The welcome assembly

Lucian's pov

I couldn't outrun the way she smelled like lavender and herbs no matter how hard I tried.

But there was one question I have been meaning to ask her.

"Who hurt you?" I said absentmindedly as I stared at myself in the mirror.

Early morning today was really good, so many kills had improved. But my eyes were on her most of the times. My wolf was improving just a bit but was still very weak. But most of the time I was distracted. Because of Cressida.

Dawn was coming and today was the welcome assembly.

Today, the pack would see her for the first time officially and not just as a rumor.

And Sha would definitely be watching 

***

The great hall had been transformed.

Floating candles drifted beneath the enchanted ceiling, which showed a summer sky.

Banners of black and silver hung from the rafters; the color of Blackfrost, the wolf and moon stitched in thread that seemed to move. 

Wolves filled the benches in their formal black. The air was filled with conversations and anticipation.

I stood at the dais, my hands classes behind my back, my ave straight. I had washed the sweat from my skin, changed into my formal black, pinned the Alpha's crest to my chest. But my mind was still on the ice. Still on her.

She hadn't arrived yet.

Behind me, Sha Konstantinou glittered.

She was beautiful and there was no denying that.

Honey blonde hair swept into an elegant knot, a gown of ivory silk that clung to her tall frame, and sigh a smile that had been practiced since childhood.

The pack adored her.

She had been promised to me since we were children that was right after the terrible accident with her sister with whom I was to be with. A treaty sealed before either of us understood what a treaty meant.

She placed her hand on my arm and squeezed.

"You look tense," she murmured, her lips barely moving.

"I'm fine."

"You're not" her smile didn't waver, but her eyes slid to the side. "You've been different since the crash. Distant."

I said nothing.

Sha's fingers tightened. "Is it the girl?"

I didn't answer, because the doors at the far end of the hall opened.

And there she was.

She walked in like she was walking to her own execution.

Head high, shoulders back. Dark hair spilling over a simple black dress that someone...Raven probably had loaned her.

During the welcome assembly, it wasn't school uniform to be worn but that simple black outfit made her stand out in a beautiful way.

Her arm was out of the sling that madame Voss had insisted on despite the healing 

But her face held out to me. Pale. Composed. Eyes like obsidian, taking in everything and given nothing back.

Raven walked beside her.

The hall went quiet instantly.

Whispers skittered across the benches like insects. 

"That's her."

"The one from the road."

"Not a wolf "

"What is she?"

Sha's hand on my arm turned to iron.

"She's prettier than I expected," Sha said. 

I didn't respond.

Cressida reached the front of the hall and Raven peeled off to find a seat. Cressida stopped at the edge of the dais, waiting. 

She clearly didn't look at me instead she looked at the banners, the ceiling, the candles... anywhere but my face.

I understood quite well.

She was terrified.

And she was doing a good job hiding it perfectly.

I stepped forward and everywhere went silent.

"Welcome," I said, my voice loud without any need for amplification, "to the new term at Blackfrost Academy."

I went through the formalities; the words I've said so many times before. Welcome to the returning students. Welcome to the new initiates. The season ahead, the hockey schedule, the expectations of the pack.

Then I paused and the hall seemed to lean forward too.

"But let me be clear," I said, my voice dropping lower, harder. "This academy is built on the bones of those who came before us. Wolves who fought, bled and died to keep our kind safe. There is evil in this world. It wears so many faces and it will try to tear us apart.

My eyes swept the crowd.

"We are wolves. We are one. And we do not bow to fear. And we simply do not turn on our own. And we do not ever-" my voice cracked like a whip. "-allow evil to take root in our territory."

Silence, and then scattered nods. A few wolves pounded their fists on the benches.

But I noticed just at the corner of my eyes. 

Sha's smile had frozen.

I continued, a bit softer now. "We have a new student joining us this term. Cressida Ashcroft arrived at Blackfrost several days ago and she has already demonstrated exceptional skill on the ice and would be joining the hockey team."

That brought more murmurs and raised eyebrows.

"Cressida," I said, extending my hand. "Step forward."

She did. Her boots made no sound. And when she reached the centre of the dais, she turned to face the members of the lack and just for a split second, he composure cracked.

Fear.

But it was certainly not of the wolves and creatures before her.

Then it was gone.

"Thank you, Alpha," she said with a steady voice. "I'm grateful for the welcome."

The hall applauded; polite, curious and uncertain.

Sha joined in, her palms meeting in slow deliberate strikes.

When Cressida stepped back, sha leaned back and said, "How Interesting,"

"Lucian didn't mention you are so...unusual."

Cressida's eyes flicked to Sha. Measured her for a brief second and dismissed her.

Sha was shaken I could see it on her face but she said nothing.

"I'm sure he had other things on his mind" Cressida said not even sparing her a glance.

Sha's smile didn't waver but her eyes went cold.

The assembly ended an hour later. 

Sha caught my arm before I could move. Oh shit.

"Walk with me," she said.

I knew just what this was all about.

