Running From A Wolf

Chapter 8

"What did you say?" Coach Ryan's lips twitched.

"I-I wish to forfeit the selection..." I shook off Kristine's vice grip, forcing bravado into my words.

"Interesting." The coach smirked. "Scared even before the procedure starts? How cowardly."

I gritted my teeth. "I refuse to be an object of your ridicule."

With everyone's incredulous stares on me, I grabbed my bag. I avoided Kristine's frantic gaze and turned to leave.

"You are not permitted to leave." The thundering voice sent shockwaves through the bleachers, not to mention my bones. I saw the others shudder visibly.

"You cannot detain an uninitiated student," I replied loftily, masking my unease.

"An arrogant coward," Ryan shook his head.

"It takes more than that to provoke me, Mister whoever-you-are." Since I was leaving anyway, I didn't care much for propriety.

Gasps burst out. A few seconds of dead silence transpired before the audience began debating again.

"Crap, that girl is crazy!"

"How dare she speak like that to an instructor?!"

"The ugly freak is suicidal. Even if she escapes, Ryan is known for being ruthless."

"She's done for."

"I feel really bad for her. Not only will she be kicked out for being disrespectful, but she just had to offend a man as strong as the coach."

"Kelsie!" Kristine tugged me down desperately. "He's serious!"

"I'll be fine," I reassured her. If I wasn't even initiated as a student, under what grounds could he torment me?

With a soft squeeze of Kristine's hand, I let go and climbed down the stairs.

"Kelsie Kiara, you are hereby officially accepted by the university."

What. The. f**k???

I stood right there, dumbfounded. Was he serious?

I whipped my face back and glowered at the smug instructor on the podium.

"You can't do that! I've already withdrawn from the selection."

"So you have." He grinned. "But earlier I said quite clearly that you will be my first trainee."

In other words...

"I initiated you myself." Ryan's smirk pissed me off.

Fuck. f**k. f**k.

If I'm initiated under that monster, then he has the right to instruct me and order me around for the next four years?!

"That is not valid!" I roared. "You can't do that!"

"Oh, but I just did, didn't I?" Ryan's smile cooled down by a few degrees. "However, since you feel that this decision is unfounded, how about we ask the other instructors for their opinion?"

He looked at the teachers seated on chairs behind him. There were over forty of them.

"What do the rest of the esteemed faculty members think? Hmm?"

Please don't agree with him... My heartbeats raced.

The well dressed instructors of various ages discussed amongst themselves. In about five minutes, an old man with a bald head and long white beard stepped forward.

"The child has submitted her application and the university has approved of it. Since she has found herself under the care and guidance of a specialist, she will have to remain for a semester before she chooses to step down." He wasn't too loud but his words were uttered firmly.

"Thank you for the verdict, headmaster." Triumph blazed in full glory on Ryan's sinister face.

I need to hire an army of assassins. That pig would get me killed during class!

I took a deep breath. "Are you sure you want someone as contemptuous as me to study under you? Are you not afraid of me tarnishing the academy's name?"

The headmaster frowned, clearly displeased.

"The crazy chick has a point."

"That instructor will be taking in a pile of trash."

"She doesn't even deserve to be noticed by him, that damn vixen!"

"Ugh, why her?! Ryan is barely a few years older than us. Why didn't he choose a pretty girl over her?!"

Another pile of murmurs rose around me. Even some of the instructors on the platform were sizing me up with disapproval.

"Headmaster, rest assured, I will teach her to recognize certain boundaries." Ryan's voice cut through the arena.

"But-" I protested.

"Then I will leave this child to your care." With a last glance, the headmaster turned and sat back down.

What the heck? Am I completely ignored?

"Miss Kiara, come stand beside me." Ryan's snide command washed over me.

"What if I don't?" I snapped back. "I don't want to! I'm leaving!"

I ignored the rising commotion and stormed around to head to the exit. But before I could get far, two extremely tall men wearing security uniforms blocked my path. Both of them grabbed my arms and dragged me towards the podium.

"Hey! Let me go! This is pure oppression!" I struggled and tried to kick them. It was futile though. They had to be built from steel.

Soon enough, I was forced to stand straight beside the damn coach Ryan. He was just slightly shorter than the two guards, but definitely half a foot taller than me.

"You can't do this!" I gasped defiantly.

"I can, and I did." His tone was final. He then completely ignored me and turned back to the spectators.

So. f*****g. Humiliating.

I had to stand right there, on the platform on full display, with two guards holding onto me like I was a criminal. Meanwhile, Ryan continued with the orientation. Kristine kept shooting worried looks at me, but I adamantly refused to make eye contact with her.

A whole hour later, the selection finally began. Students placed envelopes of their general shifter details into the boxes named with their preferred instructors.

Each of the instructors and experts walked to their own boxes and went through the envelopes, accepting most of them, while rejecting a few.

Next came the secondary distribution. The rejected profiles were gathered around and passed between the different trainers. If anyone was willing to take up the rejects, they would. If not, the remaining shifters would be handed to a general instructor. The rejected students could study along with the ones who were accepted, but the knowledge of the so-called shifter higher powers wouldn't be bestowed upon them.

To break down the whole process, the Experts stood at the top of every academy's pyramid. Experts almost always chose handpicked prodigies. They could wait for a few days to observe various students, then poach the ones with the greatest potentials. Experts were the best trainers, period.

Second came the Elder Instructors. They would choose their preferences from the long lists of students who yearned to study under them. From the choosen group, they would further wait for a whole semester and select a handful to teach special skills. Of course, this would happen only if the selected few wouldn't be grabbed by the experts.

Third came the Trainers. They would choose large batch of students based on compatibility, then train them to the best of their abilities in a group.

Fourth were the General Instructors. The students rejected by the Elder Instructors ended up here. They would be taught the mere basics. The General Instructors wouldn't really care much about the students anyway.

And once a semester was completed, a shuffling would take place. Trainees could change their instructors, provided that their second choices would agree to them. Moreover, the instructors, Elder and General alike, had the right to give up on disappointing candidates. If these candidates were not accepted by the other instructors, they would then be banned from the shifter classes and would only have the right to attend human classes.

We all had to attend a few human classes to keep up with the humans, but at least the accepted shifters get the knowledge to survive and strengthen themselves. The candidates who face complete rejection from all the shifter trainers... would attend only the human classes. Their value would be lesser than dirt.

And before we could get started, I had grabbed the attention of an Expert. That was, logically speaking, a great point in my favor. Yet, as I saw my dear Coach Ryan walking to me with his tall stature, I didn't feel so lucky anymore...

"So, tell me about yourself, Miss Kiara," Ryan smiled. "Let me have the honor of knowing more about my disciple."

Disciple, your ass!

"I'd rather not. I'm your student already, so why would I need to submit a fake resume to you?" I scoffed.

"Ah, feisty little maiden," Ryan's eyes glinted dangerously. His voice lowered. Chills seeped through my skin, piercing a painful path to my bones. It took me a moment to realise that he was channeling magic into me without even touching me. My body stiffened, unable to move.

"Um," I gulped. Tension raced through my veins. Just who was this guy?

"You have a wild tongue. I assume you haven't heard of me?" His tone really was sinister. "I have quite a dark reputation."

I racked through my memory. Coach Ryan from Bluedale University. Wasn't he an assassin? A shifter with a primal thirst for blood. Very young, but ruthlessly brutal. He wasn't scared of anyone. In fact, he was highly respected.

Also, rumors said that he killed the students under him who weren't good enough.

"I think... no?" My legs trembled.

Ryan's lips slowly lifted into a half smile. "This semester will be quite interesting."