THE WOLF PRINCE'S MATE

CHAPTER 2 : A MURDER

Ana's POV:

I got inside where my cat was waiting for me at the entrance.

I took off my shoes and sat down beside her.

“Missed me Sappy?”

She purred a soft growl and cozied herself into my lap. I took her to my bed and went to take a bath. When I got back, she was not there, which was odd because she never left the bed after I put her on it during my nighttime bath. I tied my robe and didn’t bother drying my dark brunette curls when I started looking for her.

Sappy was my guardian like all witches had one. She has been with me since the day I was born. This cat was around 450 years old so I had no doubt that she can fend for herself but guardians were sacred for witches. I was attached to her on a spiritual level. It was normal for me to feel uneasy when I didn’t know where she was. That being said, she was a major reason for most of my stress and anxiety.

I started looking throughout the room when I hear her voice coming from the balcony and I rushed there only to find an eagle sitting on the railing four feet away. Sappy was furiously growling at the bird and I was shocked to see an eagle so late at night. This was a bad omen. I shooed it away and me and Sappy came back to the room and this time I heard a knock on the door. The pit in my stomach was growing by the second.

I went and opened the gate to find a lot of commotion happening outside in the corridor. The rooms were soundproof and hence why I didn’t hear it before but there were SC (student council) members, professors, trainers, and local policemen roaming the corridor. Everyone looked serious or panicked. I even heard a few girls crying and saw Jason looking tired, standing two rooms away from mine.

We had momentary eye contact when I shifted my attention back to the lady who knocked on my door.

It was a woman in her mid-40s and she looked like she was also a part of the local police. She was taller than me and more muscled, like a werewolf. I wasn’t surprised. Werewolves majorly consisted of the security forces because of their superhuman abilities everywhere.

“Can I come in, Miss Rupert?” I was shocked that she knew my name.

“Yes, sure, please do.” I invite her inside to get the information on what happened in here this late at night. Whatever it was, it definitely didn’t look great. I was getting an ominous energy out of this.

“Miss Anastasia Rose Rupert, is that your full name? I am going to need to ask you a few questions.”

“Yes, that’s me. Sure, go ahead.” I was starting to feel uneasy like there was something very wrong with this place. I have been feeling this way since a few hours now. Since we left the bonfire from the jungle. The feeling was there with me the whole ride with Jason and just got a bit more prominent as we reached the dorms. Even in the parking lot, there was this weird vibration I couldn’t put my finger on, now that I try to remember it.

“A batchmate of yours has been found dead in the woods near the observatory area of the campus.”

And just like that my whole world changed.

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“A batchmate of yours has been found dead in the woods near the observatory area of the campus.”

I WAS SHELL SHOCKED. This was not the information I was looking for when I thought about this commotion. Death amongst super naturals is a very big deal and usually the most anticipated deaths surround a lot of investigation but the death of someone so young is very uncommon and would be a bigger deal.

For a few moments, I was gaping at the woman and understandably so, she sighed and patted me on the forearm.

“It’s alright the situation is under control because we have secured all the parameters. If there is a murderer on the campus, they will not be able to escape and everyone is safe under our protection. So yes, I have a few questions for you.”

Secured the parameters, in other words, we are all trapped with whoever was responsible for this death.

“She was with me all the time Mrs. Trainer. If you won’t mind, I’ll take it from here”, comes Jason’s voice from behind her. Of course, my get out of problems, free ticket was here. He was leaning on the doorway. The woman gave me a stiff nod and went away and Jason closed the door behind him.

“What happened all the sudden? Who died? And most importantly, how?” I had so many questions.

Jason slowly approached me. Sappy was on guard.

“They suspect it’s a murder. Lisa Bowen. They found her when her best friend reported her missing. She was going to the observatory for a midnight lecture of Galactic Energies 101. When her best friend didn’t find her in the class, she texted her. Half hour later she told the professor since Lisa was a grade A student. She never missed classes. They started a search operation ASAP since her prof couldn’t locate her even after using magic. Found her lying in a wild bush with both her eyes missing and a bleeding nose in her school uniform.” My first thought was that this is horrible news. Lisa Bowen was a member of my own coven. We grew up attending the same church. I felt sick to my stomach.

“So that’s where you went off to during the party?”

“Yes, it was a summon. But they didn’t tell me until I got there after dropping you off.”

I sat back on the bed, still in shock. A murder was really shocking thing to experience in such an elite and well protected place.

“So what happens now?”

“The classes will be suspended for a week, or a couple of weeks at most. Investigation will be done. The elites are not going to be happy about this. It reflects poorly on the Academy and Lisa’s parents are going to file a royal complaint, probably. She belonged to a near pure bloodline of witches and considering our kingdom’s history with witches, the leaders will have this very bad! It is going to be national news and a mess” he says sitting in front of me.

The weight of his words dawned on me and a realization hit that maybe my father will withdraw my admission from the academy. I too am a witch and if the murderer is still in between us, I top the list of possible future victims.

It is not like he didn’t believe in me but since I am his only child, he is always worried for me. I looked up at him and his eyes somehow had darkened into a shade of deep red from his usual bronze. Then they dropped from my face to somewhere below and I realized that I was still in my bathrobe.

“Excuse me” I squealed and ran for my walk-in wardrobe, locking it after me. Witches are not shy creatures but I must carry myself like a royal in all ways. Maybe I am only a friend to him but he is after all a male in the world of shifters. I cannot deny that he must feel an attraction towards me in the sort of way that would make him act on it.

I knew this was going to be a long night and suddenly my phone pinged. We were to assemble in the main hall within the next hour. I sat in front of my vanity and blow dried my hair and put on a light makeup. Since it was not an official gathering, I wore a deep maroon sweater and a dark grey mini skirt with stockings. It was well past November and the temperature was dropping day by day. I will remember to put on a few charged artifacts from tomorrow, for extra precaution.

To my surprise, Jason was still here, looking over some papers, sitting on the loveseat in front of my bed.

“Hey, you cannot see that without my permission”, I exclaimed, snatching my test papers away from him.

His sleeves were rolled up showing his perfectly muscled forearms. I am sure that is the result of superior genes and our heavy physical education curriculum. He took off his glasses.

“You don’t seem to be doing well in French and Physics of elements.”

“I know, I am aware.” I was seething. This was so out of character for him. He went through my things without my permission. This is not how he should be behaving.

He looked at me for a few seconds. We were entangled in a staring contest.

“Let me tutor you.”

Okay.

I will be honest; this was more shocking to me than today’s events. I did not expect him to offer to tutor me. I might be an introvert but I was a proud witch as well. I don’t take criticism well. I stare at him as he stares back.

“No”. I blurted out.

He had a distant look on his face as if he was trying to come to a decision and scrunched together his eyebrows in frustration. Maybe I hurt his ego. He must have collected much effort to keep away his pride as he asked again.

“You don’t need to answer now. Just think about it for a while. Your grades are not doing you any favour and I am sure you pride in being intelligent. I have heard witches are just like that. So, I won’t press you further but I am a senior and a straight A student. Think about it.”

“I need time to think about it” I said taking a step back and averting my eyes. His eyes seemed to sparkle as if he still had hope and said “I will wait for your answer, Ana.” He turned away and begin to leave.

“Let’s hurry to the assembly now.”