CHAPTER 3- TROUBLE ON FIRST DAY
1053 Words
CHAPTER 3
Ella’s POV
Three days had crawled by since my father’s death, and news of it had spread like wildfire through the pack.
“I heard his daughter’s missing.”
“Do you think she was killed too?”
“Someone said there was blood—maybe she escaped while injured.”
The whispers never stopped.
They slithered and curled through every corner like smoke.
The pack house gave no real explanation for Father’s death. They only said the investigation was “ongoing” and that his daughter was still being searched for.
But I knew better.
There was more to his death.
And my answers waited at Moonlight High.
***
A knock dragged me out of my thoughts.
I opened the door, and the innkeeper froze mid-breath.
Her eyes scanned my face—then widened.
“Is this not the room?” she asked, squinting as though she were trying to solve a difficult puzzle.
I adjusted my glasses calmly.
“But... it was a girl who checked in that night,” she murmured, lowering the tray in confusion.
I smiled politely, took the tray from her hands, and shut the door before she could connect dots that should never be connected.
Back at the mirror, I hardly recognized myself.
The thick glasses dulled my eyes.
My chest was bound tightly beneath layers of tape.
My hair was tucked beneath a cap.
Honestly, even I would have doubted I was still me.
I grabbed a burger from the tray, stuffed the rest of the food into my bag, and packed quickly.
When I went downstairs, the innkeeper accepted the key wordlessly, still staring at me like she couldn't decide whether I was the guest... or a polite thief impersonating someone else.
***
The grand gates of Moonlight High stood before me, polished black steel glinting beneath the sun, the crest of a moon and fangs carved into them.
I exhaled deeply and stepped forward.
I’d barely taken ten steps before someone slammed into me hard enough to rattle my bones.
“Hey! Watch where you’re going,” the boy snapped, irritation flashing across his face before he sprinted off like a criminal fleeing a crime scene.
I blinked, adjusted my glasses, and muttered,
“I was the one who got hit, but I should watch where I’m going? Tch. These boys seriously lack manners.”
A tap landed on my shoulder.
I turned sharply.
“That’s just how they are,” said a boy with an easy smile. “Try to avoid guys like him.”
I cleared my throat and deepened my voice.
“Oh—uh, thanks.”
“New student?” he asked.
I hesitated, glancing at the letter crumpled in my hand.
The admission letter addressed to my late cousin, not me.
“Yeah,” I finally said.
He grinned.
“I’m Roy. First year. Nice to meet you.”
“Elliott,” I replied, borrowing my cousin’s name like I was borrowing his entire life.
“Alright, newbie. See you around. Try not to get into trouble.”
He waved and jogged off.
As if trouble wasn’t my shadow.
I arrived at the administration office and handed the letter to the clerk.
He stamped it without even looking at me.
“Dorm 205,” he said, sliding a key toward me with all the enthusiasm of a dying snail.
The dormitory stretched across two wings lined with identical brown doors.
“200... 201...” I counted under my breath until—
“205.”
Before I could knock, the door swung open.
“Elliott?”
Roy.
Of course.
“This is your room?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Perfect. You can take the bed next to mine. Just not that one.”
He pointed to the large, luxurious-looking bed against the far wall.
“Why?” I frowned. “No one’s using it.”
“That belongs to our third roommate. He’s... particular about his space,” Roy said, laughing nervously. “You’ll meet him soon.”
He tossed me a pillow and blanket, then headed out, leaving me alone with the steady hum of the ceiling fan.
I stared at the large, comfortable bed, then at my small, sad one.
“Unfair,” I muttered. “Who does he think he is? The son of an Alpha?”
Little did I know...
I sat on the small bed and exhaled.
“Elliott,” I whispered.
My late cousin, who died three years ago.
We looked so alike that people used to mistake us for twins.
The admission letter addressed to him wasn’t a mistake—it was the package Father received the morning he died.
“What were you planning, Father?”
The faster I found his killer, the sooner I could leave this place.
But first...
I had to find Elder Gideon.
***
Outside, the campus buzzed with life.
Boys in uniform clustered around the courtyard, laughing, shoving each other, and challenging one another to mock duels.
Being surrounded by them was... suffocating.
Each loud voice reminded me that I didn’t belong here.
Thunk.
A sharp thud hit the back of my head.
“Hey!”
I winced and turned.
Three boys stood behind me, wearing identical cocky smirks.
The one in front spun a basketball on his finger, his eyes gleaming in a way I didn’t like.
“Watch where you stand, Rank Five.”
Rank Five?
I glanced at the gold-stitched number on my jacket.
Just great.
His uniform bore a “2.”
His friends had “3s.”
Hierarchy.
Wonderful.
“I’m talking to you,” he snapped, bouncing the ball once... twice...
Then letting it lightly tap my head again.
My jaw clenched.
First day, and trouble already had me in a chokehold.
“Lower your gaze,” he ordered. “Do you realize who’s standing in front of you?”
Students around us shifted nervously.
Some scurried away.
Others stayed, whispering and enjoying the spectacle.
But I didn’t bow my head.
Oh no.
I met his eyes.
He stiffened in disbelief.
His arm rose—
“Enough, Chris.”
The voice cut through the air cleanly.
The crowd parted as Roy stepped forward, his expression dark.
I let out a tiny breath of relief.
“Roy?”
- Writer
