Chapter 3

“Raven?” Professor McCall holds the chemical container Raven’s about to open against her hand, giving her a shocked and scrutinous look.

Professor McCall is her Patron to the experiments she is carrying out with wolfsbane, to find a way to make a vaccine that would make werewolves immune to its effects. Without his support and resources, she wouldn’t have been able to accomplish half of what she has with her project.

“You of all people should know better than to add aconitine to the solution at this temperature, it’ll blow up in your face,” he frowns, putting down the container and turning down the knob of the Bunsen burner.

“I’m sorry sir,” Raven replies, her voice sullen, feeling ashamed. It’s a routine procedure to set up the experiment, something she’s done like a thousand times and somehow she still managed to botch it.

It’s unlike her but she’s been out of it lately and it’s only getting worse. Ever since she learnt of the remembrance ceremony of Draco, she’s been struggling with the decision to return home.

Why are they even doing his remembrance? Why? Why now? They haven’t done that since he died.

Going back home will only evoke deep seated memories of pain and anguish, memories she sometimes has to pretend that she doesn’t have.

Here, she can just be a regular sad student whose only companion are her books but back home, she’ll be the pitiful mate of the late Alpha prince.

This whole thing just keeps plastering the truth that he died in her head and she doesn’t like to think of him as—

“Can you hear me?” Prof. McCall taps the side of her hand, giving her a concerned look.

“Sir?” Raven replies, her heart throbbing and beating fast. She zoned out again….he’s not going to take it lightly.

“I said you look weary and exhausted and those bags under your eyes tell me you’ve been working for too long hours. I need you refreshed. Go out and get some air, have some fun,,” he says, tapping her desk and he turns to the rest of the class.

“Open your textbooks to page 500, we’ll be conducting that experiment today.”

Raven gathers her things, a bit shameful, a bit relieved. She hates that he saw her in this distorted state but grateful he’s giving her the day off, she needs it.

She’s walking out of the class when she hears Claire whisper to her seat mate, “giving her the day off to have fun,” Claire scoffs, “like she would know fun if it was fucking her in the ass.”

Raven halts and shoots Claire a nasty glare, bitterness encircling her heart, her pain switching into rage and she wants to give the silly girl a piece of her mind but she bridles her tongue and storms out of the class.

Claire’s not worth it and she’s wrong, she knows fun, she’s had a lot of fun.

She and Draco used to fake ID’s and go into adult clubs to have fun, way before they were of legal age. He called her the life of the party but they both knew that the only reason she could let loose and take the center stage was because he was with her.

She stares at her reflection in the window of her car as she’s about to open it and she can barely recognize the woman staring back at her.

There’s hardly any light in her eyes, no freshness to her gaze.

She just— is.

No wonder Claire and the others keep making those comments about her.

She throws her bag into the car and gets in, not driving to the direction of her dorm but towards this new bar everyone in school has been raving about.

She doesn’t need their late remembrance to know that he is gone. She is reminded every day when bars stopped being fun for her. Not when she is no longer protected in his arms.

She steps into the bar and the lustful eyes of several men whip towards her, followed by cat calls, making her cringe and she immediately regrets her decision but it’s too late to turn back now.

The bar is split into two sections, the regular section where she is standing below and the VIP section above, with its balcony overlooking the lower floor.

Over the soft music playing, Raven hears loud laughter and cheer from the VIP section and lifts her head up to take a look but she freezes when she sees a particular man leaning on the railing with his back to her.

Her heart races, hard and fast.

Even with his back turned to her, she would recognize Draco anywhere.

Her eyes scan the floor for a staircase but she finds none, only doors which the staircases are behind and when she looks back up, Draco is no longer in that position.

Her heart clenches and she practically runs towards one of the doors when the one parallel to it opens and she turns back, freezes, her mouth agape, her heart palpitating so loud that she can hear it over the music as the guy steps out from the door and she sees him clearly.

Her knees buckle and she staggers.

It’s Draco, it’s him.