{Chapter 1: Adapting}

3 weeks after the first day of school

Radyn's eyes fluttered open only to be presented with the sight of his fellow roommate meditating on the ground in before him. For the past few weeks, he was woken up by the bright rays of the sun instead of alarm. He still wasn't used to all that light and tended to spend the first 10 minutes of his day opening and closing his eyes. He sighed as he came to the realisation that he had to share a room with another classmate. Even worse, a different species. His old Werewolf roommate had been expelled which sadly left a free bed.

He went to inspect him further, trying to work out whether this being could possibly be a threat to him. The male before him had his eyes shut, chanting endlessly at the wall. It sounded like a sort of ancient language, something his kind haven't heard in years. Whatever he was, the Werewolf knew that he was some sort of shifter, the staff had to pair others with species that are similar to themselves.

The shifter must have sensed that he was awake. His eyes opened to reveal those shimmering gold irises of his. Radyn's first guess was a reptilian shifter, especially with the pupils being so stretched out. The shifter's whole appearance seemed to give an aura of power yet it was somehow calming. Captivating.

"It's rude to stare, wolf," The being said, brushing his hands through his curly, blonde hair and smirking at the confused Werewolf that was still gazing at him. "Why don't we formally introduce ourselves? Just to get it out of the way."

"Radyn Vaslof, the descendant of the first Lycan and son of the Alpha king. A pleasure to meet you," The young wolf introduced himself, giving a small grin. It was a low blow. To give off his status like that in a way to intimidate but something told Radyn that the shifter was going to be an aggravating burden. Or maybe the Werewolf just hated people.

"Oh, what an honour to be in the presence of someone so...so powerful," The shifter's eyes flashed even brighter, the sentence dripping pure sarcasm. Radyn gritted his teeth. "My name is Jackson Huang, the direct descendant of the first Huanglong dragon and relative to The Cursed Royals. Glad to have finally met my match."

The two pierced each other with ice-cold glares. The way Jackson carried himself around a room and towards another person pointed towards royalty. Radyn groaned at himself mentally, wondering how he didn't figure it out earlier. He spoke smoothly with the manners of a leader but the passion of a fighter.

The staff were quite idiotic for putting two predators of high rank in the same room. The two of them were dominant creatures, the fight for control will always end in violence. Radyn's only choice was to stay calm and cooperate. Dragons are strong but also peaceful beings, only fighting when necessary. If it did come down to a fight between them, Radyn reminded himself that the vessels the true dragons have inherited were weak. Jackson was weak. The bell rang.

"I guess it's time for the dorm meeting. Let's go," Radyn spoke calmly yet there was a hint of warning in his tone. Jackson shrugged and followed him. Dorm meetings were basic checkups done every few mornings to make sure that any problems are solved so that the rest of the day can flow with ease. Each dorm has a dorm captain which were also teachers. In the shifter dorm, they have Mr Caser, the chemistry teacher and a panther shifter.

The meeting was over fairly quickly and soon everyone made their way to their own separate classes. Radyn had double maths, two whole hours of confusing numbers and the occasional letter. Fantastic. Maths was a sore spot for the Werewolf, he was only taught the basics as a kid which meant that he only knew enough to sort the pack files and data.

'Off to maths are we?' Radyn's wolf, Kronos sneered. Werewolves' inner spirit wolf tended to emerge after the first shift. They were more like a separate being or personality inside their heads. It sounded insane but it's the very spirit that allows them to bind with nature and transform into their true selves. Radyn simply ignored his wolf. Acknowledging Kronos meant accepting his responsibilities. Call it selfish or immature but he wasn't ready for the change.

Maths went by slowly. Being stuck in the back meant that he could just sleep the hours away. Well, he wished he could. The teacher, Ms Harding would frequently walk up to the Werewolf's desk and slam her fists onto the table. His sensitive hearing usually caused him to immediately jump up from the chair. Typical snake shifter. So venomous.

