I am the last to leave the house, but my legs walk faster than they can carry, hoping to get to school just in time to escape the crowd.

I don't.

Immediately I enter the hallway I am hit with a crowd of students scattered all over the space all bubbling about the news of the Alpha heirs coming into our pack.

"Keep your head down." I say to myself as I try to weave through the crowd. "Be invisible. Don't let them see you"

I clutch my old bag tight till my fingers ache, because I don't want it's contents pouring all over the floor since the students hit me constantly while passing like I am invisible.

My head aches with each step I take, my arm still throbs from the burn but my eyes remain glued to the ground till I hit something.

I slowly raise my head up.

"I'm sure you've heard of the three Alpha heirs? They're coming today." Lila says. Her small gang all stand behind her like bodyguards. "What are your expectations?"

Of course it's the Alpha heirs. That's all everyone has ever talked about all morning.

"Do you even think you stand a chance?" a guy chips in from behind her. Others laughs.

"Who would even look at a poor pathetic loser like you," Avery says and more laughter follows.

I duck my head lower. "Let me through. I have no expectations."

It is true - almost.

"Oh, suddenly her tongue is loose." Lila says sharply in a voice that screams amusement. Like she didn't even know I could talk. "You think I don't know? That you're expecting them to be a hero."

"Please let me through." I say, clearly not in the mood for a fight. But they don't listen. They never do.

Henry kicks me to the ground and I fall on my buttocks.

"Please, let me be." I plead. But only more kicks and blows just come raining down on me while I trash helplessly.

"Let's make her hideous so that when the alphas come, they won't even look at her."

"Yes... let's do that."

The boys hold me down while Lila and Avery exit and return with dirty water from only God knows where.

I hold my breath as the water soaks me from the inside out, even to my bag. Students point fingers at me and laugh as they pass by. I do nothing but wallow in humiliation.

"Stay calm. Stay quiet. It will all be over." I tell myself as I drag my body up and head to my locker to get a new change of clothes.

Years in this academy have taught me that I can never go wrong with spare clothes.

Even from my locker, I can hear the excitement in their voices as they talk in low voices and hushed tones about the interpack integration program that is bringing the alpha heirs to my school while I am not allowed to be excited or even hope to have any sort of connection with the Alpha heirs. They won't look at someone like me.

I am just about to go and change in the restroom when Nova makes a loud entry, announcing her presence. The hallway doors that were locked open up with a loud thud and she shows up looking all pink and glamorous in her pink dress and perfect hair.

Everyone stops talking immediately and turns to look at her. Yeah... that is so her.

I roll my eyes. She loves drama and attention so much that she tends to overdo it sometimes.

I tiptoe to the restroom while the students flock to her. I don't need to stay to know that they are all worshipping her, and trying to be in her good books.

"Tell me about the alpha heir," one shouts from the back.

"Is he going to be staying at your place?"

"Are we going to be invited to the inter-pack summit?"

I shut the washroom door tight behind me to avoid hearing one more word.

Slowly, I slide to the ground.

"All I need to do is to survive school today. Survive it." I tell myself. My heart is beating fast - too fast. If only it was that easy.

My head is still banging and the bandage on my arm is ruined. Thank God I brought extra.

I force myself up and run cold water on my face. My eyes close automatically as the cold hits my skin and slowly, I begin to wash my face. Relief comes almost immediately but goes quickly..

I take off the bandage and wear new ones. Then change into dry and clean clothes. I consider staying in that restroom for the rest of the day, but I have to study. That is the only thing I am allowed to have.

I check my time.

Shit.

It's ten minutes to the next class and I have to grab my books so I can get to class early.

I speed out of the restroom and find myself back in the hallway, in front of my locker.

Nova is still talking to the students around her in a voice so loud and clear that I can hear her smoothly.

"Do you think any of the alpha's would take interest in me?" She asks sweetly.

"Of course," Martha replied fast. Too fast. "I think you are the perfect candidate. Who wouldn't love you?"

Nova laughs loudly. "You are right. Anyone would love me. Unlike my sister." She gestures toward me. The students turn, laughing loudly.

"She doesn't stand a chance." Lila says.

"Oh yes, she doesn't."

"They are all yours."

"Of course, they are." Nova replies. Swelling from their praise and support like it's the air she breaths. "Poor Ayla."

