Chapter 96: Return to School
"Who left me flowers?" Nyra asks, staring at the small bouquet tucked neatly beside her locker.
It’s been a whole week since she woke up, and the doctor cleared her for school yesterday.
Though in truth, Adrian--as usual, always making a fuss--almost didn’t let her come today. She had to remind him she’s still just a junior and would be taking senior exams soon before he finally drove her here. He also carried her bag and would’ve followed her to class if her friends hadn’t practically hijacked her from his grasp and brought her here.
"Such a mystery," Lena says innocently.
Nyra narrows her eyes at her. At all of them. "Why did you say it like that?"
"Like what?" The girls exchange suspicious glances, all of them suddenly very interested in anything except her question.
"Seriously?" Nyra asks.
"We don’t know..." Leah says, biting back a smile. "Maybe Adrian left them, you never know."
"No, no, don’t do that." Nyra looks between them. "Adrian always gets me daisies, these are a bunch of lilies."
The three of them shrug, and she rolls her eyes at them. "You’re all terrible liars, you know that?"
Before anyone can retort, she pulls her locker open properly, and a mountain of flowers, cards, little gifts, and folded notes immediately tumbles out.
Nyra gasps. What’s going on!?
"Surprise!" The girls burst into laughter.
Nyra stares at the mess covering the floor, completely speechless.
There are flowers everywhere. Roses, lilies, daisies, even small bouquets tied together with colorful ribbons. Some cards have her name written neatly across the front, while others simply say things like Welcome back, Future Luna and We’re glad you’re okay.
Her throat tightens. "Oh my Goddess..."
"You’re officially the most loved person in Moon-Crest Academy right now," Lena announces proudly.
Her brain has been so attuned to people hating her, because how didn’t she notice that most of the stares from the other students had malice in them?
Thinking back...they actually seemed relieved to see her okay.
Nyra shakes her head, crouching to pick up one of the cards. "This is way too much."
"No, it isn’t," Lena says. "You deserve every bit of it."
Nyra looks up at them. All her friends are smiling down at her.
Leah adds softly, "After everything you’ve been through, everyone wanted to do something."
"You spent years being painted as the bad guy," Naya adds. "People believed all those horrible things about you because of Anna, but now they know the truth."
Nyra’s eyes sting with unshed tears, and she quickly wipes beneath them.
"Don’t cry," Lena warns, pointing at her. "You’re going to make all of us cry."
"I’m not crying."
"You liar, we can all see the tear drops."
"I’m just--" Nyra sniffles, laughing through the tears. "I’m happy."
That seems to be all the girls need to hear.
Lena immediately throws her arms around her. "Aww! You’re so cute!"
The others, refusing to be left out, all pile on until Nyra is practically buried beneath them. "Okay, okay!" she laughs, struggling to breathe. "I can’t breathe!"
"That’s what you get for being loved!" They finally pull apart, all of them laughing.
For once, Nyra doesn’t feel like the girl that was bullied just months ago.
She doesn’t feel useless or unwanted anymore. She feels...loved. And after everything that happened, she realizes just how badly she needed that.
"Hey." A familiar voice comes from behind them.
Everyone turns to find Jason standing a few feet away, his hands tucked awkwardly into his pockets.
"Jason," Nyra says, smiling. She remembers seeing him in the woods and heard the story of how he heroically shot Anna to save her.
He gives her a small smile. "I’m glad you’re okay."
Nyra’s expression softens. "Thank you so much. I’m really grateful."
Jason looks slightly confused. "For what?"
"For saving me. Even though we haven’t talked in weeks, you didn’t hesitate to come for me," Nyra continues. "I don’t think I’ll ever forget that."
Jason stares at her for a moment, clearly not expecting the gratitude. He wanted to talk things out with her, yes, but he wasn’t expecting her to be so happy to see him.
His mouth nearly falls open when Nyra steps forward and hugs him.
The girls immediately start to clap like they’re in some cliché fantasy novel. "Oh my Goddess!"
"Finally!"
"Look at him!"
Jason’s face turns bright red. "Guys, shut up," he mutters, awkwardly wrapping his arms around Nyra.
Nyra laughs against his shoulder before pulling away. "Seriously, thank you."
