Chapter 3

The gate at Werewolf Academy was freaking huge. I had never seen anything like it before in my life. Even the gate to the White House couldn’t compare to it.  Something about the gate made a shiver creep down my spine. I got the feeling that the gate wasn’t designed only to keep things out, but also to keep them in. Beyond the gate was a large, stone building that reminded me of a castle. In the distance, I could see a few other smaller buildings. 

The whole thing was huge, which made me wonder one thing: How many werewolves were in this world? At that moment, four bodies dropped to the ground alongside where I was standing. Theo jumped up to his feet and moved to stand next to me. “You already changed back into your human form.” He sounded surprised. I nodded. “I woke up this way.” “Wow.” His blue eyes met mine. “Werewolves hardly ever shift back to their human form that fast after making their first shift.” “So, what are you saying?” I asked with raised eyebrows. “That you’re apparently as powerful as you’re supposed to be,” he murmured. 

Something about the way he stared at me made me want to kiss him again. But I didn’t because, well, kissing him the first time had gotten me to a whole new werewolf world. Plus, Aiden, Rhys, and Colton were here, too, and truthfully? 

I was drawn to all of them, even though it was Theo who drew me the most. I sort of didn’t want to ruin my chances with the others if I gave all of my attention to Theo. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that his face was in a stony expression. Was it because he had heard my thoughts? 

“Are you guys enrolling as students? Or are you students already?” I asked.  “Not a chance,” Aiden replied with a chuckle. “We graduated years ago.” “Oh.” I frowned. “Then why are you bringing me here?”  “Headmaster Black requested your presence,” Rhys explained. “But don’t worry, Raven. We won’t leave your side.” “We’re teachers now,” Colton added. “Teachers?” I just stared at him wide-eyed. They didn’t look much older than me. What could I have really learned from them?  “Trust me, we have a lot of wisdom and knowledge to pass along to students. We’re hundreds of years old,” Theo informed me.  

“Hundreds of years old? But you look like you’re maybe nineteen or twenty,” I insisted.  “That’s because werewolves are mostly immortal,” Theo replied.  “Mostly?” 

“We can be killed, but we don’t die of natural causes.” He moved closer to the door of the gate and stood in front of it. I watched as he bowed. A moment later, the gate slid open, allowing us to enter. I just raised an eyebrow at him. “How did that even work?”  

“Magic,” Theo replied. 

“Werewolves can do magic?” I asked with raised eyebrows.  “This magic isn’t my doing, but yes, we can actually. That brings us to something else you should know.” Theo glanced over at me. “Forget everything you have ever heard about werewolves, because only parts of

what humans believe are true.” Not that I had ever gotten into werewolves and vampires like my friends had. Honestly, Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, and Teen Wolf had just never been my thing. I’d never been able to get on board with things that weren’t real.  Except now werewolves were real, and I was one of them. 

“Are you ready to meet the Headmaster?” Theo asked as we all began to walk towards the school. 

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I replied with a shrug.   “We’re delighted to have you as a student, Raven,” Headmaster Black said as he sat across from me in his office. He was a tall man with short, dark hair and a muscular build similar to Theo, Rhys, Aiden, and Colton.

“I’m very sorry to hear about what happened to your parents.”

“Thank you.” I glanced at the floor uncomfortably. It had only been two weeks since they had died, so their deaths were still so fresh and raw for me. I knew there was a good chance that talking about them would send me into a fit of tears and that was before I learned that they had actually been murdered. That made their deaths so much worse. “I’ve spoken with the Darken pack in depth about this, and we all feel that this is the safest place for you,” Headmaster Black went on.

“Fortunately, this timing is impeccable. Classes begin first thing tomorrow, but tonight we have our Sorting Ceremony.”

“Sorting Ceremony?” I just eyed him curiously. I was starting to feel like I was at Hogwarts.

“There are four Houses,” he explained. “The Lupines, the Descendants, the Marked, and the Crescents.”  I blinked. I had been expecting something closer to Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, if we were being honest. I wasn’t even sure which House I hoped to be in or what any of the names could have meant.

