Chapter 3

"Aren't you two supposed to be in your classes?" A familiar thick voice growled in a tone that came out as a command rather than a question.

We both turned to see Alaric standing straight beside the door with his hands tucked in his jeans pocket. He wasn't wearing the blood stained cloth he was putting on earlier; rather, he changed into another shirt even though they were both white.

"We were just leaving. I'm sorry," Ariel stuttered as she stood up in an attempt to balance herself.

I kept on staring in awe because I couldn't put into words why everyone was like this around him. I have known Ariel to be fearless, but she's literally scared of this big thug in front of us.

"Let's go, Nora," she said as she dragged me out of the room, her hands shaky and feeble beneath mine, and I felt terrible about it.

I could feel the hatred and anger growing in me because of the pain he was inflicting on the people I loved. For the first time, my eyes did not dart away from him, but I was staring him down.

"Why the hell are you all scared of him this much?" As soon as we walked into the classroom, I groaned in frustration, but luckily there was no teacher there yet. It seemed they were all having a meeting.

"Please lower your tone," Ariel begged.

I could see depression written all over her face as she rubbed her palm on her brow and attempted to massage her temples.

"We're all just slaves now," she said, but in a much lower tone.

It amuses me how a young boy could come to the great Serene pack in a day and take over the whole pack.

It saddens me to know there was nothing I could do about it since neither Asher nor Ariel were able to do anything, and they're by far the best wolves around here, not to mention me, the weakling.

Let's eat something at least. I gave her hands a light squeeze as I led her to the cafeteria.

I doubted she would want to eat something because of what was happening, but I was proven wrong as I saw her requesting a large amount of food as she immediately dug her spoon into the tray.

I watched in awe as she ate her food effortlessly, and I wondered if she was the same girl I saw ten minutes ago. She was literally crying her eyes out for the first time, but right now she's eating like nothing happened.

"Why are you staring? Your food will be cold if you don't eat it now! " She complained just like she always does.

"I'm just amused, that's all," I honestly replied before taking the first bite out of the food on my tray.

"I know," she chuckled slightly, but it wasn't a good one, but rather a painful one.

"I am meant to be strong and not weak. Crying or not eating won't solve any of the problems on the ground, but if I'm filled with energy, then something good might happen," she said and gave a slight smile afterwards.

I couldn't help but admire her courage. I wished I was like her, and perhaps my parents would have accepted me. As much as I hate to admit it, I wish things were different between my sister and me. We would have been good friends, but the moon goddess had to make me a weak and pathetic wolf.

"Hey, Brandon!" I greeted Ariel's mate as he walked up to us with a smile on his face.

"What's up, Ariel?" he greeted with a high five. He's literally the only boy in this school that doesn't find me disgusting.

"Bebe?" He wrapped his arms around her shoulder with pity on his face.

"Get those off!" She slapped his hands, making him chuckle a little.

"That's my girl, let's go." He held her hands and, with the blink of an eye, they were out of sight.

I knew what they were up to, but it's definitely not comfortable to think about their affairs. The only thing that amused me was the fact that I really was the weakest wolf in the Serene pack because most of them literally never got emotional but me.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I smelled Asher walking past me with a tray of food in his hands. He didn't glance at me, and it broke me again. I missed the days when he would wrap his arms around me with a smile on his face.

I missed it when I never questioned my purpose because I felt I had him and he mattered most to me. I miss the days when he would embrace me and tell me he loved me the way I was, but everything was just lies.

A part of me still thinks he never meant what he said to me yesterday because of the other things he had said to me when we were still happy together.

I decided to summon up the courage in me to walk up to him and maybe talk things out with him, but as I stood up from my seat, Tala walked fearlessly past me, slightly shoving me with her perfectly moulded body, causing my drink to spill on me.

The whole cafeteria's attention was on me as some started to laugh. I still wasn't affected by it and was determined to talk to Asher, but another thing happened and caused me to quietly sit back in my seat.

Asher had immediately embraced Tala into his arms as she sat down on his lap. He instantly kissed her and she was literally grinding him in public. I shouldn't be this affected since he had already rejected me, but my chest suddenly became tight, making it almost impossible for me to breathe.