After the two torturous hours were done, it was break time. Time for the students to relax but also keep their own powers under control. Shifting was still not allowed but having a quick feed was supported.

"Oi Radyn!"

"Come over here!"

A few of his friends gathered around him. All of them were Werewolves with ranks no less than a Delta. It was classic of his parents to set up same species friends with him. They followed him around every break, causing havoc around every corner. They weren't bullies, more like pranksters that like to show off their strength. Radyn found it pathetic because they were making it easier for all of them to be categorised into the common negative stereotypes of Werewolves which is the complete opposite of what he wanted.

The only one who agreed with him was the one and only Khelsea Chavez. He had nothing but respect and trust for her. Without a doubt, she was one of the most beautiful she-wolves in this school but the relationship between them was purely platonic. Khelsea was the heir to the Alpha title but recently lost it to a challenge from the Beta of their pack. They were considerate enough to let her replace their old role as a Beta but the damage was done. She had become the disgrace of her pack.

She still acts like an Alpha with a heart of gold, choosing to avoid conflict whenever she can. If only he could do the same. Radyn's reputation in this wretched school was already set in stone. He doesn't try in anything or socialise with anyone else other than Khelsea and he was set on keeping it that way. And to many others, he was known as the sheep in wolf's clothing.

Some creative ass started that stupid phrase ever since he let some fairy beat him up. At the time, Radyn wanted to fight back but he saw it as an opportunity to 'accidentally' ruin his family's reputation. The wolf that surrendered and cried for help. It was perfect. Everyone saw through his loss but no one dared to point it out. The bell rang again.

Geography was next and the Werewolf was glad to have a break from all the difficult lessons. He grew up around natural disasters and hazards, plants and the way they adapted so explaining them was as easy as blinking. The class itself was filled with animal shifters that originally grew up around the natural environment, all of them taking it because it was an easy pass. In summary, all the students there were either A or B in terms of grades. Soon the class was finished and Radyn quickly strolled out only to be stopped by another being. Damn people, always getting in the way Radyn thought.

"I have a letter for you," The pink-haired student declared, moving the letter forward. "It's apparently urgent." Radyn walked up to the being and snatched it off of him while growling the entire way down the hallway.

"How nice." Caden watched the Werewolf storm off. What was his problem? Did he have a bad day or was he always like that?

The near emptiness of the hallway reminded him that it wasn't lunch but instead Period 4.

"Crap!" Caden yelled, running to the science block. Despite this, he was still late. Upon entering the class, Mr Oak's eyes narrowed instantly.

"Sorry Sir, I had to deliver a letter from reception."

"You're still late, but it's your first time so you're off the hook. Be on time."

"Yes sir." Caden went to sit down at his desk. The lesson resumed immediately.

It wasn't even Caden's fault he was late. Yes, he got distracted by a certain someone on his way to give Radyn the letter but he was only 2 minutes late to science it wasn't that long.

"Well, this is a first for you." Caden heard a voice whisper.

"Shut up, Zephyr."

He heard the boy laugh.

"I saw you leave Citizenship early to go to reception so how did you end up running late?"

"I got distracted."

"By what?"

"Nothing."

"Was it a what or a who?"

"Shut up!"

"Fine," Zephyr smirked, "What letter did you give and to who?"

"Radyn Vaslof."

"Who?"

"Don't worry. Anyway, shut up. I'm not getting called out twice in one lesson."

"Of course you can't. Can't risk your perfect reputation." Zephyr mocked.

Caden rolled his eyes, trying to focus on the lesson he hated so much. He didn't understand how anyone liked Science it was terrible.

Despite Mr Oak's eyes constantly being on him, Science didn't last too long which greatly pleased Caden.

"Why does he hate me so much? I literally do all the work in science. I don't even want to!" Caden complained.

"It's just one teacher. Literally every other teacher in this school adores you. You don't even like Mr Oak."

Caden nodded. Zephyr was right.

"There you two are!" The two boys looked up to see Emett walking towards them.

