Werewolf Academy : The Alpha & Luna

I found Mom in the kitchen slumped over the table, an empty bottle of whiskey in her hand. She kept mumbling to herself and stared glassy-eyed at the space in front of her. It was apparent she had more than just whiskey this time. A lump grew inside my throat, and I wondered how she would react to what I was about to tell her. That was if she even would react. I used to think my life was terrible. Uncaring parents, no friends, and I went day by day clinging to the hope that when I turned eighteen, I’d get to start a new, better life for myself, away from all this unfairness. It was all that kept me going. I clung firmly to my optimism, writing down my daily gratitude and convincing myself that there were people out there living off worse than I did. My perks were: I get to go to school. We had a roof over our heads, even if the atmosphere beneath it was dead as a graveyard. My parents never fought, even as broken as their relationship was. I had good grades. Good enough to get a s

“What’s your name?” I asked, stepping out from the motel’s lobby. “And how do I know you’re the real deal? Not some random guy who's trying to lead me into the woods and do something devious?” He reached for one of my duffel bags, taking the strap out of my hand and throwing it over his shoulder. “I’m Elijah. Elijah Ledger, but my friends and family call me Eli.” “Right. So, Elijah?” Elijah sighed, putting down the duffel beside his feet, and rolled up the sleeve of his navy shirt, revealing a geometric-like moon symbol with a print in the center that looked a lot like a wolf paw. “Happy?” A dark brow quirked. “Mine is a little different from everyone else’s marks, considering my dad is the alpha.” “Alpha, as in leader?” I enquired. “Yeah, pretty much.” “Not sure how this works, but he’s like a king to wolves?” Elija sputtered a laugh, shaking his head. “I guess you can say that.” “So.” I gave him a sideways look. “Why is the prince out looking for a peasant?” “I’m part of the

“I still don’t understand how she could favor me.” I sat down on a comfy chair across from Mrs. Humphrey. “There’s literally nothing special about me. I suck at school. I never had friends...Luca marked me and now everyone thinks—” I paused, remembering where I was and in whose company I was in. I doubt they’d appreciate me referring to them as freaks. I peered at Elijah before my gaze settled back on Mrs. Humphrey. Elijah seemed decent. I have yet to decide how I felt about the high priestess. “People back home aren’t exactly fond of werewolves. Everyone used to tell me scary stories about your people.” Mrs. Humphrey sat forward in her seat. “Your people?” She arched her brow. “You mean, our people? You’re one of us, now, dear.” I breathed out a long sigh. “It all feels so surreal.” “I understand. I’ve been there myself.” She waved a hand toward Elijah. “Unlike him, who was born into this world, I was just like you. I grew up in a nice little neighborhood with very religious paren

“You’ve never been to the moon festival before?” Ariah’s eyes bulged. “I’m not from a werewolf family,” I explained, placing my neatly folded clothes into our shared closet. Ariah had moved her clothes to her side to make space for mine, but it was a tight fit. Where her side was overflooded, mine was mostly empty. I wasn’t sure how werewolves worked for money, but it was at the top of my list of things to do. “Like I said, humans don’t go out of their way to take part of anything out of the human norm.” “Hmm,” Ariah responded. “I’ve seen a lot of humans partake in our festivities.” “My parents are anti-werewolf.” “Oh, you’ve got one of those.” Ariah remained silent for what could be a minute. “I’m sorry, Hailey. That must really suck.” “Things happen, I guess.” “Hey, you can always join mine during the holidays,” she perked. “Then you don’t have to be stuck here in old people’s company.” I offered her a smile. “You barely know me.” Ariah tapped the tip of her nose with a fore

“How do you talk to the huntress?” I asked, trailing after Ariah. She was showing me around and getting me acquainted with everyone. People were mostly friendly, but no one passed an opportunity to ask about my mark. Hopefully, by next week people would have grown used to it and forgotten about it. It was getting tiresome to explain the same thing, over and over again. No one seemed to come to grips with the fact that I had no clue why mine was the way it was. If anything, I’d like some answers too. “You tap into the spiritual realm. It’s quite a process, so I can’t just explain it to you. In separate lessons, you will be taught how to, most likely, since we already covered it at the beginning of the year. They always do that with new pups. Catch them up on the essentials in separate lessons, most of the time, with the headmistress.” “I see.” I didn’t know how I felt about extra classes since, from what I’ve seen, my schedule was going to be packed as it is. “This is the girl’s c