Chapter 7 - Swimming Challenge

••• Seleste’s POV •••

The next morning I woke up alone again. Ezekiel was still actively avoiding me, it seemed.

But I had absolutely no time to waste thinking about him, as I had far more pressing, terrifying matters to worry about—the dreaded mandatory swimming assessment at the academy’s indoor pool complex.

I looked down at my watch and saw that it was still very early. A spike of panic hit my chest. I couldn't possibly change in my room and then walk across the busy academy grounds in nothing but swimming gear. 

My heart pounded a frantic rhythm against my ribs when I thought of having to strip down and change clothes directly in front of the other male students in the open locker rooms.

So instead, I hastily gathered everything I needed and tried to arrive significantly earlier than the rest of the class at the communal bathroom specifically designed for the aquatics facility.

“Make sure you bring a pair of thick athletic socks,” Freya’s voice suddenly echoed from the back of my mind.

“What?” I asked in utter disbelief, freezing mid-motion as I was preparing my duffel bag. 

“Just do it, Seleste,” she said firmly, her inner wolf tone leaving absolutely no room for negotiation.

And because I was terrified of being late and getting caught in the morning rush, I quickly snatched a pair of clean white socks from my drawer, stuffed them into my bag, and ran out the door toward the communal bathroom.

I was relieved to see that absolutely no one was there yet when I slipped through the heavy doors. 

Acting fast, I slipped into one of the private toilet stalls, latching the lock and pushing the plastic toilet seat down so I could neatly stack my clothing there without touching the damp floor.

The very first thing I did was to bind my chest extra tight, pulling the linen wraps far tighter than I usually dared to. 

Then, I pulled on a dark, compression-style athletic undershirt—which, fortunately, I had brought with me from home just in case an operational nightmare like this happened—before layering it with an oversized, dark-colored loose T-shirt.

Next, I pulled on my loose-fitting dark swim shorts. I figured that dark clothing would disguise my curves far better than light-colored clothes.

When I stepped out of the stall to look at my reflection in the mirror, I was right. My silhouette looked flat, boxy, and appropriately boyish. 

Hopefully, the heavy weight of these specific fabrics would also prevent them from clinging tightly to my skin and exposing my hips once they got soaking wet from the pool water.

I was just about to reach for the door handle to head out when Freya’s voice suddenly stopped me in my tracks.

“Seleste, you seem to have forgotten something critical,” she said, her voice dripping with an annoying amount of smug authority.

I paused, looking down at my clothes and stepping back to the mirror to double-check my disguise, but everything seemed to be perfectly in place.

I could practically feel Freya rolling her large golden wolf eyes at me in the dark spaces of my mind.

“You forgot the socks.”

Ah, yes… the socks.

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes at her. Why would I ever need to wear thick athletic socks inside a chlorinated swimming pool? Just because my bare feet were slightly dainty, did she honestly think these meathead Alphas could magically deduce I was a girl? That seemed incredibly unlikely.

“Not for your feet, you absolute fool,” Freya chided, her mental voice huffing with exasperation.

I frowned deeply at my reflection. “Then where?”

“To pack into the front of your swimming shorts, obviously.”

At first, my brain completely failed to process what she was hinting at, but the exact millisecond the realization finally hit me, a wave of mortification washed over me. I felt my cheeks instantly burn a bright, furious crimson.

“Quick, put them in!” she ordered aggressively. “Before the other students start coming in!”

Even though I was still completely embarrassed by the sheer absurdity of the thought, the cold survival instinct in me obeyed her commands. I ducked back into the privacy of the bathroom stall, frantically rummaging through my backpack to find the rolled-up fabric. I briefly debated whether to use both socks, but in the end, I chose to use only one, considering my small stature.

“Put the other one in too,” Freya ordered me again, watching my clumsy adjustments.

“Nope,” I popped the ‘p’ defiantly, refusing to budge.

“Don't you want the other Alphas to think that you are packing in that department?”

I felt myself blush even harder, the heat spreading all the way down to my neck. My mouth opened and closed a few times before I finally yelled at my inner beast through our link. “YOU ARE A WOLF! WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE LOGISTICS OF MALE ANATOMY??!!”

She rolled her golden eyes at me yet again. “I have eyes, duh!”

Ohh… true. She did have a point.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, letting out a heavy sigh, but still replied firmly, “No. One is more than enough.”

“Your loss, then,” she sounded thoroughly disappointed, retreating back into the shadows.

I pretended not to hear her because the last thing I wanted was to look like I was packing more than humanly possible and turn myself into the laughingstock of the freshman locker room.

When I finally finished adjusting the fabric and stepped out of the bathroom into the main aquatics facility, the indoor pool area was already crowded with dozens of other students. 

The air was thick with the suffocating scent of chlorine and raw, dominant male pheromones. Nearly all of them wore nothing but standard swimming trunks—some in tight speedos, others in loose boardshorts—proudly displaying their muscular chests and broad shoulders.

