Awakening Destiny (Book 1 of the Bloodmoon Academy Series)

I looked up at the huge cabin-style house before walking up to the front door and pushing it open. The sounds of pots and pans clanging together greeted me and I knew my mom was starting to prepare dinner. Following the noise, I found her searching through one of the cabinets under the sink, searching for the pan that was clearly eluding her. "Which one are you looking for?" I asked, looking over towards the sink where there were a few pans that had probably been washed last night, but were still out on the counter drying. "Oh Jake, I didn't even hear you come in. I'm trying to find the good sauce pan, but I can't see it down here." She does this every single time. Walking over to the counter by the sink, I pulled the pan out from the bottom of the stack and held it up. "This one?" I asked, holding it to where she could see it. She looked up, and her sapphire eyes caught the light, sparkling as she smiled at me. "Where did you find that? I swear I just had it." "I'm assuming dad did the dishes last night because it was still out on the counter." I used the pan to point towards the stack of clean pans still out on the counter. Her long, straight black hair fell over her shoulder as she shook her head. "You know what they say, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. Your father is in his study. He told me you were coming by earlier, and said he had something for you." "Thanks mom," I gave her a quick hug before going back to my father's study. I knocked on the open door, drawing his attention to me. "Hey, come in, and shut the door behind you please." I stepped in before shutting the heavy wooden door behind me and taking a seat on one of the leather chairs beside his desk. "I know I've never really told you much from my childhood, but I was hoping we would be able to avoid this for you." I was honestly confused at this point, my father had never liked talking about his brother, the alpha of our pack. I couldn't blame him, considering I knew all too well what it was like growing up with that man, and if my father's experiences were anything like how I knew the alpha, then I couldn't blame him for not wanting to talk about it. "Well, when I was growing up, the highest ranking wolves in our pack all had to go to a special academy, so it had been me and the alpha. We had to go during middle school. I'm sorry Jake, I tried to keep you under their radar, but they found out. There is no hiding the fact that you're the strongest member of this pack, and the academy sent a letter to you." I couldn't wrap my head around the reason why he was trying to hide me from an academy? I looked up at him, trying to read his face, but his normally bright electric blue eyes were dull and ringed with dark circles, while his normally clean-cut dirty blonde hair was mussed. "Why are you so worried about an academy recruiting me?" I asked and watched as he pulled a black envelope out, setting it on his desk before sliding it towards me. "I... I wish I could explain more to you, son, but I'm unable to speak of my time there. The car is waiting out front to pick you up. You have to go. You don't have a choice here and neither do I. You don't need to bring anything with you, they will provide you with everything you need, and I will send you a few other things you may want. This isn't how I wanted things to go, but if you survive the academy you will have the right, along with the skills, to overthrow the alpha. I'm not able to tell you any of the challenges or dangers you'll face, but you're smart and strong. Make allies to help you, but always remember that you should never let your guard down." I didn't know what to think, but I mean honestly, it was just an academy, right? I was always good at school. This should be no different. With that, my father stood before walking over to the door and pulling it open. I took the letter off the desk and followed him out front to the large black SUV where the driver was standing outside the back door holding it open. "Good luck and be careful," my father said before giving me a quick hug and nodding towards the car. Letter in hand, I walked over to the open door and slid into the back seat. I watched as the driver backed out of the driveway until I couldn't see the house anymore. I tried to ask him some questions, but he mostly just ignored me other than to ask if I needed to stop for a restroom break or to eat. I ended up falling asleep at one point before waking up and checking my phone. We were almost ten hours in when we came to a Welcome to Florida sign before the car veered off the highway onto a small back road that led into a dark tunnel. As we passed through the tunnel, all the surrounding windows turned pitch black. They didn't allow any light to pass through, plunging me into complete darkness. I was immediately on guard, expecting something to happen, but it never came. It was about two hours later before the windows became clear once more, and we were on what looked like a huge college campus. There were several people just milling about, walking down the sidewalks, and the driver finally started talking. He pointed out all the buildings as we drove by them. A whole strip of small shops and restaurants lined several small streets that surrounded a whole mall in the center. Then we veered off to the other side where all the academic buildings were, before we turned down another street lined with several dorm buildings. At first, they looked like your normal college dorms, but the further we drove, the larger and more lavish the buildings became. "The first block is all the low-class dorms, the second is the middle-class dorms. These are the upper-class