Lorraine’s POV
The Lycans watched .
Their eyes tracked every step I took through their dormitory, and though I clutched the thick blanket tighter around my shoulders, their gazes made it feel useless, like I was walking through a sea of wolves with nothing but skin and bones for armor.
But this ti.... they didn’t pounce on nor tear apart
They didn’t sneer or shove against the walls. They didn’t growl or flash teeth like they wanted to taste my blood. They just.... watched.
Silent. Still. Like they didn’t know what to make of anymore.
I didn’t know what to make of them either.
The last ti I’d walked these halls, I was on my knees, bleeding, wounded. And now, I walked upright. Bruised, but unbroken. Wrapped in a blanket
I didn’t look at them. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. I kept moving, one bare foot in front of the other on the cold stone floor, ignoring the sting of open wounds that hadn’t fully healed.
Then soone blocked my path.
A tall figure, lithe but strong. Herr red hair braided down her back like a whip. I didn’t need to see her face to know who it was.
"Varya."
"Co with , feral," she said, her voice as smooth and cold as marble.
Before I could ask why, she grabbed my wrist and yanked forward.
"Hey....!"
She didn’t slow down. She didn’t speak. She pulled through the hallway like I weighed nothing, her grip like iron around my wrist. I stumbled to keep up, the blanket slipping from one shoulder, my heart pounding—not from fear, but from confusion.
She stopped in front of a room, shoved the doorr open, pulled inside, and slamd the door shut behind us.
Then she locked it.
My back hit the wall, and I flinched, but held her gaze.
"What the hell do you want?"
Varya didn’t answer at first. She stood in front of , arms crossed, head tilted slightly. Studying like she was trying to see sothing beneath my skin.
In a blur, she was in front of again, and this ti, she pinned .
Her hand slamd against my collarbone, holding against the cold stone wall. My breath hitched, and before I could shove her off, her face was inches from mine, her nose flaring like a predator catching scent.
"I can sll him all over you," she said, her voice low and edged in sothing dangerous. "He hasn’t marked you.... but he almost did, didn’t he?"
My heart stuttered.
"What—?" I whispered. "I don’t understand what you’re talking about."
But she didn’t believe .
With a snarl of disgust, Varya’s fingers tore the blanket off my shoulders. I gasped, I was now topless and naked, left exposed in the chill air, my arms flew up instinctively to try and cover my petite boobs
"Varya!" I scread.
But she didn’t flinch. Her eyes burned with fury, but not jealousy, not entirely. There was sothing else there. Sothing darker. Possessive. Twisted.
"He touched you," she said bitterly. "That’s why you ca back stronger. It’s not just you. It’s him."
I held my ground, trembling, refusing to let the sha settle in my bones.
"You think he makes stronger?" I hissed. "You think I need him for that?"
"I don’t belong to him you know," I snapped. "I don’t belong to anyone."
Varya let out a long, frustrated sigh, her sharp eyes raking over like I was so sort of disaster she had to fix.
"You should be more careful," she muttered, tone clipped but not cruel. "You’re already in enough danger as it is, walking around with just a blanket, naked underneath, and drenched in his scent."
My grip on the blanket tightened. "What are you talking about?"
She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, her posture exuding power and annoyance. "Don’t play dumb, feral. I can sll him all over you, our prince. He hasn’t marked you, but he almost did, didn’t he?" Her voice was sharp, but it held sothing else beneath it... warning, maybe even concern.
I opened my mouth to deny it, but she waved a hand.
"You don’t get it. He’s still unmated. He’s powerful, handso, the bloody Lycan Prince. Every female in this academy, Lycan, elite, noble, they want him. And so far, he hasn’t given any lady even as much as a glance.... until you." She narrowed her eyes. "Now you’re walking around here like that? Practically naked with his scent all over you announcing to everyone that he has chosen soone as lowly as you instead of them, You’re putting a massive target on your back."
She turned abruptly, marched to her closet, and yanked the door open. A few seconds later, she pulled out a dark shirt, sprayed it heavily with so expensive perfu, and tossed it at .
