Silver Ridge Academy

POV: Lyra ​The clock on the gym wall hadn't even ticked to five-fifteen yet, but the air was already heavy with the smell of floor wax and the rhythmic, aggressive thud of a basketball hitting the hardwood. I kept my head down and focused on the repetitive motion of the mop, pushing the grey water across the surface while trying to ignore the way the vibrations of the ball rattled in my chest. ​"You missed a spot near the three-point line, human," a voice called out, though he didn't even stop his dribbling to look at me. ​I gripped the wooden handle of the mop a little tighter and moved toward the area he indicated, watching the scuffed leather of his expensive sneakers dance just inches away from my damp mop head. ​"Sorry, Ren," I muttered, my voice sounding scratchy and thin in the vast, echoing space of the private gym. ​He let out a short, dry laugh and pivoted on his heel to sink a perfect shot, the net snapping with a sharp sound that made me flinch. "It’s 'Heir Ren' to you while you’re on the clock, or did your mother forget to teach you how we do things in this house?" ​"She didn't forget, I just thought since it was just us here..." ​"That’s your first mistake, thinking we’re ever just 'us,'" he interrupted, finally catching the ball and tucking it under his arm as he stood tall, his chest heaving slightly from the workout. "You’re here to clean, and I’m here to train, so don't get the idea that these early mornings make us friends or even acquaintances." ​I didn't reply because there was no point in arguing with someone who viewed my entire existence as a background setting for his life, so I just went back to the bucket to wring out the mop. The silence that followed was thick and uncomfortable, filled only by the sound of the mop hitting the water until the heavy double doors of the gym swung open. ​"Ren, baby, why are you still in here with the help?" a sharp, high-pitched voice rang out, and I didn't need to look up to know it was Calla, his fiancée. ​"Just finishing up," Ren said, his tone shifting from cold to a bored sort of indifference. ​Calla walked over, her designer heels clicking loudly on the floor I had just spent an hour polishing, and she stopped right in front of me, forcing me to halt my work. "You’re tracking mud everywhere, girl, so maybe you should spend less time staring at my fiancé and more time looking at the floor." ​"I wasn't staring, I was just finishing the perimeter," I said, keeping my gaze fixed on her shoes. ​"Don't talk back to me, it’s pathetic," she snapped, then turned her back to me as if I had vanished into thin air. "Ren, we’re going to be late for the academy, and I heard the rankings are being posted this morning, so we need to be there before the hallway gets crowded with the commoners." ​"I'm coming, just let me grab my bag," Ren replied, and I watched them walk away together, leaving me with a fresh set of scuff marks and a dull ache in my lower back that I knew wouldn't go away for the rest of the day. ​The hallway at Silver Ridge Academy was a chaotic mess of expensive perfume and frantic whispering, but the loudest section was the wall where the academic rankings were pinned behind a glass case. I squeezed through the crowd of students, feeling the usual shoves and whispered insults about my faded uniform, until I finally saw my name at the very top of the list. ​"Number one again, how shocking," a voice sneered from behind me, and I turned to see Calla standing there with a group of her friends, all of them looking at the list with disgusted expressions. ​"I worked hard for it, Calla," I said, trying to move past them to get to my locker. ​"Hard work doesn't change who you are, Lyra, because at the end of the day, you’re still the girl who scrubs my toilets and then comes here to pretend you’re one of us," she said, stepping into my path so I couldn't move. ​"My grades have nothing to do with my job at the estate, so please just let me through." ​"Oh, but they do, because it’s embarrassing for the pack that a human maid is sitting above the Alpha’s son," she laughed, pointing at Ren’s name which was buried significantly further down the list. "Ren doesn't need to study because he has a future, but you need these little numbers because without this scholarship, you’d be nothing but a permanent fixture in our laundry room." ​I looked over at Ren, who was standing a few feet away leaning against a locker, and for a second, I thought he might say something to stop her, but he just stared at me with that same blank, cold look he had in the gym. ​"Is your mother still crying about her wages, or did she finally accept that she’s lucky we even give her a roof?" one of the other girls asked, causing the whole group to erupt into giggles. ​"Leave my mother out of this," I said, my voice trembling despite my best efforts to stay calm. ​"Or what? You’ll write a mean essay about us?" Calla stepped closer, her face inches from mine. "You’re lucky I don't tell the Alpha how much of a distraction you are, because one word from me and you and your mother are on the street with nothing but your precious report card to keep you warm." ​The bell rang, signaling the start of first period, and the group finally dispersed with a few more mocking glances, leaving me standing there alone in front of the glass case. I felt a hand on my shoulder and flinched, spinning around to see a guy I didn't recognize well, though I knew he was part of the extended family, maybe a cousin or a brother to Ren. ​"Don't let her get to you, she’s just insecure about her own failing marks," he said, giving me a small, almost too-friendly smile. ​"I'm fine, I'm used to it," I replied, pulling away from his touch. ​"I'm Leo, by the way, and I’ve been watching your progress, Lyra, it’s really impressive how you handle all of this," he continued, falling into step beside me as I walked toward my classroom. ​"Thanks, Leo, but I really just need to get to class." ​"Of course, but just so you know, I think it’s a waste for someone as smart as you to just be a maid, so maybe we can talk later about some other opportunities I have in mind." ​I didn't answer him, mostly because his smile didn't reach his eyes and I had learned the hard way that nothing in this town was ever free, especially when it came from a wolf. I spent the rest of the morning in a haze of lectures and note-taking, but I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched, and when I finally sat down for lunch, a shadow fell over my table. ​I looked up, expecting Calla again, but it was the school principal, a tall man with a stern face who rarely spoke to scholarship students unless they were in trouble. ​"Lyra, follow me to my office immediately," he said, not waiting for a response before turning on his heel. ​I gathered my books and followed him through the quiet corridors, my heart hammering against my ribs as I wondered if Calla had actually made good on her threat. When we reached the office, he didn't sit behind his desk, but instead pointed to a chair in front of it, where Ren was already sitting, looking more annoyed than I’d ever seen him. ​"Sit down, Lyra," the principal said, closing the door and leaning against it. "We have a bit of a situation regarding the heir’s academic standing, and since you’re currently the top of your year, the Alpha has requested a very specific arrangement that involves your continued residency at the estate." ​I looked at Ren, then back at the principal, realizing that my life was about to get a lot more complicated than just scrubbing floors. ​"What kind of arrangement?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper. ​"You are going to ensure he passes his finals, or you won't have a school to come back to on Monday," the principal said, and as he spoke, I noticed a strange, dark bruise-like mark creeping up Ren’s neck that he quickly covered with his collar, his eyes widening in a flash of genuine terror.