Kitchen drama 

Cressida's pov

The lockdown was still in effect, but the academy had decided that “morning duties” were essential enough to let us out of our rooms.

I didn't complain. Three days of staring at the same stone ceiling had made me understand why caged animals gnawed off their own legs.

The corridors were buzzing with so much activities. 

Not with the usual gossip; who was dating who, which professor had given too much homework, whether the hockey team would make playoffs. No, today everyone was talking about the incident from last night."

“...water balloons, I heard...”

“...Morwenna's door, can you imagine...”

“...and the Alpha showed up in his pajamas...”

“He was not in his pajamas,” I muttered softly.

Raven, who was walking beside me with Ember tucked into her jacket, snorted. “You wish.”

“I do not wish.”

“Your face is red.”

“It's cold.”

“It's not cold.”

I elbowed her immediately and she elbowed me back and all ember did was meow in protest.

The dining hall was worse. Wolves turned to stare when we walked in. Whispers followed us like smoke. Someone actually applauded...a group of second-years near the windows...and Raven bowed.

I wanted to disappear instantly.

Benita was trailing behind us with her tray, looked like she was having the same thought. Tasha, however, walked like she owned the building. Her chin was high. Her silver braids swayed. She had filed her nails into sharp points during breakfast and was now using them to pick at a muffin.

“Relax,” Tasha said, catching my eye. “It's just water. It's not like we burned down her door.”

“We almost did,” Benita whispered.

“Almost doesn't count.”

We ate quickly. The hockey meeting was in an hour and they promised to go with me.

***

The reception area was packed.

Hockey players, coaches, a few enforcers who had nothing better to do. The glass walls overlooked the frozen gardens, and someone had dragged in a whiteboard covered in plays and formations.

I sat in the back and Raven beside me. Tasha and Benita had found seats near the window.

Coach Gilbert stood at the front, his scarred eyebrow raised with his clipboard tucked under his arm as usual.

“Alright, listen up,” he said. “We've got three weeks until the winter tournament. The council has cleared us to resume practice, but the lockdown means no away games. We're playing here. In the academy rink.”

Murmurs rented the air instantly.

“That means every pack in the region is going to be watching. The council. The elders. Your families.” He paused. “No pressure.”

Lucian stood at the side of the room, arms crossed, his face unreadable. He was wearing his practice jersey...black, with the Alpha's crest over his heart. His dark hair was damp, he had clearly just come from the rink.

I looked away before he caught me staring.

Someone near the front raised their hand. “What about Sha?”

The room went quiet.

“Sha Konstantinou,” the player continued. “She played with us last season. She's not on the roster this year, but people are asking. Can she try out?”

Lucian's jaw tightened.

Coach Gilbert glanced at him. “Alpha?”

Lucian stepped forward. His voice was calm. Measured.

“Sha is not on the team because she chose not to try out. She was going through... personal difficulties at the start of the season, and I let her have her space.” He paused. “The roster is set. We move forward with the players we have.”

The player nodded and sat down.

But I saw the way Lucian's eyes flicked to me. Just for a split second.

Personal difficulties.

I let her have her space.

He had protected me again. Without me asking. Without me knowing.

And my chest ached and the meeting dragged on.

Injuries. Travel restrictions. The new ward system around the rink. I stopped listening after the first ten minutes. My mind kept drifting to the night before...the water balloons, Morwenna's rage, the way Lucian had held Ember against his chest like she was something precious.

The way he had ruffled my hair.

Silly girl, he had called me.

I pressed my hands to my cheeks. They were warm.

“...and that's it,” Coach Gilbert said. “Dismissed.”

The room emptied in seconds but I stayed.

Raven looked at me. “You coming?”

“In a minute.”

She followed my gaze. Saw Lucian at the front of the room, talking to Kade and she grinned.

“Take your time.” she said then left. Tasha and Benita followed.

And I waited patiently.

Lucian finished his conversation and Kade walked away. The reception area was empty now...just me, him, and the afternoon light filtering through the glass walls.

He turned and saw me then smiled.

Not the Alpha smile. Not the council smile. The real one...the one that crinkled the corners of his eyes and made my stomach flip.

I walked toward him, heart pounding.

“You waited,” he said.

“You're hard to catch.”

“I'm not trying to be caught.”

I stopped in front of him. 

“The meeting was boring,” I said.

“Meetings usually are.”

“You didn't have to defend me. About Sha.”

His smile faded. “I wasn't defending you. I was stating facts.”

“Facts that made her look bad.”

“Facts that were true.”

I held his gaze and he held mine.

Then he reached out. Tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

“You're not getting away with the detention,” he said.

I groaned and threw my head back. “Three weeks in the kitchens. I know.”

“Morwenna wanted four.”

“Of course she did.”

“I talked her down to three.”

I looked at him. “You talked her down?”

“I have my ways.”

“Your ways being threatening her with council sanctions?”

“My ways being reminding her that you saved my life.” He stepped back. “The detention stands. Kitchens. Three weeks. Starting today.”