"Why'd you leave the science block? I was waiting there." he huffed.

"I completely forgot! I'm so sorry." Caden responded.

"Cade was complaining about how Mr Oak hates him. He distracted both of us."

Caden rolled his eyes.

"Why do you care so much? I swear you don't even like him."

"That's what I said."

Caden took in a deep breath.

"Give me a break." He walked off to the trio's spot, knowing that Zephyr and Emett were close behind him laughing.

They got there fairly quickly. It was a stairwell inside the building. Whilst they weren't supposed to be there, it was a perfect place for them to hang out.

In the three weeks, they'd been there, Caden had gained a good reputation among teachers. He didn't go overboard in his work efforts but instead just did everything he needed to. Science was the one subject he was already close to giving up. He had never been good at Science and settled for the fact that he never would.

Terlace was an incredibly diverse school when it came to species. He and Emett had already befriended Zephyr, who was a Siren.

With the wide range of species also came a series of rivalries. It was common knowledge that certain species didn't get on and some hated each other. Psychics and Witches had a rivalry that went back years. It wasn't fully hateful but instead was more competitive fuelled.

Caden had come into contact with a few Witches but nothing negative had happened. A few stares and glances but nothing else. It was only natural.

Lunch was over a lot faster than Caden had expected. It only felt like it'd been a few minutes since it began. Their next class was biology. Caden and Emett split off from Zephyr and headed to their form room.

Their form tutor, Mr Silver, was already in the room along with a few other Psychics. The pair sat down next to each other. Soon enough, the class had begun.

Their lesson was a continuation of learning more on the basis of the Psychic's abilities. The focus was telekinesis. Caden had found it the easiest to get the hang of and had been able to utilise it well for several years. It was the first ability he'd learned.

"Now, lift the textbook in front of you." Mr Silver instructed.

Caden pulled it off with ease and Emett followed right behind him.

They were the first two to do so. The rest of the class followed shortly after.

Biology went along the same lines until the bell went, signalling the end of school. The class piled out of the form room.

"Zephyr and I are going to have a film marathon. You wanna join?" Emett asked.

"I will but a little later. There are a few things I need to do."

"Library?"

"No, I'm going to walk around the school for a bit. I need some inspiration for something."

"Oh OK. I'll see you at Zephyr's then."

They waved at each other as Emett walked off to the dorms.

Caden headed the other direction, out to the school gardens.

The area wasn't very busy at all. The gardens were known as a peaceful place so the most noise the place would get were yelling jocks on their way to wherever.

Caden usually went to the furthest corner of the gardens from the school. No one else went there and it was essentially his corner.

Despite being a very social person, Caden sought some form of break from time to time. Back in the Zen Realm, he'd lay on his balcony for a while to calm his mind.

Most if not all psychics did something like this occasionally. The key to their abilities was concentration so they'd need to relax their minds in order to maximise their potential.

Caden tended to do this for longer than others though as he found it quite easy to completely zone out without realising.

The boy laid down on a bench and stared at the sky. It reminded him of his home where he'd watch the clouds swirl across the sky whilst Emett ran around trying to find him. His corner wasn't very visible from the doors leading into the school which meant that barely anyone saw him laying there.

Another one of his habits was overworking himself without realising. Whilst that hadn't been demonstrated too much over the past three weeks, it still had.

Combined with his lack of sleep, this usually left Caden feeling drained constantly.

The psychic closed his eyes for a bit as the wind blew his pink hair. A bit ended up turning into a while due to Caden falling asleep.

The thing that woke him up was his phone vibrating. He'd felt the vibrations several times before but had dismissed it as nothing.

Caden opened his eyes and sat up, looking around the gardens. It was incredibly dark.

"How long did I sleep for?" He slurred.

The incoming call timed out just as Caden picked the device up. Typical. Seeing it was Emett, he sent a quick text saying he was on his way.

