All Chapters of Wolf Academy: The Silver Blood: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The black iron gates opened before I touched them. That should have been my first sign to turn around. Instead, I tightened my grip on the handle of my suitcase and stared at the stone towers rising beyond them.Wolf Academy looked less like a university and more like a forgotten royal estate. Ivy climbed the gray walls. Silver wolf statues guarded the entrance. Behind the main building, I could see dormitories, training grounds, a forest, and several glass halls reflecting the pale morning sun. Above the gate, two words had been carved into polished stone.WOLF ACADEMY.I pulled the acceptance letter from my jacket pocket and checked it again. My name was there. The address was correct. The official seal matched the enormous silver crest above my head. It still had to be a mistake. I was human.A group of students walked past me through the gates. They looked ordinary enough in jeans, jackets, and backpacks, but something about them made me step aside. They moved too quietly. Too con

By the second morning, I had learned three things about Wolf Academy. Everyone knew I was human. No one intended to explain why I had been admitted and whoever designed the campus map deserved to be punished with those silver bracelets everyone whispered about. I stood in the middle of the main courtyard, turning the folded map in my hands for the third time. The architecture lecture was supposed to be in the North Hall. Unfortunately, the academy had two northern wings, three covered passages, and an entire tower that did not appear on the map at all. Students flowed around me in confident groups. Nobody offered help. A few glanced in my direction, caught my scent, and immediately looked elsewhere.“Wonderful,” I muttered. “I’ll fail university because I can’t find the building.”I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear and chose the widest path. It had to lead somewhere useful. The courtyard was busier than it had been the day before. Students crossed between buildings with boo

The next morning, I woke before my alarm. For several seconds, I stared at the unfamiliar ceiling and listened to the silence of Room Twenty-Seven. Then I remembered where I was. Wolf Academy. The place where everyone could smell that I was human, the principal refused to explain why I had been admitted, and two very different men had reacted to me as though I were a question neither of them could answer. I pushed the thought aside and got dressed. Today was my first architecture class. For once, I had something to look forward to. The architecture hall occupied the northern wing of the academy. I found it without walking toward the medical center, which I considered a personal victory. Inside, sunlight poured through tall windows onto rows of wide drafting tables. Shelves displayed detailed models of towers, bridges, temples, and modern glass buildings. Rolled plans filled wooden cabinets along the walls. The familiar scent of paper, graphite, and polished wood eased something inside

By the end of the week, I had learned that getting lost at Wolf Academy was less of an accident and more of a lifestyle. The campus seemed to rearrange itself whenever I stopped paying attention. Corridors that should have connected somehow ended at locked doors. Staircases led to floors that were not marked on any map. Even the stone paths outside curved around buildings in ways that made no architectural sense. I should have found that offensive. Instead, I found myself wandering behind the west tower after my final lecture, holding the campus map upside down again.“At least no one saw me this time,” I muttered.A gust of wind folded the paper over my fingers. I lowered it and realized I was standing in front of a tall iron gate. Unlike the academy’s main entrance, this one was covered in delicate silver vines. Tiny leaves had been shaped directly into the metal, and at the center rested a crest I did not recognize—a tree surrounded by a crescent moon.A small plaque beneath it rea

I had expected Rafael to mention what happened in the courtyard. He did not. The next afternoon, we sat across from each other in the architecture studio with our drawings spread between us. Sunlight fell through the tall windows, warming the wooden table and catching in Rafael’s golden eyes whenever he lifted his head. Neither of us mentioned the students who had fallen to their knees. Or the wolves that had tucked their tails. Or the fact that I had apparently walked through something called an Alpha aura without noticing. Rafael focused on the project as though nothing unusual had happened. I tried to do the same.“The entrance needs to feel welcoming,” I said, adjusting the tracing paper. “Not like visitors are walking into a fortress.”“It is meant to represent the four clans.”“That doesn’t mean it has to threaten everyone who approaches it.”One corner of his mouth lifted.“You don’t like threatening buildings?”“I don’t like buildings that need to prove how powerful they are.”