THEIR CLUELESS LITTLE HUMAN

**MARA'S POV** My heart pounded as I dragged my suitcase down the corridor. This was nothing like any school I had ever attended. The walls were made of stone, with torches burning in iron brackets right next to electric light fixtures. I dragged my suitcase along the uneven floors as I stared around and my breath rattled with every step. Students moved around me in both directions and none of them looked twice at the torches, the stone or any of it. It was like this was normal and just a typical Tuesday. I had moved six times growing up. I had started over in six different cities, six different schools, always the new girl, always arriving with too little information and having to piece things together as I went. I was used to that. But nothing had prepared me for this. The scholarship letter had given me a name and a date. Cresthaven Academy. September third. That was everything. No address I could find on any map. No website. Only a contact number. I had searched the web for three days and found nothing on the name. I had almost talked myself out of coming. Then I remembered my empty flat, the overdue bills, even the funeral costs I still hadn't finished paying. My mother had been gone six weeks and the scholarship was the only door still open. So I called the number and came. Now I was here, dragging a suitcase down a corridor that looked like the inside of a castle, with no idea where registration was. I was so tense that the confirmation letter I was holding in my hands had gone soft at the folds. I wasn't watching where I was going and turned a corner just to bump straight into someone. I went down hard. My suitcase crashed sideways. My bag flew off my shoulder and hit the floor and I heard something crack inside it. My knees hit the stone and the pain shot straight up my legs. I looked up and four pairs of eyes stared down at me. The four men were easily the most attractive men I'd ever set my eyes on. They were all tall, towering over me, even more so as I was still on the ground. All dark-haired except the blonde one on the left, and they were looking at me in a way that made my stomach tighten unceasingly. The one directly in front had grey eyes and a jaw set so tight it looked like it might crack. Instead of helping me up, he just kept staring at me like I'd killed his parents or something. It made my skin prickle. The blonde one crouched down and picked up my confirmation letter. He held it out between two fingers, smiling like something about this entire situation was funny. I took it from him without thanking him. "You alright?" he asked, still smiling. "Yes, I'm fine." I started gathering my things. The grey-eyed one crouched down too. But instead of helping, he reached out toward my face and I realized a beat too late, he was reaching for my chin. I slapped his hand away hard and the corridor instantly went quiet. He looked at his hand. Then he looked at me with his brows furrowed. A small smile curled from the corner of his lips. "We've been waiting for you… mate." I stared at him. "Excuse me?" "Our mate," another one said from above me. He had a rough voice and long dark hair tied back. Arms folded across his chest like he was already bored with the conversation. I looked at the grey-eyed one. Then at the rough one. Then at the blonde who was still crouching beside me with that amused expression. The fourth one was standing further back quietly, watching everything with dark eyes that gave absolutely nothing away. I stood up, picked up my bag and suitcase handle, then turned to look at the grey-eyed one. "I just got here. My knees are bleeding, I am f*****g tired and I haven't even found registration yet. So even if you're all drop dead gorgeous, could you just like… get out of my way?" The one who called me their mate pulled me slightly. "This isn't something you walk away from." "Okay lord," with that I shoved him aside and walked out. Behind me I heard the blonde one laugh openly, not even trying to hide it. My heart was going too fast as I moved down the corridor. I told myself it was from the fall, but I was pretty sure it wasn't. "You dropped this." A girl appeared at my side from out of nowhere. Same height as me, dark eyes, a small bag over one shoulder. She was holding out the little notebook I kept addresses in. I hadn't even noticed it fall. "Thank you," I said, taking it. "Petra." She fell into step beside me without being invited. "Second year. I saw what happened back there." "It was nothing," I said, putting the book back in my bag. "You slapped Caelum Voss's hand, then shoved him aside, that's quite the opposite of nothing." I glanced at her. "He reached for my face and even dared spit out some weird ass s**t. I wasn't trying to be rude or anything but he's a bit too arrogant if he thinks he can just do anything and I'd let him." "That's Caelum for you though. He's afterall one of the proudest creatures; a lyc..." She suddenly paused, then changed the subject. "Anyway, where are you trying to go?" "Registration." "I'll walk you. It's not easy to find." She led me back the way I had partially come and down a turn I had completely missed. "What's your name?" "Mara." "First year?" "Yes." She nodded and kept walking. She pointed things out as we went. Where the dining hall was. Which staircase to avoid because the steps were uneven. Which professors gave the most work in the first week. I listened and I watched the other students watching me like I was some piece of artwork and it made me uneasy. We reached registration. A small room behind a heavy wooden door. The woman inside processed my details without looking up, handed me a room key, and told me the third floor east wing. Turns out it was actually Petra's room so she walked me there. The room was small. Two bunk beds, two desks, one narrow window. Mine was the left lower bed and Petra was the right upper bed. Apparently our two other roommates would be appearing later in the year due to some issues. I dropped my bag onto the mattress and sat down beside it. My knees were still stinging and I quickly brought out antiseptic from my bag and applied it. Petra sat on the edge of the other lower bed, staring straight at the wound. "You really don't know anything about this place, do you?" "The letter gave me a name and a contact," I explained. "That was basically it." She went quiet for a moment, like she was processing something. After a while, she finally said, "Before anything else, there's someone you need to go and see today. Before she hears you're here and comes to find you herself." "Who?" I asked. "Her name is Serena Vale. She runs the female dormitory. Every new girl goes to her first. It's just how it works here." She paused. "You want to be the one who shows up, Mara. Not the one who gets summoned."