting for an invitation. “So this is the famous human girl everyone’s been whispering about.”

I blinked. “Excuse me?”

She dropped her bag by the empty bed, then turned to face me fully. “Don’t look so shocked. You’ve kind of become Alpha Academy’s favorite scandal.”

“I didn’t ask for that,” I muttered.

“Trust me, no one ever does.” She held out a hand. “Lyra. And before you ask—yes, that Lyra. The silver-haired witch. Half-blood, technically. No, I don’t bite. Unless provoked.”

I hesitated, then shook her hand. Her grip was cool, firm. Confident.

“Kila.”

“I know.” She gave me a knowing look. “Everyone knows. Mated to four Alpha brothers? That’s... impressive.”

I groaned and flopped back onto the bed. “Don’t remind me.”

She laughed, tossing her coat over the chair like she owned the place. “Relax. I’m not here to judge. Honestly, I think it’s kind of iconic. Chaotic? Sure. But also iconic.”

“I don’t even know if I want them,” I said, staring at the ceiling again. “They act like the bond gives them some claim over me. Like I’m just supposed to accept it.”

Lyra climbed onto her bed, crossing her legs beneath her. “Let me guess. One of them is the quiet, broody type?”

I nodded.

“The other’s angry but secretly a softie?”

I huffed a laugh. “Yes.”

“A flirt?”

“Dax.”

She grinned. “And the last one—let me guess—stone-cold ice prince with secret emotional issues?”

“Caleb.”

“Wow. You really hit the trope jackpot.”

I couldn’t help but smile a little. “You’re kind of scary good at this.”

She winked. “I read a lot of romance scrolls. Old habit.”

There was a pause. The room felt lighter now, like her presence had swept away some of the heaviness I’d been carrying.

“They kissed me,” I blurted.

Lyra tilted her head. “All four?”

I nodded slowly.

“And?”

“And I... let them. I don’t even know why. I panicked. Or maybe... I wanted to feel something.”

Lyra leaned forward. “Kila, you’ve been thrown into a supernatural world you don’t understand, bonded to four powerful guys, and are discovering you’re not just a regular human. You’re allowed to be confused.”

“I feel like I lost control.”

“You did,” she said gently. “But that doesn’t mean it’s permanent. Take the power back. Decide what you want. The bond might be fate, but love? That’s a choice.”

I swallowed hard, her words settling into me like seeds.

She stood and walked toward the door. “Come on. You’ve been in bed long enough. I’m dragging you to dinner.”

“Do I have to?”

“Yes.” She paused. “Unless you want to sit here replaying that Alpha kiss on loop.”

I threw a pillow at her. “Shut up.”

She caught it mid-air and grinned. “Nice arm. Now get dressed, roommate. You’ve got a kingdom to confuse.”

********

The dining hall was buzzing with voices, trays clattering, the scent of roasted meat and spicy herbs thick in the air. Students from every species sat in their little cliques—vampires by the windows, witches near the fireplace, werewolves everywhere else like they owned the place.

Lyra, she’d whispered her real name once on the way—dragged me toward the back.

“Over here. Trust me, the food’s hotter and the stares are fewer,” she said, motioning to a quieter corner.

I trailed behind, hugging my tray like a shield. I could feel the stares. The whispers. A girl mated to four Alphas? I might as well have grown wings and started breathing fire.

We sat, and I tried to act like I wasn’t being watched. Lyra casually plucked a grape from her tray and tossed it into her mouth.

“So,” she said with her usual smirk. “Anyone giving you death glares or planning to throw spaghetti at your head?”

I looked around. “Just the usual stares.”

“Well, that’s a step up from open hostility. Progress.”

I managed a laugh. “You’re weirdly good at this whole ‘first-day-of-being-hated’ thing.”

She shrugged. “I’ve been hated since birth. You get used to it.”

There was something in her voice then. A softness. A weight. I wanted to ask, but she beat me to it.

“You ever wonder why your mom never told you anything about this world?” she asked suddenly.

I blinked. “All the time. She acted like she hated the supernatural. She warned me against it, like it was poison.”

Lyra stared at her plate, picking at her food but not eating. Her fingers trembled slightly.

“Lyra?”

She looked up, and for once, her cocky smile was gone. Her eyes were wide, unsettled—almost haunted.

“I saw a photo today,” she said, voice barely above a whisper. “In the Headmistress’s office. I was delivering a spell scroll. It fell out of one of the old files.”

I leaned closer. “Okay…?”

She hesitated, then looked me dead in the eye.

“Kila, your mother—” she paused, exhaled, and her next words landed like a thunderclap, “—she was a student here. At Alpha Academy. And she wasn’t human.”

My stomach flipped.

“What?”

“She wasn’t just anyone either. She was one of them. High rank. Powerful. And she vanished right after some kind of war broke out between packs.”

My throat tightened. “No. That—my mom—she hated this world. She warned me. She said she escaped it.”

Lyra shook her head slowly. “Maybe she wasn’t running from the world, Kila. Maybe she was running from what she did in it.”

The room spun slightly. My tray was suddenly too heavy, my hands too cold.

“What did she do?”

Lyra glanced around the hall like she wasn’t sure she should say more. Then she leaned in.

“I think your mother… might have been the reason the old Luna died.”

Everything in me stilled.

And just as I opened my mouth to ask how she knew, a sharp howl echoed through the Academy halls—loud, urgent, terrifying.

Students froze. Trays dropped. Even Lyra went pale.

Then came the announcement, booming through the magical intercom system:

> “All students report to the Great Hall. Now. The Academy is on lockdown. A rogue has breached the inner perimeter.”

I stood.

Lyra stood.

And for the first time since I’d arrived, I realized—

This wasn’t just about the bond.

This was about the past.

This was something that laid me connected to something strong.

And mine had just clawed its way out of the shadows.