Chapter 6: Prince Theron

Aurora

"Can you check again?" I asked, disbelief tightening my voice.

The woman behind the desk gave me an irritated look, her lips pressed thin.

It couldn't be.

How could he just disappear?

I was holding his bag. So how on earth could there be no record of him?

"Is there an issue?" she asked, impatience clear now.

Her fingers tapped against the desk as she studied me.

"Have you checked in your documents and received your class schedule?" she continued sharply. "You have a lot of catching up to do. Instead of wasting time on childish pranks, you should focus on getting settled."

Her frown deepened with every word, and embarrassment crept up my spine. I stepped back slowly, unable to respond.

Outside, Sarah nudged me gently.

"We should just search the bag. We might find a clue, like a name or something," she said, her voice quieter.

So we did.

We emptied it on a nearby bench. A sealed grooming kit. A few books. Nothing strange, nothing unique, nothing that could be used to trace him. The only difference was that the uniform seemed a bit thicker than mine. Even the bag seemed a bit more velvety, richer somehow.

"What on earth..." I muttered, running a hand through my hair.

---

"Still carrying that thing around?" a familiar voice asked.

We had just reached the cafeteria. Mirabelle and Annabelle were already seated, waving us over.

"You're still dragging that bag everywhere?" Mirabelle repeated, a light frown on her face.

I sighed. "We haven't found the owner. No one seems to know who he is. It's almost like he vanished."

Mirabelle exchanged a look with Annabelle, but neither of them spoke.

Twilight felt like a completely different world.

"I'm going to die if I get kicked out," a girl from the next table said with a nervous laugh. I thought her name was Martha.

I swallowed hard.

That made two of us.

With everything I had heard so far, I still could not imagine being told to leave. Being told I was not good enough for Twilight. The thought of returning to Clearwater, where everyone was convinced I would fail, made my stomach twist.

"Has anyone from your pack ever made it through as actual students?" Sarah asked.

"Not from mine," I admitted. "What about yours?"

"A couple," she said with a shrug. "But that was years ago. They've already graduated."

Soon enough, the twins took it upon themselves to give us an unofficial orientation. They pointed out buildings, groups of students, and dropped names as if we were supposed to recognize all of them.

They explained the social system at Twilight and the power dynamics that ruled it. That was when I learned the blonde witch from yesterday was named Chrissy.

"Queen bee," Annabelle said with a grimace. "You should steer clear of her. She's bad tempered and rude."

"She's from an overly prominent pack," Mirabelle added. "And she's the daughter of a Beta."

That explained the attitude.

"There are also time bans," Annabelle continued. "Some parts of the school are off limits during certain hours. If you're caught breaking them, you'll get in trouble."

"And you're not only graded academically," Mirabelle added. "Your behavior, punctuality, rule following, everything is tracked. Mess up too much and you start losing tryout points."

I nodded slowly, trying to process it all.

"So we're allowed everywhere, right?" I asked, thinking of the expensive looking lodge I had seen earlier. Something about it had felt untouchable.

"Yes," Annabelle said, hesitating. "I mean, there isn't exactly an official restriction."

"But..." Mirabelle's eyes narrowed slightly. "Everywhere except Preston."

My heart skipped.

"Preston?" I echoed.

Mirabelle nodded, her voice low. "Stay far away from it."

I gulped.

How was I supposed to explain that I had already been there?

Roaming certain areas was clearly frowned upon, and on my very first day I had walked straight into one of them. I had not told anyone, and now I knew why.

What if someone found out? What if I lost points over it?

That would be devastating.

"Why?" I asked, forcing my voice to stay steady.

"You just don't," Mirabelle replied casually.

"Exactly," Annabelle added, her tone dipping into something almost secretive. "It's secluded. We all know better than to wander there."

"Also, there's the Epicenter," Mirabelle said. "That space is mostly reserved for The Heirs, the Hunts Team."

I clenched my fists without realizing it.

"You okay?" Sarah asked, watching me closely.

I forced a smile. "Yeah. Just a lot to take in."

She did not respond, but her gaze lingered. I was beginning to think she could read me far too easily.

---

"I think you're actually lucky," Annabelle said suddenly.

"Why?" I asked.

