Three shadows

ANNA

When I woke up, sunlight was spilling through my window, bright and almost blinding.

For a moment, I thought everything that happened last night had been a dream-the glowing mark, the whispers, the howling in the forest-it all seemed too strange to be real.

But when I looked down, my heart skipped. The mark on my back still shimmered faintly under the morning light, its edges glowing with a soft blue hue before fading again.

I traced my fingers over it, but the warmth was gone.

Whatever had happened last night wasn’t just a dream.

The academy bell rang somewhere in the distance, pulling me out of my thoughts. I got dressed quickly in the black and silver uniform that had been laid out on my bed.

The fabric felt heavy, like it had a history of its own. The silver emblem on the chest was shaped like a crescent moon-the same as the one that sealed the letter.

The corridors were already filled with students. They all seemed to know exactly where they were going.

I kept my head down and clutched my notebook tightly as whispers followed me.

Some people glanced my way, their eyes curious, others sharp and judgmental.

“Is that the scholarship girl?” someone murmured.

“She looks normal. I don’t see what the fuss is about.”

“Maybe she’s another donor’s charity case.”

I tried to ignore them, but their words clung to me like burrs.

As I entered the main hall, I noticed the wall lined with portraits of past students. Their eyes followed me wherever I walked.

At the end of the corridor stood a tall woman with snow-white hair and piercing gray eyes. Her presence was commanding, the kind that made people stop breathing for a second.

“You must be Anna Morell,” she said. Her voice was calm but carried power.

“I’m Headmistress Valen. Welcome to Silverstone Academy.”

“Thank you,” I said softly.

She studied me for a moment longer, as if she could see right through me.

“This academy is not an ordinary school. You were chosen for a reason, Miss Morell. Some call it fate. I call it instinct.”

I didn’t know how to respond, so I just nodded.

“Classes start at nine. Room B14 for Orientation. And, Miss Morell,” she added, her voice lowering,

“if you experience anything… unusual, report directly to me.”

My stomach tightened.

“Unusual?”

She smiled faintly. “You’ll understand soon enough.”

Before I could ask more, she turned and walked away, her long coat sweeping behind her like smoke.

As I made my way to my first class, I kept replaying her words in my head. Unusual. Did she know about the mark? About last night?

The classroom was buzzing when I entered. Students were gathered in small groups, laughing, chatting. I scanned the room for an empty seat and found one near the window.

“Hey, is this seat taken?” I asked a girl with honey-brown skin and bright green eyes sitting beside it.

She smiled warmly.

“Not at all. I’m Lila.”

“Anna.”

“Ah, the scholarship student. You’re brave to come here. Most people wouldn’t.”

I frowned. “Why?”

Her voice dropped. “Because Silverstone has secrets. And because of them.”

She nodded toward the far side of the room. My eyes followed and my heart skipped.

Rylan, Damon, and Kael were sitting together, or rather, near each other. There was space between them, tension thick enough to feel even across the room.

Rylan sat with his feet up on a desk, his dark hair falling over his eyes as he lazily spun a silver ring on his finger.

Damon leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, grinning like he knew every secret in the world.

Kael sat upright, silent and unreadable, his golden eyes flicking briefly toward me before turning away.

Everyone in the room seemed to orbit around them. Even the teacher hesitated before starting class.

Lila leaned closer.

“They run the academy in their own way. Sons of power. They’re Alphas of three different packs that have been rivals for generations. The only thing keeping them from tearing each other apart is some ancient agreement. No one knows the details, but everyone knows not to cross them.”

My throat tightened.

“And yet they’re here?”

“They were all invited by the Academy Council,” she said quietly.

“Apparently, Silverstone needs them united for something big. But that’s just a rumor.”

The teacher began the lesson, but I could barely focus. Every few minutes, I felt one of their eyes on me. It was like being studied, not just looked at.

My skin tingled, my heart raced, and I hated that I couldn’t tell if it was fear or something else.

At lunch, Lila showed me around the campus. The gardens behind the main building were vast, filled with stone statues of wolves and moon symbols carved into the fountains. Everything here seemed tied to the moon in some way.

As we walked, a gust of wind swept through, carrying the scent of rain and something earthy. The mark on my back began to tingle. I pressed a hand against it through my shirt.

“Are you okay?” Lila asked.

“Yeah,” I lied. “Just a headache.”

We were heading back toward the dining hall when we heard engines rumbling behind us. I turned, and there they were again-the three biker alphas.

Rylan parked his black motorcycle near the fountain and swung off in one smooth motion. Damon smirked as he revved his engine, and Kael followed silently, his expression unreadable.

Rylan’s gaze landed on me.

“So the scholarship girl survived her first morning Impressive.”

I blinked. “Barely.”

Damon chuckled.

“You’ve got guts. Most people don’t talk back to him.”

“I wasn’t trying to.”

“Yet you did,” Rylan said, his smirk deepening.

“What’s your name again?”

“Anna Morell.”

Kael spoke then, his voice low and rough.

“Morell? As in Evelyn Morell?”

I froze. “You knew my mother?”

His eyes flickered.

“Everyone here did. Or at least, everyone who remembers the fire.”

Before I could ask what he meant, the academy bell rang again. Lila tugged at my sleeve.

“We should go.”

As we walked away, I looked over my shoulder. The three of them were still watching me, but this time their expressions were unreadable.

That night, I couldn’t shake their words. The fire. My mother.

What did Kael mean? My father never spoke about her death. He only said it was an accident. But Kael’s tone told a different story.

After lights out, I lay awake, staring at the ceiling. The air felt heavy, and the mark on my back pulsed again.

Suddenly, a whisper filled the room, soft but clear.

“Anna Morell.”

I sat up, my heart racing. The room was empty. The moonlight spilling through the window glowed brighter, almost blinding. I climbed out of bed and moved closer. The forest beyond the academy shimmered as if alive.

Then I saw it, three shadows moving through the trees. Wolves.

One black, one silver, one golden. They stopped and lifted their heads toward my window. Their eyes glowed, and for a heartbeat, I swore they looked human.

The mark on my back burned hotter. I stumbled backward, gripping the bedpost.

The shadows disappeared into the forest. The light dimmed. Silence returned.

But deep down, I knew this was only the beginning.

Silverstone was hiding more than secrets. The three biker alphas weren’t just students. And whatever was happening to me-it was tied to them.

And if what Kael said was true, then my mother’s death was tied to them too.

TBC