Chapter 8

ZANA’S POV

I tried to tell myself that the Academy was just another territory. Stone halls instead of forests. Rules instead of survival. Faces instead of shadows. But the moment I stepped inside, I knew that lie would not hold.

I didn’t belong here, and everyone knew it.

The corridors were luxurious. They had banners hanging from the walls bearing pack sigils. Students moved groups, talking, laughing, touching. They were always relaxed in a way only people born into money could be. The moment I walked past, the air shifted.

Conversations stopped. Eyes followed.

I felt them looking at me. I heard their comments as I walked past.

“She’s a rogue”

“Not just a rogue. She’s a savage”

“What the hell is she doing here?”

“She’s so out of place”

“I bet she won’t last long”

I kept my shoulders straight and my chin lifted. I had learned long ago that lowering your eyes invited predators. My wolf paced inside me. she was restless. She kept pacing against my ribs like she wanted out.

Ignore them, I told her. Survive first.

Because survival was all I had ever known.

The Alpha who ruled this land had wiped out my clan. He burned our camps and killed all my people. He left bones where homes once stood. And now his Academy expected me to bow my head. They expected me to change myself to fit in and pretend none of that mattered.

I would not turn myself down for anyone.

As I walked, more whispers followed me.

“That’s her.”

“The rogue girl.”

“Why is she even here?”

“I heard she killed someone.”

“Animals shouldn’t be allowed in places like this.”

My hands curled into fists at my sides to the point where I could feel my nails biting into my palms. Every instinct screamed at me to turn, to snarl, to remind them that I was not prey. But I did not. I kept moving. One step at a time. I’d control myself…for now, at least.

Control was power.

By the time I reached the corridor leading to my first class, my jaw ached from how tightly I had clenched it.

That was when they blocked my path.

Five girls stood spread across the hallway. They were all dressed in expensive uniforms tailored to fit perfectly. Their hair was glossy. Their scents were sweet. Their make up was flawless. They looked at me like something unpleasant they had found on the bottom of their shoes.

One of them smiled. Not kindly.

“Well,” she said lightly, “look what wandered in.”

I stopped a few steps away. “Move.”

Another girl laughed softly. “Straight to commands. No manners at all.”

“I’m not here to chat,” I said. “Move.”

They didn’t.

One stepped closer, her eyes roaming over me openly. “You smell like the woods.”

“Of blood,” another added, wrinkling her nose. “Filthy.”

I breathed in slowly through my nose and out through my mouth.

“Don’t react” I told myself “They’re just trying to get a reaction out of you. Don’t let them”

“I said move,” I warned. I kept my voice calm but tight.

“Oh?” the first girl said, lifting her drink. “Or what?”

She tilted the cup just enough for the liquid to spill down my clothes. The drink soaked into my shirt, dripping to the floor.

The girls burst into laughter.

“Oops,” she said. “Clumsy.”

Something inside me snapped into place. It wasn’t rage. Oh no, not yet. But I did feel focus.

I looked at her hand then at her face. “That was your warning.”

The laughter didn’t stop.

“What are you going to do?” one of them mocked. “Growl at us?”

“Bite?” another said. “Like an animal?”

One snickered “She is a rogue. So, expect anything. She should be locked in a cage for our entertainment”

“That’s true. I’ve never been up close with a rogue before”

I stepped to the side, trying to leave. I didn’t want trouble. I needed to last here so that maybe, just maybe, I could get my revenge.

That was when fingers closed around my arm. One of them gripped me….hard.

“you don’t leave till I say you leave” one of the girls said, tightening her hold “You filthy cunt!”

That was it. That was the last straw.

I moved without thinking.

I twisted her wrist sharply, using her grip against her. I stepped in, slammed her shoulder-first into the locker, and drove my forearm into her back. Metal rang through the hall.

She screamed. The sound was so high that it cut through the corridor. Everything froze.

I leaned in close, keeping my voice low.. “I’m going easy on you.”

She sobbed. I could feel the panic in her scent. “L-let go! Please, please!”

The other girls backed away. Their faces turned pale.

I released her suddenly. She collapsed to the floor, clutching her hand, crying.

I straightened slowly and smiled.

“If I had applied pressure here,” I said calmly, pointing, “I would have snapped the radius clean. If I twisted another inch, you’d need surgery. And if I’d dislocated your elbow first…” I shrugged lightly. “You’d never throw a proper punch again.”

They stared at me like they were seeing me for the first time. The hallway erupted then. I heard the sounds of shouting and footsteps. Someone yelled for guards. They called for security like I was an animal that needed to be put down.

Typical.

When they arrived, the girls immediately started talking over each other.

“She attacked us!”

“She’s dangerous!”

“She belongs in chains!”

I stood still. I was calm and silent.  They left out the part where they were the ones who started it, where they were the ones who provoked me.

A guard turned to me. “Apologize.”

I met his eyes. “No.”

There was a pause.

“You’ll receive a warning,” he said.

Was that supposed to scare me?

“Good,” I replied.

As they led the girls away, I felt the stares return, heavier now. People didn’t look at me with just disgust now. There was fear in their eyes.

I rolled my shoulders and continued down the hall toward class.

Day one, and they already knew.

I was not here to be broken.

The Academy would learn that the hard way.