Model students sneak out too?

Lyra's POV

Grrrrrrng!

The magical bell echoed across Crestmoon academy, signalling the start of the morning assembly.

Immediately, all the students gathered in the huge open courtyard.

The Moon courtyard—we called it. 

I was already there even before the bell rang.

Headmaster Orion stepped onto the raised stone platform, his large, yet undersized shirt firmly tucked into his brown pants. The buttons looked like they would pop sooner than later. 

His belly was extra large. 

"Rule Number One," he started. “Control your wolf before you attempt to lead others." 

It was how he always started his morning address. 

Even after five months of being a student in Crestmoon academy, I had never seen him change this routine.

One boy, an Alpha heir, scoffed.

 “Borrrring.” 

His name was Liam.

“In Crestmoon academy,” Headmaster Orion continued, lightly touching the tip of his glasses. “Excellence must be your watchword.”

“Yes sir!” Jon, the academy’s ‘notice me’ boomed in response. 

“Shut the fuck up!” Liam snapped at him, irritated that he was always the only one responding and happy with what everyone else called “a boring and unnecessary assembly.”

Jon did not like how Liam talked to him and sneered. 

“Oh you've got guts now huh,” Liam scowled, “you fucking mere Beta!”

“Mere Beta? At least I'm the legitimate Beta heir of my Pack and not some concubine’s spat!”

What followed next was expected.

In a flash, Liam’s wolf burst free and charged at Jon.

But within seconds, three instructors restrained him without drawing blood.

The instructors were always standby. Ready. As though they knew there would always be moments like this one. 

As they pulled Liam away, Headmaster Orion continued his speech. 

He arched his hands on his waist, his face not looking fazed from what just happened—he was used to it.

"Lesson one," he said calmly. "Power without discipline is a danger to the entire pack. As an Alpha, you must have control over your wolf’s instincts. If you act on your wolf's instincts every single time it urges you, then… you are not fit to be a leader.”

And with that, the assembly came to an end. 

“Get off me! You are such an insufferable jerk!”

“How was your weekend? Heard you went to visit your low arse Pack.”

The students were in high spirits, some already smooching behind the pillars, others just catching up after the painfully short weekend.

Just then, I got a link. 

“Elysia, meet me in my office right now.” 

I jolted. 

Then I looked up to see Headmaster Orion had stopped and his eyes were on me. 

My fingers tightened around the edge of my skirt.

“Come to my office now,” he repeated as soon as our eyes met, then started towards the long corridor. 

My stomach sank.

Why does he want me in his office? 

Ever since I got into Crestmoon academy, I had kept one rule:

Never get noticed. 

Not by any teacher or by the headmaster himself. And most especially, never by the other kids.

But being a brilliant student, it was difficult to not get noticed by the teachers and the headmaster. 

The rule was unachievable. 

But then I made sure to draw the line when it came to relating with the other kids. 

I had a goal, from the moment I stepped foot into this place. And it wasn't optional… 

It was my only way to survive. 

Moments later, I walked into Headmaster Orion’s dim and eerily cold office. 

“Elysia, have you heard from your parents yet?” he asked, looking up from his desk. 

I clutched my notebook. A thick lump dropped into my stomach with force. 

“No, not yet....” I managed to say. “But soon. I sent them a message and they'd get back to me.”

“Hmmm. They should. Your academy fees for the year are overdue.” He stared through his glasses. “Or is there a problem? Would you like me to contact them myself–”

“No… I mean, no problems at all.”

“Good. Good.” He nodded, staring at me a little more. Before he then dismissed me.

Stepping outside, I stopped in the corridor.

Where do I begin? 

Six months ago, I'd been too determined. Too bold to think of this part when I took this risky and thorny path. 

But then I'd been saving. 

I had… but there was no way it would be enough for Crestmoon’s outrageous fees.

“Ho!” 

A figure burst in my front.

Aurora Westbrook, my seat mate who also came close to being the only friend I had, was scowling. 

“Jeez Elysia! I’ve been yelling your name for like forever!”

 “What were you thinking that you didn't hear me calling your name several times?” she fumed, pursing her red cherry lips.

I blinked.

I must have forgotten to answer my new name… again. 

“Um, just… nothing much,” I mumbled, forcing a smile.

“Always nothing much,” she frowned. “You never tell me anything. It's always nothing much.”

“C’mon, I tell you everything, long as it won't bother your small pretty head,” I said lightly as I linked my arms to hers and began to pull her towards the classroom. 

“You sure you’re keeping nothing from me?” She cast me a questioning look.

“Absolutely nothing.”

“Well then I forgive you for cancelling our weekend date, but…” she paused and rolled her eyes dramatically.

“As for always sneaking back to the dormitory without me after class, I'd think about it.”

“I'm deeply honored, your Majesty,” I gestured.

She laughed. 

Professor Hambridge for CTT– Combat training theory—was already in class when we arrived.

He was going to scold when he saw Aurora but then he saw I was with her and stopped.

“Elysia, you are late,” he said, leaning forward on the podium.

“Well that's because Orion called her in,” Aurora remarked. 

“Headmaster Orion.” Professor Hambridge corrected. “And you both go in. No late coming again.”

“Whatever.” Aurora shrugged as we headed to our seats. 

Aurora was the Luna heir of her Pack. 

Audacious. Kind. And always up to date with the latest happenings and rumours in the academy. 

She was everything I would have been if I hadn't left my pack in disgrace.

I swallowed painfully, pushing the thoughts away quickly. 

Like I'd done in the last year. 

Right now, all I needed to think about was how to sort my academy fees. And as fast as possible.  

I couldn't let Headmaster Orion reach them—my fake parents.

In the class, nothing that was taught entered my head.

Not as professor Hambridge class went on. Or during the practical combat training.

And so immediately the bell for school rang, I grabbed my bag and darted out of class. 

I walked briskly down the bushy path, hoping to make it to the Crestmoon junction before the powerful, rebellious kids that always snuck into town started swaggering out.

Crestmoon academy was hidden deep in the Blackpine mountains, surrounded by forests that belonged to the werewolf territories.

So many dark rumours plagued the school but the one that had never left my head was the one of a five-eyed beast jumping out of the bushes to suck your eyeballs out.

“I would rip him into pieces if he dared show face!” My wolf growled in my mind. 

I chuckled, suddenly feeling safer.

“Sneaking out of school?” 

A voice echoed suddenly as I settled into a waiting taxi.

Startled, I stopped.

The voice had come from inside the taxi. 

Looking beside me, I realized who it was and my stomach flipped so hard I forgot how to breathe.

Zane Hawthorne. 

The academy's most popular boy. 

Soon to be Alpha of Blood Moon Pack— the largest and strongest pack in the whole of Northern borders. With deep set, intense dark brown eyes that could trap souls, and a body that could make any girl's knee go weak. 

In two words:

Drop-dead gorgeous.

But of course, he didn't know I existed.

“Sorry, I didn't know someone was already in.” I opened the door to get down.

“I didn't think model students snuck out too… Elysia Vale,” he said, his brown eyes swinging up right at me.