The Alpha's Forever Mate

CHAPTER: 9

Carl took a step closer to Violet, narrowing his eyes. She was hit with the same feeling as the day before, of wanting to prove her worth to him, but she was in front of him now. He could try as hard as he liked to intimidate her with his piercing blue eyes and messy hair, and broad shoulders. She had none of it. She had come out to find answers about Ryan and that is exactly what she intended to do.

"Hey, so do you guys know someone called Ryan Jackson who died around three years ago? Golden brown hair? Kind of spooky?" Violet tried to keep her voice casual. As if she was just conversing, and none of this was weird.

Both the siblings exchanged the kind of look that meant something, but Violet had no way to read it. Most likely they were thinking it was a strange question, but it wasn't as if they were in a position to judge. Tiara shrugged and stood up.

"I am going to bed," she said to her brother. "You can deal with this."

She stepped lightly as she walked over to the stone wall. She had not worn anything on her feet. She could have been hurt by something sharp or would have been bitten by any number of things? She passed through a small golden door in the wall, and Violet was left alone with Carl Johnson.

He did not say anything, not for the longest time, just tried to stare her down. Violet wanted to leave. It was late and she was not interested in playing his games. But she just did not have it in her to back down, either. Once she backed down from a jerk like him, it was all over. So they were stuck there forever, it seemed, trying to glare each other into submission.

"You ask too many questions," he said, finally.

Violet bit down on her triumphant grin. She was the winner and he was a total loser. Carl Johnson was in for a nasty shock if he thought he could bully her.

"And you do not answer any of them," Violet said, folding her arms over her chest. "You know that makes you seem highly suspicious, right?"

"I am under no obligation to you," he said, turning to leave.

"Who was the other person with you?" Violet said quickly, frantically needing to know for sure. "There are four of you, is that right? Is it him? Is it Ryan? You have to tell me." She knew she sounded illogical, but she could not even help it.

He paused, his face turned away and in shadow. "I have no idea what you are talking about," he said. "I do not know anyone with that name. Go back to your house and do not come here again. It is not safe for you to be in the forest."

He swept away, and a cloud passed over the moon, leaving her in darkness.

As she turned back to the path, she once again heard a wolf howl in the distance.

************

"Violet? Violet? Didn't you hear me calling you? Come on, you are late!"

Violet jumped up, swinging around for her books, her clothes, and her laptop, before even realizing where she was. Yana stood by her bed, a dark outline against the bright morning sun.

"Everything you need for classes is on here," Yana said, as she placed a brand new tablet by her bed. "You are going to miss breakfast, but if you hurry you can still get to the morning assembly on time. Will you be able to get there, or do you want me to wait for you?" Yana asked her.

"I will be fine," Violet replied. She had no clue what she was doing, but she did not want to trouble Yana. "I will catch up with you,

later."

Yana waved goodbye and left as Violet rushed around getting ready. She opened her bag, which was filled mostly with spare computer parts, and found her Elite uniform at the bottom, then took the fastest shower ever. She was fairly sure her uniform was not authentic because the authentic ones were costing around the same as a year's worth of her mother's medication. She had bought her uniform from sss. The skirt was a wee bit shorter. She was not very comfortable with it. And the vest was very tight. But the blazer looked okay, so she buttoned it up, grabbed her stuff, and headed out of the room.

A clock tower chimed as she hurried through the gardens and up to the school. She checked out the class schedule on her tablet and found the morning assembly was in the main hall, off from the fancy lobby they had passed through the day before. It was easy enough to find, but once she was there, facing the wooden doors, she hesitated. Part of her felt that once she went in, she would be an Elite student for real. Also, it seemed awkward to burst in late to a hall full of people that one did not know. All those eyes turning and staring. She was already late, and she did not want to miss out on anything. What if the assembly was full of important information that she needed to function at Elite Trinity Academy, but could never access it again after that? The thought was enough to make her open those doors and step inside.

It was not that bad. The doors did not make a noise as she pulled them open and she snuck in quietly without anyone noticing. There were no vacant seats, but she figured it would be fine to stand near the door. There were a small group of adults standing as well. They were probably the fly-in teachers, she assumed.

She had not been at risk of missing anything important. Assistant Head Mistress Elise Steven was reading out a list of sports teams and when trials were opening for them. Sports teams cost money. Uniforms, equipment, none of that was cheap, and extracurriculars were not covered by her scholarship. She turned him off and looked around the hall.

It was a large room with the stage at the front and stained glass windows all around. Assistant Head Elise Steven's voice echoed off the walls. The students sat in rows of long bench seats. In their uniforms, they all looked the same. Violet tried to find Yana but she was lost in the sea of rich kids. She could not see the Johnsons either, but maybe they got a special privilege to skip boring meetings.

The Assistant Head moved from sports to general school rules. Violet thought about the night before. It was strange. Sure, she had also been in the forest in the middle of the night but she had a legitimate reason for it. She had not gone to hang out like a weirdo. And the way the Johnsons had acted after she mentioned Ryan, something was up with them. She ran through the possibilities in her head, amusing herself as she came up with more and more outrageous scenarios, and before she knew it, the assembly was over.

"Hey, Violet!" Yana waved at her, pushing her way through the crowd. "You made it! Do you have English first? I think it is in the west wing. Do you want to walk together?"

The halls were crowded as everyone was making their way to the class, so they fell into the general flow and let it sweep them along.

"What did you do to Carl Johnson?" Yana asked Violet as they walked down the grand staircase to the main lobby. "He has ranked you as the number one most annoying thing about first-year high school on his blog."

A/N: To be continued...