~Chapter 4~
If the first day at the academy was chaotic, the rest of the week was...tiring.
Friday morning.
I had survived the first week at the academy.
I wasn't dead yet, which was already a success.
Strategy, pack behavior, and transformations.
As a beta… some of them were pretty tough.
Rowan and Otis didn't give up on me after the evening of gaming.
Unfortunately for me.
Most of the time I found them in the cafeteria or on the training ground.
And, without wanting to… I started hanging out with them.
Maybe consciously, unconsciously… I don't know how to answer that.
I get out of bed after I think I spent half an hour just thinking about wanting to throw myself out of the academy but it's not the time.
I go to the bathroom and take a shower before the training we’re going to have in our wolf form, which is slightly smaller than an Alpha’s and that brought stares from the others and I really didn’t have anything to say.
I shake the water out of my hair and look in the mirror for a second.
“Perfect,” I murmur
It’s not like I could change anything.
My wolf form is… smaller. More lithe. Faster maybe, but definitely not as imposing as an Alpha’s. And in this place, where everyone seems to be constantly competing to be bigger, stronger, or more intimidating… the difference is obvious.
A lot.
I pull my shirt over my head and leave the room.
The halls of the academy are already full.
Some students are heading to the training grounds, others are still heading to the cafeteria with their eyes half-closed.
“Idris!”
Otis’s voice echoes down the hallway before I see him.
He appears from a corner with Rowan, both of them already dressed for training.
Otis raises an eyebrow.
“You have that face.”
“What face?” I ask.
“The face where I want to go back to bed and no longer exist.”
Rowan snorts slightly.
“He’s right.”
“You two are really annoying in the morning,” I say.
“Thanks,” Otis replies immediately.
We start walking together toward the field.
The academy courtyard is already full of students.
Groups of Alphas are talking, laughing, some are already warming up.
The training teacher stands in the middle of the field with his arms crossed.
A large Alpha with graying hair and a look that looks like he’s seen too much fighting.
Rowan murmurs beside me:
“Professor Kane.”
“Is he bad?” I ask.
Otis grimaces.
“It depends.”
“Why?”
“He likes to watch fights.”
“Great,” I say.
We line up with the others.
Professor Kane claps his hands together.
“Good morning!”
His voice is loud enough to silence everyone instantly.
“Today we’re working in wolf form.”
Exactly what I wanted.
“Transformation!”
The sound of shifting bones and falling clothes fills the yard.
Rowan disappears first, his large, dark-furred wolf.
Otis follows close behind.
Take a deep breath.
“Come on, Idris…” I murmur to myself.
The transformation comes quickly. As usual.
When I look up again, the world is clearer, the smells stronger, the sounds sharper.
But the looks are the same.
My wolf is smaller.
Not weak… but clearly different.
A murmur runs through the group.
A nearby Alpha whispers something to his friend.
I pretend not to hear.
Professor Kane walks among us, analyzing each wolf.
When he reaches me… he stops.
He looks for a few seconds.
Then he says simply:
"Interesting.
"
That doesn't sound right at all.
But before I can interpret too much…
I feel something.
A presence.
Strong.
I instinctively raise my head.
At the edge of the field, leaning against the metal fence…
someone stands.
Arms crossed.
Staring.
Cedric Loxley.
He's not in wolf form.
He's just looking at us.
His green eyes lock onto me.
And he doesn't move.
Perfect.
A slap is heard and Mr. Kane starts speaking:
"First is the warm-up, from here to E where the blue flag is.
After, we do some techniques that most people know.
.." He says this and then turns to me "and maybe the others" he says and we take his gaze but after the gaze and goes to Cedric who has transformed and joined the group.
His wolf is clearly visible as a future Alpha, he is structured properly, big and fierce.
His fur is a faded gray color that fades to black and his eyes are all green like in human form.
Professor Kane makes a sound with a bell and the Vale brothers and the others leave exactly after a millisecond when I barely left after 2 seconds.
I start after the others two seconds late and you can already feel the difference.
