Beginning Of Doom

Barbara's Pov

No one noticed the burning arrow. Not until the wooden carved door of the dorm ignited in an instant. 

Dark, oily smoke filled the air, scratching my lungs and making me choke. Around me, my new friends cried out in shock before grabbing their weapons, preparing to fight for their lives.

This was all my fault.

Arrow after arrow sliced through the air, stoking the flames higher. Through the haze of ash, I desperately sought Tristan and his brothers. I knew they would protect me no matter what, but they were in danger, too. If something happened to them while they were trying to rescue me, I could never forgive myself.

Coughing from the soot-thick air, I ran with him toward the door. But they were ready for us. 

Silhouetted against the flames, a dark, forbidding line of figures stood just beyond the edge of the school dorm. None of them brandished weapons; they didn’t have to in order to make their threat clear. They had come for me. They had come to punish Tristan and his brothers for breaking their rules. They had come to kill them.

This was all happening because of me. If they die, it will be my fault.

There was nowhere to go, no place to run. We couldn’t remain here, not with the blaze around us roaring, already so hot that it stung my skin. Soon the ceiling would collapse and crush us all.

Outside, the wolves waited.

5 months ago,

I waved at my aunt as I stood on the old, Victorian-era pavement. She waved back from the window of her silver Audi with a blinding smile.

Aunt Kathy’s blonde hair never lost its platinum colour, hanging in perfect waves to her shoulders. She has high cheekbones and a tall, slender, model-like figure that makes my awkward, seventeen-year-old body look like a potato in comparison.

I strived to be her when I grew up. Not only in the looks department although I’ll never pull off the blonde hair, but also the hard work and the personality. She worked in a Jewelry company and because of her efforts, the company grew larger each day. I couldn’t be more proud.

“Show them what you got, Baby!” She honked.

“Aunt.” My face flamed as I searched sideways, spying for anyone who might have heard. “Barbara. Just Barbara at school.”

“But I like my Baby.” She pouted her lips. Her phone suddenly rang and her eyebrows furrowed as she checked the call before silencing it. “You’ll be okay, hon?”

I nodded. “You didn’t have to drive me.”

“I wouldn’t miss my Baby’s first day in this huge effing place for the world.” She motions around. “SilverMoon Academy! Can you believe it?”

“I wouldn’t have been here without you and Uncle.”

“Aw stop it. If you didn’t have the grades, you wouldn’t be here.”

It cost a fortune to enroll into the SilverMoon Academy but I'd gotten my admission through a scholarship. 

“Have a great day!” She opened her car door and whooshed outside to clasp me in a mama bear hug.

I tried to ignore the level of weirdness my future schoolmates must think of me and wrap my arms around Aunt Kathy. The smell of cocoa lotion and perfume enveloped me in a safe cocoon.

When she pulled back, her blue eyes shone with unshed tears.

“Aunt…?”

“I’m just so proud of you, hon. Look at you all grown up and so much like…” She trailed off and wiped under her eye with the side of her forefinger.

She didn’t have to say it for me to catch the meaning. I looked so much like my mum. 

While Aunt took after my blonde grandfather, Mum took after my red-haired grandmother. Or that’s what I’m told.

“Gah, I’m being so sappy on my baby’s first day at school.” Aunt Kathy gave me another quick hug. “Don't forget your meds and be careful.”

I nodded. 

Aunt Kathy pulled back with a smile. “Go get them, hon. I'll visit soon.”

I waited until she got into her car and shouted something at a slacking driver in front of her. Once her car sped into the distance, I resisted the urge to call and tell her to come back. Now, I was truly on my own. No matter how old, the feeling of being stranded wasn’t something anyone would easily forget.

I stared at the massive building in front of me.

The old architecture sprang an eerie, imposing feeling. Ten tall towers adorned the perimeters of the school’s main building. 

Three-storey high, SilverMoon Academy sat on a large piece of land surrounded by an enormous garden that’s better suited for a palace instead of a school.

Located in the outskirts of the SilverMoon Pack, the school was founded by Alpha Malrec SilverMoon at the beginning of the 14th century to provide education for the wolves that later served in his court. They had the harshest and most closed-off entrance rates in the country. To this day, SilverMoon Academy or SMA, accepts only one percent of the intelligent and rich elite wolves. I, on the other hand, was an anomaly who got here with brains.

Right now, it didn't matter. This was my chance to start anew.

I stared down at my uniform that my aunt pressed to perfection. The uniform didn’t look terrible on me — starched white shirt, red plaid kilt, and gray sweater with the SilverMoon crest.

As I strode through the school’s huge, stony arch, I tried to mimic the other students’ confidence but it was hard to do that.

I already felt like an outsider.