Chapter 2 – The Human Everyone Ignores

You belong here.

Principal Luca’s words followed me all the way down the west tower, which was irritating because nothing about Wolf Academy made me feel like I belonged anywhere. By the time I reached the admissions office, my suitcase was still waiting beside the reception desk. The woman behind it barely looked up when I collected it.

“Eastern Residence,” she said. “Second floor. Room Twenty-Seven.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you still standing here?”

I opened my mouth, considered asking whether every employee at this university had been trained to answer questions with more questions, and decided against it. The Eastern Residence stood beyond

a wide courtyard lined with silver-leaved trees. Students crossed the space in groups, laughing, arguing, and carrying boxes toward the dormitories. Every few steps, someone noticed me. A nose twitched or a conversation paused. Eyes followed me. Then, just as quickly, everyone looked away. No insults. No threats. No one told me to leave. They simply behaved as though speaking to me might create a problem they did not want.

My room was smaller than the suites I glimpsed through open doors along the second-floor corridor, but it was not unpleasant. A narrow bed stood beneath the window. There was a desk, a wardrobe, two shelves, and a private bathroom. Someone had placed a stack of textbooks beside a folded campus map. Everything was clean and ready. I set my suitcase on the bed and stared at the books.

History of the Great Clans.

Introduction to Pack Law.

Wolf Psychology.

I picked up the last one and laughed once.

“Of course.”

The sound died quickly in the empty room. Outside my window, students moved across the lawns in bright groups. Some carried sports bags. Others sat beneath the trees, leaning against one another as if they had known each other forever. I pressed my palm against the cool glass. Maybe I should have left when I had the chance. Except Luca had looked at me as though leaving had never been an option.

I unpacked only half my clothes before deciding that sitting alone would make me lose my mind. I changed into jeans, a pale tank top, and an oversized shirt, then picked up the campus map. If I was going to be trapped here for at least one day, I might as well learn where everything was. The academy was enormous. The main building held classrooms, offices, laboratories, and lecture halls. Beyond it stood a glass medical center, a stone library with three connected towers, training arenas, an underground transformation wing, and a stadium large enough to hold thousands. Near the stadium, several wolves were chasing a black-and-white ball across a field. Actual wolves. Playing football.

One of them trapped the ball beneath a paw before another crashed into him, sending both rolling through the grass. The watching students cheered. I stopped beside the fence. A girl near me noticed. She sniffed the air, frowned, and moved several steps away. I pretended not to see. At the library entrance, the door began to close before I could reach it. A hand caught it.

“Careful.”

The girl holding it had curly dark hair, warm gray eyes, and a pile of books pressed against her chest.

“Thanks,” I said.

She looked at me for a second, but unlike the others, she did not wrinkle her nose.

“You’re new, aren’t you?”

“That obvious?”

Her mouth curved into a quick smile. “Only because you still look surprised.”

Before I could ask her name, someone called from inside.

“Anna! Hurry up!”

She glanced over her shoulder.

“Coming!”

Then she looked back at me. “See you around.”

She disappeared between the shelves before I could respond. It was the first normal conversation I had experienced since arriving, and it had lasted less than ten seconds. My first lecture took place in a hall shaped like a small theater. By the time I entered, most seats were occupied. The professor, an older woman with silver hair, checked my temporary card without hesitation.

“Violet,” she said. “Choose any available seat.”

No questions. No surprise. I climbed the steps, aware of dozens of eyes following me. Students shifted bags from empty chairs or stretched their legs into the aisle. Not one of them said I could sit beside them. Near the back, I found a row with three empty seats. I took the middle one. The seats on both sides remained empty for the entire lecture. The professor spoke about the laws governing inter-clan disputes as if my presence were completely ordinary. She even asked me a question.

“What is the difference between authority and power?”

I swallowed as every head turned.

“Power forces obedience,” I said. “Authority makes people choose it.”

For the first time, the professor smiled.

“Exactly.”

A few students looked at me with something other than confusion. Then the lecture ended, and they left without speaking to me. By lunchtime, I was tired of being examined and dismissed. The dining hall was loud enough to make the windows vibrate. Every table seemed full of students talking over one another. I carried my tray through the room, searching for somewhere to sit. At one table, a boy met my eyes and immediately placed his jacket on the empty chair beside him. At another, two girls stopped talking until I walked past. Finally, I found a small table near the windows. Empty, of course. I sat alone while the entire hall moved around me. Nobody laughed at me. Nobody whispered loudly enough for me to hear. Nobody asked who I was. Maybe being ignored hurt more than being hated. I forced myself to eat, although the food had no taste. When I finished, I carried my tray away and walked back toward the residence. The afternoon sun warmed my face, but it did little to ease the cold feeling beneath my ribs. I told myself I had survived one day. Tomorrow could be different. High above the courtyard, behind a dark second-floor window, someone watched me cross the lawn. I never saw the figure. Only the brief flash of golden eyes before the curtain closed.