Caden's phone clock read 21:34. How he'd managed to sleep for 6 hours in the gardens without anyone waking him up was beyond him.

The school had curfew's for its students, although they varied depending on the species. For Psychics, they had to be in their dorm block by 22:00 and in their own dorm by 00:00 meaning he had plenty of time.

Caden got up and began to walk back to meet Zephyr and Emett.

He reached his dorm block fairly quickly as it wasn't too far. Walking up to it, he noticed how many dorms there were in the school.

There were 5 types of dorm blocks for categories which all species were sorted into. There were 10 blocks due to males and females being separated.

Caden and Emett's dorm number was 127 whilst Zephyr's was 130 and if there were two people per dorm then-

Caden walked into someone making him stumble back. The person he walked into just managed to catch their phone before it dropped.

"I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine." The white-haired girl breathed out before continuing to walk.

Caden did the same, heading up to Zephyr's dorm.

"I really need to watch where I'm going"

Bianca sighed, apologetically passing the pastel haired student. She was on her way to take a shower before her midnight run. On her phone texting Max, she didn't pay attention to the path in front of her. She furiously typed on her phone, her long nails tapping the glass screen.

B: Max! Perfect time to spam me, I just bumped into someone, a great way to make an impression right?

Within seconds a reply came through.

M: Did you shove him?

B: What? No! Max, I'm not like you, I actually respect others.

M: If they're not vampires they don't deserve respect.

B: Hush before I rip your fangs out.

M: Hey! Leave my gorgeous teeth alone! I'll talk to you later before I end up with no teeth. 😂

Bye Frozen Barbie!

B: Bye shithead👋🏻

Bianca shoved her phone in her pocket and walked faster, making her way to the large changing rooms and bathrooms. There were bathrooms in her dorm, but there were also completely separate ones for the students that went outside at night so they could get clean right after their run or hunt.

Bianca glanced at the mirrors. The good thing about being a vampire is that if you ever end up seeing something in the mirror behind you, you know it's danger as you don't have a reflection.

She stood staring into the mirror, nothing stared back. Tying her hair up messily she stripped, opened the door and entered one of the showers, letting the cold water run over her smooth skin. Another good thing about being a vampire, heat and cold didn't affect her. She picked up the soft, cherry-scented shower gel and lathered her body. The fruity scent filling her sensitive nostrils. She washed herself, her ears at constant alert, wary of any new sounds.

She finally finished, wrapping the soft white towel around her she realised she forgot to bring her clothes, mentally cursing herself, Bianca made her way back to her room, hoping no one saw her.

She slipped in silently with a sigh, Scarlet was deep asleep, her red hair scattered on her white pillow. Her nightly duties as a succubus didn't begin until 3 am, right after Bianca would come back from her nightly outing.

Opening her wardrobe she flipped through to find her workout clothes. She didn't need to work out, but Bianca was determined to keep her stamina and speed up, as a vampire she couldn't afford to neglect it. Finally, she found it, black shorts matched with a black sports bra and black trainers. Slipping them on, she turned when a rustle came from Scarlet's bed... Nothing, the girl just shifted in her sleep. She raised an eyebrow at how silently she did everything, it would definitely come to an advantage if she ever needed to catch and chase a prey.

Bianca sighed at how she reacted to the sleeping girl just simply changing positions, sometimes she wished her distinctive hearing would disappear, it often caused problems and unnecessary worry. Glancing in the mirror she saw the black outline of her clothes.

She looked around one last time before peeking at her phone.

11:45pm.

On-time, she had 15 minutes to get downstairs, past the teachers and through to the forest.

Bianca jogged downstairs, consider it a warm-up.

Getting to the lockers and back door, she saw the little group of students also awaiting, vampires but also a few werewolves, her nose scrunched up slightly at their strong scent, but she didn't want to be rude and show it. The students all eyed her inch by inch, a few giving her a polite smile while the rest stared blankly.

