The chirping sound of birds filled Raine's ear, pulling her out of sleep.
She blinked against the soft sunlight that spilled through the thin curtains, casting golden streaks across the worn wooden floor. For a moment, she didn't move—just lay there, letting the unfamiliar stillness settle around her. Listening to the birdsong and the rhythmic creak of trees swaying outside
A cool breeze wafted in through the open window, carrying the scent of pine and morning dew. It tickled her skin, making her aware of the goosebumps on her bare arms.
She blinked, trying to block out the bright sunlight shining through her eyelids, but the light wouldn't go away..
Rubbing her eyes, his mind cleared, and the memories of the night before rushed back to her
Raine sat up quickly. She looked down at herself. She was still naked under the blanket and her private areas hurt.
Something very strange had happened the night before.
Everywhere was so oddly quiet unlike usual
Her gaze darted to the small wall clock hanging above the dresser.
10:17 AM.
Her eyes widened in horror.
"Crap!" she gasped, throwing the blanket aside and scrambling to her feet.
Everyone must have gone to class already.
She moved in a frenzy, bathing and brushing within minutes. she wincer slightly as she dressed, her movements sharp and clumsy.
Her uniform was perfectly ironed , and she pulled it on hastily, not bothering to check the mirror. She barely remembered brushing her hair or grabbing her bag as she bolted down the stairs and out the door, her shoes half-laced and her heart racing.
By the time she reached the lecture hall, her lungs were burning, and her cheeks flushed from both the sprint and the embarrassment. She hesitated just a second outside the heavy door, trying to catch her breath, then pushed it open as quietly as she could.
Every head turned.
Professor Cole Saltzman looked up from his notes, his expression turning glacial behind his thin-rimmed glasses..
He set down his chalk slowly and clasped his hands behind his back.
"Well, well," he said, voice calm but icy. " Mr. Rowan Vale. How generous of you to grace us with your presence… forty-four minutes into a fifty-minute lecture."
Raine stood frozen in the doorway, the blood roaring in her ears.
"Do take a seat—if you think there's anything left for you to learn today. Or perhaps," he added, with a steely gaze, "you'd prefer to explain to the class what was more important than academic punctuality?"
A few students snickered. Raine clenched her fists and lowered her gaze, forcing her feet to move.
"No explanation? Thought so," Alpha cole said, turning back to the board. "Next time, don't bother coming in at all."
He turned back to the board, lifting the chalk with precise, deliberate grace, as if Raine's tardiness hadn't just irritated him enough to snap.
Without turning, Alpha Cole continued, "Now, before our... interruption, I was about to make an announcement regarding your next round of field assignments."
That caught the class's attention.
He underlined a word on the board with a long stroke.
"As of next week, the class will be divided into three groups. Each under a different Alpha. Myself, Alpha Gabriel, and Alpha Kieran."
Murmurs rippled through the room
"Don't worry, unlike the previous years, you'll be allowed to choose your own poison," Alpha Cole said dryly, turning around to face them.
He scanned the class, his eyes lingering too long on Raine before moving on.
"This will determine not just your training style, but the mission types you'll be exposed to. No switching once you've chosen. No whining if you regret it.."
He walked to the center of the room, slow and deliberate. "By tomorrow morning, I want your names submitted. No excuses. ."
The silence that followed was absolute.
"Dismissed," he snapped, the sharp clack of the chalk against the tray was the only sound that followed.
Students began to rise, chairs scraping against the floor. Raine remained seated, her mind spinning—not just with the embarrassment of her late arrival, but with the weight of her thoughts.
She clearly now remembered that Killian knows her secret.
"I'm glad you are fine now" a voice dragged her out of her thoughts..
Talk of the devil. She sighed.
"What did you do?" she rasped.
Killian didn't answer right away. He sat back on her desk. "I saved your life."
"With what?" Her voice was sharp.
He held up his cloth wrapped hand.
Raine's expression shifted to horror.
"No…" Her hand flew to her mouth. "You gave me your blood?"
"It was that or watch you die."
"You had no right—! You are a vampire. What if I died? Do you know what that would make me?. Oh my god! What if I'm dead already? "
"I had every right, " he snapped. "Because I can't watch you die under my nose. It would be bad for my school record. And uhm you're my roommate also"
Raine stared at him, breathing hard. "Do you know what that means? What you just did?"
Killian nodded slowly. "Yeah. You've got vampire blood in your system now. That's going to… do things. Change things. Not immediately, maybe not all at once, but try not to die in the next nineteen hours I guess"
Killian's voice softened. "I didn't do it to change you. I did it to keep you alive."
Raine looked away, fury and despair warring in her expression.
"I didn't ask for your help," she said quietly.
"Too bad," he replied. "You've got it anyway."
Killian studied her closely, his gaze losing some of its sharp edge. "What really happened, Rowan? Why were you like that last night?"
Raine's fingers curled around the strap of her bag, knuckles white. Her lips pressed into a thin line before she finally let out a sigh, her shoulders sagging.
"I'm… always sick," she said, voice barely above a whisper. "That's probably all it was. Just… one of my episodes."
"Don't give me that, werewolves barely get sick. Your wolf is meant to always make sure of that" Killian said quietly, sliding off her desk.
She didn't respond right away. Her eyes stayed fixed on a crack in the tiled floor.
"Except my wolf is really really weak. The only thing she'd ever helped me with was to speak and i'm super grateful for that.. it's not normal, I know" she admitted finally. "Not for anyone else. But for me? I've lived with this since I was a kid. It comes and goes. No one's ever been able to figure out why. My parents tried everything—doctors, healers, potions, even some shady spirit callers once and exorcists "
She let out a humorless laugh.
"Nothing ever worked."
Killian's brows furrowed. "You're telling me this has been happening your whole life?"
She nodded. "Sometimes it's mild, just dizziness, fever, blackouts. Other times…" She trailed off, swallowing hard. "Like last night. Although it's kinda different yesterday"
"And no one knows what it is?" he asked, voice taut with disbelief.
"I stopped asking a long time ago," she muttered. "People get tired of things they can't fix. And I got tired of being treated like a broken wolf"
Killian exhaled loudly. She must have felt really lonely, he thought.
"Enough of me story. It's getting boring, which alpha are you choosing?" Raine asked with a faint smile.