Hidden heiress in an alpha academy

LENORA'S POV~~~~ “You’re fully aware that a dead Lenora cannot sign a contract,” an unfamiliar voice cut through the thick oak door. I shouldn’t have been there. But something about the way uncle Gregor dismissed the servants tonight, something about the tightness in his voice during dinner, made me wait in the hallway after everyone had retired. My instincts, sharpened by years of surviving him, knew something was coming. I pressed my back against the cold stone wall, just outside the study. The c***k in the wood-paneled door was small, but the voices inside were sharp enough to cut through bone. “No one's talking about killing the girl,” a feminine voice followed. “I doubt your husband understands,” my uncle said. His thick bass voice was unmistakable, always humorless and slow. “We’ll sign the contract by dawn,” he added. I held my breath. “The Hiltons are expecting a bride, not a brat with wild ideas,” the first man continued, his voice like gravel soaked in poison. My stomach turned. Bride? A heavy pause followed, then a second voice—softer, meeker. Maybe one of his advisors. “She’s still mourning, Gregor. The court might raise questions.” “She has no title. No allies. And no voice,” Uncle Gregor snapped. “The people will believe what I tell them to believe. Once she’s mated, she’s their problem, not mine. After all she's had three years to mourn” I didn't realize my fists had clenched until my nails bit into my palms. This couldn’t be happening. I stumbled back a step, almost knocking into a vase behind me. My breath hitched, heart pounding loud enough I was certain they could hear it. A contract marriage, Just like that. Without a warning or a choice. They were going to force me into the arms of some Alpha like I was a chip to be traded. I swallowed the bile that rose to my throat, finding balance on my feet again. There was nothing I could do as a princess who has been reduced to a commoner, walking around my father's house with a rank lower than that of the Omegas. If this was the moon goddess testing me, then it's safe to say she'd drawn the last card. From being unable to link with my wolf at fourteen, to losing both of my parents three years ago. At eighteen, everyone is expected to have found his or her mate. But how can a wolf-less girl do so? Besides the training I was forced to go through when I was younger, there was nothing more to me. Especially now that my uncle rules as the Alpha, instead of me. It's been a full year since I turned eighteen, tomorrow would mark my nineteenth birthday. Yet…no miracles. And all my uncle and his wife could think of is giving me out in marriage. I retraced my steps, took out my phone and texted Denzel, my best friend. My fingers trembled over the keyboard as I hurried back to my room. I sent the message, demanding his presence immediately. Denzel responded almost immediately with a voice note. “I've been at your window for hours. Figured you were having a family dinner,” I slipped the phone back into my pocket and sprinted off. My room was just at the corner of the third hallway, close to the staircase and the noise in the mansion. I flung the door open, locked it and unlocked the window. Denzel climbed in, drenched in rain. “Phew…that was…fun,” he exclaimed. I paid less attention to him, fixing my energy on my clothes which were now being tossed into a bag. “Lenora, what's the matter?” “Gregor,” I summarized my life problem with one word, one name. It's safe to say that Denzel has lived through hell with my uncle through me. They've only seen each other once, and that perhaps might have given him the perfect image to imagine when I was filling him with stories of what uncle Gregor makes me do every week. “Whats your uncle up to this time?” Denzel didn't hesitate to assist with my clothes. I breathed, slow but heavy, dropped the last gown into the box and turned to Denzel. “He’s marrying me off,” “What!?” “Selling, actually. That's how low I've been reduced. My uncle is selling me off to a family!” My words stung my chest, causing an ache to swell and spread across my body. “He wants me to sign a marriage contract tomorrow. Forcefully,” “Wait, Wait, Lenora. So what do you want to do? Run?” He asked. “Exactly,” He stopped helping and just stood lazily, staring at me. “Why? You could refuse. Or report him to the council. Or better still…look at the brighter side,” he said the last words with a tone laced with uncertainty. “What brighter side?” “You have no idea who this other party is, right? Why not…wait. See. He could be your escape from this hellhole,” “This hellhole is my home!” I snapped. My