“Once you have been broken off into your House, you will be assigned a roommate and receive your course schedule.”  “Do we have to wear uniforms?” I found myself asking. Since it was a boarding school, it would have made sense if we did. I had always liked the idea of just throwing on a uniform instead of having to take time to carefully hand pick an outfit each and every day.  “No. We encourage individuality and comfort here, so you’re free to wear anything you’d like, within reason. Use your best judgement, of course, when it comes to skirt or dress lengths and things of that nature. If it was okay at your old school, it’s probably okay here, too.”

“Okay.”

“There’s one more thing.” Headmaster Black leaned in closer to me. “I’m not sure that you quite understand the opportunity that you’ve been given, but you should probably know that Werewolf Academy is the leading boarding school for wolf shifters. Only about three-hundred students are chosen to attend each year.”

“Three-hundred?” I just gaped at him. “I had no idea there were that many werewolves in the world.

“Oh, yes. There are many, many more than three-hundred werewolves in the world,” he replied with a chuckle. “And this is the best place for any of them to be. Our alumni not only graduate with the tools they need to succeed, but they also emerge as some of the most powerful werewolves in the world. You might also be interested to know that both of your parents attended the Academy.”

My eyebrows shot up questioningly. “They did?”  “Indeed.” He smiled at me. “I’m sure you will be able to find pieces of them here, if you look hard enough.”

“Wow. Thank you,” I whispered. I wasn’t sure how I truly felt about this whole Werewolf Academy thing, but knowing that my parents had gone here definitely sparked my interest.

“Of course. And I understand that you’ve been through a lot, Raven. You are also one of the only students at Werewolf Academy who didn’t grow up knowing you were a wolf, so I realize that there will be a big adjustment for you. If there’s anything you need anything at all please do not hesitate to ask.”

“Thanks.” Headmaster Black seemed nice enough. I was pretty sure I liked him. I hoped my teachers would be just as nice. “Dinner is always served in our Dining Hall,” the Headmaster went on. “That is where the Sorting Ceremony will be held tonight, promptly at seven. Please be on time.” 

“Okay.” Then I realized something. “I don’t even know what time it is now.” It should have been really late, considering it had been around eight p.m. when Theo and I had kissed. 

“Of course you don’t. How silly of me. Time isn’t the same in the human world as it is in the wolf world.” Headmaster Black glanced at the clock on his desk. “It’s currently four p.m. This gives you some time to explore the campus. Let the Darken pack know I want them to give you the grand tour.” He paused for a moment. “I think that about covers everything.

You’re free to go.” 

“Okay. Thank you.” I rose to my feet and headed out of his office and back into the hallway where the Darken pack was waiting for me. “You guys are supposed to give me a tour of campus,” I informed them. 

“I’m pretty sure we can handle that,” Rhys agreed with a nod. 

“We just can’t be late to the Sorting Ceremony,” I said. “Are you guys going to be attending that?” 

“We’ll be there,” Theo said.  I felt the slightest bit of relief knowing they would be there, too.  I asked, “So, where should we explore first?”  Where was there to explore? I wasn’t sure what the options were. I wasn’t sure what Werewolf Academy had to offer, but I wanted to see every inch of it.

“I have a few ideas. I think we’ll start slow and then show you the more interesting areas of the school last,” Theo said. 

My eyes trailed down the packs’ strong-looking, muscular backs as they led me outside. I really wanted to see where the guys lived.

“Or we could start with the most interesting first.” Aiden glanced over at me. “Want to come see my bedroom?” 

“There’s nothing interesting about your bedroom,” Rhys said, raising an eyebrow. 

“Well, not yet. But I know just the girl who could make it more interesting,” Aiden said with a wink at me.

I wasn’t going to lie. I would have been down with that. Before I even had a chance to respond to him, Theo was pinning him up against a wall of the building and growling in his face.