The Alpha wolves left like bullets.
The ground still vibrates slightly beneath their footsteps, and their scent lingers in the air like invisible trails that my instincts automatically follow.
“Come on,” I think as I accelerate.
We enter the forest almost immediately.
Tall trees cast long shadows across the path, and dry leaves crackle underfoot.
The air is cool and full of smells, damp earth, bark, resin, and…
other wolves.
I instinctively lower my body and let my pace settle.
I’m not the biggest wolf here.
But I’m fast.
Very fast.
A few meters ahead of me I see Otis, his light fur flashing through the trees, and a little further ahead Rowan runs steadily, as if he’s been doing this his whole life.
The alphas ahead, however… are already far away.
One of them jumps over a fallen trunk effortlessly.
I choose to pass him, slipping between two trees.
My breathing deepens.
Rhythmic.
The forest begins to move around me, or maybe I’m moving too fast for it.
Leaves brush my fur as I pass too close to the bushes.
A branch lightly scratches my side, but I don’t even slow down.
In the distance I see the blue flag caught between two trees.
But before I can focus on my direction again…
I smell something.
A smell.
Strong.
Alpha.
Not just any Alpha.
I recognize it immediately.
Cedric.
Before I can react, a gray shadow appears next to me.
It’s not coming from behind.
It’s coming from the side, emerging from the trees at a speed that almost doesn’t seem real.
Cedric’s wolf runs perfectly.
Every movement is controlled, strong, calm.
It doesn’t seem like he’s in a hurry.
But he’s still outpacing me.
For a split second, his green eyes turn to me.
In wolf form… his gaze is even more intense.
It’s not hostile.
But it’s… assessing.
As if he’s trying to understand something.
I growl softly, more out of reflex than intention.
Mistake.
His ears move immediately.
And to my surprise… he slows down.
Just a little.
As if he wants to see if I can keep up.
“Really?” I think.
Challenge accepted.
I dig my paws deeper into the ground and accelerate.
My wolf is smaller, but more agile. I slip through the trees more easily, jump over a thick root, and close the distance between us.
Cedric looks at me again.
Longer this time.
The blue flag is less than fifty meters away.
From behind I hear other wolves approaching, Otis probably already panting.
But now it’s just the two of us up front.
The wind whips my fur.
My heart pounds.
Cedric seems to realize the same thing.
Because just before the flag line…
he suddenly accelerates.
As if the race is just beginning.
His wolf stretches forward like a gray shadow, his muscles moving perfectly beneath that gray fur. Leaves fly behind him as he digs his paws into the ground.
“Are you kidding?” I think, pushing harder too.
I’m not going to stop now.
The blue flag is a few meters away.
I feel my breathing getting heavier, but my body still has energy. I jump over a large root and almost reach him.
For a moment we’re shoulder to shoulder.
His green eyes turn to me.
And I swear I see something there.
Not mockery.
Not superiority.
Interest.
Then we pass the flag.
Cedric arrives first, maybe half a second ahead of me.
He slows down right after, and I stop a few feet away, my heavy breathing coming out in small clouds in the cold air.
After a few seconds, the others appear.
Rowan emerges from the trees first, followed by Otis, who seems to be barely breathing.
Otis stops next to me and almost falls to the grass in wolf form.
A second later he transforms back into a human, and quickly puts something on himself.
“NO,” he says, panting. “I’m never doing that again.
”
Rowan transforms too and runs his hand through his hair.
“You finished second?” he asks, surprised.
I transform back too, still breathing deeply.
Considering I’m smaller, I don’t always have to change clothes after a ‘race,’ and I can see I’m not the only one who still has his coat on.
“I think so.”
Otis raises his head abruptly.
“I think so?!”
He looks at Cedric.
Cedric is just transforming back into human form.
As a wolf… he was intimidating.
But as a human, standing there quietly, his hair a little messy and his breathing barely changing… he looks even more dangerous.
And I make the mistake of looking down and swallow.
Professor Kane arrives a few seconds later.