Walking out in a compression shirt and a heavy T-shirt, I immediately felt ridiculously overdressed, but it was a non-negotiable necessity for my survival.

“Damn, Aiden. What’s with all the clothes?”

I froze mid-step, my muscles locking up.

A few heads immediately turned toward me at the sound of the shout. The guy who spoke had his sharp eyes traveled critically over my body before a mocking, arrogant smirk appeared on his face.

“What?” he asked loudly, tilting his head as his voice echoed across the tiles. “Are you afraid to show your body because you look a little too feminine, princess?”

Freya let out a dangerous, low growl inside my mind, her hackles raising.

“Calm down,” I warned her silently, forcing my hands to remain steady at my sides. “It’s just standard locker room teasing.”

“Teasing?” she repeated incredulously. “He openly insulted our status.”

I forcefully ignored her and instead forced myself to roll my eyes at the arrogant Alpha, letting a flat, sarcastic expression settle onto my face to mask the underlying panic.

“Or maybe I simply don’t want to blind everyone here with the sheer majesty of my magnificent physique,” I drawled back, keeping my tone perfectly even.

For a long, agonizing second, the guy just stared at me, his smirk freezing. Then, several of the nearby students burst out laughing at the comeback, breaking the sudden tension.

“Sure, kid,” he said, shaking his head with a chuckle as he turned back to his friends. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Relieved, I instinctively started to cross my arms over my chest to hide myself, before remembering exactly why I was wearing oversized clothes. I quickly dropped my hands back to my sides, forcing my posture to relax.

Unfortunately, the guy from before caught my sudden stiffness. He stepped back toward me, his brow furrowing.

Oh, no.

“Why are you acting so damn nervous, Aiden?” he asked, his tone shifting into something more predatory as he scanned my posture.

I stared right back at him, forcing my blue-tinted eyes to remain completely unwavering.

“I’m nervous because I’m forced to swim in the same water as idiots like you,” I shot back smoothly, injecting venom into the lie.

His smirk instantly widened at the insult, his fragile Alpha ego satisfied by a direct challenge rather than submission. At least that seemed to completely satisfy his suspicions because he let out a loud laugh before turning away to dive into the lane.

I let out a long, silent breath of relief, my shoulders sagging.

“See?” Freya said smugly from the back of my mind. “You should have worn both socks. Maybe then you would have looked significantly more convincing.”

My face immediately heated up again. “Freya, drop it!”

“What? I’m just saying. Maybe a little more padding would keep these brutes from analyzing your posture.”

I decided right then and there that my inner wolf was completely useless in tactical situations.

Thankfully, the sharp whistle of the instructor shattered the chatter, saving me from further scrutiny. 

She stood at the edge of the deck, clipboard in hand, her voice booming across the chlorinated air. 

“Listen up! Today you will be swimming continuous laps timed strictly for endurance and speed! Line up!”

Oh, this was technically an easy task for me. Back in my home pack, I was an excellent swimmer, often diving into the deep mountain rivers for hours. 

Being timed for speed would usually be a breeze. But as I lined up at the starting block, I had to violently remind myself that I couldn't draw any attention to myself.

When the whistle sounded for my turn, I dove in alongside the others, the ice-cold water shocking my system for a brief second before my instincts kicked in.

But on my very first lap, my natural hybrid strength betrayed me. My powerful strokes accidentally propelled me far ahead of the group, my body cutting through the water with too much efficiency. 

Realizing my mistake, I had to forcefully slow down my pacing, deliberately letting several students pass me by, which deeply irked Freya.

Furthermore, the binding around my chest—which had felt fine on dry land—turned into a literal torture device underwater. 

Because it was wrapped extra tight and the water added extra pressure, it made it incredibly difficult to breathe, adding a very real, agonizing struggle to my performance. I was genuinely gasping for air every time I turned my head to breathe.

All around me, the other Alpha students were grunting, straining, and splashing violently, their intense, aggressive competitive energy filling the heavy air. 

I managed to time my movements perfectly, touching the concrete wall of the pool at the exact same moment as the middle of the pack.

I broke the surface, gasping, while secretly knowing deep down that I could have easily won the entire heat without breaking a sweat if I had just unleashed my true power.

My arm and shoulder muscles burned fiercely, not from the actual exertion, but from the brutal restraint of holding back my true abilities. 

What surprised me the most, however, was that despite my restricted breathing and forced slow pace, there were still so many future Alphas whose final scores were way beneath mine.

I shook my head, clearing the water from my eyes as I sneered inwardly in absolute disgust. If these boys truly wanted to lead packs and call themselves Alphas, they should be fundamentally stronger, yet they were easily outpaced by a girl who was playing at a quarter of her true capacity.

Granted, I had advantages due to my unique hybrid heritage, but I hadn't used a single drop of my “power” since stepping onto this campus. So what were their excuses?

This ridiculous double standard was exactly why I thought the Council’s laws were a joke. 

Most of these boys were just a bunch of not-so-powerful men, and the only reason they were allowed to sit on the thrones of leadership was because of the dicks hanging between their legs.