#Chapter 13: Perceptions
Kael & Third Person POV
Kael
Lyra wasn’t the person I thought she was, it seemed.
“Where did you learn to fight like that?” I asked quietly, pulling her aside while the other students shuffled out of the room
She shrugged. “Nowhere.”
Bullshit. “You don’t just pick up skills like that out of nowhere,” I insisted. The Lyra I knew just a few weeks ago couldn’t even handle playfighting without having a panic attack, let alone holding her own against a fully–fledged she–wolf in a spar.”
“Yeah, well, maybe Cassidy was going easy on me,” Lyra replied
I quirked a brow, Cassidy definitely wasn’t going easy on Lyra–not at the end, at least. If I hadn’t stepped in, Cassidy would have bitten Lyra with her fangs. That was how desperate Cassidy was to win People don’t resort to dirty tactics like that unless they think, they can’t win otherwise
“You’ve been training, haven’t you?” I asked. “Has another male been teaching you how to fight? Luca, maybe? Or someone
else?”
To my complete surprise, Lyra laughed. Not just a chuckle, but a head–thrown–back, full–bellied laugh that echoed through the vaulted ceilings of the empty training center.
“No, Kael,” she said, composing herself, “I’m not training with anyone. Anyway, I have another class to get to.”
With that, she moved to step past me. But her refusal to tell me what was going on lately was beginning to rub my nerves raw, and without thinking, I reached out and grabbed her wrist before she could leave
“Lyra. Talk to me.”
Lyra whipped her head toward me, blue eyes flashing in a way I’d never seen before–not before a few days ago, at least. When everything had suddenly changed at the drop of a hat for reasons I still couldn’t quite figure out.
She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, Cassidy’s voice echoed through the room.
“Kael! Kael, walk me to class!
I dropped Lyra’s wrist, and without a word, she slipped away.
Third Person POV
Cassidy watched Lyra scurry away, eyes narrowing to dangerous slits. Her gaze then flicked to Kael, who was standing in the middle of the training centre with a confused and concerned look on his face.
“Something wrong?” Cassidy asked as Kael approached.
He shrugged “Lyra’s just acting strange, that’s all. I’m… concerned for her.”
Cassidy pursed her lips. Lyra wasn’t the only one who was acting strange; Kael wasn’t acting like himself lately, either. He never cared this much about Lyra before–in fact, she was always a nuisance to him, the adoptive little sister he could never
seem to shake off.
But lately.
With a sinking feeling, Cassidy began to put the pieces together in her mind. Lyra had loved Karl for years, and finally, he was beginning to return her feelings, wasn’t he? Lyra had finally worn him down.
1/3
+25 BONUS
Cassidy couldn’t think of another explanation for it.
Before, Lyra had been nothing more than an annoyance, a gnat buzzing around both of their heads. But now, it seemed that Lyra might be more of a threat than Cassidy originally thought.
Cassidy knew she had to do something, and quickly. She had to act before Kael left her for Lyra
Kael glanced at Cassidy, noticing how she had gone quiet. “Something wrong?”
She shook her head and forced a smile, stopping in the center of the hallway. “No. Nothing at all.” She leaned up on her
tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “I just have to handle something. I’ll see you later.”
Kael grunted in acknowledgment and turned to leave, but stopped. “By the way,” he said, “you shouldn’t
like that in class, no matter how frustrated you were. If it happens again, I’ll have to write you up
have to
tried to shift
Cassidy resisted the urge to scream and simply twisted her expression into something that resembled contrition “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” Kael nodded and strode away.
But the moment Kael was out of sight, Cassidy jumped into action. She couldn’t expose herself for fear of alienating herself from him, but she could do something to teach Lyra a lesson. It was bad enough that Lyra had humiliated her in class, but
trying to steal her boyfriend?
Cassidy wouldn’t stand for that
She and her friends found Lyra’s locker down the hall, designated with the small feather charm that Lyra liked to keep tied to
one of the slats.
Within moments, they had destroyed the locker–ripped down the feathers, smashed in the lock, and took everything out and dumped it all across the floor. They worked quickly, tearing up textbooks and papers, shredding drawings, and even cutting up the straps of one of Lyra’s prized satchels
Once their work was complete, they stepped back so Cassidy could observe the damage with a serene smile.
“There,” Cassidy said, dusting off her hands and heading to class with her giggling cohorts. “That’ll teach her.”
Luca bit his lip as Lyra surveyed the damage that someone had done to her locker. Whoever had smashed the lock and torn everything up was certainly angry, everything she had in there was in latters, strewn across the corridor like a murder scene
“Maybe we should go to Kael,” Blanca suggested, wringing her hands nearby. “In fact, let’s find him right now
“No.” Lyra stood and dusted off her pants. “Kael won’t help. I’ll handle this myself”
Luca’s eyebrows shot up. “You really should tell him. This was clearly premeditated, and-”
“I said, no” She dumped another armful of torn papers into the nearby trash can and glanced at her watch. Luca blinked in surprise at her refusal to get help from Kael. I’ve got to get to class, anyway. I’ll handle it later.”
And just like that, Lyra stalked away, her friend trailing behind her.
Luca watched them go with a confused expression. The lock on her locker door was completely smashed in, indicating that someone had done this out of anger.
Which meant that Lyra might be in trouble. If someone directed that anger physically toward her instead of just her things… Luca didn’t even want to consider what could be done to a wolfless in a place like this
Despite Lyra’s earlier protests, Luca went straight to Kael, finding him in his dorm in Full Moon Tower. He was sitting on t bed, flipping through a textbook, while the others were lounging on various pieces of furniture.
“Kael,” Luca said as he stepped into the room, “someone smashed Lyra’s locker and tore up all her stuff. I think she needs help”
the
+25 BONUS
Kael’s eyes snapped up briefly, and for a moment, Luca thought he might do something. But then he shook his head and returned his attention to his textbook. “If she needs my help, she’ll come ask me.”
Kacl frowned.
“Yeah, I’m sure she’ll come
e to you when she wants you,” one of Kael’s other friends–Rian, whose blond hair and blue eyes were just as sharp as his tongue–agreed, causing the others to snicker.
“She’s a wolfless freshman,” Luca insisted, stepping forward. “She could get seriously hurt. Ravencrest can be brutal, especially for people like her. Need I remind you guys what happened to that wolfless last year who slept with Emelie Foster’s boyfriend?”
They all shuddered at the reminder of the wolfless girl who had her head forcibly shaved and the word “WHORE” painted on her scalp, then was forced to walk across the quad completely naked before someone stepped in last year.
“Oh, she’ll be fine. She’ll come running to her Prince Charming before that happens,” Rian snorted. “Isn’t that right, Kael?”
Luca turned to Kael, expecting another snide remark to add to the mix. He had never seemed to like his adoptive sister much anyway, always viewing her as an annoyance more than anything.
But to Luca’s surprise, Kael simply stood and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him without a word.
