CHAPTER 3: CRUEL SURPRISE

SERAPHINA’S POV

My ears are almost at the point of bleeding since finally meeting the administrator and hearing enough scolding from him.

“…I truly wonder if this behavior is common among your peers in your human schools, but something like this won’t be allowed in Raven Wood, Miss Hawthrone. Even if you are not deserving, you will carry yourself with prestige worthy of a place like this.” He nags on.

All this just because when he finally found the time to address me, I wasn’t standing outside his door waiting like he wanted.

From his tone and choice of words, I can already smell the prejudice against humans all over him. He reeks of it.

Eyes looking down on me, on my class, just like that boy from earlier. His blue piercing eyes haven’t left my mind since our encounter, leaving an impression on me that I can’t quite classify as anything yet.

“Loitering around school on your first day and potentially drawing too much attention to yourself is unacceptable!”

“But I will be attending here soon, will I not? Is it so bad that your precious students were able to see me sooner than you planned.” I question him now, raising a brow.

His entire face turns red almost immediately as the words coming out from his own mouth seizes and he stares back with obvious embarrassment.

Ahh, you know you are a bigot but you don’t like it being put out to your face, do you?

He adjusts his glasses almost immediately, clearing his throat.

“Things like this are done with decorum, Miss Hawthrone. You are lucky to have been selected for this program and being the first human to attend a school like this. You must of course learn how things work around here.” He finally adds with a softer tone while avoiding my gaze.

I sigh, turning the other way and looking through the window into the garden that falls into my lane of sight.

I let my own thoughts drift while he continues his scolding, choosing to ignore it all, while I think of nothing else aside from that blue eyed boy.

He praises this school so highly and yet they have bullies that trample on others.

I wonder what it is that is so special about this place anyway. The people here all act the same as human kids, don’t they?

A gentle knock on the door behind me echoes into the room and the administrator finally stops talking and gets up to open the door, but I’m uninterested already.

Feeling just a bit disappointed.

Maybe I over-exaggerated this place a bit. Asides from their brilliant structures, there seems to be nothing else.

He clears his throat behind me, suddenly drawing me from my thoughts.

“Miss Hawthrone.”

I stand from my seat, turning to face him again and my jaw drops immediately once I come face to face with none other than the same blue-eyed boy from earlier.

Only now he’s not covered in juice and he’s changed his clothes.

Speak of the bloody devil.

“Our star student will be giving you a tour of the school this afternoon as per school tradition.” He announces excitedly, staring at the guy like he’s some blessed saint.

The fuck is going on here?

“I have the honor of introducing to you your guide, Artemis Donovan Sinclair, the Alpha prince.”

As though my jaw couldn’t possibly drop any lower, it surprises me and goes beyond its own limitations.

The bloody Alpha prince and son of the Alpha King, Silvan Sinclair. How the hell didn’t I see this?

Now that it’s mentioned, the resemblance becomes immediately uncanny. The two look almost like the same person, save for the large difference in age and difference in the eyes.

But then, that was the only thing they had in common.

The very brief conversation I had with his father, I could tell he was a kind wise man, but this asshole in front of me was anything but wise and kind.

I stare at him still in shock, until he does the most unexpected thing.

He takes two steps towards me and on instinct, I move back to evade him but he takes my right hand in his and bows gently while raising the back of my hands to his lips and placing a gentle kiss.

“Nice to make your acquaintance, Miss Hawthrone.”

What the bloody hell?!

I freeze, falling deeper in confusion while he smiles at me sweetly as though he wasn’t the same prick that was talking down to me an hour ago in the cafeteria.

Had I imagined the whole encounter?

No, no way I had.

“Run along now, I have more pressing work to get back to.” The administrator waves us off, returning back to his desk and he makes a move for the door while I follow closely behind wondering what is going on.

***

We’ve been walking for just a few minutes since leaving the administrator’s office and no words have been exchanged between us.

Instead, I walk closely from behind, drilling a hole into his head from behind, wondering what this whole get-up is about.

Surely he hasn’t had a whole attitude makeover suddenly. Shouldn’t he be pissed that I ruined his clothes? He seemed like the type to take things like that seriously.

I ruminate on the matter internally until he suddenly comes to a halt, turning to me.

I’m startled by the sudden pause, but he smiles down at me from nowhere, catching me off guard.

That gorgeous face of his and that perfect smile causes me to lose my train of thought immediately.