He looks at us.
At Cedric.
Then at me.
He raises an eyebrow.
“Interesting.” There’s that word again.
Otis gets up from the floor and says,
“Wait a minute… wait a minute…”
He looks between me and Cedric.
“Walden came in second?”
Rowan whistles softly.
“Not second.” Professor Kane says calmly, “Half a second off first.”
Otis looks at me as if he’s seeing me for the first time.
“Idris…”
“What?”
“What the hell are you eating?”
“Muesli,” I say.
Rowan laughs softly.
Professor Kane claps his hands again.
“Okay. Now that the warm-up is over…”
He looks directly at me and then at Cedric.
“We’re going to do the pair exercises.
”
Otis immediately murmurs:
"Oh no.
"
The professor continues:
"Loxley.
"
Cedric looks up.
"Walden."
And for a full second.
.. everyone is silent.
Otis slowly turns to me.
"Did you upset the universe somehow?
"
I ignore him.
Because Cedric is already approaching.
And he smiles very slightly.
"It seems," he says calmly, "that you're running well.
Now let's see if your strength holds up.
"
Perfect.
Exactly what I was missing.
Let the professor fight me with the strongest Alpha in the academy.
---
I'm a piece of shit.
Torn in two
I didn't even have a chance with Cedric.
I can't feel my shoulder even 10 minutes after he finished with me.
Otis enters the locker room, seemingly unharmed, and behind him others enter, some better, some worse than me, but they only stay for a little while and then they're out again
"Does your shoulder still hurt?
" Otis asks and opens his locker to get a bottle of water.
"Like a dick in your ass" he mutters and he laughs softly and gestures to go out again.
After he leaves, I get up from the bench and go to my locker to get a towel but when I close the locker I'm scared of Cedric staring at me.
"Crazy bitch!" I say and he just laughs with that sound that makes things.
..hotter than they seem.
"What's doing to your body?
" He asks and turns onto his back and I go to a mirror to wipe away the blood that remains from the wound that has healed.
"I don't feel like it, Loxley" I say and pat myself a little at the scratch that is now just a mark on my body.
He doesn’t leave.
On the contrary.
He takes a step closer.
Too close.
I can feel his presence before I see him in the mirror.
His warmth, that Alpha smell that’s impossible to ignore after training.
“You have a really bad wound care technique,” he says calmly.
“I’ve survived so far,” I reply.
“Bottom line.”
I look up at the mirror just as he reaches out.
He grabs my wrist before I can wipe anything away.
“Hey…”
I try to pull my hand back, but his grip is firm.
Not painful.
Just… impossible to ignore.
“Wait,” he says.
“No.”
I try to pull back again.
Cedric sighs softly.
“Walden.”
“What?”
“If you move like that, you’ll just reopen the scratch.”
He holds my hand in the air for a second, then takes the towel from my hand.
And before I can protest again… he presses it gently against my skin, cleaning away the rest of the blood.
I’m stuck for a few seconds.
“I can do this myself.”
“It didn’t seem like it.
”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“Right.”
I look up at him.
“Then why are you doing it?”
Cedric shrugs slightly.
“Because it bothers me to see things done badly.”
“I’m sure that’s the motivation. ”
He smiles very slightly.
Then his hand instinctively moves to my shoulder, the exact one he forced earlier in training.
He presses gently.
The pain explodes instantly.
“Ow..!”
I try to pull myself back.
He grabs my arm before I can take two steps.
“Wait.”
“Don’t touch me!”
“Then stop reacting like a hurt child,” he says calmly.
I freeze for a second.
Not because he insulted me.
But because his hand is still on my arm, and his fingers slide a little toward my shoulder, checking the joint.
The touch is… unexpectedly careful.
“It’s not dislocated,” he murmurs, more to himself.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
I try to pull away again.
This time he lets go.
I take two steps back immediately.
“If anyone sees you doing this, what are you going to tell them?” I say, pointing vaguely at his hand.
Cedric looks at me for a few seconds.