Jason nods, still looking slightly stunned. "You’re most welcome." He stretches a hand to her. "Friends again?"
Nyra rolls her eyes. "I just hugged you, what do you think?!"
The other girls nearby immediately start making exaggerated love noises.
Jason shoots them a murderous glare.
"One more sound and I’m leaving."
Everyone bursts into laughter, and for a few minutes, everything feels normal.
Until a sudden wave of chatter rises from the other end of the hallway.
Nyra turns to watch as several girls are whispering excitedly, some fixing their hair while others are practically squealing.
"What is happening?" Nyra asks.
The girls beside her exchange tired looks. "This has been happening since day yesterday," Naya says, rolling her eyes.
"Since day before yesterday?"
"Yep."
"Who? Why?"
Naya points down the hallway. "That."
Nyra follows her gaze, and...somehow, she isn’t surprised when she realizes who it is.
Dorian.
He’s walking casually through the crowded hallway as though he owns the entire place.
His uniform fits perfectly against his broad frame, his blonde hair slightly messy, and that stupidly handsome face carries the same effortless confidence she’d seen at the mansion.
His hazel eyes sweep over the students around him like they’re nothing. Girls immediately move aside to let him pass.
Some of them openly whisper and giggle, and one girl actually waves at him.
Dorian flashes the girl a lazy smile.
Oh.
Well, Dorian is extremely good-looking, so good for them.
"I hate him so much." Naya groans beside her. "Seriously. He’s been here for barely a day and he’s already collecting admirers."
Lena folds her arms, watching Dorian. "Tell me about it. He’s not even a junior, why is he here?"
"For the attention, obviously." Naya retorts, eyes cutting to Nyra, who’s watching with obvious amusement. "Nyra...don’t tell me you’re impressed?"
Nyra blinks at her. "Why would I be impressed when my mate is more handsome?"
"Ohhh." All the girls mumble, mock offended. "So that’s how it is now?!"
She throws her brown hair back and smiles, grabbing her textbooks. "We have five minutes before the bell."
As she starts to walk away, they don’t let her go far. "You’re buying us lunch today as punishment."
Nyra agrees, and they stop their pouting, following closely behind her to class.
---
Back in the Blackwood mansion, Caius sits alone in his room, phone pressed against his ear, his expression unusually serious.
"Yes, I know what I’m supposed to do. My brother is in his office right now. I’ll go in after he leaves and check the archives later."
He pauses, listening. "Yes. And once we find the special wolf, we can use their blood as the weapon."
"Yes, I know." He rubs a hand across his temple. "My son is in school right now. He’s blending in well, already looking around, trying to figure out if there’s anything unusual about the students here."
He listens again before asking, "And you’ll give me my own cut?"
A low chuckle comes from the other end. The kind of voice that makes your hair stand on end. "More than that. I’ll make you Alpha. Just make sure you find that werewolf for me."
Caius smiles brightly. That’s exactly what he wanted to hear. "It’s a done deal."
Just as the call ends, a knock sounds at the door.
Caius looks up as one of the Blackwood staff enters. The staff here apparently aren’t that hard to bribe.
"Alpha has left, sir."
"Does he suspect anything?"
"No, sir."
"Good." Caius leans back in his chair. "Keep doing your job, and I’ll make sure you’re rewarded when this is all over."
The staff member nods quickly, pulling out a document that was hidden in his uniform.
"You found the document I asked for?"
"Yes, sir." He hands Caius a file. "I couldn’t get the full copy, but I’ll get the key to the old archives in an hour."
Caius takes the file, quickly scanning through the pages. The records detail an elderly werewolf from Moon-Crest who, despite her age, has long been suspected of possessing strength far beyond that of an ordinary wolf.
"There’s no address?"
The staff member shifts nervously. "It’s not complete. S-someone came in before I could find everything."
Caius closes the file. "We don’t have time for your fucking incompetence!" he bellows, hurling the document at the man’s feet. "How many times do I have to tell you? The faster you find the details we need, the faster this ends!"
The young man looks like he’s about to cry as he reaches for the document on the floor. "Yes, sir. I’ll get t-the remaining documents in a few minutes."
The door closes behind the scared staff, leaving Caius with a grin on his face.
"Very soon, brother. Very soon I’ll have everything I need to take you down."