"Wear that. And leave."
I caught it against my chest, the scent chokimg and dizzying. I stared at her for a second, hesitant.
Then I took a step toward the door, but sothing made stop. I turned back.
"Why are you helping ?" I asked, voice low, wary.
Varya didn’t look at at first. She moved back toward her mirror, adjusting a strand of hair that didn’t need adjusting. "Don’t get too excited," she finally said, voice clipped. "I’m not your friend. I just took pity on you. You looked like a walking charity case. And it was honestly painful to watch."
My cheeks burned, but I didn’t respond. I clutched the shirt tighter and stepped out of her room without another word.
I stepped out of Varya’s room with the shirt clinging to my skin, her expensive perfu drowning out Kieran’s scent, at least, I hoped it did. The hallway was quiet, but I could still feel the eyes. Curious, calculating, and too silent for comfort. They didn’t speak. They didn’t snarl or shove like before. But they watched.
I kept my head down and walked fast, not bothering to et their eyes. I just wanted to get out. The sooner I left the Lycan dormitory, the better. Every step felt like walking on a tightrope suspended over blood-soaked thorns.
Once I was outside, the chill hit . It wasn’t just the cold air—it was the way the whole academy felt now. Like sothing was shifting beneath the surface, slowly twisting everything tighter.
I didn’t stop walking until I reached the academic grounds. The tall gray towers of the classrooms lood to my right, but I veered left toward the smaller white building tucked near the eastern wing—the academic hospital.
The scent of antiseptic and steel hit the mont I stepped into the academic hospital, but I didn’t slow down. My boots hit the floor in fast, echoing thuds as I rushed past the front desk.
"Elise? Felix?" I called out.
No one answered. A few nurses glanced up at but quickly looked away, like I didn’t exist.
"Excuse ," I turned to one of them, panting. "Where are the ferals that were brought in yesterday? My friends, Felix and Elise, where are they?"
The nurse didn’t respond. She just walked away like I hadn’t spoken at all.
Frustration and panic clawed up my throat. I turned and sprinted down the hallway, pushing open doors one after another. Room 1—l, empty. Room 2—just an old noble groaning in his sleep. Room 3—no one.
I kept going, door after door, breath growing sharper, chest tighter.
Then—finally—Room 6.
"Lorraine!"
I barely had ti to brace myself before Felix crashed into , his arms wrapping around tightly, almost lifting off the floor. He had healed completely, I was so happy I hugged him back just as fierce
"I thought you were never coming back at so point," he whispered. "It’s been days. I thought they took you, or... or worse."
"I’m here now," I breathed against his shoulder. "I’m here."
When he finally pulled back, I looked around the room. It was only Adrian standing behind him
"Where’s Elise?"
The light in his eyes dimd instantly. He looked away. "They said.... they said they’re still looking for her."
My stomach plumted. "What?"
"I left for just a minute," he said, voice cracking. "I needed to use the bathroom. I told her I’d be right back. And when I returned.... her bed was empty. She was gone. No one saw anything. No one said anything. I checked every room. I called Adrian. He’s been helping look all over the hospital and the grounds...."
"Where did she go?" I whispered.
"I don’t know"
I turned to Adrian, my voice sharper than I ant it to be. "Why can’t you find her?"
He looked up from where he stood near the window, arms crossed, his jaw clenched
"You’re a noble," I continued, stepping toward him. "You’re stronger than us. Your senses are supposed to be better. Can’t you just.... trace her scent or sothing?"
He didn’t answer right away, and the silence made my chest tighten.
"Adrian," I pressed, "you can’t sll her at all?"
His eyes t mine, and there was sothing there I wasn’t used to seeing in him, defeat.
"No," he said finally, voice low and grim. "It’s like... she vanished. Her scent isn’t just faint, Lorraine. It’s gone. Completely. Like she was never here."
I stared at him, not wanting to believe it. "But that doesn’t make sense. Even if she walked out herself, her scent would still linger for so ti, hours at least. Unless she was masked or...."
"Or erased," Adrian finished quietly.
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