Chapter 1

CALLA

“Why should a rejected wolf be standing in our midst? Bold of her to assume she stands a chance.”

The first wave of murmurings crossed my ears as I walked into the hall. Each whisper crashed against me like a falling tower, forcing the little confidence which I managed to gather down my stomach. 

I was this close to turning around when Mira, my best friend, grabbed my hand. Her eyes alone were threatening enough to make me stand by her side. 

“The moment you turn around, you’ll prove their point,” she whispered, clamping our fingers while throwing ugly glares back at the students. 

“But they are right? I’m not supposed to be here,” I replied. 

Mira didn’t care. That’s how she’s been for years. After the death of my last parent, my father, who once the headmaster of the Wolfhut academy,  Mira took up the role of a second family. She protected me from the bullies, fought the boys away and stood by me whenever I had one of my emotional meltdowns. 

The secret of my weakness got out a while ago, and that even made things worse. Kael Diggs, my mate and the first man to ever touch me in ways beyond my imaginations rejected me. I couldn’t blame him, because he was getting dragged into my mess, a mess he’d sworn to walk me through. 

“This is your pack. Your father once led these students. Ignore whatever they’re saying,” Mira snapped my attention back to the events of the hall. 

We walked past a clique where Kael was. He turned away from me immediately, but I couldn’t get my eyes off him or the girl standing beside him. Healing they say, comes with time. But for the past one year, I’ve felt stagnant. I’ve felt like Kael was hurting and rejecting me over and over again. 

Some days, the weight was light. But on certain days, especially when we cross paths, I couldn’t ignore the trepidation of my heart, the hooks in my breathing and the way I wished we just hadn’t met. The memories were there, always pushing me to reopen closed doors. 

But Mira had put me up to a healing process, something that grounded me and made me stay through to reality. 

“He’s a scumbag. Look away,” she hissed, pulling my arm a little. 

When we finally took our spot on the line, the murmurings became clear. 

“Weakass omega. What does she think she’s doing here?”

Someone even knelt and made a mocking prayer to the moon goddess. “Please, take Calla and give us other Vales. She’s too weak and empty to carry the Vale legacy,” 

The crowd around burst into laughter, and I felt my heart shatter into a thousand pieces. The pain severed through my well layered defensive system, and tears rolled down my eyes the next second. 

“If only you had a second eye, you would have noticed your father has been sleeping around with the pack healers,” Mira fired at the boy who made the comment. 

The crowd went silent after a dragged roar, watching as Mira and the boy faced each other. 

Things were about to get heated when the microphone whirred.

“Welcome to the great assembly, Students of Wolfhuts academy,” Principal Mayers, the lady that took after my fathers office announced. Her voice brought silence to the hall, but the tension in the air still hovered. I exchanged a daring glance at the boy who returned it with the same energy.  

“Today,…” principal Mayers continued. “We will be carrying a usual ritual. The assignment of wolves to the packs beyond our territories. This year, only fifty students have been chosen. Ten packs have been selected, therefore five student shall pair in a pack. At the call of your name, please step forward and stand with your new guardian,” 

The lights in the hall dimmed, and the suspense railed longer than we’d expected. Everyone could guess who the top picks of the year would be. In Lunaris city, the Ashgrove pack has one of the best amateur wolves. We always produced the best wolves in the Lunaris city games, and those students were consistent with the title. 

As expected, they were called. 

“Bright Loker. Cynthia Mattinal, Joe Hoad, Beatrice…” and the names went on. 

Mira’s grip around my hand tightened. They were calling it according to our previous ranks, and Mira’s name was supposed to be close in the list. 

I imagined this day, when she would be assigned to a pack far away from me, but nothing prepared me for the way my heart raced. 

Principal Mayers was down thirty names, took a water break and continued. 

“When you leave, I’ll follow you. I’m done staying in a pack where nothing makes sense,” I whispered to Mira. 

“How do you plan on doing that? You can’t escape from Ashgrove.”

“My father has a map that…”

“Calla Vale,” 

My voice echoed through the microphone. 

I froze, registering the call in my head. 

All eyes turned towards me, slow…shocked. 

I could feel the questions in the stares, but it was nothing compared to the doubt in my head. 

“She…called your name,” Mira muttered. 

“Must be a mistake,” I responded with a forced smile. 

“Calla Vale. Is the Vale girl present,” Mayers asked. 

“Yes!” Mira answered loudly. She nudged me with a smile and whispered. “Go,”

Somehow, I found my feet and walked to the front of the hall. 

All eyes were on me, dissecting the possibility of how a weak wolf got into the list. 

My late father’s position…that would be the next rumor. 

It would be so believable because even I didn’t know. 

My name was the fortieth, and there were ten more names to go. 

I found Mira in the crowd, giggling and smiling at me. She was trying to pass a message to me, I guess she was telling me to keep my head up. 

But the moment the last name was called, and Mira’s name wasn’t, her expression shifted. 

Who wouldn’t feel sad? Or cheated?

I turned several times to confirm principal Mayers was done, but the reality I tried so hard  to evade kept hitting me spot on. She was done. Really done. I was called, but Mira wasn’t. 

How possible?

The pack assignments began, from group one down to group ten. 

“Group eight,”  Mayers called our attention. We were five, just like the rest. And hell…Killian—the boy who made the mocking prayer to the moon goddess, was there. 

“You’ve been assigned to Dravenport city—Fangspire pack,” 

The students gasped, myself included. 

“What!” Killian bursted. “Fangspire? We’ve never sent an amateur to the Fangspire pack,” 

“They’ll eat us before we arrive,” another girl seconded. 

“Fangspire is a pack of wolves, just like other pack of wolves,” Principal Mayers defended herself. “If you have a problem, step aside and we’ll fill your gap in. You can wait till next year,” 

The order was clear, yet no one moved. 

I desperately needed to leave Ashgrove pack. I needed to abandon the pain and my past here. But being assigned to Fangspire pack? That was signing a death warrant. 

There and then, I found my voice. 

“The alpha of Fangspire pack killed my mother!” 

Everyone halted,eyes on me once again, but I continued. 

“I’m sure we all heard the rumors. He killed my mother and most of your parents. All I ask…all we ask…is a reassignment,”.

A small smile carved the edge of Princial Mayers lips. She  adjusted the microphone to speak. “It’s only rumors, Calla. You’ve been assigned. You have twenty-four hours to reject this assignment…or it stands,”.

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