Morning arrived quickly.
Theodora didn't get much sleep after that. Not when she couldn't stop thinking about everything, and definitely not when she had a swollen, throbbing wrist that wasn't healing at all.
Once it was dawn, she rolled off the bed and began to get ready for class. She hadn't heard any movement from Zeke since he lay down, and there he was, lying down with an arm thrown over his eyes.
Every movement sent sparks of pain through her arm, but she managed through it and took a quick bath. As she did, she stared at herself in the bathroom mirror, realising that her hair had grown a bit longer in just two days. It was about to touch her shoulders.
She gave it a quick trim before she left the bathroom.
As she walked out, she was already putting on a change of clothes. She crossed the room and picked up her boots to wear, favouring her injured arm. With her head lowered, she could feel Zeke's gaze on her, and it was as heavy and dark as always, but she ignored him.
She wanted to ask him if he wasn't going to class this morning, but it was none of her concern. Once she was done slipping her boots, she picked up everything else she needed and left quickly.
The moment she walked out, she met the brown haired boy standing outside. He saw her walk out and looked surprised, "You spent the night in there? He let you?"
She glanced up at him, and he flinched back from what she saw. She had black circles under her eyes, and her eyes were a bit swollen the pain she was swallowing back.
"Yeah," She groaned, "I made it,"
And then, she skipped breakfast and headed straight to class.
She was the first to arrive and chose a seat just by the window in the middle row. The fresh air was perfect, and she rested her broken wrist on the desk which was hidden behind a makeshift wrap and covered by the sleeves of her shirt.
She stared out the window, and her thoughts expanded. Gravemont was supposed to be a place she would lie low, but so far, the exact opposite has been happening.
In about thirty minutes, the class began filling up. It was almost time for classes to commence. Someone sat down next to her, and soon enough, the class became noisy.
Theodora wondered how Eric was doing. She missed him and was worried about him and Finn. She was particularly concerned that Finn might be cheating on him with Jeremy, which made her restless. She didn't want anyone to break Eric's heart.
Theo sighed, resting her chin on the palm of her good arm.
*Seraphina,* She called inside her softly, *How are you feeling now?*
*Not so good* her wolf replied, *But I'm getting better. Your wrist should be healed within two days,*
Two days? *That's a long time*
*I know. It's what the pendant did to me. I can barely stand right now* Seraphina breathed, a long deep guttural noise.
*What exactly did it do? What was that red flash that woke Zeke up?*
*I don't know* Sera replied with another tired sigh, *But if there's one thing I can make out of that, it's that the pendant might have either sensed your pain and reacted, or...,*
*I've been in worse pain than this, and it didn't do anything then,*
*Or...,* Sera continued, *It reacted to the person who caused you pain. It reacted to Zeke, and those...things you saw within him,*
Theo blinked, *What does that mean?*
*It means Zeke is the first person your pendant is reacting to in any way. Usually, it's always holding back the darker side of you, and I've told you before that it might not be the only thing that pendant holds back. You're supposed to have found your mate since you turned eighteen, but you're already twenty-one and you're still mateless*
*If not finding my mate is the price to pay for keeping that pendant on, then I'm willing to take it* Theodore had already made up her mind a long time ago.
*That could mean your mate could be right next to you, or you could walk past him any time, any day, and you wouldn't recognise him*
*He should recognise me, then!* She said.
*Didn't he?*
Theodora rolled her eyes, *Are you referring to Zeke?*
Seraphina snarled at her.
*Oh come on, that one is just crazy like his dad. He sees an ancient necklace around my neck and suddenly thinks he has some Wolfy claim on me*
*What if you're wrong? I mean, you're more attracted to him than you're to Eric, you know that, right?*
Theodora felt her throat go dry, *What? I'm so not!* She bit her lips, *Can we please talk about the pendant?*
*That's exactly what I'm saying. The pendant must have reacted to him because he's your mate!*
*If he's my mate, I'll kill myself!* Theodora almost yelled.
"You good?" A voice asked
She turned to the boy sitting next to her. He had curly black hair and a demeanour that suggested he never took things too seriously.
"Yeah," She nodded.
She must have spoken too loudly and reacted on the outside, too.
The boy leaned down on an arm, "You're the guy that beat up Ronan and Dax at combat class, right?"
"What if I am?"
"They're in the backseat, glaring at you,"
Theodora turned around and met Dax's glare. Ronan was in the middle of the three boys, and the way they stared told her they weren't done with her.
She turned back to the curly guy, "That's because they haven't learnt their lesson properly,"
"You fought so well yesterday. With your level of skills, you should be able to go toe to toe with a second year and last a few minutes before...," He trailed away.
"The Second years are that strong? I don't believe it,"
"You should come to their evening combat classes and watch. Then, you'll be convinced about it," He extended an arm, "Name's Liam,"
She looked at his arm with caution, "You sure about that? I'm being targeted, you know,"
"Don't worry," Liam huffed, "I can defend myself quite well. Bullies don't scare me,"
She took his hand, "I'm Theo... Thaddeus!"
"Theo Thaddeus?"
"Thaddeus," She corrected.
"Nice. So rumour is," He said, lowering his voice conspiratorially, "They've changed our Professor. Remember Professor Kilavan, who was our homeroom teacher last week? Yeah, I don't think so anymore,"
Theodora raised a brow, "But why?"
Liam shrugged, "No idea," He then leaned back on his seat and loosely crossed his arms, "But they say he was forcefully removed by someone with higher authority,"
Before she could respond, the classroom door opened and silence took over the room.
Boots clicked against the polished floor as he walked in, and Theo's breath caught and her spine straightened instinctively.
Oh no. It couldn't be.
The man reached the front of the class and set down a stack of thin folders. His blue eyes drifted over the students slowly, and when it came to her side, she once again, instinctively, looked down at her desk to avoid those eyes.
His gaze lingered. Longer than it should. Her spine stiffened even more.
Finally, it crossed over her and moved to the back.
"Your previous instructor has been dismissed." His voice was as calm as ever, with a terrifying edge to it, "You will address me as Professor Sylas Veylor. I expect discipline, silence, and improvement. Anything less is a waste of my time,"
Theo squeezed her eyes shut, cursing silently. This couldn't be happening! Of all the Professors in this school, why did it have to be him?!!