Chapter 2

"Here we are!" Alex parks in front of Melbourne Airport. I hop out of the back seat, my chest expanding for some air. Tessa's clothes are comfortable. Not really the type I wear usually. I'm more into fancy, fashionable clothes, while Tessa likes to keep it simple. But for now, I'm just grateful for how soft the fabric feels against my skin. Alex pulls out all the luggage from the car dicky and closes the shutter with a thud.

"Is she coming?" Tessa asks Alex impatiently.

"She should. Witches keep their word when they feel they can trust a handsome warlock." A lopsided grin shapes Alex's lips. Meanwhile, I scan the crowded airport, searching for any tanned, curly-haired brunette wearing necklaces in the crowd. As per Alex's description. A decent description. Almost. 

I look down at the ground and sigh. This is such a drastic decision. A part of me feels guilty for leaving Mom and my little brother behind. But I had no choice. Honestly, I did not expect to make it this far. If half a month back, I had told myself that I would be really fleeing, then I wouldn't have believed it. SpellMoon Academy wasn't the best choice. And I did not expect Alex and Tessa to join me.

"I'm sorry that I dragged you both into this." I say with a sad face. 

"Salty sugars! We had this conversation before, Cin. I came because I wanted to." 

"Yup." Alex pops the 'p'. "It's our choice to come here." 

"But you guys will be in danger. The Academy we are going to is dangerous." 

"Duh! More reason to go with you." Alex raises his eyebrows. 

"It's 'more of a reason', Alex." Tessa corrects him. 

He looks at her with parted lips. "So? I flunked English classes, Professor." He gets back at her. 

I smile, watching them argue with each other. I am a terrible friend who is bringing them to an Academy that is dangerous. But they are not the ones to leave me alone after knowing my situation. Maybe I should have not said it that day...

"Are you going to tell me why we are sitting here, early in the morning?" Alex looked at Tessaa. 

"Why are you eye-frying me? I don't know. Ask Cin." She raised her arms in defence. 

I exhaled with my mouth, blowing a few strands of my hair that cascaded down the red sleeve of my top. "You heard about the current attack on the royal bloodlines?" 

They both stared at me for a moment. "Yeah. It has been the talk of the pack lately. My father faced one of those fangy creatures too." Tessa said. Her father was the Lycan of the same pack as my father. The reason behind this unusual pack regulation dated back to the time of the First Supernatural War which was the war between the humans and the werewolves. Tessa's father, Sylvester Stone is the head of the Stone Royal bloodline while my father is of the Hemsworth bloodline. Due to the ongoing war casualties, they both made a treaty where there won't be one but two Lycans of the Silver Crestwood Pack. 

"Fangs?" Alex's eyes rounded up. 

"Yeah." I nodded my head. 

"Woah!" Alex raised his eyebrows. "But that's not the main reason for us going to London, right?" 

Silence. 

I heard my own voice breaking it. "My dad wants me to get married to the Alpha of the Knight bloodline. And you know him. It's not a choice...it's an order." 

"What! B-but why?" He moved his head frantically, his dilated green irises moving back and forth between Tessa and me. Even Tessa's face lost all it's color as she stared at me with a hanging jaw. 

"Salty sugars! Are you serious?"

"I'm not the one to joke about my own marriage, Tess. You should be the one knowing that." 

"Yeah, but...Why?" 

"Marriage between two packs unites two packs as well as their powers. The same is for the royal bloodlines, only at a more elevated level. So if I marry Alpha Tristian..." I trailed off the sentence. 

"A new pack with powers beyond anyone's idea will emerge." Alex completed the statement in a disheartening voice. "Then again, it...is a...umm...right choice, no? Your marriage will protect the bloodlines." His voice broke slightly, his eyelids blinking profusely. 

The muscles of my forehead stretched downwards. "Yes, I know. But you know me, don't you? If this marriage happens, I am forever bound to him by strength but not by heart. I don't even know if he's my mate or not." I look down at the floor, feeling my facial muscles tensing up. "And so forth, I'll be obliged to stay with someone whom I have heard rumours of taking several lives! What if he turns out to be a monster?" I gritted my teeth and clench my fist. The floor and my shoes turned hazy as the liquid cloaked my eyes.

"But...Aurora? What about your family?" Tessa asked.

"I have a solution for that. And that's why I am going to SpellMoon academy." I pulled out my phone and showed them the website on the screen. Alex and Tessa's eyes lowered to the screen. 