dorms." Looking out the window, I saw four different buildings that all looked like large fancy hotels rather than dorms. All of them had a doorman and the whole nine. He continued further, until he pulled up into the loop driveway of what looked like a huge mansion. There was a fountain in the center of the driveway and the building itself was all modern steel and glass. He parked at the front of the loop where he got out of the car and went around opening the door for me. "This, sir Nightbane, is the Royal Dorm where you will be staying." "Thank you," I said, a little distracted by just looking over the building. It looked out of place here, like it belonged in the big city, but it was out here, surrounded by green fields of grass and forest. Walking up to the door, another man opened it for me and I thanked him, but he looked shocked that I had done so. People must act just as uppity as this place looks. My steps echoed off the polished marble floors as I walked over to the main desk and introduced myself, hoping she was the one I was supposed to talk to about my room. She checked me out, head to toe, before giving me a sultry smile as she typed my name on the computer and handed me a key, letting her fingers linger on mine a bit longer than I was comfortable with before I pulled away. Looking down at the tag on the key, I read over it quickly before getting onto the elevator and pressing the button for the 4th floor. As it started to move up the floors, I stood back and waited. It took me to the top floor of the building and opened into a short hallway with only two doors across from each other. I checked the key's tag once more to make sure I had the correct room before pushing the key into the lock and opening the door. Stepping inside, I instinctively shut and locked the door behind me before looking around. I was shocked, to say the least. The space was huge. The second you walk in the door, the room opened up into a spacious living room with dark gray carpeting, a full plush black theater-style couch, a dark stained-wood coffee table, and an electric fireplace to match. Hanging on the wall was a huge flat-screen TV that took up at least half the wall. Walking into the room, I ran my hand across the back of the couch, feeling the soft fabric before turning to the left and going through an open doorway that led into a large dining room. It had a big, dark stained-wood table that could seat six people. Walking through the other open doorway led into a huge kitchen. Both the dining room and kitchen had black tile with white veins running through them, making the space feel very modern and clean. The counter tops matched the tiles perfectly, and all the cabinets were painted white with black appliances. Looking closer, all the appliances were the newest models, and they had any high-tech gadget imaginable, to the point that I started pushing buttons and switches just to see what everything did. All the cabinets and the fridge were also fully stocked with any kind of food I could want. Feeling a bit overwhelmed, I walked back through the living room and into a small hallway off the right side of the living room. There were two closets and a bathroom on the right side of the hall, then on the other side was my bedroom. Opening the door, I was once more shocked. The bed took up most of the space; it was large enough for a few people to sleep comfortably. There was a dark wood nightstand on either side, another fireplace against the wall across from the bed, with another large flat-screen hanging above it. Moving over to the door to the right of the TV, I opened it to find a large walk-in closet, filled with school uniforms, workout clothes, and a few choices of casual wear. Closing the door behind me, I went over to the other door and opened it into a huge bathroom. It had a large walk-in shower with a bench seat built into the whole back corner of the room with two large rainfall shower heads. There was also a built-in Jacuzzi tub in the front corner by the door to the left, and a sink to the right. All the cabinets were fully stocked with medical supplies along with almost a full drug store's worth of medicine. As I was still looking over my own medical supermarket, there was a knock on the door and I went to open it. There was a young woman dressed in a black business suit. She was short with fiery auburn hair and bright green eyes. "Is everything to your liking here?" She asked, and I just simply nodded, unsure of who really wouldn't like a place like this. "Good, here's your schedule along with a schedule of events for this week, before classes start." She handed me another black envelope before turning and walking away. Shutting the door behind her, I went over and sat on the couch to open the envelope. I pulled everything out, setting it on the coffee table before picking my class schedule up out of the pile. Jacob Nightbane, This is your official schedule for classes starting on Monday, August 21st. As always, you are required to dress in uniform for all classroom classes and ceremonies. We hope you enjoy your time here at The Bloodmoon Academy. Emergency Medical: Monday, Wednesday, Friday Weapons and Combat Training: Monday, Wednesday, Friday Skillful Leading: Tuesday, Thursday Skill Advancement and Training: Tuesday, Thursday Looking through it once more, I was honestly confused. Why would an academy have a combat class? At least it would be interesting. Then I pulled out the paper for the opening week schedule and saw there was a mandatory welcoming ceremony at noon tomorrow. I read through a few of the other events and ended up just being more confused, so I left it be, figuring they would explain everything tomorrow. I ended