Three

Chapter Three.

Kai's POV.

I listened to instructor Durran drone on and on, my attention far from the boring class he was taking. The man enjoyed lording over us, relishing the fact that he could boss us young Alphas around under the guise of an instructor.

I was going to crush him one day.

I tilted my head to look at the new guy once more. There was something…off about him, but I couldn't place my finger on it.

Besides, it was interesting as hell to watch how flustered he got whenever Instructor Durran said something particularly gruesome.

“Alright class, that's enough theory for today. Let's head to the pit.” the man announced from the front of the class.

Hell yeah, I thought to myself as the rest of the class filed out. A place to finally get rid of all this pent up tension.

The pit, as we liked to call it was more like an arena, a huge room built amphitheatre style with a sunken area surrounded by ascending rows of seats.

I measured my steps until I was walking next to the new guy, who had fallen behind the rest of the group.

“Why are you so tiny, Shadowbrook?” I taunted, but a part of me seriously wondered why the guy was so tiny. Alphas like me usually ended up being huge, and he was unmistakably an Alpha, as I could tell.

But there was also something unusual about his scent.

It rubbed me the wrong way that I couldn't place what that was, so I settled for making his as uncomfortable as possible.

“What's wrong, can't speak?” I continued when he didn't reply.

He only turned to look at me, his blue eyes pinning me with a hard stare before he quickened his steps and joined the rest of the class.

Hold on a minute.

Did that pipsqueak just ignore me?

There were a few things you never did to a werewolf, especially an Alpha, and turning your back on one was high on that list.

Oh, he was so gonna pay for that.

I reached the pit and took up a position near the arena where I could get a closer view of the sparring matches. Not long after, someone moved to stand beside me.

“How'd you see the new guy, Draven?” Rylan, one of my friends said as he also fixed his gaze on the arena.

“There's something off about him,” I said suspiciously.

“Quit being so cynical. I think he's cool.” He smirked.

“Whatever.” I said and proceeded to ignore him, instead focusing on Durran as he began to assign sparring partners.

“And Shadowbrook,” he turned to look at the new guy as he called out his name, “you'll be up against Carrington today. Let's see how you fare against one of our best.”

“All right,” my friend said, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Shadowbrook only nodded, having no idea exactly who was up against. Rylan Carrington seemed like your regular friendly jock on the outside, but the guy packed a hell of a punch.

Even I wasn't get out of a spar with him without getting a few scrapes.

The sparring began, and instead of focusing on the arena like I usually did, I found myself watching the new guy. He observed the sparring matches with an interest so deep it almost seemed clinical, like he was taking the fighters apart one by one and learning how they moved.

I knew that look, because that was how I also observed.

There was more to this guy than I thought.

Finally, it was his turn on the mat. He strode to the centre of the arena, looking out of place in the rugged space.

“Don't go easy on him, Carrington,” I told Rylan as he went out.

“Don't tell me what to do, Draven,” he replied with a smirk and went out on the mat.

“Begin,” Instructor Durran called once they were both at the centre of the arena.

Durran's voice had barely faded before Shadowbrook moved. He was on Carrington in an instant, aiming for a face shot, but I knew that Carrington would able to block that.

And he did. Easily.

Their match was unlike anything I had seen before. Whereas we at the academy prioritised brute strength head on attacks, Shadowbrook was the opposite. He was incredibly quick on his feet, and his smaller size helped a lot as iy left him with a much smaller surface area to hit.

He hadn't been able to land any hits on Carrington, but Carrington hadn't been able to touch him either, which was starting to frustrate him.

I noted the moment my friend stopped playing around and decided to get serious, landing a serious right hook on Shadowbrook which sent him tumbling to the floor.

He got up shortly after, swaying on his feet a bit, and rushed towards Carrington once more.

But Rylan had had enough.

He hooked an ankle behind Shadowbrook's foot and pulled, which sent them both crashing to the ground, and within seconds, my friend had the new kid pinned to the mat by the neck.

I smiled at the sight.

Instructor Durran called the winner, and gave both of them pointers before sending them off the mat.

“You're fast, Shadowbrook, but speed isn't everything. You have to work on your strength too, but good job.” The man said grudginly.

“Yo, you okay?” I asked Rylan as he came back to stand beside me.

“Yeah,” he cracked his neck and continued, “that Shadowbrook's a quick fucker though. Had to get serious towards the end.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” I said, turning my gaze to him once more.

Not long after, my name was called and I went onto the mat, eager to let out some of the frustrations that had built up this past week.

I dominated my opponent, finishing things in a few moves which ended up with my forearm against my opponents throat.

I got up and dusted myself off, ignoring Instructor Durran and giving Shadowbrook a taunting smirk before heading off of the arena.

“That was quick,” Rylan remarked as I returned to my position beside him.

“Gotta show some people that speed isn't everything.” I said, keeping my gaze on the arena in front of me.

We watched the rest of the matches in silence, and I took the occasional glance at Shadowbrook every now and then.

He was still watching the matches with that clinical precision, and I didn't know whether to be amused or impressed by the guy.

Class ended and I waited for everyone to clear out before heading towards him once more.

“Shadowbrook!” I called out, but he seemed not to hear me as he continued walking ahead.

It was bad enough that he had turned his back on me once, but ignoring me?

Who the hell did he think he was?

“Hey! Didn't you hear me?” I jogged to cover the short distance between us.

“Shadowbrook! You deaf or something? Or did Carrington slam your head into the ground too hard?” I said once I caught up.

He seemed to flinch a bit at my sudden presence, his steps faltering a bit.

Leon’s jaw clenched as he raised his head to look at me, but he didn’t look away. “Stay out of my business, Draven.”

I smirked, tilting my head. “You’re making it my business.”

Before he could reply, the scent of… something, hit my nose—strong, sharp, and wrong.

My head snapped toward him, but Leon had already turned away.

It wasn’t his scent.

But something deep inside me stirred—something primal, something hungry.

What the hell was that?

“There's something off about you, Shadowbrook, and I'm gonna find out what it is,” I called out after his retreating figure, "and when I do, you're going to wish you never set foot in this academy.”