Professor Radcliff deducted a hundred points from Violet for her "blatant disrespect" of werewolves. However, Violet wasn’t even slightly fazed. She checked her ranking, and the point deduction had barely made a dent.
But then, that was when it clicked on her head. She might have been played by the principal. Jameson had supposedly deducted five hundred points from Griffin for assaulting her, but with what she had just experienced, Violet realized that Griffin probably hadn’t even felt the loss. Not when he had so much points to spare.
Principal Jameson must have done it just to pacify her, like a parent pretending to punish a spoiled child. What the fuck! That woman had fooled her so well, and the realization sent rage bubbling up inside her.
Violet clenched her fists, her nails biting into her palms. She so wanted to confront that woman right now. But Violet couldn’t focus on that now. She had bigger problems. She had just made an enemy out of the werewolves.
With no idea if she had any sort of immunity from their retaliation, Violet decided she wasn’t going to take any chances. So, as soon as the bell signaled the end of class, she bolted out of the room. She didn’t stop for anything or anyone, determined to put as much distance between herself and any potential trouble as possible.
"Hey, wait up!" someone called, and Violet looked back to see Dion running toward her.
"Hey," Dion panted as he caught up to her.
"Hey," Violet replied, just as Lila appeared beside her as well. God, the girl wouldn’t give her any breathing space.
Dion turned to Violet, "I wanted to thank you for what you did back there, you know, sticking up for me. Although you might want to tone down the mockery a little bit, wolves take any insult to their heritage very personally."
"Whoa, hold on a minute," Violet shot back. "I didn’t do that for you. Your situation might have prompted my response, sure, but that racist prick had it coming. And besides..." She added with thick sarcasm, "The wolves have no problem throwing shade our way, but when we return the favor, suddenly they’re all aggressive."
"I’m just saying, don’t go riling up the wrong people or making them think you’re racist towards wolves. In short, be careful around here." Dion advised.
"Don’t worry," Lila chirped in, draping her arm around Violet’s shoulders as if they were besties. "I’ll keep a good eye on her and make sure she doesn’t fall into danger." She was taking her self-appointed guardian role quite seriously.
"Good." Dion smiled at them warmly.
"And you know what, come join us for lunch," Lila offered without missing a beat.
"Lila!" Violet said, her tone laced with warning.
"What?! We’re just making friends."
"There’s no ’we’ here. This is all your handwork," Violet snapped. "And if I remember correctly, you told me the top twenty don’t mingle with those beneath them."
"Yes, they don’t mingle with them, but they can invite them," Lila said, unfazed.
"What the...?" Violet trailed off, bewildered. "What’s even the difference?!" She threw her hands up in exasperation. What the hell was wrong with these people?!
Lila boldly continued, "The difference is they can’t dine with you, but you can give them a taste of what it’s like to dine with the elites. A taste that many hunger for. A taste that—"
"A taste that tastes like ashes," Violet interrupted. "I’m done with you guys here. It was nice meeting you, Dion, but I’m off to my next class." She spun on her heel and walked away, grateful that Lila didn’t have the same class. Otherwise, she’d lose her mind.
"Meet you during physical training!" Lila shouted after her, but Violet did not give her any response.
Violet’s naïveté led her to believe that the wolves had somehow let her words slide, but reality proved otherwise. As she made her way through the hallways in search of her next class, every werewolf she passed greeted her with low snarls and hisses of disapproval.
Their eyes were full of menace, and it hit Violet that the news must have somehow spread. The whole thing felt like walking through a field of landmines, the glares and growls, reminding her these were predators and making the hairs on her body stand on edge.
But even with all the threat, none of them took it further. There was no physical confrontation, no open challenge. Almost as if there was an invisible line they wouldn’t cross. Violet preferred to think that she had immunity and not because a certain Alpha was protecting her.
Those thoughts propelled her feet into action, and Violet finally located and entered the advanced biology classroom. The unfamiliar room was alive with energy, buzzing with chatter as students mingled with friends. Only a handful seemed to notice her arrival and paid her not much attention. How good that felt to not be stared at like an alien.
Students here clearly took their studies seriously; the seats were filling up so fast. Violet’s attention immediately landed on an empty one near a window and she hurried over to take it before someone else could claim that coveted spot with a view.
If only she knew, no one ever took that spot.
Violet wasn’t alone. A student was already seated beside her, his head face down on the desk, his seat positioned directly by the window.
He must be a werewolf. Violet noticed the subtle way his ears twitched the moment she sat down, and then he lifted his head. Violet forgot how to breathe.
It was him.
The Cardinal Alpha of the North.
Alaric.
The same Alpha she had encountered in the infirmary when she had gone to get treated, the one with the lightning powers.
Violet couldn’t look away, caught in the snare of his electric blue eyes. She could have sworn she saw a maelstrom of lightning dancing within his irises—wild, powerful, and untamed. Even the air seemed to vibrate with electrified tension around them.
She had never felt such an intense attraction to anyone before, and perhaps that was why it stung when Alaric suddenly narrowed his eyes and broke their gaze.
Without a word, he turned away, facing the window, and resumed his sleep. Violet tried not to let the icy distance between them affect her, but she couldn’t deny the hollow feeling it left inside of her.