I had to leave this place immediately if I wanted to breathe and live. I ran out of the cafeteria and, luckily, the main door was open. I knew I would be in trouble for leaving the school's premises during school days, but I needed fresh air to breathe in. Without thinking twice, I ran outside the school and into the nearest woods, or so I thought.

I lay on the bare ground as I tried to calm my chest down, but the tight knot in it wouldn't loosen. Does it stink that I had to love someone that doesn't care about my feelings, or perhaps was he only doing all of these things for my benefit?.

No matter how hard my wolf and I try to forget and hate him, we still somehow think he might still have a soft spot for us. I let the fresh breeze in the woods take over my entire body for a while, then I finally stood up to return back to school before anyone noticed that I wasn't in the school compound by this hour of the day. Who knew a lot would have happened during these couple of hours after school's resumption?

I ran back to the school even though it took quite some minutes. I hadn't realized I had gone really far from the school compound because I just wouldn't stop until my legs were tired.

I finally reached the school but was dumbfounded when I found the doors locked.

"Shit!" I cussed as I tried to pull the door open, even though I knew my efforts were in vain.

"We're in trouble!" My wolf cried,

I looked around for the perfect spot to hide so no one would notice me and finally found a small space in between two bushes.

I thought I was finally saved since no one would notice me in school, but then as I raised my head, I spotted Alaric looking down the window above me with his jaws clenched in anger.

For the first time after meeting him, my body trembled in fear, and I could feel my hair standing. I knew this time I had broken a rule and would be severely punished. Serene High never tolerated people being absent from school or leaving the school's premises during school hours.

The anger in his eyes was evident before he suddenly left the window. I heaved a sigh of relief but shortly heard the main door creaking open.

"Oh no!" My wolf cried.

I tried to summon the courage to stand up on my feet and walk towards the door. The school's mistress was waiting right in front of the door and I could feel my whole body trembling in fear that it would become hard for me to walk, especially when her eyes kept staring into my soul.

"Follow me!" She ordered

I immediately rushed behind her as she led me up the stairs, but something weird happened.

We weren't going to her office, and she was leading me further to the aisle where no one had ever been because only the alpha and his invitees were allowed to reach there.

"Go in!" She commanded.

She pointed towards a closed door before she walked away, leaving me alone in the dark hall.

"Yes ma'am," I whispered, even though I knew she might not have heard me.

I took a deep breath before I finally opened the door and spotted Alaric standing behind the desk in the huge room that almost looked like two classrooms joined together.

Not only was it huge, but it was also well furnished, with even a sofa in one corner of the room, but everything was painted in either white or gray. There was also a glass table with four chairs rounded on it. I guessed it must have been where the Alpha's guests had meetings.

"Close the door!" His gruff voice commanded.

My body shook at his tone, but I submissively obeyed and closed the door behind me while my heartbeat kept on increasing.

He turned his back to me and I could see the clear anger on his face as he walked closer to me. Every step he took made my heart race faster until he was finally in front of me.

"Lenora!" He growled in my ear as my body became numb.

He knew my name, and that was really strange because even the mistress, whom I knew since birth, didn't know my name.

"Answer me when I speak!" He commanded, and I flinched due to the proximity between our bodies and the hotness of his breath.

"Yes sir?" I answered, and his brows furrowed for a moment before going back to normal.

"You look like you'll make things hard for me," his cold voice echoed in my ear before he took some steps away from me.

His thick, dark brows made him look more tough and cruel, especially when his eyes were staring straight at me. His height was intimidating and I felt extremely tiny beside him.

I didn't understand what he meant by making things hard for him because I was literally the only wolf who couldn't have any effect on anything in the Serene pack.

"You're dismissed!" He turned his back on me and walked back to his desk.

I found our conversation weird because I thought I was going to be severely punished, but without wasting any more time, I rushed out of his office before he would change his mind and headed to my class.

I gave the teacher a bow as I entered the class because I was literally late and had interrupted her lecture. I settled my butt on the nearest empty desk I could find, but as I was about to bring out my notebook, an assembling alarm went off and I groaned.

It was almost like I had been coming to school but hadn't literally stayed in a class because one thing or the other surely comes up.

I followed the students out of the classroom, and we all assembled waiting for whatever the authorities had to say, but rather than the mistress giving the usual speech, it was the new beast.