FATED TO THE LYCAN PRINCE

I was starting over on a new slate today. I thought to myself as Mom’s car glided through the gates of my new school; Hailsmith Academy. Hailsmith Academy was the most prestigious high school in the whole country. Named after the royal werewolf pack, it was initially a school for influential and powerful wolves but subsequently, treaties were signed and its doors were opened to others in the country. Faes. Dragons. Vampires. Witches. And humans. While the first four were rare supernaturals and could be on par with the werewolf race, humans had nothing to their name. They were as powerless as they come. They were at the bottom of the food chain, they were the bullied, the losers, the maids, the lesser species. They were the ones who didn’t deserve a seat at the table, who didn’t deserve to attend a school as prestigious as Hailsmith. Unfortunately, I was one of them. A human. An outlaw. I didn’t deserve to be here but here I was, getting down from my Mom’s car and risking it all to start all over in Goldcrest Academy. “Do you need me to follow you to the administrative block?” Mom’s voice stopped me just before my feet could touch the ground. “Mom, I’m almost 18. Don’t you think it’d be weird if you followed me on my first day in school? Nothing screams social suicide more than that.” “Just to help you get settled in.” “Mom,” I held her eyes, “I’ll be fine. Just go to work before you’re late.” “Alright love, just take care of yourself for me, please.” “Sure,” I held her eyes, “I’ll be fine.” Our eyes communicated unspoken words. I knew why she was keen on making sure I was fine. After the death of my father and younger brother just less than six months ago, I was all she had and vice versa. Their death, an accident that marred both our lives had made us closer. Remembering it always made me feel a pang and right now, my heart sank at the remembrance that my dad and beloved younger brother were gone forever. The tragedy was the reason why Mom sought a transfer at her workplace so we could move across the country to start over on a clean slate. That’s why I was currently in Hailsmith too but as I walked towards the main building that stole my heart away with its insanely beautiful architecture and finesse, the snickers that welcomed me was making me rethink if this was really a clean slate or something else. “Really? Another human? Let’s see if she’ll last.” “Last? Have any of her people lasted here?” “Why do they keep admitting humans anyways? We shouldn’t mingle with the likes of our maids and slaves at home.” “It’s high time we started a campaign that Hailsmith should stop admitting measly humans to our school. It doesn’t reflect us in a good light at all.” I tensed at their words. But I didn’t allow it to show. I kept my chin up, my back straightened, my steps elegant. I wasn’t going to allow their words to get to me. I was used to it. Was bullied and looked down upon in my previous school for being human. The only thing that saved me was my academic excellence. Knowing that I was seen as a lesser being, I had to focus on my other strengths and capitalize on them. I stepped into the hallway and I could swear the air dimmed a little. They all turned to look at me, sneers and disdain on their faces. A girl with her lips pasted in an outrageously bright red color banged her locker door when she saw me approaching. “Another misfit?” She sneered, “The school should know better than to admit another miserable human.” I ignored her as usual. Despite their loud words and clear disdain, none of them made to attack me physically. But their words were so vicious that it’d have cut and hurt if I was paying attention to them. I didn’t pay attention to them. I tried to get lost in my head, to distract myself. I started reciting the 12th multiplication table from behind and by the time I was almost done, I bumped into something. The impact was so abrupt and powerful that the force pushed me to the floor. The pain was so sudden and overwhelming that I couldn’t help the loud yelp that escaped from my mouth. The person I bumped into didn’t even pause, didn’t look back to utter a word of consolation. He just walked on. I breathed in deeply but that didn’t soothe the anger I was feeling. I stood to my feet. “Even if you lack manners, I believe apologizing to a person you bumped into should be the least thing you can do.” The words left my mouth before I could even think twice about it. That seemed to catch him off guard, just like it caught the students around off guard. There was a stunned silence for a minute before they started whispering furiously. I could hear their snide and rude remarks but I couldn’t focus on them. He had turned back and on seeing who it was, my anger intensified. His did too because he suddenly looked enraged, murderous. His eyes morphed to that of his wolf and I could practically feel venoms oozing out of him as he stalked towards me. “You!” He snarled, anger and disgust setting vicious lines on his face. “Yes me,” I matched his anger, memories of what he had subjected me to in the past, a tight vice around my neck, “I see that you’re not just a big sore loser, you’re