I stood in the orientation hall, my hands clasped behind my back as I faced the figure across from me.
He was a representative of my master. The man’s back was turned, and a black hood was pulled up to obscure his features completely. Even in the dim morning light filtering through the tall windows, there was something distinctly menacing about his presence.
"Did you get my message?" I asked him quietly.
The hooded figure was silent for a long moment before responding. "Why are you so concerned about one newly admitted student?" He asked roughly. "This fixation is going to do little or nothing for our objectives."
"I know that, it’s just that —"
"This is not what you were sent here for," the man interrupted. "I heard you went as far as rescuing him from the claws of the Student President. That was not part of your mission parameters. The more you use your fighting skills, the more you raise their suspicions. The Academy has its eyes on you."
My jaw tightened, wondering why he was not seeing things from my perspective. "There’s something unusual about this student. His scent seemed different, and whenever my mind won’t let something go, , it always means there’s something significant there. My instincts have never been wrong before."
The man scoffed. "I’ll book you a session with both a therapist and a psychiatrist if you’re getting worked up over a boy."
I recoiled instantly, holding back the hiss that had formed in my mouth. "What?" I scoffed. "That’s not—why would you even think that?" I took a step back. "I’m not interested in the boy or any other boy in any romantic capacity. I am incapable of feeling that for both males and females. There’s simply this—"
"That’s called attraction," the man interrupted with cold amusement. "The fact that you noticed something as specific as his scent in a school filled with hundreds of people should tell you everything you need to know about your...priorities. Besides, your training didn’t take away your ability to love. You were not mutilated, were you?"
"This has nothing to do with my concerns," I sighed, feeling frustrated. "It’s about logic. Details. Patterns. I don’t chase shadows for sport."
"No?" the man said. "Then explain why you noticed his scent the moment he walked through the gates of the Academy? Why were you so quick to go after him when you heard the Student President had taken him? He’s not the first boy Marcus Webb has taken? I didn’t hear you running up five flights of stairs to rescue them."
"That’s what I thought," the man murmured. Without warning, he threw a leather satchel toward me, and I caught it.
"Follow the lead in there. If it clears your head, good. If not... I will still proceed to book a session with Dr. Elizabeth. It’s not that we don’t want you to pursue any romantic interest, now is so precarious for us, and we can’t have you getting distracted."
"I am not distracted," I said vehemently.
"That’s good. Go on a date with your girlfriend. Three nights from now will be the fresher’s party, welcoming new students to the Academy. Students from Ebonvale would be here, I’m sure. Rita won’t mind being intimate with you. Sex helps to clear the head."
"I told you," I sighed in exasperation. "I do not feel attraction for any woman or man. Rita is my girlfriend in books, and because the Academy demands it. I am not interested."
"Or because you can’t stop thinking about Eamon Riggs?"
Since I said nothing else in response, the man turned to leave, his dark robes billowing behind him, but I couldn’t let it go. The analytical part of my mind was screaming that there were too many inconsistencies, too many variables that didn’t add up."
"Wait," I called, jogging after the retreating figure. "There’s a reason why I am worried. You know our master asked me to keep an eye on Slater Riggs, and then this boy comes out of nowhere claiming he’s Slater’s stepbrother."
"I don’t think Eamon is Slater Rigg’s stepbrother. You should check that out at least."
The hooded man stopped so abruptly that I nearly collided with him. When he turned around, I quickly lowered my eyes in submission. It was forbidden to look at the face of a messenger.
"And why do you think that?" he asked, his voice suddenly quieter. He was considering it.
"I just need to know," I said carefully. "There’s something wrong with their story. Both of them act too strangely to be stepbrothers. Their body language, their interactions... they’re comfortable with one another for stepbrothers. When I rescued Eamon and had called Slater, I saw fear in his eyes. You don’t react like that unless there’s something more."
"You did five flights of stairs, should you really be judging?" the man fired back.
"It’s different," I sighed. "Can you just check it out for me?"
I felt him stare at me for what felt like an eternity, though it was probably only seconds. I kept my gaze fixed on the floor, waiting for judgment.
"Fine," the man said finally. "But if you pull this sort of stunt again—getting distracted by personal curiosities instead of following orders—I’ll have no choice but to report your...inconsistencies...to our master. And you know what happens if you lose focus."
"I have not lost focus," I said with a steely tone. "I’m sure you’ll find something."
"I will, but remember why you’re here, Winters," the man continued. "Your target isn’t some confused new student. It’s—"
The sound of footsteps coming towards the hall reached my ears. My head jerked towards the entrance, wondering what student would be coming in for the orientation exercise when we still had forty-five extra minutes before school activities in the Academy resumed for the day.
When I turned back, the messenger had vanished as if he’d never been there at all.
Quickly, I rushed to the large oak table at the centre of the hall and spread out the papers I’d prepared earlier—the itinerary for the morning orientation exercises for new students.
I took a deep breath, trying to control my emotions, and slowly, my expression returned to its usual mask.
As the footsteps stopped in front of the hall’s door, my wolf, Black, stirred within me with excitement. I knew who it was even before the door opened.
I tried to still my racing heart as I heard the door open slowly and then tentative steps into the hall before it closed.
His scent wafted to me, filling me with a strange, unexplainable need to turn towards it, to protect, to embrace it. I gritted my teeth, trying to fight the strange emotions, when a cold hand touched my shoulder.