CHAPTER TEN

The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes wasn't the sunlight. It was my shadow. For one ridiculous second...I could have sworn it smiled at me. Not a huge smile. Just enough to make my stomach tighten.

I blinked. Once…Twice.

"...Yeah, I've officially lost it."

The shadow lay perfectly still beneath the morning light pouring through the window, innocent as if it hadn't just tried to traumatize me before breakfast.

I rubbed my eyes. "Maybe Grimhalden doesn't just awaken wolves," I muttered. "Maybe it also hands out free hallucinations."

"You talk in your sleep." Lila's sleepy voice drifted across the room.

I nearly jumped out of my skin. She was still wrapped in her blanket like a burrito, only one eye open.

"I wasn't talking."

"You were."

"I was thinking."

"You think out loud."

"I refuse to believe that."

"You also snore."

"I absolutely do not."

She yawned dramatically. "You sounded like a dying goat."

I grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at her. She caught it effortlessly.

"...Rude."

She laughed, tossing it back.

"Good morning to you, too, celebrity."

"Don't start."

"Oh, I'm absolutely starting."

She sat up, tying her dark hair into a messy ponytail.

"Do you know how many people asked me this morning if I really sleep in the same room as 'the Bell Girl'?"

I buried my face in another pillow.

"I'm transferring schools."

"You've been here less than a week."

"Exactly. I've seen enough."

Lila chuckled as she climbed off the bed. "You've become famous overnight."

"I preferred it when nobody knew I existed."

She pointed at me. "That statement expired yesterday."

After getting dressed, we stepped outside. The cool morning breeze carried the scent of pine and damp earth through the stone corridors of Grimhalden.

A tall Beta boy carrying books nearly walked into me before quickly stepping aside.

"My bad."

I stared. "...Did he just apologize?"

Lila grinned. "Oh, this is going to be fun."

Another student smiled awkwardly.

A girl I'd never spoken to offered me an apple.

"For... me?"

She nodded so quickly I thought her neck would snap.

"You were amazing yesterday."

"...I climbed a tower and almost died."

"Exactly."

"...That's amazing?" She smiled.

"It was brave."

Before I could answer, she hurried away.

I looked at Lila. "What just happened?"

"They're trying to figure you out."

"I'm trying to figure myself out."

By the time we reached the academy square, dozens of students had already gathered around the central fountain. Nobody was talking loudly. Instead...They kept stealing glances at me.

"...Do I have something on my face?"

Lila leaned closer. "Only everyone's curiosity."

"I liked being ignored."

"No, you didn't."

"...Okay."

She wasn't wrong. Being invisible had hurt. But this somehow felt worse.

"Still hiding?"

A familiar voice drifted through the crowd. I didn't need to turn around; I already knew who it was. He walked toward us with his usual calm confidence, hands tucked inside his pockets. Students instinctively shifted aside, creating a clear path for him. That alone said enough about who he was. His eyes landed on me.

"You look disappointed."

"I woke up famous."

"My condolences."

Lila snorted beside me.

I blinked. "...Was that a joke?"

One corner of Adrian's mouth lifted.

"Barely."

"I didn't know you had emotions."

"I don't."

"There they go again," Lila whispered dramatically. "The weird flirting."

Both of us looked at her.

"We're not flirting."

She shrugged.

"I'm just saying what the crowd is thinking."

Several nearby students immediately pretended they weren't listening.

"You rang the Bell."

I folded my arms.

"I wasn't aware there was a correct way to ring a bell."

"There wasn't."

"Then why shouldn't I?"

His gaze lingered on me a second longer than necessary.

"Because now everyone knows your name."

A strange chill settled over me.

"...That's a bad thing?"

"Here?"

He glanced around the courtyard.

"It can be."

Before I could ask what he meant, he walked away.

"He talks like someone who charges people per sentence."

Lila burst into laughter.

"I've never heard anyone describe Adrian like that."

"I'm starting to think he enjoys confusing me."

"He enjoys confusing everyone."

"That's somehow worse."

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………...............................................................................

A loud bell echoed across the academy. Ironically...This one sounded completely normal.

"Finally," I sighed. "A bell that isn't trying to ruin my life."

Students immediately began walking toward the eastern training grounds.

Lila nudged my shoulder. "Come on."

The training grounds stretched farther than I expected. Instead of classrooms, there was an enormous circular field surrounded by towering trees. Stone pillars stood around the edges, each carved with strange silver symbols that shimmered faintly whenever sunlight touched them.

The place felt...

Nearly two hundred students formed neat rows. Freshers in front, senior students behind. The instructors stood silently on a raised platform. Head Instructor Kael stepped forward; his silver cloak shifted gently in the wind. Yesterday, his expression had been unreadable.

Today...He was looking directly at me.

"Today's lesson," he announced, "is not about strength." A few students exchanged confused glances. "It is not about speed."

"It is about instinct. Every wolf possesses it." He slowly looked across every student.

"Some ignore it, some sharpen it, and a very rare few..." He paused. "...are born with it."

His eyes met mine. "I'm going to ask each of you to enter the circle."

A perfectly smooth stone platform began rising from the center of the field. The entire ground trembled softly. I took one slow step backward.

"Nope."

Lila looked sideways.

"Nope?"

"I don't trust magical floors anymore."

She laughed.

"Fair."

The instructor continued. "You will wear a blindfold."

"While blindfolded," Instructor Kael continued, "your only task..." He lifted one hand. "...is to survive."

A heavy silence swept through the field. Then...a loud sound came in, not from the forest or the student. But from beneath the stone platform itself. 

Slowly...

Massive iron gates beneath the arena began to open.

And whatever was inside...Was breathing.