chapter 5

Elora's pov

"Would you like to tell me what you were doing searching the management's office last night?"

I went still, my heart spiked up into a thousand suns as I whipped my gaze to him. The smirk he once had, had now disappeared, morphing into something else I couldn't name.

Anger? Curiousity?

A swallow passed through me, I tried to maintain eye contact with him. "I..."

He tilted his head, a brow lifted like he was daring me to lie. "Go on..."

"I wanted to ask for a change of room." The lie flowed freely, my hand on the table folded into fists, "I didn't meet them there, so I had to search for the documents... To see if I could switch the room myself."

His gaze on me intensified, if he believed me or didn't, he sure as hell didn't show. My fingers dug into my nail, begging the moon goddess that he didn't smell out my lies.

"You will pay for what you did yesterday, you do know that, right?" His tone dropped into a deadly tone. Goosebumps raked through my body.

"You touched my bre—" my lips sealed shut. Why didn't I think before talking dammit!

"Your what, Lucius?" The name was said in mockery, sweat beads formed on my head. I hated him, f*ck him and his mind games. Why the hell was he making me overthink if he knew I was a woman or not. Why not just call me out on it?

"My...." I closed my eyes shut, trying hard to shove my anger back in, if I was wrong, and he didn't know, then I would ruin everything for myself and get myself killed. "My... Chest."

His expression changed into a glare the second the words left my lips. I hated how unreadable he was, but I didn't look away from him.

I had to act like an alpha, and an alpha would not back down.

"Lucius Bernard!" A voice called before me, making me whip my gaze from Valen to the man standing before me.

The Professor had an annoyed look on his face. "Is there anything more important than the announcement we are currently giving?"

I gulped, shaking my head slowly. "No, Professor. I apologize." I said in a manly voice.

Everyone had been snickering at me since I walked in, I couldn't tell if it was because they remembered me from what had happened at the cafeteria, or something else I wasn't aware of.

"Stand up." The professor commanded, his arms folded and annoyed gaze on me. I obeyed, scurrying to my feet. I half expected the Professor to call Valen next, but who was I kidding. That would mean death. So of course I was the scapegoat.

"Today is your first day, and yet, paying attention seems to be a hard thing for you. So you'll be standing, till my class is over." His eyes raked down my body, I couldn't read his mind but the look in his eyes told me the one thing that scared me. He wondered why I had such smooth, thin skin. Goosebumps trickled down my arms, fear clutching my heart, something uncomfortable churned in my stomach, leaving me feeling exposed.

A low growl came from Valen beside me, one so low no one else could have heard, but I did, and I think the professor and other students heard it too, because he jerked like he was on fire, his eyes darting from my body to Valen, everyone turned to Valen, and then me.

Something was wrong.

When I turned to him, his attention was on the professor, rage contorted his features, fire raced in my veins, whatever aura was emanating off him, was strong.

"Sit." Valen ordered, his voice low and authoritative.

"Wh-- what?" I gasped, looked from Valen to the professor that looked like he was about to sh*t on his pants. Who exactly was he referring to.

Valen turned to me, his eyes meeting mine. Except, the purple color his eyes once had, had now changed to a blaring red. He was angry.

"You heard me," he repeated. His eyes drifted to my seat and back at me. "Sit."

"But..." I looked back to the professor who had a pleading look on his face, and when my gaze went back to Valen, I could tell he was two seconds away from committing murder.

I fell back to my seat, the chair was soft, but with the amount of attention on me right now, it felt like I was on fire.

A nervous laugh came from the professor, taking everyone's attention back to him, Valen's rage still didn't die down, it sent fire to my stomach, leaving me wondering exactly what had occurred right now. Even his friends who sat behind seemed to be in shock.

"In continuation," The professor said in a hurry, he was sweating now. "I believe Lucius had not heard what we discussed, so I'll explain again."

I gulped, but the professor didn't sound like he was mocking me, it was quite the opposite. He continued, avoiding my gaze. "In preparation for the pre- Eclipse moon Alpha University competition, we are to begin training tomorrow."

The tension had died down, cool air seemed to seep into the room, the hairs at the back of my neck lowering and the excitement returning to people's faces. The professor continued.

"We all know how important this competition is, it happens every four years, and while we have won for the past years, this year, our rival is the Hellion Alpha Academy, they are as ruthless as we are, hence we need to up our strength." His eyes met mine for a second before meeting Valen's, he swallowed and turned to other students. "The training and mid trials would begin next week, it is to hold for a month, and after the last week of training, The parliament of Lycan King's would be present to see how far we've all come, for final judgement on your skills and how well you're suited to represent Blackwood Alpha Institute on the day of the Eclipse moon."

I tried to digest everything he had repeated. I knew of the eclipse moon, father and mother had mentioned it once or twice, saying it was a huge day in the history of werewolves. It was the day when the moon goddess visited the earth in the form of a white stag.

My fingers folded into fists on the table, I could instantly feel Valen's eyes on me, like he noticed that small of a detail. But I was too angry to care.

Because the day of the Eclipse, eighteen years ago, was the day my family had been Banished.

Our pack's life was reduced to nothing but animals, confined to the cursed woods. All because father had been framed for trying to kill the white stag that had appeared in his woods that night, it was a lie, one the man sitting next to me had orchestrated.

Lyra snarls in me, her soft voice filling my head. 'If you don't calm down, you'll ruin the entire mission before you get to take revenge.'

I exhaled, letting my fingers unclench as I tried to make sense of what the professor was saying.

He clapped his hands together in finality. "So in conclusion, Lucius, I am aware you are new, so before the trials start next week, you would be given a trainer, one that would help you understand how the trials work, and would help you survive during them." His tone turned serious. "You might not be aware of this, but werewolves do die during trials, it is not uncommon."

I gasped. Father never mentioned this. My eyes darted across the room, no one looked surprised. They were all used to it.

When I met his gaze again, he had packed his accessories and was ready to exit the class.

"Every new entry has been given a trainer, and yours, Mr. Bernard, is Valen Thorne."