CHAPTER SEVEN

"Don't."

Lila's voice sliced through the silence just as my fingers were about to touch the old wooden door.

Her grip clamped around my wrist so suddenly that I almost screamed.

"Ouch!" I hissed, trying to pull away. "If you squeeze any harder, I'll lose a hand before I even discover my wolf." She didn't laugh.

Her eyes stayed fixed on the door, her face unusually pale. I followed her gaze. The strange carvings, the silver glow, the whispers I'd seen moments ago... were gone. It was just an ordinary wooden door now. Old, dusty, and locked.

"...What?" I looked at the door again, then back at Lila. "Did you see that?" I asked carefully.

She finally released my wrist, though her expression didn't soften. "See what?"

"The markings... the light... the voice..."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."Her brows are knitted together.

 "Lila." I narrowed my eyes.

"I'm serious." She walked closer to the door and knocked on it twice. Echo ran through the hallway. "See?" she shrugged. "Locked."

"But—"

"Night has different rules here."She interrupted before I could continue.

"What does that even mean?"

"I don't know." 

"You just said it as you do."

"I said what everyone says," she smiles.

"Which explains absolutely nothing."

"Welcome to Grimhalden."

I sighed dramatically. "This school deserves an award."

"For what?"

"For making confusion a compulsory subject." That earned me a small laugh.

"There she is," Lila said, nudging my shoulder. "I was beginning to think the creepy hallway stole your personality."

"I'd like to file a complaint."

"To whom?"

I looked around the empty corridor."...The ghosts?" Lila burst into laughter. "You'll fit in eventually." "I'm beginning to think that's the scary part." She shook her head and started walking back toward the dormitory. I glanced over my shoulder one last time. The door remained exactly where it was. Almost as if it had been mocking me the entire time.

The next morning, sunlight poured through the curtains and landed directly on my face. Whoever invented sunlight clearly had something against people who enjoyed sleeping. I stretched lazily before rubbing my eyes. "...That was a weird dream."

The door, strange symbols, Lila grabbing me. Definitely a dream. Right? I yawned and reached for my blanket; something stung. I frowned and lifted my wrist, a faint purple bruise circled it exactly where Lila had grabbed me. I sat upright.

"...Oh."

So...

Not a dream.

"Fantastic," I muttered. "I'm officially living inside the weirdest school on earth."

Beside me, Lila was still sleeping like someone who paid rent to Dreamland. Her hair covered half her face, and she had somehow managed to steal almost the entire blanket during the night. I was just about to pull it back when— A long, powerful howl echoed across the academy.

“Awooooo…” The windows vibrated. Birds scattered from the trees outside.

Lila sat upright so fast that she headbutted the wall. "Owww!"

I blinked.

"...Good morning?" She rubbed her forehead.

"What time is it?"

"I don't know."

Another howl rolled across the campus.

I sighed. "This school is really something."

Lila looked at me.

"They can't even afford a bell."

She stared for two seconds......then laughed so hard she nearly fell off the bed.

"You are impossible."

"I know."

Within minutes, the entire dormitory was alive, and doors flew open. Students hurried into the hallway. No one looked sleepy anymore, but looked alert and excited. Some are even nervous.

"What happened?" I asked.

Lila was already pulling on her jacket. "The Hunt."

"...That sounds unnecessarily dramatic."

Outside, hundreds of freshers gathered in the academy courtyard while senior students stood along the stone balconies above us, watching like spectators waiting for a show. A tall instructor stepped forward. His silver eyes swept across the crowd.

"Freshers," he announced.

"Today, you enter Black Forest."Silence settled instantly.

"The Hunt is Grimhalden's first trial. Hidden throughout the forest are Moon sigils.  Every team must retrieve one before sunset." He paused. "If your team fails..." Nobody breathed. "...you will spend one week in the Punishment Hall." Groans spread through the crowd. "And repeated failure may result in expulsion." Which got everyone's attention.

The instructor continued. "There is only one rule." His voice became colder. "If you hear someone calling your name..." He looked directly at us. "...Do not answer."

A chill slid down my spine. I leaned closer to Lila. "This school really enjoys making students uncomfortable." Without looking at me, she replied, "Orientation ended yesterday." I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. As students began forming groups, I overheard two boys whispering behind us.

"I heard last year's Hunt ended with three freshmen disappearing."

"That's just a rumor."

"No, my cousin was here. He said they never found them."

"Forget that. Finding the Moon Sigil is hard enough. If we fail, Punishment Hall will be the least of our worries."

"I heard the forest changes every year."

"So?"

"So the maps become useless."

I quietly decided that Grimhalden needed therapy. At the edge of the courtyard, Adrian stood with a few senior Alphas. His arms were folded, his expression was unreadable, he wasn't speaking, he wasn't smiling, he was watching. For one brief second, our eyes met, then he looked away. Almost as if he already knew something the rest of us didn't.

The academy gates creaked open; beyond them stretched Black Forest. Ancient trees towered into the sky, their branches twisting together until they swallowed most of the sunlight. Mist drifted lazily between the trunks, making it impossible to see more than a few steps ahead. It didn't look like a forest; it looked alive. The instructor raised one hand.

"The Hunt begins."

Everyone rushed forward. The quiet forest suddenly filled with footsteps, snapping branches, and anxious voices. Lila grabbed my sleeve.

"Stay close."

"I wasn't planning on getting lost."

"Good."

We stepped deeper into the woods. The farther we walked, the quieter everything became, even the birds had stopped singing. Leaves crunched beneath our shoes. The air felt colder and thicker as though the forest was watching us.

I wrapped my arms around myself.

"...I don't like this."

Before Lila could answer—

"Nira..."

I froze. Not behind me. Not beside me. From somewhere inside the trees. My heart stopped.

Slowly...

Very slowly...

I turned toward the sound.

Lila's face was drained of color.

She stared into the darkness between the trees before looking back at me.

"...You heard it too?"