The Lycademy - Fire and Death

4. First class

The poker night was actually a nice beginning of the school's year. Especially that new blend Seth gave us a taste of. It went down smoothly as water but gave a nice buzz after. Their distillery really knows its business.

But the weird part of the evening was when Seth seemingly in passing asked about Gini a few times. I know she's not bad looking, but if he's looking for a hookup she's definitely the last candidate he should consider, because there's no way she would get past her phobias and actually allow someone to get near her. I pity the poor fool who will have her for a Mate.

But thankfully, her personality also has its perks for me, as I don't need to worry too much about her dating some douche and explaining to Vigo and my Uncle what was going on.

Fuck, I really didn't want to end up as her babysitter, but somehow shared last name put me in that spot either way. Just my f*****g luck.

This morning I was really curious to hear about Cole's evening. He never showed up yesterday, so it either went really well or the twins killed him. Seeing how Nicky was acting yesterday everything was possible.

So when I knocked on his door and didn't find him there I was even more curious.

I met all three of my friends in the dining hall munching their breakfast.

"Thanks for stepping by, Assholes." - I said sitting down with my own tray.

"We did, but you were on a mission to use the whole hot water in the castle, so we sent you a text and left." - said Peter.

I glanced at my phone and there really was a message from him that I missed. Perfect.

"Anyway, how did it go?" - I asked, looking at Cole.

He sighed and shook his head.

"That bad, huh?"

"Not bad, just strange. Talking with the two of them yesterday made me realize what my life will look like."

"And how exactly will it look like?" - Pete arched his brow.

"Like living with a really hot chick with multiple personalities. She may be hot, but she's still crazy, you know. It's just, I don't know… they look the same, but they are really completely different. Nicole is actually scaring me a bit, while Nat is this nice girl next door and I don't really know how to talk to any of them." - Cole explained the best he could picking on his food.

"Well you never really knew how to speak with the ladies." - Ty chuckled.

"Yeah, because you're any better, Mr 'I'm waiting for my Mate'" - Cole sneered, making Titus glare at him viciously. - "Anyway, the conclusion of our 'talk' was that the girls couldn't decide about my role in their Pack."

"Your role? Isn't it too early for that?" - Pete asked.

"You think?!" - Cole asked sarcastically - "I sat there for three good hours listening to them arguing. I actually didn't talk much, it was hard to get through them."

"Fuck." - I muttered - "And here we all thought you'd be over with the process by now."

"If only that was my call, but the pretaste I got last night made me think that nothing will be up to me from now on." - Cole said, stabbing his scramble eggs.

As funny as that was for an outsider I couldn't stop feeling bad for him. We both came to this school hoping for some freedom. I, from the upcoming commitment and destiny that's been written for me before I was even born. Cole, from his overbearing mother.

I love Aunt Ali with everything I have, but my Dad is actually right that she's sometimes coo-coo and definitely too overprotective. Not that he's ever told her that, but my Mom is definitely the more tranquil of the two sisters.

And now my friend who just yesterday flew out of the nest found himself two equally controlling she wolves. That's some real questioned luck.

"It won't be that bad, Cuz. They are really cool, you just need to spend more time with them." - Pete said calmingly with an assuring smile.

"Yeah, you're probably right." - Col answered half-heartedly. - "Things will probably get better when I come of age and feel the bond."

The rest of us shared a look and nodded.

"Anyway, what were you three doing yesterday?" - Cole asked.

"We showed Cargarough around then we were playing poker with Seth. I think he has a hots for Gini." - Titus answered with a chuckle.

"Really? Virginia?" - Cole frowned - "Has he talked with her?"

Yeah, that wasn't a secret in our circle that Virginia was odd. She may be pretty, but it's hard to miss her strange personality. And the guys have known this for a while now.

"She said the whole three sentences." - Ty answered.

"Wow, that's a new record for newly acquainted." - Cole pointed out.

"Yup. But she ran after that so we shouldn't look too deep into it." - Pete said - "Now, if you freshmen don't want to be late for your first classes we should go. What do you have first?"

I opened my schedule and groaned.

"Lycan law."

"Alright, we'll walk you to it."

Thanks to yesterday's trip over the castle I knew my way around pretty well, but it was still good to have Peter and Ty here. Thanks to them we were almost the first ones to arrive.

Cole and I took our seats at the back of the class and waited for the rest. Lycan law was one of the obligatory classes, so I wasn't too surprised when my Cousin appeared in the entrance looking more skittish than usual. Aa yes, big crowds make her like this.

