#Chapter 6: Blame Game
Lyra
As I walked past Kael, I could feel his eyes burning holes into the back of my head. No doubt my sudden shift in behavior- sudden for him, anyway–seemed completely out of character.
In my past life, I had been his little fangirl everywhere I went, especially when we were teenagers. Certainly, to suddenly wake up one morning and act completely unlike my usual self was a shock to him
But I didn’t care anymore. I couldn’t get close to Kael–I would not waste the second chance the
by repeating the very same mistakes I had made in my past life.
e Moon Goddess had given me
Luca, noticing what I had just done, shot me a curious glance. “Man, you really are acting differently.” Lips lifted in his signature smirk. “Is this a new tactic to attract Kael’s attention or something?”
I rolled my eyes. “No. It’s not a “tactic‘ at all. I’m just walking to the enrollment office.”
Luca didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t press the matter. After thanking him for the ride, we went our separate ways and I began heading to the enrollment office to get my paperwork set up.
Ravencrest really was just as beautiful as I remembered it, ivy–covered brick walls and slate roofs and the scent of freshly brewed coffee in the air. The leaves were already turning a brilliant array of golds and browns and yellows, the perfect fall morning to kick off the school year.
Despite everything. I couldn’t help but smile faintly as I made my way across the quad. Students were excitedly milling about on their first day–freshmen running to and fro in search of their dorms, sophomores and juniors playing frisbee on the grass, seniors making out with their college sweethearts on picnic blankets.
In my old life, I had always missed Ravencrest after graduating. I often joked to myself that I wished I could go back and do it
all over again, but do it right. Rather than focusing all of my attention on garnering Kael’s affection, I wished I had tried
harder in my classes, perhaps even taken up some extra–curriculars.
This time, I would do all of that and then some. In fact, as I passed by the various tables for student organizations and clubs on the stone pillars of the quad, I grabbed a few pamphlets and shoved them into my bag for later.
I made my way into the enrollment office, where a line of students was waiting to complete their first–day paperwork. I stepped into line behind a girl with strawberry blond hair, and suppressed a sigh when that girl turned around and revealed herself to be none other than Cassidy.
“Ah. There you are,” she said, turning fully to face me. “I was hoping to talk to you.”
Fantastic “What is it
Cassidy leaned closer, dropping her voice so only I could hear. “Keep being a good little girl and stay the hell away from Kael this year.
“He’s my foster brother. I can’t exactly avoid him all of the time.” No matter how much I wanted to.
Hazel eyes flashed. “You know what I mean. When we’re at school, you don’t know him.” She straightened, smoothing down her shirt as if my mere proximity had rumpled it. “Besides, he only has six months before his twentieth birthday, when he’ll find his mate. Which will be me, of course.”
Honestly, if she had somehow turned out to be his fated mate in this life, that would make things so much easier. But I knew that wasn’t the case.
When wolves turned twenty, they found their fated mates. It was supposed to be a cause for celebration, a true coming of age -finding the one person the Moon Goddess gifted to you and potentially spending the rest of your lives together.
Unless, of course, you rejected your mate.
#25 BONUS
Rejecting one’s mate was highly frowned upon, and could even have consequences for one’s woll. I hadn’t rejected Kael in my previous life because, of course, I loved him. And he didn’t reject me because… Well, I wasn’t sure. To torture me, perhaps?
But it didn’t matter. I was going to reject him this time. As soon as we found out and our bond snapped into place, I was going to say the words that would sever us forever.
“Kael Draven, I reject you.”
The very thought made my heart ache, but I knew it had to be done. Not repeating mistakes and all that.
“Hey. Are you listening to me?”
Cassidy, angered by my lack of response, suddenly grabbed my arm, her long nails digging into my skin hard enough to make me wince and forcefully shove her away. “Don’t touch me.” My shove sent her staggering backwards into a nearby student, who gasped as her books clattered to the floor.
“Hey!” Kael appeared out of seemingly nowhere, eyes flickering with anger. “Lyra, did you just hit Cassidy?”
