Chapter 6 6

CHAPTER SIX

NANCY

As I climbed the academy steps, hushed voices drifted through the crowd.

"Did they find Maya?"

"No."

"Someone said they found blood near the bridge."

Another student says:

"Stop talking about it."

Blood?

My fingers tightened around my schedule.

Had something happened at the school recently?

Had someone really disappeared there?

I stared at the parchment on the door again, let out a shaky breath, and turned away.

No matter how hard I tried to encourage myself, my feet felt like iron blocks as I climbed the stairs. I felt like a prisoner walking straight into my own execution.

The inside of the academy fortress was even more intimidating than the outside. It was built more than a hundred and fifty years ago by the wealthy founding Alpha family of this region. I looked up, craning my neck to see the high stone ceiling of the main grand hall, which stretched two stories over my head. Tall glass archways allowed early sunlight to stream through, making the polished marble floors glow like ice.

Ancient tapestries hung all over the high stone walls—woven portraits of Alphas and Betas who looked incredibly powerful, highly lethal, and completely unbothered by the world.

I walked over to a carved stone plaque underneath one portrait. It was a former elder of the academy council. There were far fewer female wolves depicted than males, but I suppose that shouldn't have surprised me in a territory ruled by raw physical strength.

I looked for the portrait of the current Headmaster, which was at the very end of the hall. It showed a tall, sharp-looking wolf with silver-streaked hair and cold, calculating eyes.

Alex Dumbrey—Head Master of Tactics, the plaque read. He had ruled the academy grounds for five years. At least now I knew which elder to fear.

I should have drawn a map of the fortress when I looked at the territory border stones yesterday. The main stone corridor stretched out in three directions. Two led into the eastern and western combat wings, while the third went straight ahead from the front entrance. I was pretty sure the administrative council room was down the main path, so I started walking, my heart thumping wildly in my chest.

No one would ever guess this was a place for young wolves to learn. It looked more like a dark, ancient fortress meant for war.

It was a huge relief to see a carved wooden sign hanging over an arched doorway down the hall.

Council & Registration Office.

That was where I needed to be. I didn't have my training schedule yet, so I had no idea which classes I was assigned to or which combat grounds to find them in. This entire transition had been forced upon me at the very last minute.

Inside the office, chaos reigned. Messenger birds were swooping through the high window roosts, and administrative staff were frantically rushing back and forth. At least fifteen young wolves were already waiting in line, and every single one of them was growling about a problem.

“My father is a high commander on the Alpha’s council!” a female wolf shouted at the elder behind the desk. “I am not taking tracking lessons with her! She hates my bloodline, and she failed my combat trial last season just to spite me!”

My eyes went wide before I could stop them. Do spoiled noble pups seriously yell at elder wolves around here?

Apparently so, because the female staff member didn't even flinch.

“Like I already told you, Gwen, only two master trackers in the entire pack teach at that elite level,” the staff member said coldly. “Short of pulling warriors off the border guards to teach you, I don't know what you expect us to do. Your father understood that when he spoke to the Headmaster.”

“I don't care!” Gwen snarled. “What am I supposed to do? Sit there while she tries to break my spirit?”

Before the elder could respond, Gwen bared her sharp fangs, slammed her hand onto the desk, and knocked a stone jar of writing quills to the floor. “Screw this council. You're lucky I didn't tell my father to pull our family's meat taxes!”

She turned on her heel and stormed down the hall, shouting threats about having her father burn the building down.

It seemed like every wealthy wolf in line had an absurd complaint.

There was a male complaining that his advanced war-strategy class interfered with his morning combat practice. There was another female shouting that she wanted to be in the same territory-scouting group as her best friend, even if it meant changing her entire schedule. Everything seemed so petty, and every single wolf threatened to call their powerful Alpha parents.

Who are these spoiled creatures?

My mother would have beaten me until I couldn't stand it if I asked her to complain to an elder because I didn't like my instructor. And if she ever received a message saying I cursed at an elder, I didn't even want to imagine her reaction. It would make her look bad to the pack, and that was the one thing her fragile pride could never handle.

Finally, it was my turn. I felt so sorry for the exhausted elder behind the counter that I gave a soft, apologetic grimace.

“I am so sorry to bother you, but this is my first day,” I said quietly. “I do not have my classes or training schedule yet.”

The woman let out a long breath, her shoulders relaxing. “Oh, finally. An easy one.” She flipped through a stack of thick parchment scrolls and pulled out a thin folder. “Nancy Timo, is it?”

“That is right.”

“Welcome to the Silver Fang Academy, Nancy. I hope you haven't formed a terrible opinion of our grounds already.” Before I could answer, she slid the folder across the wooden counter. “In here, you will find your class and  training schedule, a map of the territory grounds, and a list of mandatory pack rituals. It is easy to get lost in these stone halls, but you will figure it out in a few days. Everyone does.”

“Thank you, elder.” I opened the scroll. My first class was Pack History, starting in fifteen minutes in the lower wing.

“Kael!” the woman suddenly called out, waving her hand toward someone standing in the corridor behind me. “He is one of our high-ranking student guides. Kael, would you mind showing Nancy to her first class? Maybe give her a quick walkthrough of the lower wing before training starts?”

“You know me,” a deep, gravelly voice echoed behind me. “Always glad to serve the pack.”

That voice.

My pulse stopped.

Slowly, I turned.

Broad shoulders.

Dark academy armor.

Golden eyes.

It was him.

And when our eyes met, my breath locked dead in my throat.

It had been nine days since I last saw him, but he had never been far from my darkest thoughts.

It was the boy from the bridge.

His eyes were wide, burning with an intense light as he stared down at me. The air between us instantly grew thick with heavy, freezing tension.

He hadn't forgotten me.

And judging by the dark, furious curve of his jaw, he knew exactly who I was—and he was terrified of what I might bring into his home.