WILLA
I knew my life at this school was doomed.
I had only been here a few hours and I was already making headlines. And now Elyse's best friend, Verah, had punched an Alpha-level werewolf.
According to the notes Elyse had scribbled in her guidebook, Alpha-level wolves were nearly as powerful as the Alpha heirs. The heirs belonged to House Aurelian, the direct successors destined to lead their pack houses one day.
The Alpha levels, on the other hand, also came from Alpha bloodlines, but they were usually the second, third, or fourth sons.
There were seven of them in total, each acting as a house alpha within the academy. And now that I thought about it, I remembered the name.
Lance Beckett. He was from House Garrick.
Elyse had written a note beside his name in the guidebook:
I hate him.
If I had known his name earlier, I probably would have avoided him. Then again, I had been completely lost.
Now I was the center of attention, even though I hadn't been the one to punch an Alpha.
"That idiot," Verah muttered under her breath.
She tossed her phone onto the table with a frustrated huff, glaring at it as if it had personally offended her.
Curious, I glanced at the screen. A message from the headmaster. I looked back at her cautiously.
"Are you in trouble?" I asked quietly.
After all, this was technically my fault. I should have been the one facing the consequences.
Verah scoffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder.
"In trouble? Please," she said dismissively. "Maybe with my father, who won't let this slide since I punched the family's favorite child. But the headmaster? Not a chance."
Family favorite child. Immediately, Rachel came to mind. I pushed back the thought of her out of my head as fast as it came.
I frowned. "Is he related to you?"
Verah looked at me, a strange expression crossing her face. She reached over and briefly pressed the back of her palm against my forehead before pulling away.
"You're really acting weird, Elyse," she said. "Who doesn't know that idiot is my cousin? We've been in this school for over two years now and he's been our biggest tormentor. Being in a natural rivalry with his house only makes it worse."
Cousins.
That explained why she had punched him without hesitation. And why Elyse had written about hating him in the guidebook.
What I still couldn't understand was why Elyse would promise him anything in the first place. If I hated someone that much, the last thing I'd do would be making promises to them.
Suddenly, the noise in the cafeteria dipped. Not complete silence, but enough to make me notice.
A strange breeze swept through the room, coming from nowhere. The air shifted, thick with something that had nothing to do with the food in front of us.
It smelled like wealth. Authority. Power. Everyone was staring toward the entrance.
Curious, I turned to look.
My breath caught in my throat. Two boys had just walked in.
Lance… and someone I didn't recognize.
The one in front was tall and broad-shouldered, moving with the kind of quiet confidence that made people instinctively step out of his way. His blond hair fell slightly messy over his forehead, and a faint scar cut through one eyebrow, like a souvenir from too many fights.
A smirk tugged at his lips as his eyes slowly scanned the cafeteria, as though he were searching for something.
Then he nodded toward an empty table in the center of the room.
I had noticed that space the moment we entered the cafeteria.
One whole section of tables sat completely empty. No one dared to sit there, even though the rest of the cafeteria was almost packed. Students walked around it like it was cursed.
The way they avoided it made my curiosity spike.
I swallowed, watching as the blond boy continued toward that table. He stopped just beside it, hands slipping into his pockets.
Then he turned slightly. Like he had felt my eyes on him. Our gazes almost met.
Heat rushed to my cheeks and I quickly looked away, focusing on my plate like it had suddenly become the most fascinating thing in the world.
The hairs at the back of my neck prickled. He was watching me. Intensely.
I grimaced and poked at my food, pretending to be busy until I felt safe enough to glance up again.
But before I could, the air shifted once more.
Whispers rippled through the cafeteria.
"Number one is here too. Today is definitely a good day."
Number one?
I didn't have to wonder for long. Kol stepped into the cafeteria.
"Oh my god, he's gorgeous."
"Move, I want to see!"
"Stop pushing!"
Kol paused just inside the entrance.
Girls immediately surrounded him like moths to a flame. They circled him, giggling and whispering, some practically swooning as he walked forward like he belonged on a runway.
The noise was growing louder when a sharp, shrill voice cut through everything.