up walking down and checking out some of the amenities in the building. There was a large gym with a ring in the center for sparring, along with high-end weightlifting equipment and different punching dummies. Continuing on, I found a huge lap pool further down the hall. Satisfied with my exploration, I went back to my apartment and ordered some food before just taking some time to relax and get used to things. Getting up around ten the next morning, I tested out the shower before getting dressed in one of the uniforms they had provided me. It was much more formal than I was used to, with black slacks, a crimson button-down dress shirt, and a black blazer with BM embroidered across the breast pocket in crimson lettering. I decided to leave early just to be sure I knew where I was going and had some extra time to look around a bit before everything got started. I opened my door just in time to see a girl closing the door across the hall from mine. She turned and looked up at me with striking ice-blue eyes that had shocks of violet running through them. She was gorgeous, her shoulder-length golden brown hair framed her heart-shaped face, and her full lips slowly tipped up into a smile. I gave her a smile before holding out my hand in greeting, and was rather surprised when she took it in a shockingly firm grip, without even breaking eye contact. "I'm Jacob Nightbane, but since we're neighbors and all you can call me Jake." Her smile widened, and it was breathtaking. The way it lit up her entire face was almost angelic. "Aerabelle Frostrose, but since we're handing out nicknames, you can call me Belle." She stated with the slightest bit of sass to her tone, making me grin. She turned on her heel and walked over to the elevator, and I followed, not being able to keep my gaze from wandering down to the sway of her hips as she walked. The female uniform showed off far mor of their frame than ours did, making it hard not to notice her curves. They had a short black pencil skirt with a crimson blouse that dipped low in the neckline along with a fitted black blazer with the same embroidered lettering on it. I pressed the button to go down to the lobby as soon as we got in. "You're new here, right?" Belle asked as we stepped out of the elevator and into the lobby. I just nodded, remembering that my father had told me most people started here in middle school. "So you don't know how things work around here do you?" She asked, looking up at me with a spark of curiosity in those intriguing eyes. "Every high-ranking member of my pack has come here, but they're unable to speak of their experiences." I played around her question, not knowing how much information I should actually give her about my situation, considering they all had far more information than I did. She climbed into the back of one of the cars parked out front before scooting over and patting the seat next to her as she looked up at me. "Well, are you coming or not?" She asked, and I obliged, getting in beside her before the driver shut the door. "Don't let anyone else know that you don't know a thing about this place. They wouldn't hesitate to kill you on the spot if they knew. Am I the first student you met?" "Yes and what do you mean they would kill me?" I asked, feeling even more confused than before, especially since she didn't sound like she meant that statement in the figurative sense. "This academy trains paranormal warriors. They use different means of weeding people out and on school grounds almost anything goes. Killing, drugs, crime, and much worse as long as it's only between students. I hope for your sake that you're strong because they've already been talking and plotting ways to kill you before you even start here just because of your family name. Your family is the only one to have never lost a member here and right now you look like easy prey to them. That's why you're on the same floor as me. People are pissed off because you just walked in here as the highest royal line on campus, and they're going to hunt you to no end unless you really are scary enough to make them stop." She looked up at me with a blank expression. "Personally, I don't get into all of those politics, so I figured I would warn you before someone took that handsome head off your shoulders." Then she simply opened the door and climbed out of the car leaving me gawking at her back. I slowly processed everything, letting all the pieces click into place, my schedule, everything finally made sense. Then I got out of the car and followed after Belle into the crowd of people. Everyone turned and stared as I walked through the crowd, keeping my guard up and my senses about me just in case someone decided to come at me. I walked over to where Belle stood and took up the spot beside her. She looked around the crowd for a moment as if she was looking for someone before looking up at me once more. "What's actually going on here?" I asked in a low whisper that no one else would hear. "No one knows for sure exactly what the test will be yet, but they will pit people against each other to get the number of students down from 1000 to 300." She said before giving me a good once over. "You're a wolf, right?" "Yes, marked alpha." "Can you fight?" "Yes, quite well if I say so myself." "Good, then you have a pretty good chance of surviving. I'll make you a deal. If it's a free-for-all fight and I find you, I'll help you. But just don't die right off the bat, because as far as wolves go, you're at least the most tolerable one I've met on campus so far. So I wouldn't mind seeing you around here more." Honestly, I didn't know what to say to that one, but luckily someone walked across the stage before it got too awkward between us.