Their laughter becomes louder.

"I have an announcement." She pause and the hallway goes quiet.

I am still frantically searching for my notes on pack laws, land and history to escape but they choose to hide today of all days.

"I will make the Alpha's mine." She declares. "They are mine. And mine alone."

Her words settle on the hallway and te silence that follows turns cold. Nobody dares to make an improper sound until she walks past them triumphantly and walks towards me.

"Do you hear that Ayla?" She whispers in my ears. "They're mine. If any of them sniff towards you, you're gone."

Her threat is real, I know it. She means every word of it.

"I under-" I don't get to finish my sentence when the atmosphere in the hallway changes.

"What is it again," I scream in my head.

The students immediately start murmuring and numbing. Nova looks up immediately.

"Oh my god, the heirs are here."

My book falls from my hand.

Nova swiftly walks out of my side and towards the alphas. That's when I turn.

They walk in the same steps and grace. With the aura of alpha authority that doesn't need words to be announced.

The students freeze mid-talk as they stand in the front of the hallway, assessing the place.

They stand for only a minute. Then walks further.

Students don't need to be told to create space for them. That is exactly how overwhelming their presence is.

Nova rushes towards them. "Hi, I'm Nova. The-"

They move past her without listening. Nova chases after them. "I just want to tell you that my father is hosting the summit, if you need anything-"

They keep walking like she is part of the building. Her smile holds for exactly two seconds after they pass. Then something flickers in it. Small. Fast. Gone before anyone else sees it. But I do.

I look back toward the three of them who are already halfway down the corridor, past the crowd, and past me.

The third one stops- like something just caught his attention and turns.

Slowly, his eyes find mine.

I should look away like I always do, but i don't. He holds my gaze for two beats longer than he should then turns and walks away.

My heart suddenly begins to beat too fast. My whole being reacting to that one look. My hand releases the book it is holding.

Nova somewhere behind me goes very still. One different from her usual stillness.

'Stop it,' I tell myself. 'Stop it right now. You shouldn't react to them this much.''

I push off the locker and go back to class refusing to look back.

But even as I leave, I can feel something jump wildly inside me the whole way to the classroom. And no matter how hard I press it down, it refuses to stay quiet.

Caius POV

"Something is definitely wrong with this territory."

I don't look up from the documents. "Define wrong."

Ryker stands at the window with his arms crossed, eyes on the academy grounds below. He has been standing there for twenty minutes. "My wolf hasn't settled since we arrived."

"Mine either," Zane says from the couch. He is spinning a pen between his fingers, the way he does when he is thinking about something he hasn't said yet. "I thought it was the new environment... you know, the unfamiliar pack energy."

"It's not the environment."

Now I look up.

Ryker turns from the window. His jaw set in the way it gets when he already knows something and is waiting for the rest of us to catch up.

"No," I say slowly. "It's not. Because I felt it too."

The three of us sit with that for a moment. Outside, students move between buildings in clusters, loud with excitement. We always have that effect on people so it doesn't move us a little bit. But that's not why we are here.

We are here to investigate Dravenmoor. To look into its alpha Dorian Dravenmor. The pack energy here is mid-tier at best. Nothing wild enough to rattle us like this.

But this - whatever this is - is extraordinary.

I chose to ignore it, because ignoring it is our safest option.

"We are here for one reason," I say, clearing my voice to draw their attention. "Dravenmoor's compliance records are a disaster. His pack governance is built on violations. We must document everything if we want to present our findings to the council. Then leave." I look between them. "Whatever our wolves are reacting to is just a distraction."

"Agreed," Zane says.

Ryker says nothing. He just turns back to the window and I take that as agreement.

***

After class break, Nova Dravenmoor shows up walking in a seductive manner. Her heels click the floor in a deliberate rhythm.

Zane scoffs.

She must really have some nerve to be walking towards us with such confidence.

She rounds the corridor with a smile already in place, looking all blonde and polished with two girls trailing her like a decorative proof of her importance.

"I was hoping I would run into you." Her eyes find mine first. I hold her gaze in a straightforward manner. The greedy ones always come to me first.

"How are you settling in? Do you need anything? If there's anything the Dravenmoor estate can offer-"

"We're settled," I cut her off mid speech.

I can see her shiver, just from the weight of my words, but she does not back down. She doesn't know when to.

