The Afterlife Academy Saga

Chapter 15

15

Azur. The beautiful wolf of my mother had been a friendly constant while I grew up. The gentle touch of her wet snout encouraging me to take a step further, the reassuring growl to dare me to be a bit bolder. There wasn't a childhood memory without her.

I couldn't imagine not having my own wolf companion. The noise of paws and claws ticking on the floor, the snap of a slashing tail, and the soft grumble of an animal asleep. They were sounds of a healthy household and without it, it simply wasn't home.

I wanted, needed a wolf. I wouldn't be complete without.

A small wet patch pressed into the back of my hand and my breath hitched. I knew what that was, I'd felt that a thousand times.

The nose of a wolf.

A foreign magic rushed through me, both hot and cold at the same time. Tingling, overwhelming, reassuring. It howled, it roared, it devoured the silence within me. The wind of my heart reacted to the surge, chasing after it, with it, until there was no telling where one ended and the other started.

I look up in the red eyes of the small pup, staring right into his soul. We were one.

A love I’d never felt for anyone or anything else planted itself firmly in my heart. Filled with affectionate and protective feelings, I scooped up the small pup and buried my face in his fur. Hyde. His name was Hyde.

"Hello, little one." I pressed a soft kiss on his head. "You're so beautiful."

The pup whined, turning and scuffling in my arms until it seemed comfortable. Fluffy fur, paws that were too big for his body, and a wagging tail. My wolf was perfect.

Relief crashed over me as I tickled his belly. I had my own dusk wolf.

"We're going to have so much fun, Hyde."

A repressed squeal to my left reminded me I wasn't alone in the Barn. Slowly, I turned towards the excitable Dragon.

"Yes?" I asked, hoping she wasn't going to keep making that noise. Even with the pup imprinted, Grey would tear me a new one if we made too much noise and presented ourselves as a threat.

"You did it! Right?"

I looked down at Hyde, overcome with emotion. "Yes, I did it."

"Can I pet it now?"

"Him. It's a boy and his name is Hyde." I shuffled closer towards Ryoko, opening my arms so she could reach the pup. "Be careful. He's my wolf now, but I can tell he'll be an aggressive one."

"I'll be fine," she chuckled before leaning towards the pup. "Hello, little boy. Can I tickle your belly? Can I tickle your belly? Yes, yes, I can. Aww, you're so cute."

"He is, isn't he?" I agreed proudly. At this age, his eyes hadn't developed the signature red colour yet and he was a lot fluffier than his adult counterpart. With his mother nearby, he wouldn't stay with me long and I had to make the most of my time with him.

I joined Ryoko in scratching his chin and inspecting the rows of teeth. They weren't great when he bit me, but now that we were bonded, I could admire them. They'd come in handy when...

Well... I still didn't really know what the companion was for, but that didn't matter. His teeth would be useful somehow.

With a little yawn, Hyde stretched himself as long as he could and wriggled out of my embrace. Unsteady on his legs, he wobbled back to the pile of mother and siblings and plopped down.

"Bye, Hyde. I'll be back soon," I whispered after him, not able to contain the glee. "Aaaah, I have a wolf!"

"When can he leave his mother? Oh, will he be in our room?" Ryoko asked, clapping her hands.

"Shhh. We're supposed to be sneaky."

"Oh, right. Sorry."

Despite wanting to stay with the wolves all night, I knew the longer we stayed, the higher the risk of getting caught. Even if I didn't want to leave, I had to.

"Let's go before anyone sees us."

The Dragon put her hands on her hips. "Only if you promise I get to come to see Hyde again."

"You can't come here again. This is actually a Valkyrie only site," I said, sucking in a breath through my teeth. "Sorry."

"Then you have to promise you'll bring him to our room sometime."

"I'll see what I can do, okay? He has to be trained first."

"Fine, but I'm not going to stop asking."

I stared at her, slightly bemused. From what I'd seen, I thought she was this calm and emotionless person. Polite, reserved, slightly robotic even? But this Ryoko...?

She was full of life, bubbling with excitement and personality. I liked this Ryoko. She was fun to be around, even if she was slightly insane.

I could get used to her.

"Let's go," I said, pulling her up from the floor and towards the exit. We couldn't linger too long and I really wanted some proper sleep so I wasn't half-dead tomorrow.

"Fiiiiine."

I pushed the Barn open, inviting the cold night air inside. The wind greeted me like an old friend and I basked in the cool touch on my skin. Combined with the heat radiating from Ryoko, it created a weird, somewhat pleasant sensation. It was unlike anything else.