"Interesting." A shrill voice takes my attention away from the image of the past day. A tall woman having a dark complexion with curly hair and wearing a colourful embroidered dress stares back at us. This must be the witch."A Stone and a Hemsworth. When I heard from Alex about SpellMoon Academy, meeting two royal bloodlines was the least of my expectations" Her dark black eyes almost comparable to her glowy dark complexion scrutinizes us with a frown on her face. 

"Phew! You're finally here." Alex's chest relaxes. So, he was stressed about her arrival here. 

"SpellMoon Academy is not just any regular University." She adds, avoiding him completely. "Danger lurks behind the walls. My brother and I used to study there. During one of the challenges in the courses, I lost him." Pain reflects in her eyes, shattering my confidence into pieces. Why is she talking about all of this?

"I'm sorry about that...'' my voice trails off. Fear overwhelms me. "Miss?" 

"Cynthia. Cynthia Sharon." 

"I am thankful that you came here, Cynthia." I say. "But if it's dangerous then you both shouldn't go." I shift my gaze towards my two idiots. 

"Salty Sugars! Have you lost it?" Tessa jabs my right arm with her hand, as her piercing gaze tears me apart. 

"I guess she has! Are you so stupid to think that we'll leave you alone in that creepy place? And who the hell will save you from the boys there?" Alex crosses his arms. 

"They are right. You need someone to be with you. That academy is not a friendly place. However, I do not appreciate your passion for nailing your coffin." The witch's eyebrows furrow. 

I shouldn't be going to that Academy.

I shake my head. "I know that it's dangerous. But I cannot look back. I made my decision." I say and turn around. I cannot make the same mistake like my mother. 

******

"Do you guys believe that the army 

given to the Annual Champion of that Academy would be enough to overthrow the nightcrawlers?" Alex breaks the awkward silence between us while we stand in the verification line.

"Yes. I did some research on the Annual Competition. The army provided to the Champion just does not consist of werewolves only. It has both the werewolves and witches of the Academy." Tessa answers. 

"Where did you get that info from?" Alex asks. 

"The website." 

"So, they are putting it all out there without fearing if the humans start another supernatural war?" Alex asks. 

"The site is encrypted with a password. The password can be only figured out by supernatural creatures." I say. 

"That is dope." Alex's reply comes from the back. 

I have only a year before the marriage. Sounds like a good amount of time, but not enough to prepare myself for the Annual Competition in SpellMoon Academy. The Academy hosts this competition once in ten years, as far as I know, to bring out the best from werewolves and witches. The winner of the Competition is entitled to be the leader of the supernatural army of the Academy.

What and how is this army formed?

I have no idea. 

But will it help me save myself from the marriage? 

Yes. 

Having a supernatural army of your own is almost equal to the formation of a pack from the unison of two bloodlines. This is the solution that will prove my worth to society and give my father a hundred reasons on why I should not get married. Simple as that. Running wasn't the first option. I had spoken to my father about it. But his reply was also very simple. 

"Men should be the leader of an army, not a woman." His loud voice had generated goosebumps down my body. 

"But father. What about Lady Cassandra?" My voice was barely audible, even to my own ears. But my dad's hearing senses caught it. 

"Do not speak of that disgraceful woman! She had brought shame on to the Crescent bloodline with her actions! I am not taking this further with you, Miss Aurora Hemsworth. You are not going to lead the Silver Crestwood Pack. On my count of ten, you should be out of this room. Ten,nine..." his command still resonates in my ears. I did not tell him about the Academy. Because if he was not prepared to make me the head of his pack, then how was going to agree to this idea? 

The person in front of me moves forward when I sense something familiar. The scent of wood. Damnit! They are here! 

I turn towards Tessa immediately, her unshaped eyebrows furrowing at my behaviour. "They're here. My father's guards."

Tessa relays the conversation to the other two. I eye the guards who are just one glance away from me. 

What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? 

"Aurora! Don't speak." Tessa places her index finger on her lips. How is my not speaking going to make me invisible? 

I open my chapped lips to tell her that she's an idiot when my dad's guards walk towards the counter, passing me and my friends. Without noticing us. How? 

One of the men talks to the lady at the counter and shows her my picture. The lady speaks something inaudible to my ears and then the man nods and walks to the other side, showing other staff members my picture. Someone taps my shoulder, breaking my trance and I find Tessa signalling me to come with her.

What the hell is happening? I follow her and find Alex and Synthia walking towards the bathroom. We gather at the junction of the gender-based washroom division. 