“What? No-”
“She did,” Cassidy sniffled. “She shoved me for no reason!”
Kael grabbed my arm and leaned down to my level, which was quite far, considering our height difference. “Look, I don’t know what kind of tantrum you’re throwing today, but it stops here. First refusing to get into the car, and now this? Grow up, Lyra”
A pang of bitterness shot through me. Of course. Of course he would always choose others over me–Bianca, Cassidy, anyone but me
“Next” the receptionist called. My turn.
Not wanting to argue, I pulled my arm away and said coolly, “Sorry, Alpha”
Kael blinked. “So you’re not even using my name now?”
I shrugged and adjusted my satchel on my shoulder. “Tm a wolfless, so I have no right to call you by name. And you always prefer if I remember my lowly status as a wolfless, don’t you?”
Kael’s onyx eyes seemed to turn even blacker, if that was possible. But before he could respond, I turned away and strode up to the desk, ignoring the sensation of his gaze on my back once again.
After completing my paperwork, I made my way to my dorm. The receptionist gave me a map of the campus, but I didn’t need it, seeing as how I had already spent four years in this school in my previous life.
I found my dorm easily, it was situated in Waning Tower, one of the four towers that comprised the four houses of Ravencrest -Crescent, Waning, Waxing, and Full Moon. Back in the day, students were placed into towers depending on social status- Alphas and Betas in Full Moon, Gammas in Crescent, Omegas in Waxing, and wolfless in Waning.
Things had changed with the times, though, and students were now randomly placed since discrimination against wolfless was becoming more of a hot topic. Still a bit ironic that I, one of the handful of wolfless attending Ravencrest, was placed in Waning
But I always liked Waning Tower the best, anyway. It overlooked the large lake behind the campus and faced east, so I got a dood view of the sunrise every morning
My room was at the very top of the tower. In my previous life, I always got winded walking up the spiral stairs, and it was no different this time.
“Vow number three, 1 muttered when I finally reached the top, sweating and out of breath. “Take some PT classes,”
My wolf chuckled. “Out of shape?”
+25 BONUS
“Clearly. You haven’t been around all this time, so I haven’t been able to work out to the same degree as the others.”
I made my way down the hall to my door, which was already cracked open, indicating that my suitemate was inside. I knew who it was just by the sound of her voice: Bianca
“Don’t worry,” I heard her whispering. “She’s a wolfless, so she’ll be easy to deceive. If I can befriend her, I’ll be able to get
close to Kael.”
I pushed the door open, pretending I hadn’t heard. Bianca shoved her phone back into her pocket and whirled around, green eyes widening for a moment before her face settled into a smooth mask of calm
“You must be Lyra. I’m your suitemate, Bianca Bianca Carter. It’s a pleasure.”
“Lyra Draven,” I replied
She tilted her head. “Kael Draven’s sister?”
Foster sister.”
With that, I turned around and walked over to my bed, setting my suitcase down and opening it to get started unpacking.
In my previous life, Bianca, the Alpha daughter of Stoneridge Pack, had become my friend. She’d stood up for me to bullies, been the only one to sit with me at lunch, and had spent so many nights staying up late and talking to me in this very room as if she truly cared.
All the while, she had been using me to get closer to Kael in the hopes of one day becoming his Luna
Hell, she had probably orchestrated all of the bullying, too.
I recalled the vague things she had said before my death, calling me a parasite, admitting that she knew I was the last Silvercrest heir. She had to have been too young to have much to do with my pack’s slaughter, but she knew something
So this time, I would be the one doing the deceiving. I would play it cool, reveal little, play the part of a potential friend or ally. All the while, I would collect whatever information I could that pointed to my pack’s destruction.
I would accomplish what I had failed to do before. I would avenge my parents, avenge my pack. Bianca knew something, and I was going to find out whatever it was.
The rest of the day went by in a blur of unpacking, tidying my space, and preparing for my first official day of classes. By the time nighttime rolled around, I was admittedly exhausted, so I fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.
And t
that night, I dreamt of fire and blood.
The night my pack was slaughtered before my very eyes.