voice sent his hands up in surrender as he backed away. I've only known Denzel for two years, yet it feels like we've been friends since childhood. He's twenty, a year older than me, quiet about his person's life but always willing to share if I asked. And that's the problem. I never asked. “Every decision I've made in the past years, you stood by me without judging. Why now, when my life is about to be ruined?” Tears trickled down my eyes, but I wiped immediately and grabbed my box with both hands. “I shouldn't have called you. I'll help myself,” I dragged the box to the door, but Denzel stopped me before I could open it. “You'll get caught with this before you reach the exit,” he said. His expression shifted, and I saw the desire to help in his eyes. I let the handle of the box drop into his palm before stepping back. “So, what?” I asked. “Meet me at the black gate in ten,” he said. I hesitated, staring at him just to be sure my trust was still intact. And of course it was. I pulled him into a hug before leaving my room. ******** The black gate was close to the train station. It was nowhere close to my father's house and needed a two kilometer walk to get there. The moment I successfully slipped through the Omegas who were watching the gates of the house, I burst into a race. My legs carried me through the wind, hands sweeping and beating down obstacles in my path until I burst out of the woods. The train station was just ahead, its entrance lit by a single street light standing tall by the left. A white SUV pulled up by the side, tinted windows and a silent engine. Could be anybody —i thought, hiding behind the waiting station. After a few seconds, Denzel came down from the car. He looked in my direction and whistled. A sharp breath of relief escaped my mouth as I walked up to him, covering my head properly with the hood of my jacket. “You took your time,” “I had to get you fresh clothes. No way we were going to get past the Omegas with that box,” he explained while I was already digging into the box of new clothes, looking for something to change into. I came across his academy's badge resting on his dashboard. Gold, shimmering, and heavy. I dropped it back, pulled the cloth of my choice and undressed. Denzel looked away. “So, where to?” “My father has a sister living in the outskirts of Koltigaz. She's a rogue but…” “You mean your aunt, who's also your uncle's sister and his enemy,” Denzel cut in. “I got rid of your clothes because I didn't want them to trace you with your scent. If they can't find you with your scent, don't you think your relatives will be the next doors they'd be knocking on,” I paused to think for a moment, and Denzel made sense. “I've got nowhere else. My mother's people hated my father. I doubt they'll welcome me or want to have anything to do with me,” “What about your father's safe house? You said he has one somewhere in…” “Koltigaz,” I completed, stepping out of the car fully dressed in a white top and brown jeans. Men's clothing. Denzel and his poor taste in picking clothes. “My father's safe house was in Koltigaz until uncle Gregor found it and started using it to harvest Greenflame,” “Greenflame? He's the manufacturer of those drugs?” “You sound surprised,” I countered with a smirk. “Gregor would dip his hands into anything that will profit him, including manufacturing and distributing enhancement drugs to wolves that ends tragically,” “So, where to then?” I exhaled, tilting my head upward, into the sky like I was asking the moon goddess for an idea. How would she answer me now when she's never done so? I closed my eyes, light showers of rain dropping on my face for some time before something clicked. “Your school,” I blurted. “What…School?” “The Alpha academy. I could hide in there,” Denzel laughed. “The alpha academy is only for boys. What exactly and how exactly do you think you'll fit?” “I have you, you could help,” The thought was a stupid one, but it sounded fun at first. Until Denzel started filling me in on what I had to get, how I need to be, what I'll encounter. He explained everything, not skipping a dot on why I shouldn't consider my option or act on it. When he was done talking, he shrugged. “I know you hate your uncle and everything he stands for, but this….this is like subjecting yourself to another hardship,” “That's what my life has been about,” I chimed immediately,no lies detected. “There's no harm living through it for another year,” “Another year!” He snapped like I was crazy. Maybe I was. “That's my decision,” I said calmly. “It's the safest place to be, for now. The last place anyone would look. Would you help me?” *************