“Where do you want to go first?”

“What?” I shake my head, trying to refocus again.

“Do you want to see the archery room, or the sparring hall, or perhaps the garden first?” He asks with so much expertise and politeness that I’m left speechless.

He almost looks like the model student the administrator had praised.

“Uhm… what do you recommend?” I say.

My voice comes out a bit too soft and timid for my own liking.

He nods his head in deep thought for a while before turning back to me.

“The garden, it is.”

And just like that, we move towards the garden and I follow closely behind him, still cautious, but a huge part of me gets more relaxed with him showing me around.

More eyes of students passing fall on me as we move, as though they’ve never seen a human.

I realize I stand out in this place like a sore thumb and it’s not just from our differences in body builds, but everything else.

The thought of being here in this place gives off a sense that maybe I don’t belong here among these people and maybe I don’t.

But if there’s a chance, just even the slightest possibility that our kind and the wolf kind could possibly be at peace or start to move into the right direction, I'd be willing to bet on it.

We move to the garden and I’m shown the different hang out spots and how gorgeous the entire place is, marking it as a potential spot for moments when I want to be alone.

We pass by the dorms and I pause right in front of them, staring at the twin tower buildings.

“These are the dorms.” He pauses as well, gesturing to the both of them.

I stare in awe at the high towers in front of me, pinching myself again just to be sure that I’m not actually dreaming right now.

“Do I really get to live in a place like this?” I ask mostly to myself with my mouth hanging open.

He chuckles beside me softly, at the joke that I didn’t think he’d acknowledge himself.

“Of course, you do. As long as you’re a student here, you have access to all facilities available.” He responds sweetly.

My eyes move to him now, staring a bit before I pry them away from his face.

Maybe I was wrong about him and he’s not as bad as I thought. Initially, I thought this was just a ploy of his to appear nice in front of the Administrator, but thirty minutes later and he’s still this nice and patient with me.

“Shall we move on?” He turns to me now.

I smile for the first time, feeling more confident.

“Yes!”

We move to the archery room next, taking a look around the entire place before stepping out. We walk for a while until he suddenly turns to me with an excited and almost mischievous look in his eyes.

“Are you enjoying the tour?”

“Yes, actually. It’s been fun!” I exclaim honestly, wanting to show my gratitude to him.

“Perfect.” His voice suddenly drops by two octaves.

Weird…

Maybe I misheard it.

“I have a surprise for you. Seeing as it’s already the end of our tour, would you like to see it?” His tone turns sweet again and the smile on those soft pink lips compels me to agree with him without thinking too much.

“Okay.” I nod.

He smiles, suddenly grabbing onto my hand which takes me by surprise.

The warmth of his hands runs up the length of my arm, leaving goosebumps in its wake and I’m not let to dwell on this new sensation before he pulls me forward.

We take a turn in a direction we had avoided, a part of the school that wasn’t on the list of places.

We stop just outside a classroom that doesn’t seem to be in use and an ominous feeling crawls up my spine again.

“Ladies first.” He says, letting go of my hand and nudging me to step into the classroom.

I feel reluctant, my instincts warning me about it but the smile he gives me eases my worry. What could possibly go wrong? He’s been nothing but charming since the entire tour.

I discard all my worries now, taking a step closer and pushing into the dark classroom.

I reach for the light switch and turn it on and I’m immediately greeted by a wave of rotten tomatoes and eggs flying across the room and right at me in a blink.

I scream the second the wave of foul smelling food comes crashing on me in torrents, unending for several seconds until it suddenly comes to a halt.

I open my eyes again, staring down at my body soiled from head to toe and dripping with red liquid that stinks too bad, horrified from my own appearance.

My own legs wobble beneath me and give way, causing me to fall onto my knees.

The crowd in front of me bursts into laughter at my own expense, pointing fingers and having pure enjoyment at my horror before it finally dawns on me what’s happening around me and the obvious trap I had literally walked into.

This was all his fault, his plan from the very beginning was to lure me here for this. I was a fool for letting my guard down and not listening to my gut.

I look up at each person taunting me, feeling anger and tears sting my eyes painfully.

From behind me, the bastard walks into the class, clapping slowly as the laughter dissipates

“My, what a sight you are.” He teases with a wicked grin playing at his lips while looking down at me.

He reveals his true revolting nature.

“So… how do you like my surprise?”