Chapter 100: First Challenge
Lorraine’s POV
We walked in silence.
Astrid didn’t say a word as we cut across the academy grounds, past the curious stares of the elites, past the Lycans who watched us like we were some pitiful footnote in a war that no one remembered starting.
The sharp clack of her boots echoed off the stone walkways. I followed, every step a dull ache. My hand pulsed, the pain more rhythmic now, almost like my body was trying to adapt to the absence of what had once been mine.
We didn’t take the usual winding paths. Astrid knew the shortcuts. She moved like someone who had memorized every crack in the pavement, every hidden alley, every door no one else remembered existed.
And then, finally, we were there.
The feral dorm.
My first home in the Academy
A towering iron door stood before us, bolted shut with chains. It looked like a prison gate. In truth, it always had been. Only back then, we’d pretended it wasn’t.
Astrid reached into her coat and produced a rusted silver key—long, jagged, old. She didn’t fumble. She shoved it into the lock and twisted hard. A sharp click. Then the chains unraveled, falling away with a clatter that echoed through the empty courtyard behind us.
She gripped the heavy handle with both hands and shoved the door open.
The groan of rusted hinges filled the air.