"Gini, over here." - I waved her over and to be honest she looked kind of relieved to hear my voice. Hear, because she didn't look up as always.

She tentatively stepped to us and sat on the chair next to mine without a word.

"Hello Virginia, it's great seeing you again." - Cole said politely.

"You too, Cole." - she answered and took her notebook from her bag and started nervously tapping on it with a pen.

It still amazes me how she and her brother can be that different. Vigo is a great Alpha, but privately he's a self-assured prick, while Virginia looks like she was slowly slipping into her anxiety. It was actually really sad. She should be really powerful, especially since she's a white wolf just like her mother and brother. But till this day she hasn't manifested any of her additional powers. Maybe that's the thing, maybe she feels like something less.

This kinda made me feel bad for her. Valkyrie is totally right, we are a family and I should look out for her.

"Hey Gini, we'll be going to the clock tower this evening. Wanna join us?" - I offered.

"Oh, I don't know. I'm having dinner late in the evening, you know, avoiding crowds and all that. So maybe another time." - she answered hastily and I know I should let it go, but I may not particularly like her, but I feel I should shield her in some way. If that's making any sense at all.

"How about I'll take dinner for you to go and meet you there. That way you'll be with just the five of us. It's probably less than in the dining hall even in the late evening, isn't it?" - I offered.

"Five?" - she asked cautiously.

"Yeah, my crew and Seth, the guy you met yesterday." - I explained.

"And it won't be some wild party?"

"No, Cuz, it won't. I promise."

"Then I guess it'll be fine." - she said more like she was assuring herself than me. Man, if I didn't know any better I would have thought she was being bullied or something, but I know Vigo would make anyone mistreating his sister disappear in unclear circumstances. So her almost morbid shyness is just a part of her personality I suppose.

" Perfect. Any wishes about the food?" - I asked.

"A lot of vegetables and nothing too heavy." - I nodded and turned to the front of the class - "And Vaughn." - she called me softly.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

I grinned like a fool finally understanding what Valkyrie meant that we should help one another. It actually feels good. Right even.

"My pleasure."

Just then our teacher entered the classroom and all the students got quiet. He wasn't that old for a Law teacher, probably around thirty-five, but he looked sharp, almost too sharp for someone working here. But what do I know, my own Cousin works here so maybe faculties are really the best from the bests.

"Welcome to the introduction to Lycan Law, I'm professor Donovan Sorrento. In these classes you will find out that the law is the most important part of every wolf's life. Because when not everyone is made to fight, absolutely everyone is subject to our laws and as long as you all remember this we'll have no issues."

Cole and I exchanged glances because that sounded like a threat.

" Alright, let's start with some quick introduction. I'd like each of you to stand up and say where are you from. Knowing this will allow me to prepare a better program from this group. So let's start."

Great, just like in junior high. I sat there and listened to twenty five other students saying their names and where they were from. Aside from the three of us I didn't know anyone in this class, but one girl got my attention.

"Maya Kelly, Silver Moon Pack." - she announced proudly, flipping her wavy blonde hair and sitting right back. She had the type of attitude that screamed high ranked.

"Why does her name sound familiar?" - I asked Cole.

"I believe it's her underwear that you want to get familiar with, not her name." - my best friend snickered making me roll my eyes.

"Kellys from Silver Moon are our newest allies, she's probably related to Max, Vigo went to school with him." - whispered Virginia still looking at her notebook.

Damn, she was right. And the fact she knew it and I didn't make me self conscious. I should have known that.

But that also made me look at Gini in a new light. She was quiet, but she still listened. She wasn't as oblivious and uninterested as I assumed.

Then it was my turn. I stood up and introduced myself and Sorrento's eyes lit up.

"So you are related to Coach Morgan?" - he asked.

"Yes, we are cousins. And Virginia from Surge Pack on my left too." - I said, relieving my shy cousin of this awkward task.

"I see." - he said looking between me and Gini. I wasn't sure why, but the additional interest he gave us two was strange - "Alright, so moving on today we will talk about how the Council started forming the laws and why this order is so important for our world."

The rest of the class was more like history of how Council came to be and it was so f*****g boooring. Every wolf knows that it wasn't pretty before and establishing some order in our world was necessary, otherwise werewolves would either expose their existence or kill each other in fights.

It's not hard to imagine that by the time we were finished with this class I was more than relieved to leave.

Virginia apparently did too, because she ran from the classroom before anyone else. Her anxiety really made me worried. She was acting like a trapped animal all the time. Maybe I should talk to her brother, Vigo should know how to help her. Because I really want to.