Evaline:
By the time the weekend faded into Monday morning, I was ready to slip back into my routine as a student of Silver Moon Academy.
Monday passed without incident - smooth lectures, a quick lunch, and quiet evenings filled with finishing touches on the Runes project. Tuesday mirrored it with the same unbothered rhythm.
I got so absorbed that I almost forgot that just a days ago, I had been pinned to a hotel bed by a drunken Rogue Alpha King with the strength of a boulder and the grace of a toddler.
By Wednesday morning, the bump on my forehead completely disappeared as the balm worked its quiet magic over time. I examined myself in the mirror, tilting my head left and right to make sure the evidence was truly gone. Satisfied, I pulled my hair into a neat braid and headed out.
Wednesday was also the most silent day at the Academy because of the full moon. More than half the students had taken the days off, not because they all needed it but because they could. And all three Rogue Alpha brothers were also absent just like the month before.
Unlike last month, I didn’t find myself heading to the library after dinner or stumbling upon a glowing-eyed wolf that turned out to be my mate. No, this time I did what every sane person should do, I locked myself in my bedroom.
Not out of fear. Not because I didn’t want to see one of my mates again in their wolf form. But because it wasn’t really safe to be found in a similar situation by any of the staff. Not like many would be wondering the halls on a night of full moon, but still.
I couldn’t risk being discovered.
So I stayed in. No late night studying. No creeping through corridors. Just me, my notes, and a mug of warm milk.
Thursday was a flurry of nerves and paper scraps as we pulled together the final draft of our Runes project. We had been diligently working on it for nearly two weeks now, and while everyone had done their part, the final presentation still had to be polished.
Freya triple-checked the footnotes while Cedric wrote out the explanations in his neatest handwriting. I went over the diagrams and made sure the glyph alignment matched the historical patterns. Ria and Rowan were tasked with the digital format of the project.
After all the work, we were as ready on Friday as we ever could. Professor Aldric had booked all three periods before lunch. So as soon as we were done with our breakfast, we all headed to his class.
It didn’t take us long to realize that Professor Aldric wasn’t playing around with this project. He was very thorough as he raised questions from each group.
My group was the sixth to hand in our project and give a presentation on it. Fortunately, we also answered all the questions correctly.
The moment we were done, it felt like a heavy weight had lifted from our shoulders. Once the remaining groups were done with their turns, Professor Aldric quickly announced the results.
"Full marks," he announced as he returned our physical projects. "Group Six - A."
I blinked in surprise. Even if I knew that we had done quite well in the project, I still wasn’t expecting to get an A.
Ria clutched her heart and let out a little squeal. "Oh my goddess, I thought we were going to get a B at best like the rest of the class!"
We were one of only two groups to get full marks. The pride and disbelief in our little group was palpable.
But our joy was short-lived.
Right after lunch, Professor Elira dropped the hammer - a new assignment on Werewolf History and Politics. And a written test scheduled for next Wednesday.
The collective groan from the class was loud enough to rattle the ceiling.
"Elira enjoys watching us suffer," Noah muttered as we shuffled out of the classroom.
"She’s probably the descendant of some ancient war general," Ria added dryly.
And with that, another week wrapped up. Quietly. Peacefully. Almost boringly.
The usual crowd who made it their mission to throw shade at me - Nadine and her girlies - didn’t try anything new. A few dirty looks here, some whispering in the hallway there. But nothing major. After all, they too were pretty occupied with the project and considering their group also got an A, they definitely worked hard.
After the shower incident, Celeste and her group had also left me alone. And while I was grateful for that, I had a feeling that this peace might not last for too long.
But for once, nothing major happened.
Throughout the week, I was trying to talk to Kieran about the secret investigation I was going to conduct, but I didn’t get a single chance. Either he was genuinely busy, or he was avoiding me.
I didn’t know which possibility frustrated me more.
It was almost frustrating. If he really wanted me to stay far away from these incidents and whatever was behind them, he should have never told me about them in the first place.
Even if I wanted, I couldn’t pretend that nothing bad was going on right in the very Academy that was supposed to be my safe haven for next four years.
But it wasn’t just Kieran who kept his distance.
Oscar and Draven were busy two. It turned out the second years were going through a physical training test from Monday to Thursday and Oscar was the incharge instructor. Thus, both the brothers were pretty busy throughout the week.
Still, they made sure to leave me messages and even call me once in a while to ask about how my days were going.
It wasn’t until I didn’t get to see glimpses of Oscar across the hallways, meet Draven in the library every evening or play the twon building game with him like usual, I didn’t realize just how used I had become of their presence in my life.
With this busy week finally over, I was actually looking forward to a hance encounter with, at least, one of my mates.