Wait! Cynthia! Spell! 

Cynthia speaks up, "We can't go through there without being caught. It seems that those men have informed all the staff to search for you." 

"Salty sugars! What do we do now? We'll get caught" Tessa grips her dark brown hair and stares at the space.

"Calm down, Tess. We'll find a way." I hold her trembling shoulders. 

"How? Even if we manage to board the flight, the staff inside have got notified about you. They'll catch us!" Tessa breathes heavily. 

"There's another way! Cynthia knows magic here. Just like she used a cloaking spell on us to hide us from the guards, she can change our appearance so that we don't look familiar and we can get into the plane." Alex moves his slender arms frantically. He is a warlock- an amateur one, but he has knowledge about the spells. 

"And what about the verification of our passports? How will we get past that?" Tessa asks.

"I can change that too by creating an illusion." Cynthia says. "There is enough mass energy here." She looks at the door. I don't understand anything about witchcraft so her words feel like a foreign language to me. 

"I saw a few people here in the line and suddenly they just vanished! Like pff!" A trembling voice of a man reaches my ears. I touch my earlobe and close my eyes to pull all my attention on the voices. 

"Do you know where they went?" A heftier voice interrogates the freaked out one. 

"No! How can I? They were here, in the line." The man struggles with his voice. 

Silence. Urgh! Say something!

"They must have gotten inside. Check the airport!" The heftier voice commands to someone. Great! I turn back towards the trio who are engaged in a vocal fight. 

"Are you sure?" I look at Cynthia. 

"Yes. As long as there is a lot of mass energy around." 

"Alright then, I trust you" 

******

Sweat beads clutch my forehead and my muscles tense as I step forward towards the counter. Dad's men are just a few feet away from us.Please don't let us get caught. Please. 

"Four tickets. Window seat." A masculine voice of a man in his forties escapes my lips and a hairy hand slides the passports to the lady sitting behind the counter. Eww! Cynthia had to give me the disguise of a man out of so many options? 

I turn around to check on my petite fat wife wearing a flowery gown and clutching to her little girl like her life support, correction: our little girl. And beside her stands a tall, cocoa skinned guy in a floral shirt and blue shorts. Cynthia seriously has issues with dress choices. Who wears beach clothes while travelling to London? And why is Tessa a girl and not me? We could have been disguised as sisters travelling. Yet since I am a husband now, I'll be a good one to my wife. 

One of my dad's guards strides towards me. Oh shit! I grip the counter handle and gulp the saliva rising in my throat. I'm a hairy husband. Please don't recognise me. 

"Good morning, Sir. Have you seen this person anywhere near?" He shows his phone screen, a pair of crystal brown eyes staring back at me in the pic. At least they have a good picture of mine. 

"Such a beautiful young lady. But I have to disappoint you gentleman. I haven't seen her. Honey, have you seen this child here?" I turn at my wife who's brown eyes dilate when they come in contact with mine.

"Salt-umm-I...no-not." Tessa's lips almost freeze at the point of no recovery. 

"Do not mind my wife. She has never come across such interrogation before." I pat my wife's shoulder who stays rooted to the floor like an ice statue. 

"It's alright. Sorry to interrupt you. Thank you for your time." The guard walks away and I exhale. The lady hands me the passport and the tickets. Cynthia's spell worked! Yay! I show a thumbs-up to my squad who relax their stiff shoulders in relief. And hence, we walk inside the plane and settle to our seats. 

"What the fuck? Why am I wearing a pink frock and braids?" Alex shouts, looking at his reflection in the mirror, a blonde little girl with braids looking back at him. A man sitting in front of us turns towards our little daughter and scowls. 

"Hold your tongue, little girl. Didn't we teach you not to use such words?" I shout at my supposed daughter who glares back at me. 

"You sure, you can hold the spell till we land?" Tessa or better to say my wife asks her brother who for some reason resorted to a beach outfit.

"Yes. The people around us have a lot of energy. I can feel it here. As the plane takes off, I'll get more energy to hold the spell." The brother or better Cynthia says. I leave a sigh of relief and lean my head on the seat. 

"Please tighten your seatbelts and turn off all your devices. The plane is going to take off in ten minutes." One of the cabin crew announces. 

I've made it. I can't believe I did. 

I stare through the window, watching the sky change its colour for the dawn to come, thinking about what awaits me in SpellMoon Academy. Hope this works in my favor.

*******