We walked towards the east wing. Her heels clicked against the stone like a countdown.

Well I was in for it anyway.

"You're obsessed with her," Sha said.

Maybe there I was a truth to that, I couldn't get enough of her scent.

"I'm not."

"Don't lie to me, Lucian. I've known you since we were children. We are betrothed for Christ sake."

I stopped and turned to face her.

"She's a stray," sha continued. "No pack, no history, almost no scents. The thing with the wards and Morwenna?" 

She stroked closer. "And you can't stop watching her."

Almost no scent? Even when the strong scent assailed my senses?

"She's under my protection."

"She's under your skin." Sha's voice cracked.

"I've waited twelve years, Lucian. Twelve years for you to look at me the way you look at her."

I said nothing at all.

Sha's jaw tightened. "The council will hear of this "

"The council hears what I allow them to hear."

She let out a sharp and brittle laugh, hurt written all over it. "You think you can control everything? That girl is going to destroy you!"

She turned and walked away.

I let her go and almost immediately saw Cressida across the courtyard.

She was standing alone near the fountain with Raven nowhere in sight. Her dark hair caught the pale morning light.

She was staring at the frozen fountain like it held answers.

I excused myself from Kade. Walked to the parking lot and unlocked my car.

In the boot, wrapped in a tarp, was her Harley.

I had repaired by a mechanic who knew not to ask questions and also restored it to it's usual beauty. The bike was breathtaking - A Falcon Thunderstrike, limited edition, custom paint job that shimmered between black and feel blue.

 Rare. Expensive. Hers.

I carried it across the courtyard.

Wolves turned and stared and whispers followed me.

Raven was with Cressida now, she didn't notice it at first as she was still staring at the fountain. Then Raven gasped and she looked up.

And her face -gods, her face literally broke open in pure childish excitement.

She ran.

Not the careful, measured walk she had used in the assembly. She ran with her boots pounding the stone, her dark hair flying behind her.

Then she stopped right in front of her bike. Her hands hovered over the handlebars like she was afraid to touch it. She looked at me for a brief moment and then.

She bent and kissed it.

Right on the gas tank. A long, reverent press of her lips.

"Thunder," she whispered and looked up with shimmering eyes. "You brought him back."

Raven appeared at her side, eyes wide as she asked. "You ride?"

Cressida turned. This smile was the first real smile I had seen from her. 

So bright and so fierce and so so alive.

"That's right." She ran her hand along the seat. "This sweet Falcon Thunderstrike Harley is mine."

"It's... it's a limited edition" Raven said as she went round the bike.

She looked at me then. Like really looked.

"You brought my bike," she said. "Thank you, Lucian."

I ran my fingers through my hair and nodded not trusting myself to speak.

She tilted her head. "That's twice now. You saved my life and now you brought him back." Then she paused. "I owe you."

"You don't owe me anything."

She held my gaze and said, "I don't like owing people."

"Then don't think of it as a debt." I took a step back. "Think of it as my being stubborn"

Her mouth twitched almost in a smile.

Heavens, she was beautiful. Sinfully beautiful.

I turned and walked away before I said something I couldn't take back.

I needed answers to all these feelings and I knew where to go to find out exactly what she was and what she was doing to me.

The archives were cold and dark but regardless I lit a torch and searched.

Hours bled together. 

I went through everything. Old journals, blood records. Accounts of creatures that weren't wolf and weren't human.

But one journal bound in a cracked leather and hand written did mention something.

"These are those who walk between. Neither wolf nor witch nor human. Vessels, some call them. Empty shells rest can be filled with whatever the moon desires. They have no scents because they have no nature of their own. They are mirrors. And mirrors are dangerous."

I closed the journal. Vessels...mirrors.... scents.

But she did have a scent, a sweet one at that.

Company. I had company. I listened as boots echoed on the stone.

"You've been here for hours," he said.

"I'm looking for answers."

"About the girl?"

But then I didn't answer, just dropped the book and picked up another one.

Kade sighed. "The pack is talking. Sha isn't helping matters eithers"

"I can handle Sha."

"Can you handle the Elders? They'll soon start asking questions." He paused. "I've been watching her, Lucian. I've been watching the girl"

I looked at him and gave him a go ahead.

"And I noticed something," Kade continued. "Something strange that I can't even explain."

My chest tightened. "What?"

Kade held my gaze and his voice dropped dangerously low.

"You know how every wolf and creature casts shadows, especially of their inner self? Like c'mon it's been ordained my the moon goddess" 

"Yes I do, just get to the main point!"

"When she thinks no one is looking...she doesn't cast a shadow."

I just stared at him.

"Not all the time," Kade said. "Just sometimes. In certain light. It's like the light passed through her." He swallowed nervously and continued. "And I've never seen surging like it"

"What else?" I asked

Made shook his head. "That's it. That's all I know." He turned towards the stairs. "But Lucian? Whatever she is ...just not natural and its not safe.'

And with that, he asked away.

And I didn't know if I should save her.

Or run.