"The school is beautiful at night, don't you think?" she mused, gesturing to the grandness of the building.

The stained glass windows reacted differently to the shimmer of the moon than during the day. The walls were adorned with small statues and figurines, portraying and honouring the ancestors that build the place. High and mighty, the school stood in the landscape, almost as if it was birthed by the earth herself.

Strong towers pierced the sky, creating an endless and timeless illusion. The school was magnificent, something that was easy to forget when I was inside, stressing about the girl groups and my reputation.

"It's beautiful," I agreed, looking from the building at Ryoko. The faint moonlight stroked her cheek and revealed the scales underneath, albeit not as pronounced as when she was standing in the sun. "Beautiful indeed..."

"You're doing your staring thing again."

Caught. s**t.

"Oh, ummm... Sorry, I do that sometimes. I get lost in my thoughts."

"What were you thinking about?"

"Mmmmm... How we need to get back to our room. Quick," I said, which wasn't entirely a lie. I just didn't want to admit that this staring thing was a recent development. She was just so fascinatingly different.

Ryoko shook her head in bemusement, her ponytail dancing. "Alright, if you say so."

With the Dragon by my side, I followed the winding halls to the exit of the school that lead to the dorm.

"Shit."

Ryoko stopped so suddenly, I bumped into her.

"What?" I hissed.

The girl turned to me, an apologetic smile around her lips. "I forgot my sweater."

"In the Barn?"

"Yup..."

"Oh, for f**k's— Oh, wait. It'll be fine. They're just standard Academy issue, right?"

Ryoko pulled a face. "Yes, except that I sewed my crest into it?"

"Your crest?"

"Yeah, the crest with my family name on it..."

"For f**k's sake!" I banged my fists against my forehead, fighting the urge to scream. If the sweater didn't shine light on our midnight secret, that surely would. "We'll have to go back and get it then."

"Well, hurry then."

"Hurry? Are you telling me to hurry? You're the one that almost screwed this up!"

Ryoko's nostrils flared. "This was all your idea in the first place."

"Wha— You didn't have to come!" I growled in disbelief. How was this my fault now? I never forced her to come along. In fact, if I remembered it correctly, she decided she wanted to come.

"You dangled adventure in my face!" she countered, waving her hands at me. "How could I say no to adventure?"

"This isn't an adventure, this is my life!"

"Life can be an adventure," she argued.

I glared angrily in her golden eyes, calling upon my wind to strengthen my resolve. "Whatever it is, next time, you're not invited."

The Dragon huffed. "Hah. We'll see about that."

"We don't even know each other!" I protested, quickly becoming fed up with her. We were having such a good time, but she was ruining it by— by being impossible. How infuriating.

"Through no fault of my own. Tonight was the first time that you were even remotely friendly to me."

"Well, what, well," I spluttered, my magic raging in my chest like a tornado. "That's neither here nor there."

"Why? Because I'm right?" she challenged, the gold around her eyes twinkling. A smile played around her lips, one that showed she knew I had no leg to stand on.

I clacked my tongue, pulling her along. "Fine. Let's just go and get your sweater okay?"

Even without looking at her, I felt her smugness bouncing off of her. So much for the polite and reserved girl I thought I was rooming with. What a night.

The winding path led us through the scatter of trees, back to the Barn.

"Hey, did we do that?" Ryoko asked, grabbing my wrist and stopping me.

"What?"

"The door."

I followed her gaze, finding the heavy sliding door of the Barn slightly ajar. "No, I closed it."

"Are you sure?"

"Mmmm... No?"

The Dragon's whisper tickled my cheek. "Be careful."

"Careful? I thought you wanted adventure," I teased, trying to relieve some of the nerves. I was certain I closed the door. Almost certain. Half certain.

What if I hadn't and the wolves escaped?

"Shhh, do you hear that?" Ryoko asked, pressing herself closer into me.

She was lean, leaner than I expected. How did she stay so thin? I wanted to have a figure like that.

No, focus.

Barn. Wolves. Sweater.

"Let's find your jumper, check the dusks are okay and get out of here, yes?" I asked.

"Yes," Ryoko agreed, pushing me towards the Barn. "You first."

Nerves engulfed me as I approached the stone building. The smell of night made way for the faint scent of dry hay. The darkness of the Barn greeted me, a reassuring sight. But unlike the other times, there was no shuffling of paws and legs. No soft whining of pups. No red eyes staring into my soul.

The wolves were gone.