Layla kept her head bowed, walking behind Zayne as they made their way through the sea of students. People were staring at them in two completely contrasting ways. One with love, and the other with hate.They looked at him with total adoration. Flashing him bright smiles and pleasant greetings. It was like he was a god in the form of a man, and they were blessed to be in his presence. They parted ways for him, giving him enough space to walk through without anyone bumping into him.On the other hand, there was Layla who they glared at. Their bright gaze darkened when they moved from Zayne to her, and their lips twisted from dazzling smiles to disgusted sneers as they gossiped. It was worse than the orientation day, which didn’t surprise her. Then she was just a girl with cursed silver hair, but at that moment, she was a monster. It was quite funny since he, who was huge and had an intimidating aura, was loved, while she, who was as timid as a mouse, was hated. Ironic.‘It’s going to b
‘This isn’t what I asked for.’Pancakes. Layla had ordered pancakes. Though her voice was timid, she was very sure the waiter had heard her clearly.Then why was a plate of oats staring right at her from the plate? Not just any oats—the most pitiable one she had ever seen. It didn’t look appetising or edible. It was more water than the oats itself, with no milk, no berries, no nothing. Just cold, watery oats with a cup of water by the side.“I’m sorry, we ran out of pancakes, so I got you this instead,” the waiter said, wearing a smile that displayed her intention. As if to make her deceit more obvious, another waiter walked past them to a duo of faes, holding a tray with two plates of stacked pancakes, dripping with syrup and topped with berries. “Isn’t there anything apart from this?” Layla asked, trying not to sound like she was complaining.“Sorry, this is the only thing left in the kitchen. Enjoy your meal.” The waiter beamed and walked away before she could utter a word.‘Lies.
Mumbles rose from the students, and some snuck glances at Layla, staring and glancing at her like she was some dangerous creature displayed for all to see. She avoided their looks, staring at the words on the board.“I’m sure all of us already have ground knowledge about this topic, but we’re going to go deep and explore more on how these creatures occurrence negatively affects our world.” Terra continued, turning the class’s attention back to herself. “And you guys are unluck— I mean extremely lucky because no other class in the history of this school has ever had one of the Children of Iniquities with them.” She pointed at Layla, and the whole class turned to her.“Miss Dele, please stand up and give us a brief explanation of what you are and the dark powers your kind have used over time to cause destruction.” Terra said, wearing a sadistic smile.‘Why? Why would she pull something like this?’ Layla remained seated, clutching her skirt. ‘Is this what I’m going to be passing through
“I’m Nyssa Wilde, an elite student in year one just like you.” Nyssa introduced herself, stretching out her hand.‘She is talking to me. Why?’ Layla’s gaze flickered from the girl’s outstretched hand to her face, searching for anything like disgust or fear lurking on it. There was none. Her lips were curled into a smile, and her eyes glowed with optimism.“Um, it’s nice to meet you.” Layla replied, slowly putting her hand in hers as if it were the jaws of a shark.“It’s nice to meet you too,” Nyssa beamed, and she bristled.‘She’s being way too optimistic. Something was fishy.’ She thought, pulling her hand away like she was touching a hot iron. Why would Nyssa want to talk to her? Everyone in the school was ignoring her, so why would she approach her? Why her?Layla knew Nyssa, though not face-to-face, but she knew she was in her class and an elite student. In fact, she was the only other elite student in their year apart from Layla. And just like her, Nyssa stood out from the rest o
“No! I’m only curious about werewolf tradition and culture. Just the same way I’m curious about all the other types of supernatural,” Layla quickly explained as red rushed to her cheeks, trying to clear the misunderstanding forming. She was in a world she barely knew anything about, so the only reasonable thing to do was try to understand the people and culture of those in it. And maybe she was particularly curious about that of the werewolves, but she needed to understand what the mate bond was and why Zayne had decided she wasn’t the right candidate within twenty seconds of looking at her. It wasn’t because she was trying to get his attention. He hated her. Why would she try to get the attention of a guy who acted like her presence was unbearable? “That’s good because it would be so embarrassing. I mean, he did reject you in front of everyone on orientation day.” Nyssa teased and gave Zayne a playful smile. “Unless you really didn’t mean what you said. It would explain why you
‘This doesn’t look that bad,’ Layla thought, wiping her skirt as she hid in the bathroom stall. Who was she kidding? It looked bad. Her skirt and some part of her blazer were obviously wet, despite the rolls of toilet paper she had used to dry them. At least there was no more oat stain on it.‘Or should I go change to the other pair? No. There’s no time, and I can’t go back to my dorm without Zayne. I don’t want his trouble.’ She sighed and rubbed her hand over her face. ‘Why am I caring about what he thinks? He doesn’t care about what happened to me. He’s too busy eating and flirting with Nyssa.’She bit her both lips, trying to stifle her anger. Weren’t werewolves supposed to be protective of their mates? How could he sit there and let someone do that to her? She knew someone had tampered with the table. Tables didn’t just tip over by themselves, and she had seen the vines. Someone had deliberately done that.But Zayne didn’t care. He hadn’t even come after her after she had run out
Layla was sure the world became a little brighter and more peaceful the moment she saw Alaric sitting at his desk. He lifted his head from the book he was reading and his gaze fell on her. Her stomach fluttered as his lips curved into a charming smile.“It’s nice to see you, Layla.” He said, standing up from his seat.“It’s nice to see you too,” she replied, trying not to seem too excited as she walked to him.“How has Nox-Luminis been treating you so far?” He asked, and her smile twitched to a small frown.‘The worse. Everybody hates me and looks like they want to kill me. I feel like I’m losing my mind.’ She wanted to rant but held back her words. She couldn’t just dump all her problems on him.“Crazy, but it’s been alright,” Layla lied, trying to sound optimistic, and his smile lowered.“Are you sure? You don’t look alright.” Alaric pointed out, stepping a little bit closer and placing his hand on her cheek. “You look quite tired. Have you been sleeping and eating well? It’s the do
Layla had been avoiding asking herself that question, but she knew she had to. What if she hurt Alaric? She didn’t want to hurt him, but what if she did?She couldn’t control her power, and they were going to be working with it. What if what happened at the orientation happened again? He was the only one in the room, so what if he couldn’t stop her before she did something she was going to regret?There was a connection, a pull, between the two of them, but was it as strong as the mate bond she had with Zayne? Would it guarantee his safety?“You won’t hurt me.” Alaric said firmly, no iota of doubt in his words.“How are you sure I won’t? Maybe this is a bad idea.” Layla sighed, shaking her head. Hurting him was the last thing she wanted to do. Her heart wouldn’t be able to bear it if she did.“Do you trust me?” He asked softly, walking towards her.“Of course I do. You’re not the problem. It’s this… power that I have.” She whispered, rubbing her arm. Alaric stopped in front of her, b