Bianca analysed them all, four girls, 3 vampires, 1 werewolf, and 5 guys, 4 werewolves and 1 vampire. She eyed the girls, all had black hair with pale, porcelain skin, however, upon looking closely, Bianca saw that each had a different shade of black. Then there was the werewolf, her skin was a stunning golden brown colour and she had bouncy brunette curls tied into a high ponytail. Bianca dreamily gazed at her, the female was extremely attractive. Upon realising her thoughts the girl shook her head. Her mother would probably smack her for even thinking a werewolf was remotely attractive.

She quickly turned her head to the guys, the werewolves were strongly built with wide frames and chiselled jawlines. Bianca then moved to the vampire, scanning him, only to find his deep violet eyes staring right back at her. He had dark brown hair and was extremely tall, his frame wasn't too bulky nor too thin. Upon making eye contact he smiled, revealing a set of pearly white teeth with two pointy fangs.

Bianca smiled back lightly but quickly snapped her attention to the 4 approaching teachers.

"Good evening students, I'm going to assume that you're the first group going out tonight, am I right?" a woman on the left asked. Bianca looked at her features. The woman was almost grey, her lips were a faint silver, but her eyes and hair were all black. A demon.

All the students including Bianca nodded.

"Very well, we will take you all outside and inform you of all our rules and expectations." a man to the woman's right said, he had pale skin, light blue eyes, fiery red hair and white fangs which stood out as he spoke. A vampire.

Again, all students nodded and the teachers turned around and began walking, Bianca briefly glanced at the others who were looking at her, awaiting her move. She took a step forward and as if mechanically, the others followed.

She thought of it as rather strange, the 3 vampire girls were purebloods too, and the werewolves could have easily taken the lead.

After heading outside, the cool breeze and the night sky greeted them. As expected, the teachers turned and eyed the students again. The vampire stepped forward and motioned to the far end of the school field.

"Beyond that field, there is a portal, this will take you to the forest realm, the forest is the property of Terlace Academy and there are plenty of animals to feed on if you ever need to. However, before you do, please come and tell one of us." he pointed to himself and the other teachers.

"We will all go there in just a second, first I will need all of you to sign your names on this clipboard, just for us to note who is going." the demon woman presented a clipboard with a pen that she took from a second woman next to her. Bianca also analysed her. She had sheer green skin and faint scales decorated her body. A siren.

One by one everyone went to the clipboard to sign, Bianca didn't want to go first so she motioned to the others to go in front of her. However, when her turn finally came, she took the pen from the woman and hastily signed, stepping away afterwards.

"Thank you, now I hope you can all keep up, we will now make our way to the portal," she said and with a nod to the others began running. Bianca raised an eyebrow as one of the teachers stayed at the building, but shrugged and took off too, managing to outrun everyone else.

Finally getting to the portal, the teachers instructed everyone one how they would all be around the forest too, keeping an eye on everyone, so if anyone needed them, they could find them, the demon also mentioned how the teacher stayed back, so whenever one of the students wanted to leave, they could be led safely.

When they finally crossed, Bianca was met with a giant forest, this one definitely wasn't as big as the one back home, but it wasn't far off.

"We explained everything to you, so now you should be free to go, remember whenever you want to go back, just cross this portal and sign out with the teacher near the building, we are all required to be back at approximately 4 am though. Enjoy"

The woman barely got to finish as Bianca ran, her messy bun beginning to slip out slightly.

This was the first nightly run she had in a while. When she joined the academy, they wanted to make sure everyone was settled in before they started with the activities.

As much as Bianca wanted to enjoy her nightly outing, she missed home. The forest she grew up in, even though she was quick to become familiar with her surroundings, she wanted to be somewhere where she knew everything, even the pattern of the wind. The trees and everything was a blur as she ran, checking her phone which was tucked safely into her tight pocket, Bianca saw it was 00:01 am. Right on time.

'Almost!'

Bianca thought as she was beating her record. The most she could run for, consistently with no breaks, was approximately 2 hours and 25 minutes, she timed it. As she carried on sprinting, her new record became 2 hours and 30 minutes.

