6

Chapter 6

Talia gazed at Selene in admiration and envy. Selene was tall, beautiful, and an alpha's daughter. She had class and ranked high in the wolf hierarchy. And above all, she's Damon's betrothed.

She was everything Talia could never be.

"I'm Selene Fletcher, daughter of Alpha--"

"I know about you, Selene. You're quite popular" Talia smiled, but Selene kept a straight face while both girls standing beside her fixed their eyes on Talia. 

"Oh, that's good. So we'll skip the introduction then" she smiled, arranging her hair. 

"You're Sage Storm, Damon’s roommate," Selene continued.

"That's right" Talia bit her lower lip, then lowered her gaze. Selene's piercing eyes were filled with pride and superiority, and it intimidated her.

"You're weak. The whole school whispers it. Damon shouldn't befriend weak people. And you being friends with him, will bring him down" 

"I'm not weak... I was just-- tired" Talia looked up at her, but Selene pretended as if she didn't hear what she said. 

Talia was already tired of this school; everyone seemed to enjoy picking on someone.

"I don't know the kind of relationship you and Damon have, but I don't fancy the way you both are close" Selene muttered.

Talia sharply looked up at her, never expecting her to be this petty. 

"Are you insecure that a guy is close to your betrothed?" Talia cocked her head, a smirk creeping to her face. 

"Is that how you go about threatening people who are close to him? Both boys and girls?" She clicked her tongue, surprised at her own courage.

She felt that if she kept acting weak and kept letting people bully her, she wasn't going to survive. Damon was right after all. Act like a prey and you'd get eaten. 

Talia walked close to her and placed both hands on her shoulders while maintaining eye contact with her, Selene flinched, both furious and taken aback.

"I don't do boys. I have a girlfriend back home. You don't have to worry about Damon" With that, Talia carefully arranged her collar, then flashed her a smile before stepping backward 

"I heard you were at the male infirmary. You shouldn't be wandering around boys' dorm. Have a nice day" Talia nodded at the two girls then she walked away, heading toward Derek who was seated on a desk, waiting for her.

Selene let the water bottle she was holding fall to the ground as she clenched her fists, gritting her teeth. One of the girls helped pick up the water bottle while Selene's face burned red.

"I hate him! I hate him so much!" She was heaving as she furrowed her brows.

"Me too, he's so daring!" Anna, one of the girls said. 

"And he's cute too" Bella giggled and earned a glare from Selene.

Bella quickly lowered her gaze while Selene rolled her eyes, folding her arms across her chest as she watched Derek and Talia move to the other part of the library. 

"Did you notice something? Kind of weird and strange about him?" Selene asked, her arms crossed. 

"Huh?" Bella and Anna exchanged looks, then shook their heads. 

"You're both morons!" Selene snapped. "Sage doesn't have a scent." She stormed out of the library, her heels clicking as her friends scrambled after her.

"How would a beta's son not have a scent? It's weird. He's definitely hiding something" Selene continued. 

"First, he’s weak. Second, he doesn’t heal fast. And third..." She paused, legging her words linger. "He has no scent" She grinned, but the smile disappeared from her face the moment it appeared. 

"Whatever you are hiding, Sage Storm, I'm going to find out" a faint smirk appeared on her lips as her friends hastened their footsteps.

*.*

The students were seated in class, waiting for the teacher, the class was rowdy with noises as boys bet for the next games, while the girls applied makeup on their faces. 

Derek was on his seat, across from Talia who sat next to an empty desk. 

The class went silent when Selene and her minions catwalked into class. She managed to draw their attention by clicking her heels loudly on the floor. 

Talia grunted and placed both hands on her ears, hoping to reduce the annoying noise Selene was making. 

Selene's eyes met with Talia's for a heartbeat before she focused on her seat, taking her position, while her two friends sat at her side. 

Bella and Anna rested their gazes on Talia who found it weird, then she shifted her eyes to the board, ignoring their looks. 

Just then, Damon walked into the classroom, his bag hung loosely over his shoulder with his chin up as he scanned the class, as if he was looking for something. 

"Hey, Damon! I saved a seat for you" Selene called out to him and he paused, staring at her. 

"Move it!" Selene glared at Bella who stood up from her seat next to Selene and scurried away. 

"Here, Damon! This seat is empty" she smiled, waving. But Damon kept scanning the classroom until his eyes rested on Talia who was also watching him. 

She flinched, blinking her eyes. 'Why is he looking at us like that?' Titi shivered in Talia's head. 

'I don't know' Talia mumbled, and removed her gaze from him, facing the empty board. 

Selene twitched her lips, furrowing her brows when she noticed Damon was staring at Talia, and slowing, he started walking toward her.. 

'What's he doing? Why is he coming this way?' Titi screamed in Talia's head and in a matter of seconds, Damon was seated next to Talia in the empty seat. 

He dropped his bag, arranging his books as Selene’s gaze burned into his back.

Bella returned to her seat next to Selene, whose gaze stayed on them, fingers tightening on the water bottle until it cracked.

"Hi, I heard you came to the infirmary" Talia said to him first and he froze, then he swallowed and continued bringing out his writing materials as if he hadn't heard what she had said. 

"Yeah. I had an injury I wanted the doctor to take a look at" he mumbled, the lie coming out of his lips easily. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you had one" She said, genuinely concerned. 

His pen fell to the ground and they both made to pick it at the same time, their fingers brushing against each other. 

A shocking jolt spread across Talia's veins as she let go of the pen immediately. She looked up at him and saw he had the same surprised look on his face. 

She was sure that, whatever it was that she felt, he must have felt it too. 

They broke the stare and looked elsewhere when Master Thomas, stepped into the class and the murmuring died abruptly. 

He moved to the board and wrote in bold: ENHANCED AUDITORY TRAINING. Then he took off his glasses... and smiled at them.

Talia's heartbeat was racing uncontrollably and she avoided stealing a glance at Damon even though she ached doing so. 

The pace of her heartbeat gradually slowed down when Master Thomas began teaching. 

“The human ear can register sound between 20 and 20,000 Hertz. That’s good enough to hear a whisper…" He shrugged and started strolling between the desks.

"But your wolf? Your wolf hears in layers. Sound doesn't just enter your ears, it moves through your skin, your bones, your blood. It echoes in your instincts.” He stopped to pause, observing the students to ensure they were listening, before resuming. 

Talia watched him in confusion, Titi can't do that. Titi can not hear a heartbeat from afar, she hasn't even shifted before. 

"Who wants to try first?" He spoke out loud, disrupting Talia from the chaos that was going on in her head. She clenched her fingers hard on the desk, looking anywhere but the teacher's face. 

"You!" Master Thomas said, but the hall went dead silent. 

"Sage Storm? Come and demonstrate before the class" He spoke again. 

'What?' Titi panicked while Talia swallowed, sweat gathered at her back as goosebumps found their way to her arms. 

"Come on, Sage! Go on, we're waiting!" Selene called out to her and slowly, she stood up, gripping her trousers and biting her lower lip.

She hadn’t even realized she was trembling, until she felt every eye in the room fixed on her, as if they were accusing her of something. 

The silence in the room stretched, loud and suffocating.

'What if they find out we can’t… can’t detect sound like the others?' Titi whined.

Talia swallowed and began walking to the front of the class, slowly, deliberately, hesitating before each step.

Detecting sounds requires a lot of energy, and her wolf is not strong enough to harness such energy.