Twelve

KAELYN

I backed away from his grip, shrugging his hands off me. “I'm…fine.”

He stared at his fingers for a while, before his eyes slowly pulled towards me. I had a feeling his hands must have landed on my chest due to the pull.

My teeth captured my lower lip tightly. So hard that blood tasted in my lips.

“If I hadn't caught you yet, you would have gotten the gravel. You might be dead already.”

*Thank you for helping me.”

“You look familiar.” He muttered, running his eyes through me. “But the person I know is a girl.”

I chuckled. It escaped in broken sounds. “Double faces, I see.” I muttered.

I felt sweaty as I placed my hands behind me. Right now, it's extremely hard to breathe.

“I guess. That girl is a princess. There's no way she'd be you.”

“It's an insult to think a bonafide member of Storm Academy would be a girl.”

He seemed convinced. “Right.” He muttered, stepping backwards. “I'll see you, Kaelyn.”

I hoped not to see him, anywhere else. But a Prospect….it's impossible.

He walked away from the garden, plucking and twirling a feather in his hands as he walked out.

I sucked in a deep breath, my hands on my chest. It's tight. So tight that it felt hard rock. Yes. That's better. But why do I feel like he knew something.

“Dareth…Venloris.” My eyes widened.

He's the one. He'd visited…Storm fang before. I remembered peeping out of the curtains to stare at the visitors years back. He'd caught me but he hadn't said a word. That's crazy.

One thing I'm sure of is that…Dareth, didn't know by name. For the few days he'd stayed at Storm fang, he'd always called me ‘girl’. It was annoying because he was an annoying jerk. I couldn't believe it took me so long to recognize him, while he did me at a glance.

It’s wise to stay away from me. I better did, if I didn't want to get revealed before time.

The bell for the lunch break being over rang loudly and I sucked in a deep breath, walking out of the garden into the prospect building.

****

“Kaelyn Altair,” a voice called me mid class of royal etiquette. I looked up, meeting face to face with a guy who I didn't know.

“Headmaster Thornhelm asked for your presence in his office.”

My heart pounded. What for?

“Go quickly.” The teacher said, tilting his head towards the door. I nodded as I got up, walking out with the guy who'd called me.

“Come in,” The headmaster's voice came across the oak doors, and I waited a beat before I pushed the door to his office open. I stepped into the cool office, cold from the air spreading in through the window. His office smelled of mint, so I looked around, capturing the plant at a corner of the room. Well watered.

“It's a lovely plant. Has a great smell.” He said to me.

I blinked, turning to look at him.

*Have your seat, Kaelyn.” He nudged me as he dropped the quill back in it's rightful position and folded the paper in which he'd written a letter. Words I couldn't see before he closed them.

Sliding into his seat, he stared at me blankly, his fingers tapping slightly on the desk.

“I heard about what happened earlier today.” He muttered.

What about today?

“Your accusation against The Prime Alpha Prince,”

My stomach knotted.

Of course, that.

“I'm sorry –”

“If you knew you would be sorry, you shouldn't have done that.” He said coolly.

“But it was true. Evren….the prime Alpha gave me an alpha command and my wolf couldn't disobey.” I groaned. Why wouldn't anyone listen to me? I wasn't lying.

Headmaster Thronhelm stared at me blankly.

“I believe you.” He muttered.

My eyes narrowed.

He did?

“Of course, Evren looks perfect to the whole word but when you are close to him, you realize how petty he can still be. That's a crack. But it's fine, sooner or later he would outgrow it.”

What does the headmaster mean to say?

“It's just..” he leaned forward, “publicizing that, Kaelyn…I can't really say how much of good that would do to you. More harm? Or more good?”

“I won't let him bully me into submission!” I fired.

The headmaster chuckled, pulling backwards. “That's where you make a mistake, Kaelyn. All of us have been forced into submission one way or the other after birth. The Prime Alpha is supreme power in Verelan, the other Alpha are supreme powers in their packs and boundaries, their princes are powers and strength and the rest of us, just trying to climb to the other post left for us to attain. And you, Kaelyn, don't want to be bullied? Isn't that like…. asking for death?”

My pulse pounded in my ears. Just because of the supreme power, that didn't mean we couldn't stand up for ourselves and fight. We could. That was something I wouldn't let anyone take from me.

“Kaelyn, you are special.” He whispered.

My eyes thinned.

“In the years of Storm Academy, there are very few people who had ever crossed through the whole ranks in just two days. Except from the alphas and of course, betas who are well trained, there are only two of you who ever passed like that. You, Kaelyn Altair and….Calrix Rowyn.”

Calrix. The guy with the white long hair.

“It's a great thing for you both in Verelan as you have already started making waves for yourself and though, Calrix would be very good as an help, he still isn't as good as you are.”

“I don't understand.” I said flatly. What was the uses of telling me all of these?

“Kaelyn, I need your help.” He said finally.

I blinked. Mine?

“Right now, the closest person to Evren is you.” He said flatly, watching my expression. I made sure to keep my face blank. “You are the person who can fish information for us, about what he does and how he does the things he does. Evren is extremely secretive and you would need more that strength to get to him. You would need wits.”

“You want me to watch Evren for you?” I replied, speaking in a language I perfectly understand.

Headmaster Thronhelm smiled, “Yes, Kaelyn.”

I don't bother to ask why. I don't care about all of that.

What I care about is myself and finding Kaiven.

I leaned forward. “I understand. But….what would you do for me?”

His lips tipped upwards as he tapped his fingers calculatingly on the polished wooden table.

“What do you want, Kaelyn?” He finally asked.

I smirked, “I want to be one of the student council members.”

His face hardened, loosing all expressions.