Chapter 6 - Hit the Showers.

Cora couldn't help but remember how Everett's touch had made her feel, like she was instantly comforted by his touch. Their conversation had ended abruptly after that, with him murmuring a string of excuses that had him practically running away from her. 

She found it weird but she didn't dwell on it. She had gone back to her dorm room after getting lost in the twist and turns and various hallways and stairways in the castle. But she had found her room and did some more arranging.

She had slept all through dinner and woke up the next morning startled by the loud alarm bells. 

Zombie like she had got out of bed and hit the showers with about twenty other girls in the hallway who seemed to be unnerved about the fact that they were all taking showers in the open space.

After her shower, there was already a new uniform pressed and waiting for her on her bed, she naturally assumed that Sydney had dropped it off.

She hated it but it was the school rules. The shorts she had worn the day before had earned her a stern warning from Sydney who didn't fail to give her the students handbook. 

Cora stared in front of the vanity mirror wandering how to style her hair.

The dark red skirt with pleats wasn't short enough to show off her long legs Cora thought as she tried to pull it up. The white long sleeved shirt was also equally disfiguring and long but paired with the grey sweater, it looked a little bit manageable.

Cora couldn't help but feel like a little school girl as she tried to style her hair in the best way possible. There was no electricity anywhere, so there was no way she could put in the curls or use the hair straightener which was one of the things that Cora had packed despite being warned by her mother that they all wouldn't work.

The whole of Avalon ran solely on magic.

Kira and Ryn watched her with undeniable interest as she put on makeup. At least that was one thing she was sure would never fail her. It didn't need to be powered by anything.

"Do you want some?"

She asked as she offered them a pink lip gloss. Kira and Ryn both glanced at each other and took a step back.

"It's just a tube of lip gloss. It's harmless."

Ryn looked to her sister Kira for an answer who in turn turned away. Cora took that as a no and she didn't insist.

She took another look at her reflection in the mirror. She looked about average, like how she would look like on a normal day but not as extraordinary as she would have looked on the days she was dressed to kill.

But she had done the best she could do without looking like a hot mess. Her hair, would have been a mess if she didn't have to comb it for a long time and ply it with different hair products to make it manageable. Managing her hair was rough without her blow dryer, hair curler and straightener.

She didn't overdo her makeup, so she wouldn't appear too needy and desperate for attention but at the same time look cool and beautiful.  There wasn't much she could do about the ugly uniform, it was what she had to deal with.

"I guess that's all." she murmured as she finally stood up in front of the vanity mirror. She was ready to face the day.

For the first time in forever, Cora Windsor was clueless and totally ashamed about it. And Everett was impatient.

"It's simple. Really, it is. All you have to do is reach into yourself and try and connect with your wolf."

"Yea! Like I'm going to do that with you breathing down on my neck!" 

Everett raised his hands in surrender as he almost growled out in frustration.

"So far, everything points to the fact that you're a wolf. You run like one though you tire easily and your strength levels are soaring like it should.  You should be able to feel at least something."

Cora glared at him.

"You're not a very good teacher actually. I can't feel anything."

"You're not trying hard enough."

"Really? What am I supposed to be doing?" 

Cora had a long day. The classes had been long and boring even though they were only two and the weird looks she had been getting wasn't limited to the students. Everyone thought she was human, but she couldn't fathom why they would think that way, it was absurd. Not to mention the circumstances she had come into the school had been strange. Every normal wolf started out in year one in Avalon Academy, Cora had come from the human world and skipped year one and two. 

That alone was enough to raise suspicions.

"You're supposed to be reaching inside of yourself and finding some sort of connection with your wolf."

Everett's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

Cora sighed out of frustration again. When she closed her eyes, she couldn't feel or see anything, only nothingness and the urge to open her eyes. The sound of the silence was way too deafening for her to try and concentrate on it.

They were below the castle, which was a labyrinth of caves and dungeons that was used to keep wolves who couldn't control themselves after the shift inside.

The cold damp air wrapped around her like a heavy coat of chain mail when she descended the tight spiral staircase to the dungeons. In the absence of flaming torches the dimness gave the impression of twilight despite the heat and brilliance of the late July afternoon outside.

Spooky didn't quite cover it and eerie was an understatement. The large shackles with reinforced steels that were attached to the strong stone walls were terrifying.

It was terrifying to think that wolves usually shifted in the dungeons and had to wait out the full moon under it.

"Have you shifted yet?" Cora asked out of the blues to Everett who was pacing up and down the dungeon wondering what the hell he was going to do with the girl in front of him.

"Yes, I have. Why do you ask?" 

"I'm just curious, to see how you'd look when you shift."

Everett shrugged.

"No shifting during school hours. So, I can't show you anything."

Cora looked around, as far as she could see, they were alone under the castle.

"No one can see us here. Just show me, maybe it'll spark something in me."

Everett's mouth went dry. Was she totally clueless? Is that it? 

Was that why she thought that he would shift in front of her.

"Well, you see, the thing is I can't. Because then it'll require me to shift and all..." he managed to choke out as Cora's eyes widened in realisation.

Everett would have to be naked before he could shift.

"Well, I won't look."

Everett gave her a pointed look.

"It's not about you looking Cora, it's about how painful it is when I shift and how it really isn't ideal to be shifting right in front of you. By the way me shifting has nothing to do with connecting with your wolf."

Cora was about to comment when she heard a fit of giggles from down the hall.

Everett beckoned to her and they quietly ran to a corner to hide.

It was two students and by the looks of it, the female was in heat. They were already half naked with the male pinning the girl against the wall and pounding into her relentlessly.

The girl moaned loudly as she ran her long nails into the guy's powerful back. It caused him to bleed and he hissed softly but it did not stop him from pulling her hair back and biting into her neck.

Something about the two of them was raw and exciting to Cora. She could feel Everett's heavy breathing tickling her neck and she was aware of the fact that he was dangerously close to her.

He had a hand on her shoulder and one other covering her mouth and she was so close to him that if she tilted her head she would rest comfortably on his chest. Something in her stirred and she suddenly felt the delicious need to turn around and kiss him, it was almost like a force that was forcing her to touch him.

Cora shook her head a bit to get rid of the nasty thoughts. Everett was her Dux, she didn't like him that way. She only liked Alpha Superior Noah that way, she convinced herself.

Everett put a hand on Cora's mouth from behind to keep her from gasping too loud.

After a few more minutes, the couple left as quickly as they came hurriedly putting on their clothes and skipping off.

"What the hell was that?" 

Cora said after she was sure they had gone.

"What did it look like? Two mates getting it on."

"Isn't it against the school rules to have sex on school grounds?"

"It is, but it's a flexible rule. During heat period most females are given a tonic to help them suppress the pain they feel from their heat, some girls choose to reject this tonic once they find their mates. The school isn't too big on enforcing that rule, most times they just look the other way."

"Well, that's the best thing I've heard about this school all day. You can literally have sex on school grounds and no one would bat an eyelid."

Everett rolled his eyes.

"Of all the rules in the book, you pick that?"

"You gotta admit it's kind of pretty cool! You can do whatever you want. I think I might like it here."

"We'll continue with our lessons tomorrow. In the meantime try to read up on those books I gave you."

"Alright Dux."

Cora said as she waved to Everett after they came out of the castle dungeons.

He would keep trying. The next day. And the next. Till she felt something.