6. The Peacock Feather

The ringing of the alarm broke my sleep.

"I need to sleep more, Mom..." I blurted out, pressing a pillow to my ear.

But the next moment, my eyes flew open immediately as I remembered I was no longer in my room. I sat up at once and switched off the alarm before looking around. My two roommates were already awake. Aspen was getting ready without paying any attention to me, whereas there was no sign of Lana. She might be in the bathroom. Then it dawned on me that today was our first day at the academy. I rubbed my eyes, still feeling sleepy.

How was I supposed to focus on my classes? First, the long journey, and then that disgusting coronation ceremony. I didn’t even get a good night’s sleep, thanks to those elite seniors. And not to mention the sadness of separating from my mom. I felt like crying. A strong urge rose inside me to leave everything here, run to my mom, and hug her. I gritted my teeth in frustration, closing my eyes because even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. All because of Him and those Bastards.

  "Get ready quickly. We’re running late." Lana said as she came out of the bathroom.

  I sighed and lazily climbed off the bed. I felt so low. Groaning, I headed towards the bathroom. It didn’t take long for me to freshen up and take a bath. By the time I came out of the bathroom, Lana was completely ready, but Aspen was no longer in the room.

"She had left ahead of us." Lana stated when she saw me looking at Aspen’s bed.

She looked disappointed. I was sure she must have tried to talk to that girl while I was sleeping, and as expected, Aspen might have ignored her. After last night's dinner, I never tried to talk to her, and Lana had also reduced talking to her noticing her attitude.

I began to get ready. I had a habit of getting ready quickly, so it didn’t take long. But I was surprised to see how well the uniform fit me, even though it had looked big before I wore it.

"It’s enchanted. It takes the size of the person who wears it for the first time after the spell." Lana said from behind me.

"Witches are amazing." I said, checking my uniform in the mirror.

Our cupboards had separate mirrors for each of us, which made getting ready much quicker. The uniform was nice and I really liked it. It was a navy-blue checked blazer with light brown piping, gold buttons, and the academy’s emblem on the chest. Beneath the blazer was a white shirt with a red collar. Red was the symbolic colour of our house. The outfit was paired with a pleated navy skirt, black knee-high socks, and polished black shoes, giving the uniform a charming yet formal appearance.

"Now let’s go before we get late for our first class." Lana declared, grabbing her backpack.

I did the same. We skipped breakfast and ate the cookies Lana had brought from home.

.

As soon as we came out of the building, the wind hit us. It was a sunny day, but the wind was strong. The place was almost empty since we were late. Well, after the midnight coronation ceremony, what could anyone expect from us? But it seemed we were the only ones who were late. We quickened our pace while looking around the beautiful campus. The place was so big that walking from one side to the other took a long time. After almost ten minutes of walking, we could finally see the school building. The five story building looked more like a huge palace than an academy. It had many entrances, and we were heading toward the central one. According to the map on the tablet, this was the shortest route to our classroom. It was ridiculous that we were using a map to find our classroom. But the place was huge, with so many paths and turns that one could easily get lost without a map.

We finally arrived at the corridor. Our class was on the first floor, so we took the stairs. When we reached the floor, there were so many doors.

"Did you check the room number?" I asked.

"No." Lana shook her head.

We stood near the railings to check the room number. I took off my backpack and quickly pulled my tablet out of my bag, but my diary came out with it and fell to the floor.

"Oops."

The pages fluttered open and a peacock feather slipped out of the diary.

"Wow, it’s beautiful." Lana exclaimed, staring at the feather. "I’ll get it." She crouching down to pick it up.

Just then, a strong gust of wind blew and carried the feather away.

"No!" I cried.

Lana raised her hands to grab it, but she couldn’t even get a hand on it. The feather slipped through the corridor railing and floated downwards through the air before finally landing on the grass.

"I’m sorry. I couldn’t get it." Lana gasped in panic. She handed me the diary, and I put it in my bag.

"It's okay. I’ll get it." I said with a sigh.

"But we’re getting late for the class."

I glanced at the tablet. Yes, we didn’t have much time. Moreover, I had to go downstairs to get the feather. If I waited until after class, it would most likely be gone. But I couldn’t lose it.

"You go ahead first."

"And what about you?" She asked.

"I need to get it back."

Just then, we saw a woman emerge from a turn in the corridor and enter a room marked 16.

"Is that our class?" Lana asked.

I hurriedly checked the tablet. Yes, it was indeed our class.

I pushed her. "Go. I will be right back."

Lana ran toward the class while I turned around and rushed downstairs. The feather was still on the grass, so I didn’t have to search for long. I quickly picked it up and secured it inside my bag before running back towards the stairs.

However, at the turn of the hallway, I bumped into something solid and fell flat on the ground. When I looked up, I met a pair of intense blue eyes. Standing before me was the other Lycan prince, Draken Ironvale. His jaw was tight, and his eyes held such resentment that a shiver ran down my spine.

"Look where you’re going, idiot." He said through gritted teeth. He looked furious.

What? I was the one who fell and got hurt.

His body was so hard it felt like I had crashed into a wall. He was like a giant, well over six foot two, while I was barely five foot six. My entire body hurt, especially where I had hit the ground. He didn’t even try to help me up. Instead, he was scolding me.

I gritted my teeth, matching his glare. Yes, it was my fault, but I still didn’t like his attitude. But I chose to remain silent. I wouldn't say sorry either. He narrowed his eyes, clearly irritated by my defiance. I would have continued the staring battle, but I suddenly realized I was getting late for my first class.

Averting my gaze, I quickly stood up, and ran past him towards the stairs.

"Asshole." I muttered under my breath as I walked past him.

I was quite sure he had heard me, but he didn’t say anything. Werewolves had sharp hearing, and he was a Lycan. Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind. Lycans were more powerful than any normal wolves, even an alpha. They were basically the upgraded version of a powerful alpha with everything more refined and stronger. So with this enhanced power, could they hear thoughts?

My god.

My eyes widened. That would be horrible. I shook my head. My mind always loved imagining the worst.

By the time I reached my class, it had already started.

Great.

"May I come in, Madam?" I asked, standing at the open door.

At once, every pair of eyes turned towards me, including the teacher’s.