"I just want your stay to reflect well on us. My father takes hosting seriously and so do I." She tilts her head and flips her hair backwards. "I know the records room your team requested. I can guide you there if you don't mind."

I am getting impatient. I don't have the time to chit chat with irrelevant people or give in to distractions. "We have a guide."

"I'm better." She says with boldness. Like she would be able to convince us to let her if she tries hard enough. Beside me, I feel Zane shift. He is getting impatient as well.

"We appreciate it," Zane says pleasantly. "We'll manage."

Her smile stays, but she pauses. Raising her head up high as she thinks of a better way to approach the situation.

Ryker starts walking. Not giving her any chance for one more word. Zane and I follow.

Behind us, she grumbles-a classic sign of frustration-and runs forward to catch up with our long steps.

"Remember the dinner." She says sharply and out of breath. "My father is hosting, and I don't want you to forget-"

"We've seen the schedule," I say, still moving.

"If you need company you know where to find me," she shouts after us.

"Oh please, shut the fuck up." Zane snaps. I smile. He never runs out of patience so quickly.

Finally, she shuts up, turning all red.

She looks between the three of us. Searching for even one flicker of interest, one opportunity that she can use to come into our lives and occupy like she has done to every room she enters. But there is none.

"The offer stands," she says finally. Then lifts her chin and walks away with the same grace she came with. The two girls scurry after her.

Zane watches her go. "We embarrassed her." He says, amused. "I'm not sure she'll handle that well"

"I don't care," comes my reply.

He laughs. "I betcha she'll be back."

"Can we just talk about something else?"

I follow Ryker's line of sight and see what he's focused on. Or rather who.

There she is again. Not Nova. Her sister.

***

She's at the far end of the corridor walking to her locker like one wrong move can cost her something heavy. Trying so hard to be invisible.

Her head is down, bag pulled close and sleeves long despite the warmth of the building. My sharp vision immediately goes to the cut on her head.

I'm not supposed to care this much, but how won't I when my wolf completely loses control of everything once he sees her.

'respect yourself.' I warn him, but he doesn't listen. This is the first time he is not listening and it's because of her.

"There she is," Zane says quietly, interrupting me from my thoughts.

"The Dravenmoor's daughter," I say.

"Stepdaughter." Ryker's voice comes out lower than usual. He corrects me with his eyes still glued to her. "She's the one from the first wife."

I glance at him. "You've been paying attention."

"She lives in the house we're investigating."

That is true, but we also know that's not the whole reason why he's interested in her.

She pulls a book from the locker and holds it against her chest then closes the door. She looks around once and starts hurrying to class before anyone can really meet her or catch up with her.

"She is a nobody," Zane says in a matter of fact tone.

"She has no rank, no pack role and barely a social presence." He pauses. "So why does she have that effect on us?"

I wonder why too. Why something pulls her to her so strongly that we can resist, no matter how hard we try to. It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't.

"There is something wrong in that house," Ryker says.

"We know there's something wrong in that house," I reply. "That's why we're here."

"You are wrong. It's not just the records." He finally turns away from her to me. "It's her."

He lets the word settle between us. The tension hanging in the air.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"It's the way she moves. The long sleeves. The way she angles her body toward exits when voices begin to rise in a room. The cut of her head." He pauses for a beat. "They're hurting her." He squeezes his fist subconsciously, till the ruler in his hands breaks.

His words land with weight. "They're hurting her."

I should not care, but I begin to think about it. How long has this been going on? How deep did the abuse go?

It disturbs me that I'm thinking about it-about her.

Zane is also quiet. The casual amusement that lives on his face permanently has turned to something else. He is watching her with the same sharpened focus now. Perhaps, thinking what I'm thinking.

"Is it still happening?" he asks.

"Yes," Ryker says.

She reaches the end of the corridor and turns without looking back. The moment she's gone, something in my chest tugs at me painfully. Consistent. I raise a brow.

"She is the daughter of the man we are investigating," I say in a controlled voice. "If there is abuse happening under his roof, we need to get evidence quickly-"

"Then we must summon him," Zane finishes, looking at me with a serious expression. "And hold him accountable."

"Yes," I reply. "But first, let's find proof."

I pick up my folder and walk forward. Behind me, Ryker takes one last look down the empty corridor then follows.

He doesn't say anything.

He doesn't need to.