"The acceptance rate for Tryouts was unusually high this year. It's being treated as a bigger deal. A lot more healers than usual."

Mirabelle nodded. "That only happens once every few decades. The last time it happened this big, the current Lycan King was still a student here."

"And so was the Alpha King," Annabelle added.

"It's almost like they're searching for someone," Mirabelle said in a mysterious voice. "There are conspiracies," she added.

"I might be paranoid," Annabelle said, lowering her voice, "but I've noticed more guards. More eyes. A lot more security. I think it has something to do with the Lycan King."

I nodded slowly.

"How many royals are here?" Jojo asked, joining us from another table.

"There are several, but the main ones, the ones that matter, are the four princes."

"Three now," Annabelle corrected softly.

"Right. Three," Mirabelle agreed. "There's Theron, the Lycan prince and heir to the throne. Then Matteo. And Lucas."

She paused.

"And there was Orion."

Was?

"What happened?" Sarah and I asked at the same time.

Mirabelle shrugged. "Last year was a mess."

"There was an incident," Annabelle added quietly. "Something happened within the Heir Squad."

"It almost damaged the alliance between the Lycan and Werewolf kingdoms," Mirabelle said.

"So now it's just the Lycan prince and..." I began.

"Speak of the devil," Mirabelle said suddenly, her eyes widening.

"And he appears," Annabelle added breathlessly.

I turned.

---

Two males had just entered the canteen, and I knew instantly who they were.

They carried authority effortlessly. The energy in the room shifted around them, bending in their favor.

"That's Matteo," Mirabelle whispered.

Matteo's light brown curls were tousled, his smirk playful. He winked at our table, earning a chorus of giggles.

Lucas was different. Quiet. Controlled. His piercing blue gaze swept the room with calm precision.

"They're with the most important squad in the school, the Hunts Team," Mirabelle whispered as the princes took their seats, a natural circle forming around them.

They were the center of everything.

Future rulers.

"I almost feel bad for them," Annabelle said softly. "Everyone envies them, but they're under constant pressure. Training. Politics. Responsibility. If anything happens, they're the first expected to step forward."

I nodded.

They were not just students. They were heirs.

"Heavy is the head that wears the crown," Annabelle murmured.

The girls, however, kept chattering, still deep in their prince worship session, now shifting into theories about our coming of age, when we who didn't have our wolves yet were expected to have them and be connected with our mates. They giggled and swooned at the mere idea of being fated to one of the princes.

"How about you?" one of them suddenly asked, and the table's gaze fell on me.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Imagine being fated mates with one of the princes or even Theron! That would be so dreamy," Jojo said, basically swooning.

"No way," Annabelle interjected. "No offense, but that would be impossible. That bloodline doesn't mix and has been left pure for several generations. They don't get fated to just anyone."

Jojo sighed wistfully.

I tuned it all out.

Honestly, the thought of having a mate hadn't crossed my mind. And even now it did, I highly doubted mine would be here.

If he was here, it would most likely be someone from my pack. Or maybe one of the tryouts from a similar background. Nothing that would cause a stir.

I tuned it out.

---

And then everything changed.

The air shifted.

I felt it before I saw him. A familiar sensation crawled over my skin and settled in my chest.

Someone else had entered.

The cafeteria was still loud, still full, but the energy snapped into something sharper.

It was like the air noticed him.

I turned.

My breath caught when I met those intense green eyes.

Everything seemed to slow down.

The sound. The movement. My heartbeat.

He stood in the entrance, broad shouldered and impossibly tall, dressed in the same uniform as everyone else. But nothing about him was the same. Dark hair fell in messy waves across his forehead. His jaw was sharp enough to cut glass. And those eyes. Those wild, piercing green eyes that had burned into mine just hours ago.

He looked nothing like the broken, bleeding figure I had found on the floor. Now he radiated power so thick it was almost visible. Students parted around him without seeming to realize they were doing it. Conversations dimmed. Heads turned.

He walked  like he owned every inch of ground he covered.

"That," Mirabelle whispered, "is the Lycan prince."

My blood turned to ice.

"That's him?" Sarah breathed.

"Yes. That's Prince Theron."

The words landed like stones in my stomach.