“Shit!”

“Afternoon shift. Don't be late.”

I wanted to be angry. I wanted to argue. But he was smiling again...that small, private smile that felt like it was just for me, and I couldn't find the words.

“Fine,” I said.

“Fine.”

We stood there and the light shifted. Somewhere above, a bell rang.

“Cressida.”

“Yes?”

He opened his mouth and then closed it.

Kade's voice echoed from the corridor. “Lucian! The council is on the line!”

Lucian's jaw tightened. He looked at me. “I have to...”

“Go.”

He hesitated and then he turned and walked away.

I stood in the empty reception area, my cheeks burning, my heart racing, and tried very hard not to think about the way he had said my name.

***

The kitchens were a disaster.

Not because they were dirty...they were spotless, scrubbed within an inch of their lives by generations of detention-serving students. No, the disaster was us.

Raven had somehow managed to get flour in her hair. Benita had dropped an entire tray of dishes...nothing broken, miraculously, and was now standing frozen in the corner, waiting for someone to yell at her. Tasha was polishing silverware with a level of aggression that suggested she was imagining Morwenna's face on every spoon.

And I was scrubbing pots.

Big pots. Copper pots. Pots that had been used to feed the entire academy for breakfast and were now covered in a crust of burnt oatmeal.

“This is your fault,” Raven said, flour drifting from her curls like snow.

“My fault?”

“You're the one who threw the first balloon.”

“You're the one who threw the second.”

“I was supporting you!”

“That's not how support works!”

Tasha slammed a spoon down. “Both of you shut up. I'm trying to focus.”

Benita whimpered.

And I went back to scrubbing.

An hour passed. Then two.

The pots were clean. The floors were mopped. The dishes were stacked and dried. We were standing in the middle of the kitchen, covered in water and flour and exhaustion, when the door swung open.

And Sha Konstantinou walked in.

She was dressed in cream-colored silk, her honey-blonde hair perfect, her smile sharp. Behind her, two of her friends lurked in the doorway.

“Well, well,” Sha said. “The detention crew.”

Raven tensed, Benita shrank and Tasha's hand went to her nail file.

I kept scrubbing a pot that was already clean.

“I heard about the water balloons,” Sha continued. “Very mature. Very half-breed.”

“Sha,” Raven said, “maybe you should...”

“I wasn't talking to you.” Sha stepped closer. Her eyes were on me. “You think just because you saved the Alpha's life, you're untouchable? You're still a nobody, Ashcroft. Still a stray. Still a...”

“Still a what?” Tasha's voice cut through the kitchen like a blade.

Sha turned really surprised.

Tasha was leaning against the counter, her silver braids coiled around her head, her nail file in her hand. She looked bored and she looked dangerous.

“I'm sorry,” Tasha said, “I didn't catch the end of that sentence. Still a what?” she repeated again.

Sha's smile faltered. “This doesn't concern you.”

“Everything in this kitchen concerns me. I'm the one who has to listen to you run your mouth while I'm trying to polish silverware.” Tasha pushed off the counter and walked towards Sha. “So go ahead. Finish the sentence. Still a what?”

Sha's friends shifted behind her. But Sha herself didn't move.

“You're protecting her?” Sha asked.

“I'm protecting my ears from your voice.” Tasha stopped inches from Sha. She was shorter than Sha, but somehow she seemed taller. “You lost, Sha. The Alpha chose her. Get over it.”

Sha's face went red. “You don't know what you're talking about.”

“I know you've been crying in the bathroom for three days. I know your friends are only here because you pay for their tuition. I know you're not on the hockey team because you didn't try out...you quit, because you couldn't stand being on the same ice as her.”

The kitchen was silent.

Sha's eyes were wet.

Tasha smiled. And It was not a kind smile.

“Now get out of my kitchen before I file your face.”

Sha stared at her. Then she turned and walked out while her friends followed.

And then the door swung shut.

Raven let out a breath and Benita slumped against the counter. While I stared at Tasha.

“What?” Tasha said.

“That was...” I started.

“Sassier than her?”

“Incredible.”

Tasha shrugged, But she was smiling.

We finished our shift in exhausted silence.

The kitchens were spotless. The dishes were stacked and the pots gleamed.

We walked back toward the dormitory together, our feet dragging, our shoulders slumped. Ember was asleep in my jacket, her tiny body warm against my chest.

“I can't feel my arms,” Raven said.

“I can't feel my legs,” Benita said.

“I can't feel my soul,” Tasha said.

I laughed. All of was were tired and broken.

We turned the corner and stopped immediately. 

A group of boys stood in the corridor. Five of them. Wolves, way older than us and their eyes were not friendly.

The one in the front...tall, dark-haired, with a scar on his jaw, stepped forward.

“Cressida Ashcroft,” he said.

I didn't answer.

He smiled. “We've been watching you.”

His eyes dropped to my chest. To the kitten moving under my jacket. To the curve of my neck.

Then they rose to meet mine.

And they were hungry.