"Get lost, losers!"
A beautiful honey-blonde girl with flawless pale skin walked in like she owned the place. She headed straight for Kol and wrapped her arms around him with easy familiarity.
I glanced at Verah, then back at Kol.
Yesterday in the infirmary I had assumed they were close. Maybe even together. But Verah didn't look bothered in the slightest.
Despite the shift in the room's atmosphere, she was completely absorbed in her phone. My chest tightened as the girl leaned in and kissed him.
Before I could stop myself, my fingers curled into fists against the table. I forced down a hard swallow.
I couldn't understand why Kol affected me this way.
A strange mix of longing and heartbreak twisted inside my chest. I had only met him yesterday, yet whenever he was nearby, I wanted his attention on me. Only me.
And seeing him with another girl made something ugly stir in my stomach.
"That," the girl said after pulling away from his lips, "is just a reminder."
Her eyes swept across the girls watching them. "To let everyone know he's mine."
She pulled a wipe from her pink purse and made a dramatic show of wiping Kol's lips. Then, with clear disdain, she tossed the used wipe straight at a nearby student's face. The student picked it up, took one deep inhale, and promptly collapsed.
The girl with Kol snickered, rolling her eyes. After that, she hooked her arm through his and continued walking with him toward the table where Lance and the other boy were sitting.
There were still four empty seats waiting there.
"Who are they?" I murmured.
"Who?" Verah asked.
I blinked, turning to her. I hadn't even realized I'd spoken out loud.
Her gaze followed the direction I had been looking before returning to me. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"We're getting your brain checked later," she said flatly. "Because this joke stopped being funny a few minutes ago."
I forced a weak smile and shifted in my chair.
"Sorry," I muttered. "I probably hit my head harder than I thought. Maybe that's why I can barely remember anything."
Verah didn't look convinced. She continued staring at me like I'd completely lost my mind.
It wasn't my fault I hadn't been handed a manual explaining everything when someone decided to dump me into this academy.
Still, Verah sighed and continued anyway.
"You've already met Kol Archer of House Aurelian," Verah began. "Alpha heir and number one in the whole school. Then there's my idiot cousin, Lance, from House Garrick. And that one is Eric Callahan from House Cassian, Number two… and a total fuck boy." She paused, wrinkling her nose.
A small smile slipped onto my lips. Verah immediately shot me a glare.
"Don't smile," she warned. "He's just as much of a jerk as my big-headed cousin. We don't talk to him at all. Only Kol."
Noted. But… why?
"What about the girl?" I asked, glancing back toward their table.
She was laughing at something Eric had said, her fingers lazily threading through Kol's hair as if she owned him.
"That's Iris Barret," Verah said, rolling her eyes. "The self-proclaimed Alpha Queen of the academy. Kol's girl. And our mortal enemy."
She looked back at me seriously. "So stay away from her."
Noted, I repeated silently.
Apparently Elyse and her best friend had quite a list of enemies here.
"Oh, and I almost forgot," Verah added. "Aside from that bitch inserting herself where she isn't needed, the boys are part of the Apex Seven. Each of them represents one of the seven houses in the academy."
Then she returned to staring at her phone like the conversation was over. That explained the way everyone in the cafeteria had reacted.
And the empty table. It wasn't just any table. It belonged to them. I glanced back again.
The moment I did, my eyes collided with Kol's.
Something strange fluttered inside my stomach the instant our gazes met.
Heat rushed up my neck and into my cheeks. I bit down on my lower lip, trying to look away. But I couldn't.
Kol held my gaze steadily, his jaw clenching.
Until Iris noticed.
Her eyes darkened the moment they landed on me.
"Stop looking at them. It'll make it seem like you're interested in them again," Verah scolded.
Again? What did she mean by again?
I forced myself to look away from Iris's burning stare and let my gaze wander around the cafeteria instead. The students had mostly returned to whatever they had been doing before the Apex Seven arrived, but the atmosphere still felt different.
Like everyone was quietly aware of who was in the room now.
Still, something else kept nagging at me. If Elyse and Verah were as popular as people made it seemed yesterday, why were we sitting alone?