03

KAIRA

The rogue's massive body slammed into me, knocking me flat on my back. Its hot breath reeked of rotting meat as yellowed fangs snapped inches from my face. I threw my hands up, expecting to feel claws tearing into my skin.

Instead, I heard the most bone-chilling snarl I had ever experienced.

Professor Zane's wolf form crashed into the rogue, sending it flying across the gymnasium. The impact was so powerful that the rogue hit the far wall with a sickening crunch and didn't get back up.

The other rogues froze, their red eyes suddenly wide with something that looked like fear. Professor Zane stood over me, his massive brown and silver form radiating an authority so intense that even I felt the urge to submit.

The lead rogue with the metal collar whimpered and took a step back. Suddenly, a flash of silver light erupted from nowhere, filling the entire gymnasium.

But this time, it didn't come from the room. The light seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, and when it touched the rogues, they screamed in pain.

Within seconds, every single rogue had turned tail and fled through the broken doors, yelping like kicked puppies. The last thing I heard was their scrambling as they ran across the academy grounds and disappeared into the forest.

The silver light faded as quickly as it had appeared, leaving the gymnasium quiet except for the sound of my ragged breathing.

Professor Zane shifted back to human form and immediately knelt beside me, his amber eyes scanning for injuries. "Are you hurt? Did it bite you? Scratch you?"

I shook my head, my hands trembling as I reached for my small whiteboard. "I'm fine," I wrote quickly. "What just happened? Why did they run?"

Before he could answer, Dean Slater burst through the doors with a full security team, looking around wildly at the destruction.

"Where are the rogues?" she demanded.

"Gone," Professor Zane said curtly, helping me to my feet. His hand lingered on my arm longer than necessary, and I felt that strange electric tingle again. "They fled."

"Fled?" Dean Slater looked surprised. "Rogues don't flee. They fight to the death."

"These ones did," Professor Zane replied, his eyes never leaving my face. There was something in his expression I couldn't read. "Something spooked them."

Dean Slater's gaze shifted between us suspiciously. "Well, whatever happened, Miss Blackwood needs to be checked by the team. And Professor Zane, I need a full report on my desk within the hour."

"Actually," Professor Zane said, his voice taking on that commanding Alpha tone, "I think Miss Blackwood should rest first. She's been through enough trauma for one day."

"I'm standing right here," I wrote quickly on my whiteboard, my frustration clear in my sharp handwriting. "And I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions."

Professor Zane's lips twitched like he was trying not to smile. "My apologies. What would you prefer, Miss Blackwood?"

The way he said my name made my stomach flutter, but I was too frustrated to enjoy it fully. "I'd prefer to know why a pack of rogues just attacked me and then ran away like scared puppies." I wrote furiously on my whiteboard.

"That," Dean Slater said calmly, "is what we intend to find out. Professor Zane, please escort Miss Blackwood to the medical wing, then report to my office."

As the dean and security team filed out, I found myself alone with Professor Zane in the destroyed gymnasium. The silence stretched between us, and I became acutely aware of how close he was standing.

"You saved my life," I wrote on my whiteboard, holding it up for him to see.

"Of course I did." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "That's what..." He stopped himself, running a hand through his dark hair. "That's what any teacher would do."

We started walking, I waited until we were out of the gymnasium before I wrote again and held up my board.

"You were running on adrenaline," he said, before I could even finish writing. "It's common during extreme stress to feel like you have enhanced abilities. Your mind fills in gaps."

I looked down at my hands, no silver light now. Just my ordinary hands, slightly scraped from the gymnasium floor.

Your mind fills in gaps? I scoffed

I wrote on my board and held it up. "My hands were glowing. Other students saw it."

"In the chaos of a rogue attack, people see a lot of things." His voice was careful.

I erased and wrote again. "You said 'there she is.' Like you recognized something."

A pause that lasted just a second too long. "I meant that you were holding your own better than I expected. That's all."

I watched his face as he said it, the slight tension around his jaw and the way his eyes didn't quite meet mine. He was a terrible liar and this isn't so funny right now.

I didn't push further, I had learned a long time ago that pushing people before they were ready only made them close off completely but I filed every single thing away quietly. 

The silver light, the emotions I had felt radiating off the other students like heat waves, the way that word moved through my mind and the way Professor Zane, right now, was working very hard not to look at me.

He knew exactly what had happened and for some reason he didn't want me to agree with what he knew.

“Fine,” I thought, following him around the corner toward the medical wing. Play it that way. But I was there too. And I have a very good memory.

We arrived at the medical wing without another word between us. Nurse Emily, a kind Beta woman in her fifties, immediately fussed over me, checking for injuries and asking questions that I had to answer by writing on my whiteboard.

Professor Zane started to leave, but I held up my board quickly. "Wait!"

He turned back, eyebrow raised.

"Will I see you tomorrow? For class, I mean."

Something flickered in his amber eyes. "Wild horses couldn't keep me away, Kaira."

The way he said my first name sent heat racing through my veins, even though I couldn't respond with words. I settled for what I hoped was a smile that conveyed everything I couldn't say.

After he left, Nurse Emily continued her examination. "Well, you're remarkably unharmed for someone who was attacked by a rogue," she said, sounding puzzled. "Not even a scratch."

"Professor Zane got there in time," I flashed her my whiteboard.

"Hmm." She made a note on her chart. "Your vitals are interesting though. Elevated heart rate, heightened senses, increased body temperature. Almost like you partially shifted, but that's impossible since you're unclassified."

My eyes widened and I quickly grabbed my whiteboard. "What does that mean?"