CHAPTER THREE- THREE IN THE LIMO

THALIA 

[ONE WEEK LATER] 

The leather trunk sat by the door, packed with everything 'Lucian Ashen' would need for his first semester at The Howling Spire. Formal uniforms, training clothes, books on wolf history, combat theory, and some hidden necessities of my own. 

I stood in front of the mirror in what used to be Lucian's room and barely recognized myself.

"This is a terrible, terrible thing."

I turned to find both my parents standing in the doorway, my father with his arms crossed and Mother pacing like a caged animal recently released. She had been like this for days. Ever since the night of the Selection, when I had returned from the ceremony and confessed what I had done. 

We buried him in secret. In the family crypt and in an unmarked section where no one would look. Father had used his influence to ensure that the servants who helped were... compensated for their silence. Then the narrative that I, the runt daughter of the Ashen family, had permanently relocated abroad to human civilization had been spun.

My parents mourned the whole week, but they hadn't stopped me because they knew what would happen if they did.

I left out the part that I died and somehow came back to life. I was sounding crazy enough as it was.

"If they find out," She continued,"we will be forever disgraced." She turned to me. "Do you understand what that means, Thalia? We won't just lose our standing in the werewolf elite hierarchy, we will be utterly and eternally finished."

"Elara." Father sighed. "That is enough."

"Enough?" She turned on him. "Our daughter is about to impersonate our dead son at the most prestigious and brutal academy in the territory, and you think—"

"What I think..." Father interrupted, his gaze sliding to me, "is that we don't have much of a choice. Even if we don't do this, we will still be utterly and eternally finished. And you know as well as I do that Edgar will not wait to take advantage of that.”

Mother bit her inner cheek.

“That brother of yours, I would've assumed he is responsible for what happened to us, but that kind of poison didn't even have a scent or trace, even if we had proof, admissing it would mean admitting to Lucian's death.” 

I could hear her heart breaking into little pieces, her eyes stung with tears but she quickly blinked them away. 

"You guys have been grilling me for the past week," I stepped closer to them, letting some of my own frustration seep through my voice for once. "But we both know that I am the saving grace now. I have to go to the academy. If I don't, if 'Lucian' doesn't show up, questions will be asked, investigations will be launched and this family will be torn apart."

But what I didn't say, what I kept locked tight in my heart was the other truth.

I wanted to go.

The Howling Spire had always been something I had admired from afar. The stories of its powerful trials, its legendary instructors, the bonds forged between the strongest wolves of each generation. 

"Thalia..." Mother sank into one of Lucian's chairs. "I... for the first time in my life, I am at a loss for words." 

"The girl has a point," Father shook his head pitiably. "We have spent the week arguing in circles, but the facts remain unchanged, darling. Our son is dead, and if this family is to live as it always has, our daughter has to live as him."

"She could die, Marcus. I-If and before they find out...I don't want to lose both my children.” She sobbed into her hands. “She’s weak, she can't even heal properly, one wrong scratch and it's bye bye to her cover.” 

“That mother…” I interrupted them cautiously, is the exact reason why I am about to ask you for a difficult favour. But it just might be my only chance at survival.” 

Their heads snapped toward me. 

“What are you talking about?”

I nervously twisted my fingers, staring them dead in the eye about to ask for something that could make this conversation end really well, or really awful. If I was a gambler, my money would be on the latter.

“The book on the forbidden arts.”

••••

Okay. So that didn't work. 

But my parents weren't aware that I had swiped it from the vault anyway. I needed this book if I wanted to survive the academy, and quite frankly I couldn't care less about the dangers it posed to my life. My life would already be endangered merely by stepping foot into that academy. 

The staff had assembled in two perfect lines along the front entrance of the estate. Maids and butlers in their formal uniforms as they waited to see off the Young Master. I descended the front steps with my trunk. I didn't need to look up, I knew my parents were watching from the window.

The head butler, Eret, an elderly wolf who had served our family for forty years bowed deeply as I approached him. He stood the last in the line. 

"Master Lucian," he said formally. "May the goddess guide your path at The Howling Spire. The Ashen name will shine brightly in your hands."

"Thank you, Marcus." I kept my voice neutral the way Lucian always spoke to servants, polite enough to avoid being called rude, but distant enough to maintain the hierarchy between them and him. 

The maids curtsied as I passed. But a young girl named Elise who had started working here only a few months ago took a step forward. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes bright with admiration.

"Master Lucian," she said breathlessly, moving close. "I... I wanted to say goodbye properly."

Before I could react, she wrapped her arms around me and pressed her lips to mine. The kiss was eager, desperate and clumsy. Her hands slid down my front, lower, reaching for my zip-line. 

I yanked myself away so hard I nearly lost my balance. 

Goddess above. 

I didn't even wait for Eret to reprimand her, I made a straight run forward nearly tumbling over my own leather shoes. I sighted the limousine parked outside our gates, the academy's transport for the top selects.

“Wow.” 

The sleek beauty of the black limo took my attention so much that I barely noticed the chauffeur that held open the door. 

"Master Ashen," he said with a bow. "Your trunk will be loaded. Please, make yourself comfortable."

Right. My bags. 

"Uh. Do handle them with care. There are some... delicate things inside." 

He nodded and gestured for me to enter, which I did of course. I was excited to be alone in a limo as stylish as this. The academy's no doubt. 

“I didn't know we'd be sharing the same limo.”

My legs froze halfway in as my head snapped to the side. 

Two young men sat on the plush leather seats, one on each side, facing each other across the spacious interior. I recognized them instantly and my stomach nearly gave out the contents of my breakfast.