Sleep did not come easily.
The academy quieted after curfew, but it never truly slept. Even from my bed, I could feel it the low, restless awareness beneath the stone, like something breathing just out of reach. The forest outside pressed close to the windows, branches scraping softly now and then, a reminder that nothing here was accidental.
I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling, replaying the day in fragments. The gates, the dining hall, Rowan's voice.
This academy doesn't like unanswered questions.
I turned onto my side, exhaling slowly, forcing my thoughts into stillness. Attention was dangerous, curiosity even more so. Whatever Rowan thought he had seen in me whatever others might sense and not name, I could not afford for it to matter. Across the room, Elowen shifted. "You're awake," she said quietly. "Yes."
She hesitated, then rolled onto her elbow, facing me. Moonlight caught in her golden hair, softening thr sharp confidence she wore during the day. Uo close, she looked younger than she acted. "I didn't mean to make dinner awkward," she said. "About earlier."
"It wasn't awkward," I replied. "Just... informative." A small huffy of laughter escaped her. "That's one way to put it."
She was silent for a moment, then said, "I should probably explain somethings. About me, About why I reacted the way I did." I waited.
"I'm a scent-reader," Elowen said. "Not officially...it's not exactly encouraged."
That got my attention. She noticed. "Most wolves can pick up the basics, fear, aggression, pack alignment. I can read deeper, Emotional residus, Intent, sometimes. It runs in my mother's line." "That sounds... useful," I said carefully.
"It is and it isn't." She sighed. "People don't like being seen too clearly. So I learned early to pretend I didn't notice things."
Her gaze flicked to me, sharper now. "But you...you don't register properly. You're not blank, you're just...layered. Like something folded in on itself." I didn't respond. Not because I didn't have an answer but because I had too many.
"I won't pry," she added quickly. "I just wanted you to know I'm not staring at you because I think you don't belong here. I'm staring because I can't tell how you belong." "That makes two of us," I said.
The tension eased slightly afterwards. Elowen laid back, turning her face towards the window. "For what it's worth," she said, "Dormitory C isn't where they put fragile transfers. It's where they put variables."
I closed my eyes. Sleep eventually came, thin and restless.
Morning arrived wrapped in mist.
The academy looked different at dawn less imposing, more ancient. Stome paths glistened with dew, and the forest exhaled cool air that carried the scent of pine and earth. Students moved more quietly now, energy contained, purposeful.
Elowen walked beside me toward our first practical class. "You'll like this one," she said. "Combat theory. No shifting allowed for first years." "That's... reassuring," I said.
Elowen smiled faintly, like someone who knew reassurance was relative here. "Don't get too comfortable. They still expect blood just not fur."
The training wing sat apart from the rest of the academy, a long low structure of dark stone sunk partially into the earth. As we stepped inside, the air changed immediately, cooler, sharper. It carried the clean bite of iron and old magic, the kind that settled into your lungs and stayed there.
Rows of students filled the chamber, divided into loose lines rather than strict formations. No one spoke loudly, Eve laughter, when it surfaced was muted... controlled. Wolves understood spaces like this. They respected them.
I took in the room with careful neutrality. Weapons lined the walls, polished but well used. Blunted blades, weighted staffs, reinforced gloves. This wasn't ceremonial, it was preparation.
Professor Kael entered without announcement. I felt him before I saw him, a sudden compression in the room, like the air itself had decided to pay attention. He was tall, broad shouldered, his presence rougher than the instructors we'd met so far. A scar ran down one forearm, visible where his sleeves were rolled back. His eyes swept the room once, predatory and precise.
"Combat theory," he said. His voice was gravel and steel. "For those of you who think that means talking, you're already behind." A ripple of tension passed through the group.
"You will not shift," Kael continued. "You will not rely on claws, fangs or brute strength. You will learn balance, timing, restraint." His gaze lingered on a few students who looked less than pleased. "Power without control is noise."
His eyes moved again, this time they landed on me. Not with the sharp curiosity Rowan carried but with something more... assessing, he was measuring me in a way that had nothing to do with scent or rank. Interesting, his expression seemed to say, dangerous, if mishandled. "Pair up," Kael ordered.
The room shifted immediately, alliances forming by instinct. Elowen stepped closer to me, already opening her mouth... "Not you two," Kael said, without looking directly at us. Her mouth snapped shut. I felt several gazes turn our way.
"You," he added, pointing at me. "With Vale."
Rowan stepped forward from across the room, expression unreadable. He didn't look surprised, that bothered me more than if he had. We took our positions in the center of the floor.
"Rules are simple," Kael said, "First touch scores, no enhanced speed, no lethal intent." His eyes flicked between us, "Begin."
Rowan moved first, not fast, not aggressively but decisively. He tested distance, footwork precise, body relaxed in a way that suggested confidence rather than arrogance. He wasn't trying to overwhelm me. He was trying to learn.
I adjusted instinctively, letting my body remember what my mind locked away. I kept my movements efficient, minimal, enough to respond, never enough to reveal.
Our first exchange ended with neither of us making contact. A murmur rippled through the watching students. Rowan's eyes sharpened. "You're good," he said quietly. ''I pay attention ," I replied. "Most humans freeze." "Most humans aren't here." That earned a brief smile, gone as quickly as it appeared.
He pressed again, this time changing rhythm, forcing me to adapt. I felt the familiar pull beneath my skin, the urge to step beyond limit everyone assumed I had. I didn't.
Instead I misstepped just slightly, to let him think he'd cornered me. He reached. I redirected. My hand brushed his wrist, barely a touch, but enough.
Kael's voice cut through the air. "Point." Silence followed. Rowan looked down where I had touched him, then back at my face. Something unreadable passed through his eyes, respect, maybe or concern. Kael studied me openly now. "Again."
The second round ended faster, Rowan adapted, so did I. By the third, the room was no longer pretending not to watch. When Kael finally called a halt, my pulse was steady, my breathing controlled. Rowan looked... thoughtful.
"Interesting," Kael said at last. "You fight like someone who knows exactly how much to hide."
A few students shifted uncomfortably. I met his gaze. "Is that a problem?" His mouth curved, not quite a smile. "That depends on why."
Class ended soon after, but the weight of his words followed me out.
Elowen caught up with me in the corridor, eyes bright. "You didn't tell me you could move like that." "I didn't move," I said. She snorted softly. "You absolutely did."
As we walked back the main wing. I felt it again, that sense of narrowing focus, threads tightening. People watching not because they were curious but because they were recalculating.
I had come here intending to disappear into the background. Instead, the academy had begun to lean in.
And something told me this was only the beginning.