CHAPTER THREE

Lilia's POV

Terror rose within me but right behind it came a surge of annoyance.

I was tired.. I was grieving.. and I was sick of being bullied by guys who thought their family crests gave them the right to play God.

I didn't shrink back. Instead, I leaned in until our noses were inches apart.

I could smell him and his scent was intoxicating with a pull so strong it made my skin tingle but I shoved the feeling down.

“Are you done?” I snapped, my voice steady despite the tremor in my knees. “Because if you want to play interrogator, you should probably get a dimly lit room and a rubber hose. Otherwise, get your face out of mine. I’m trying to eat in peace.”

Gavril stared at me, his pupils blown wide and for a second, I thought he might actually rip my throat out. Then.. his face shattered into a wide wicked grin and the predatory glow faded, replaced by a glint of genuine amusement.

He threw his head back and laughed in a loud sound that drew eyes from three tables away.

“Whoah, okay!” He held up his hands in a mocking gesture of surrender. “I was just fucking with you, sweetheart. Relax. You’ve got some serious claws for a girl with such a quiet wolf.”

He stood up, tapping the table with a knuckles.

“Seriously, you need to calm down before you burst a blood vessel. I like the fire, though. It’s cute.”

He winked and sauntered back toward the center table where the elite sat.

My hands were shaking so hard I had to hide them under the table. My act was working but only barely.

I waited a few minutes, forcing myself to push a piece of meat around my plate before I stood up to leave.

To get to the exit, I had to pass the large circular table where the four heirs sat.

None of them aknowledged me but as I approached, I felt Dmitri's follow me.

As I brushed past, Gavril’s voice carried over the clatter of trays.

“I’m telling you,” Gavril said, leaning toward Dmitri. “The new girl is cool. I think you might be reading this one wrong.”

I slowed my pace, my ears straining.

Dmitri’s voice was low and dark and it sent a shiver straight down my spine... half fear half something much more traitorous..

“I’m never wrong, Gavril. There is a hole where her wolf should be. She’s hiding something and I will find out exactly what it is.”

I didn't wait to hear more.

I ducked into the nearest girls' washroom, fumbling with the lock on the end stall until it clicked shut.

I slumped against the cold metal door, my breath coming in gasps.

Get it together, Lilia. Get a fucking grip.

I reached into the hidden pocket of my skirt and pulled out a crumpled silver-edged photograph and shaking, I smoothed it out.

The girl in the photo was the polar opposite of me.

Where my features were sharp and my hair dark as a raven’s wing, Anica was all soft edges and golden-brown curls.

She had a smile that could melt the winter ice off a Great North pack house. My cousin.. my only friend and my sister in everything but blood.

Anica was a werewolf.. q real one. Strong, brave and proud.

She had come to Redwood with dreams of joining the High Council.. then three months ago, the letters stopped and then the academy sent a dry, one-sentence email claiming she had "withdrawn for personal reasons."

Lies..! All of it. Anica wouldn't leave without calling me.. she wouldn't just vanish.

I looked at my own reflection in the small cracked mirror I kept in my bag.

My skin was too pale and my scent too... flat. I wasn't a werewolf.. I was human.. a total one-hundred-percent fragile-boned human and I was a lamb in a den of monsters.

Every morning, I choked down a disgusting tea of crushed silver-root and bitter suppression herbs to mask my human pheromones.

It made me feel sick but it was the only thing keeping the Alphas from realizing I was an intruder. If they found out the truth, I wouldn't just be expelled. I’d be lucky if they didn't tear me apart for the insult of my presence.

“I’m going to find you, Anica,” I whispered to the empty stall. “I don't care what these assholes say.”

I tucked the photo back into my pocket, took three deep breaths and splashed cold water on my face at the sinks. I looked normal.. I looked like I belonged.

I pushed open the bathroom door and stepped out into the hallway, only to let out a strangled yelp.

Dmitri Dragomir was leaning against the opposite wall, his arms crossed over his massive chest. He looked like he’d been waiting for me the entire time.

“goddess!” I hissed, clutching my chest. “Do you just hang out near women’s bathrooms to creep them out or is this a specialized hobby?”

His piercing cold eyes tracked the movement of my pulse in my neck.

“You’re late for class.”

“And you’re a stalker. We all have our flaws,” I snapped, trying to push past him.

In a movement so fast my human eyes couldn't even process it, Dmitri was in front of me!

The air pressure shifted and suddenly I was pinned between the wall and his solid radiating heat.

“What were you looking at in there?” he asked apprehensively.

“None of your business.”

Before I could blink, his hand shot out and his fingers dipped into my pocket with precision.

“Hey! Give that back!” I lunged for him but it was like trying to move a mountain.

Dmitri stepped back, holding the photo of Anica between two fingers. He stared at it, his brow furrowing.

The coldness in his eyes shifted into something else... recognition? Suspicion?

“Who is this?” he demanded.

“Give it to me, Dmitri. Now.” I reached for it but he held it high above his head.

“Why don't you take it?” he challenged.

I jumped, swinging my arm to grab his wrist but he used that terrifying super-speed again, appearing two feet to the left before I even landed.

“Why so slow?” he taunted. “For a wolf, you’re awfully... grounded.”

“Give it back or I swear to the goddess I’ll...”

“You’ll what, Miss Morozova?”

The voice was like a bucket of ice water and we both froze.

Walking down the hall was a man who felt like the embodiment of the academy itself.

He was older, perhaps in his fifties with salt-and-pepper hair swept back from an unnervingly smooth face.

He wore a charcoal coat and his presence made Dmitri... the terrifying Alpha heir... instantly straighten his posture.

“Headmaster Valentin,” Dmitri said, his voice carrying his respect and caution.

“Mr. Dragomir,” Valentin said, his voice smooth but twice as sharp. “I see you are busy harassing our new student. I trust you have better things to do with your time than stealing schoolgirl mementos?”

Dmitri’s jaw tightened but he handed the photo to the Headmaster's outstretched hand.

Valentin took the small piece of paper and as his eyes fell on Anica's face, something flickered across his expression. It was gone in a millisecond, replaced by a neutral politeness but I saw it.. a dark cold shadow that made my stomach turn into a knot.

He turned his gaze to me, his eyes studying my face with an intensity that felt like he was peeling back my skin.

He held the photo for a moment too long... the silence stretching until I felt like I might scream.

“A beautiful girl,” Valentin said softly, handing the photo back to me. His fingers brushed mine and his skin was unnervingly cold. “A relative?”

“My cousin,” I said, my voice sounding small even to my own ears.

“I see. I hope you find Redwood as... enlightening as she did.” He gave me a thin bloodless smile that didn't reach his eyes. “Do get to class. We wouldn't want you falling behind.”

He walked past us and Dmitri glanced at me before he turned and stalked off in the opposite direction without a word.

I was left standing in the hallway, clutching Anica’s photo to my chest with my heart racing.

***

I made it through the rest of my classes in a fog and by the time I got back to my dorm room, the sun was beginning to dip below the peaks of the surrounding mountains, casting long bloody-red shadows across the stone floors.

Serafina wasn't there, thank goddess. She was probably out practicing how to be more of a bitch or whatever Alphas do in their spare time.

I dropped my bag on my bed and kicked off my shoes, wanting nothing more than to crawl under the covers and hide from the world. But as I pulled back the duvet, something caught my eye.

A small square piece of cream-colored parchment was resting on my pillow.

My heart skipped as I picked it up, my fingers trembling.

There was no name on the outside only a single sentence written in elegant flowing script..

'The gardens. Behind the lunar glass greenhouse. Thirty minutes after dark. Come quickly. It’s a matter of life and death…’