Then he glances at the locker room door.
And he says calmly,
“I closed the door, you idiot.”
I turn around instinctively.
And sure enough…
the door is closed.
When I turn back to him, Cedric is already looking at me with that calm expression that’s starting to annoy me.
“Besides,” he adds quietly, “everyone else is still on the field.”
I cross my arms.
“And why aren’t you?
”
“Because I wanted to talk to you.”
I raise an eyebrow.
“That sounds threatening.”
“It’s not.
”
He takes a step closer.
Just one.
But the distance between us is getting…
very small again.
“You run too well for someone who says they don’t belong here,” he says.
I fold my arms tighter.
“I never said that.”
“You shouldn’t have.
”
His gaze moves for a split second to my shoulder.
Then back to me.
“But your body says a lot.”
“It sounds weird.”
“Probably.”
He looks at me for a few seconds.
Then he says simply,
“Walden.”
“What?”
“Next time you fight me…”
He moves a little closer.
Enough for me to feel my breath hitch for a second.
“Stop holding back.”
I blink.
“Here?”
Cedric smiles the smallest of smiles.
“I know when someone is holding back.”
I remain silent for a few seconds.
“I didn’t hold back,” I murmur.
Cedric raises an eyebrow.
“Yes.”
He takes another step toward me.
The space between us almost disappears.
I cross my arms instinctively, but that only makes him notice my defensive posture even more clearly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say.
Cedric doesn’t answer right away.
His gaze drops for a moment.
Then, slowly, he raises his hand.
He doesn’t touch me abruptly.
His fingers rest on my arm, near my shoulder, exactly where the blow had been earlier.
I tense my muscles automatically.
“Relax,” he says quietly.
“No.”
He almost laughs.
“That’s interesting,” he murmurs.
His hand slides gently over my shoulder, tracing the line of the muscles as if checking again for injuries.
But the movement doesn’t just feel medical.
It’s slow.
Conscious.
I swallow.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“I notice.”
“It sounds weird.”
“Everything about you is a little weird,” he says calmly.
His hand moves down my arm, then stops.
“Especially the part where you’re looking at me.
”
I freeze.
“I’m not looking at you.
”
Cedric looks up at me.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I must have imagined the moment after the race.”
I feel my cheeks heat up.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.
”
He smiles a little more clearly now.
“Walden.”
“What?”
“I saw the way you were looking at me.”
Perfect.
Exactly what I wanted to hear today.
I run a hand through my hair in frustration.
"You're incredible."
"I know.
"
"I wasn't looking."
Cedric tilted his head slightly.
"Then why did you swallow?"
"Because you're annoying. "
"Sure."
He takes another step.
We’re close enough now that I can feel his breath.
For a long second, no one says anything.
Then his hand moves up to my shoulder again.
This time it stops there.
His fingers gently grip my shirt.
“If you weren’t looking,” he says quietly, “why have you suddenly become very quiet?”
I look into his green eyes.
“Maybe because you’re standing too close.
”
“Maybe.”
But he doesn’t pull away.
On the contrary.
He leans in a little.
So much so that the distance between us becomes almost nonexistent.
My heart beats faster, and I realize too late that I’m not pulling away either.
Cedric notices this immediately.
His gaze drops for a split second to my lips.
Then it returns to my eyes.
“See?” he murmurs.
“What?”
"Exactly."
And before I can say anything else…
his hand gently grips the back of my neck.
Not suddenly.
Not aggressively.
But enough to stop me from taking a step back.
Then he kisses me.
For a moment I remain completely still.
Surprised.
But the kiss isn't forced.
It's short.
Calm.
And when he pulls back, he's only inches away from me.
His eyes still fixed on mine.
"So," he says quietly, "you weren't looking at me, were you?
"
"..." I'm speechless and he laughs softly and takes his hand from my body, throwing it next to him before he smiles at me and walks away.
I lay on the bench still shocked at how I suddenly escalated and I feel tingling sensations forming in my wrists and then I realize.
Is he my mate?