It was 2:30 am as Bianca slowed her pace until she came to a walk. For her first run in a while, this was amazing. Smiling to herself, her peace was disturbed as she heard footsteps very close, footsteps which weren't hers.

Flipping her body around she was ready to attack, however, she only came face to face with the vampire from before. His violet eyes clear in the moonlight. Seeing her, he smiled again.

"Hey, sorry if I startled you, just wanted to introduce myself, I'm Lyam," he said and held out his hand. Bianca glanced at him before shaking it.

"I'm Bianca," she said, suspiciously eyeing the vampire before her. It has been three weeks of school and she has never seen him. Well to be completely honest, she hasn't seen many. She mostly came in contact with Scarlet and her new werewolf boyfriend. Her boyfriend... Bianca was lost in thought, it was the same werewolf she saw the night of coming here.

Snapping out of thought, she glanced at Lyam.

"Sorry, I was a bit lost in thought," she said apologetically, pulling her hair out of that messy bun and tying it into a ponytail. The vampire watched her.

"No worries, how are you finding this school so far?" he asked, shoving his hand into his pocket.

Bianca shrugged. She really didn't want to be here, but she has grown to not hate this place so much.

"Eh, I don't really mind it as much as I used to, what about you?"

"Hate it, it's so boring, I never wanted to come here, I could have taught myself, now I'm stuck in a place where the elders tell me what to do and when. I like learning and doing things the way I want to." Lyam responded, shaking his head. Bianca laughed lightly.

" Honestly same, but what can we do? Pureblood parents are like that" she said and Lyam nodded quickly before asking.

"You must be pretty high in the pureblood society, the others clearly respect you."

Bianca thought, so that's why they acted like that.

"I guess, my parents rule over the purebloods but I'm not next in line for the ruling position, my older brother Max is." she shrugged before looking at her phone.

2:45.

"Hey I'm sorry, I have to get back before my roommate leaves, it was nice meeting you, Bye!" she said before tucking her phone into her pocket and before Lyam got to say goodbye, she sped off in the direction of the portal.

The room was lit and Scarlet sat at her dressing table as Bianca entered.

3:00 am.

Perfect Timing.

Upon seeing her, the red-haired girl smiled and ran in for a hug.

"Bianca!!! Hey, how was the run?"

She asked while pulling Bianca into her grip.

"It was great, I managed to beat my running record. I used to be able to run for 2 hours and 25, I now can run for 2 hours and 30 minutes." she proudly announced, 5 minutes wasn't that impressive but it really did count. Glancing down she saw the succubus staring at her, mouth open and wide-eyed.

" 2 FRICKING HOURS AND 30 FRICKING MINUTES! I CAN BARELY WALK FOR A MINUTE, LET ALONE RUN" she exclaimed before hopping back to her makeup.

As a succubus, she had her nightly duties, but only in dreams. Terlace Academy had special rooms for succubi to sleep in, while also doing their activities.

"Wow, well, it really depends on how much blood I've had, the more blood, the more strength and stamina, I try to have the same amount all the time and try to improve my body generally though... Anyway, do you know who you're dreaming about today?" Bianca asked, scratching her arm.

"Not a clue, maybe Radyn again, I'm not too sure" Scarlet answered. That's exactly how she met her boyfriend, through the dream, he dreamed of her and she dreamed of him. After actually interacting in person, both were so content, that they began dating right away, Scarlet would very often hang out with Radyn, dragging Bianca with her every time.

"Anyway, I have to be off now, get some rest, I know you don't need it, but still," Scarlet said, before grabbing her bag, blowing Bianca a kiss and leaving the room.

The vampire sighed, Scarlet was a really great friend, and she was right, both girls got along so well, even though both were totally different species.

Smiling, Bianca sat at her desk.

"Might as well do something useful," she mumbled before pulling a book out and flipping through to where she left it off.