Chapter Four : THE AWAKENING I WASN'T MEANT TO SURVIVE

Elara's POV

I didn’t want to go to the History of Supernaturals. Honestly, I would’ve rather chewed glass. But it was mandatory for all first-year students, and Lila had already threatened to drag me if I bailed.

“Come on”, she said, linking arms with me as we walked through the ivy-covered halls.

 “It’s Professor Thorne. People say he used to hunt rogue shifters, like track and trap them.”

“That’s comforting,” I muttered. “Let’s put the ex-hunter in charge of the kids.”

“He’s ancient and weird. That makes him perfect for teaching supernatural history,” she said cheerfully.

 “Also, rumor is he’s half-fae explains the whole ‘tall-dark-and-unsettling’ aesthetic.”

She wasn’t wrong. The second we stepped into the classroom, the air felt heavier, the lights were dim. The windows were open, but the breeze didn’t feel like wind—it felt like breath. Watching.

Professor Thorne stood at the front, all long limbs and sharper-than-human features. His eyes flicked over the class, landing on me for a fraction too long.

I looked away first. I always do.

“Settle,” he said, voice like gravel and smoke. “Today, we begin with bloodlines.”

Of course, we do.

“Who here can name the Four Founding Houses?” he asked.

Hands shot up. I stared at my notebook.

“Bloodfang,” someone said. “Moonveil. Ashpaw. And—uh—Stormend?”

“Close,” Thorne replied, pacing. 

“The fourth was Nightborne, but they were erased from the record. Ask your parents about them. You’ll get silence.”

Lila nudged me under the desk. “Creepy. Love it.”

I didn’t love it. My pulse had started to spike the moment he said “bloodlines,” and now it was racing. I kept my eyes down, but I could feel him watching me again.

“Some believe Nightborne blood still exists,” he went on. “Diluted. Hidden. Unclaimed.”

His voice was calm. Too calm.

“Not that it matters. Without claiming, the power rots, devours, breaks the mind.”

The room was silent. My palms were damp.

“Unless,” he added, “they are found before it’s too late.”

I didn’t hear much else after that. My ears were ringing. The kind of ringing you get before a blackout. Or a shift.

Which is ridiculous. I don’t shift. I can’t.

Right?

When class ended, I bolted. Lila called after me, but I pretended I didn’t hear.

I made it to the courtyard before someone caught up.

Not Lila.

Not Kael.

Professor Thorne.

“You felt that, didn’t you?” he said quietly.

I froze. “Felt what?”

He didn’t answer. Just studied me like I was a puzzle missing its last piece.

“There are rules here Elara,” he said finally. “But some bloodlines don’t care about rules, they wake up when they’re ready.”

Then he walked away.

And just like that, everything I thought I was… cracked a little. 

******

I made it back to the dorm, barely holding it together. My hands were still cold. My thoughts? Worse.

Lila looked up from her meal. 

“where have you been? I couldn't find you. You look like you've flunked a pop quiz”. 

“I’m fine.” Total lie. But she let it go.

I paced, sat down, I stood again. Finally threw on a hoodie and bolted. If I stayed inside one more second, I’d scream.

The woods behind the west building were quiet—too quiet, but I liked that. No eyes. No questions. Just trees and fog and the kind of silence you could hide in.

Then I felt it. Not heard—felt. Like a shift in the air, sharp and sudden, pulling all the heat out of the world.

I turned.

Kael.

Leaning against a tree like he’d been there forever. His hands are in his pockets. Eyes unreadable.

“Are you following me now?” I asked, trying not to sound breathless.

“You’re not supposed to be out here.”

“Oh no,” I deadpanned. “Are the trees gonna report me?”

He didn’t smile. “There are things in these woods that don’t play by the academy rules.”

“And you do?”

A beat passed. Then he said, “I saw you today. In Thorne’s class.”

I was tense. “Everyone saw me.”

“No. I felt you.”

That stopped me.

He stepped closer. “Don’t play dumb, Elara. You felt it too.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

His voice dropped. “Yes, you do. Something inside you moved. The same thing happened to me.”

I backed up a step. “So what, we both had a weird headache?”

Kael didn’t move. “It wasn’t painful.”

And he was right. It wasn’t. It had been... something waking up.

“Who are you really?” he asked.

I forced a laugh. “No one.”

“You’re not ‘no one,’” he said flatly. “That’s the problem.”

He stared at me like he could see through my skin. Like I was some kind of puzzle he already knew the answer to but wasn’t ready to say.

Then something changed.

Kael stiffened. His eyes flicked toward the trees.

“Go back,” he said.

“What?”

“Now.”

And then I heard it—low, wrong. A growl. But not his. Deeper. Like it came from the ground itself.

Before I could blink, Kael was gone.

Not run.

Shifted.

One second, boy. The next—a massive black wolf, eyes burning silver, standing right where he’d been. He didn’t hesitate. Just charged into the dark, teeth bared.

And I just... stood there.

Frozen.

Because this wasn’t a dream.

It wasn't a warning.

It was a door opening.

And whatever was on the other side?

It was coming.

My throat felt tight. My heart slammed against my ribs.

And all I could think was:

The last time someone noticed me—noticed—everything fell apart.

And now it was happening again.

I went back to my dorm running without looking back. 

I didn’t sleep.

Every creak in the hallway, every rustle outside our window had my nerves on edge. Lila snored peacefully in the next bed, oblivious to the way my world had tilted.

By morning, I was dressed before sunrise, sitting on the edge of my mattress like a soldier waiting for orders.

That’s when the knock came.

Soft. Precise.

I opened the door to find Professor Thorne.

He wasn’t supposed to be in our dorms. No teacher was.

“Elara,” he said quietly. “Walk with me.”

I followed, boots crunching against gravel, heart pounding.

We reached the greenhouse behind the science wing—hidden, empty. Thorne turned, eyes sharp behind his glasses.

“There are things you need to know,” he said. “About your family. About why Kael sensed you.”

I swallowed hard. “What are you saying?”

He stepped closer.

“I’m saying… you were never supposed to survive the Awakening.”