KNIGHTS ACADEMY: FATED RIVALS

LENA'S POV

"Hey, you made me drop all my stuff."

I froze with my hand still wrapped around my suitcase handle. The blonde girl glared down at me like I had ruined her whole day. Her hockey gear and books lay scattered across the stone path between us, and my stomach immediately dropped.

I had barely stepped through the academy gates and somehow I had already managed to get myself into trouble. "I am really sorry," I said quickly as I knelt to pick up her notebook. "I was not watching where I was going."

She snatched it from me before I could hand it over. "Sorry is not good enough, new girl. Do you even know who you bumped into?"

I slowly got back to my feet, my arms already aching from dragging that old suitcase through the massive gates. "No, I do not. I just got here today."

"Violeta Brooke," she said, crossing her arms. Her voice carried across the courtyard like she expected everyone to recognize her name, and judging by the way students slowed down to watch us, they did. "And you should learn fast that first years keep their heads down. Especially ones like you."

I brushed my hands against my jeans and frowned. "Ones like me? What is that supposed to mean?"

She stepped closer, looking me up and down without bothering to hide her disgust. "You have no wolf scent. Nothing. It is like you are human... or broken or something. Why are you even at Knights Academy?"

Heat rushed to my cheeks. My fingers instinctively brushed against the folded letter tucked safely inside my pocket. Mom's letter. The only thing she had left behind besides a lifetime of questions nobody wanted to answer.

I had spent years wondering why my wolf never awakened while everyone else's came so easily. If anyone could tell me the truth, it had to be somewhere inside this academy. "I got accepted," I said, forcing myself to hold her gaze. "I have my reasons for being here. You do not have to be mean about it."

By now a crowd had formed around us. Students whispered behind their hands while openly staring at me. I caught someone saying, She is the girl without a wolf, followed by a few quiet laughs. The words stung, but I refused to let them see it. I had not come all this way just to let a stranger scare me off before my first class.

Violeta smiled, but there wasn't a trace of warmth in it. "Reasons? Please. Look at your old suitcase and that nervous face. You do not belong here. First years should know their place."

I took a slow breath, trying to keep my temper under control. "Respect has to be earned. I said I was sorry. You walked into me too."

The smile disappeared from her face, replaced by something much colder. "You think you can talk back to me?" she asked quietly. "I run things here with my pack. Girls like you get stepped on."

She shoved me hard enough to make me stumble. I caught myself before I could fall and shoved her right back.

"Do not push me."

The students around us erupted. Someone cheered while another shouted for us to keep going. Violeta didn't lose her temper. If anything, she looked amused.

Then she swung first. Her fist crashed into my arm, sending pain shooting through it, but I hit back anyway. I didn't have claws. I didn't have fur. I didn't have a wolf waiting to defend me. What I did have was years of frustration, a mother's letter tucked inside my pocket, and a desperate need to find the truth about why she died and why my wolf had never awakened.

We grabbed at each other while the crowd screamed around us, my heart pounding so loudly it drowned out everything else. For one painful second, I remembered standing on the sidelines as a child, watching everyone else shift while I pretended it didn't bother me. That memory only made me fight harder.

"Move aside, everyone."

The deep voice cut through the shouting so easily that the entire courtyard fell silent. Students moved aside without anyone telling them twice, creating a path through the middle of the crowd. A tall guy with broad shoulders walked straight toward us, his dark hair messy like he had just stepped off the ice, his teammates following close behind. I didn't need anyone to tell me who he was. I had heard his name the moment I stepped onto campus. Ryder Knight. The hockey captain. The guy everyone looked up to.

He didn't yell or rush to stop the fight. He simply stood there, calm and unreadable, taking in the scene in front of him. Somehow, that was enough to make everyone else go quiet. Our eyes met for the briefest second, and something strange settled deep inside my chest. It wasn't fear, and it wasn't relief. It felt like a warm pull I couldn't explain, something so unexpected that I quickly looked away, suddenly aware of how fast my heart was beating.

The Headmaster pushed through the crowd a moment later, looking more exhausted than angry. His gaze swept over me, Violeta and the students surrounding us before he sighed. "That is enough. Violeta, and you... the new girl. Detention after classes today. Fighting on school grounds will not be tolerated, especially on your first day."

Violeta calmly straightened her uniform before looking at me with a smile so cold it made my skin prickle. "Watch your back, Ashwood," she said quietly. "This academy has a way of reminding people where they belong." Without another word, she picked up her hockey bag and walked away, her friends following close behind. Even after she disappeared into the crowd, her warning lingered in my mind.

I bent down to grab my suitcase when I noticed Mom's letter lying on the ground. My heart lurched. I snatched it up before anyone else could see it and held it tightly against my chest, brushing the dirt off the folded paper with trembling fingers. It was all I had left of her.

When I looked up, Ryder was still standing there. His teammates had already started walking away, but he hadn't moved. His eyes stayed fixed on me with an expression I couldn't understand, making my heartbeat quicken all over again.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked before I could stop myself.

He took one slow step closer, his gaze never leaving mine. "You really do not have a wolf?"

I tightened my grip on the letter and nodded. "No. It never awakened."

He stayed quiet for a long moment.

"You look... familiar."

A chill crept down my spine. Familiar? I had never met him before. Before I could ask what he meant, the Headmaster cleared his throat.

"Miss Ashwood, we need to get your paperwork sorted."

I nodded and reached for my suitcase, but before I followed him, I looked back at Ryder one last time.

"Did I do something wrong?"

He shook his head slowly.

"No. You just caught me off guard."

I frowned but didn't push him any further. Slipping Mom's letter safely back into my pocket, I followed the Headmaster toward the administration building.

I hadn't come to Knights Academy because of Ryder Knight or because of Violeta Brooke. I came to uncover the truth about my mother's death, find out why my wolf had never awakened, and expose whatever secret this academy had been hiding for all these years.

Behind me, I could still feel Ryder's eyes following me, and somehow I knew my first day at Knights Academy had changed far more than I realized.