a bigger prick and…” I didn’t get to complete the words because he was suddenly in front of me. He grabbed me by my shoulder and before I could blink, I was slammed against the wall with so much force pain exploded in all parts of my body. Tears pooled in my eyes at the sheer pain. That didn’t deter him. If anything, my predicament seemed to gladden him because a noticeable smirk played at the corners of his lips and a bright sparkle entered his eyes. His eyes landed on my name tag and that seemed to intensify his anger more. His hold tightened on my shoulders, his claws dug into my back and I whimpered from the pain. “What do you…” More pressure on my back and I lost my ability to talk because of the sheer pain I was feeling. “You transferred to my school?” He growled, punctuating his anger by digging his claws more into my back. I couldn’t feel anything except an intense pain that made me want to fall to my knees and beg him to stop. But I wouldn’t do that, I would never do that. I wouldn’t do anything that’d put me at his mercy. “You should have known better not to,” he continued, his anger intensifying with each word. It was unreal that he hated me this much because of what happened last year and if I didn’t know better, I’d think he hated me because of something else. Around us, no one made a move to help me. They were either conversing as if nothing was happening or taking pictures and getting entertained by what was going on. “But maybe it’s a good thing,” his smirk widened, “you’d learn your lesson, learn that your likes belong in the gutter, and that you should never have breathed in my direction.” He let go, and I crumbled to the ground like a pack of cards, intense pain coursing through my entire body and tears streaking down my face. “Welcome to hell, Xenia Jones. Can’t wait to see how long you’ll last.” With that, he left. I was left in disbelief. I’ve never been subjected to something so inhumane and somehow, I was convinced that this wasn’t the worst thing I’d experience in this school. ********* It took me a while to gather myself. My shirt was torn from his attack but thankfully, I had my blazers. I would deal with Matteo Moore later. Right now, I just wanted to get settled in. But the moon goddess seemed to have other plans for me because the minute I walked into my main class, the first person I saw was Matteo. We were classmates and from the devilish grin he flashed me, I knew he was happy to see me in his class. I made my way to the only empty seat in the class, and I was able to make it to the last period without anybody talking to me. Not even my seat partner, a tall looming guy who had an “I don’t give a f**k” energy radiating from him. "Seems like you still haven't resumed fully," the Mathematics teacher joked after Matteo finished solving the equation for the third time and it was still wrong. When he solved it the first time and the teacher told him that he was wrong, he looked at the teacher as if he just said one of the most ridiculous things. But a glance at the board and he concurred. Only to attempt it two more times and he didn't get it right. "The equation must be wrong then," he replied as a matter of fact and in a cocky way that made me roll my eyes, "there's no way I'd attempt this question three times and get it wrong." "Well, the equation is correct. Now, return to your seat. Who wants to bail Matteo out?" No one raised their hands as Matteo dragged himself back to his seat. I found that surprising because the equation was a simple one and surely, someone must know the right formula to solve it. "No one?" The teacher looked around the class before his eyes finally settled on me, "Miss Jones, do you want to try? You got the perfect mark on your mathematics entrance exam." "Yeah, sure," I started to get to my feet when I felt the atmosphere in the class change all of a sudden. And the whole class seemed to be looking at me like I've got a death wish or something. I didn't think much of it anyway. I just walked to the board and did my thing. "And you're correct," the teacher beamed with pride when I was done, "now, Matteo, can you see that?" He called Matteo's attention to the board and when I looked at him, he wasn't looking at the board. He was looking at me and even though I was sure there was nothing like a silent gaze, that's the only word to describe how he was staring at me. Silent. Dark. Predatory. It made my breath hitch in my throat in a bad way. "Miss Jones, do you mind walking us through how you solved it?" I turned back to the board to do exactly what he asked. The more I explained the formula and solution, the more I felt like I was doing something wrong. Like, I was digging my grave or something like that. "Good! Now, clap for her." The clap was slow and forced. Matteo didn't lift his hands, he just kept looking at me. His gaze didn't waver from my body for once. The bell was rung not long after that and since that was the last class for the day, I started packing my books. I was almost done when the bag was slapped out of my hands. I looked up to see who it was. It was Matteo Moore. And there was a silent seething rage in his eyes as he glared at me.