NULL.
What the hell was that?
Who walks around like that in a shared dorm like it's the goddamn Garden of Eden?
I shoved the heel of my palm against my chest, forcing the breath I was holding to just come back already.
My wolf was still twitching like it had been smacked. It was obviously still mute and almost useless, yet it was buzzing like it wanted to react at least.
I gripped the scent charm around my neck so hard the edges dug into my palm.
Keep it together. You're a boy. You're a rogue. You are not—
A bell that sounded like a blade being drawn across stone suddenly rang out, only once but so loud, it made me flinch hard at the sudden interruption.
No one had to tell me what it meant. The sound was enough. Something had started.
I got off the bed I'd been sitting on, touched the charm again, and cracked the dorm door open.
The hallway was packed. Boots stomping. Boys shouting. Some in uniform, most not. So much movement and no order at all.
I waited for a beat. Just one.
Then I stepped out and joined the current.
It was like getting shoved into a river. I was bumped, shouldered, elbowed from side to side, not because I wasn't trying, but because I was nothing in a hallway full of wolves bigger than me.
One of them muttered, "Watch it, bandage boy," right after nearly knocking me flat. Like I was the one who didn't know how to walk.
Bandage boy.
I'd earned that name on day one, and at this point, I was pretty sure it was going to stick. But fine. Let them call me whatever they wanted, so long as they didn't see through me.
So long as they didn't figure out what I really was.
I kept my head down and followed the crowd until we spilled into an open concrete yard. Bleached walls. Rusted fencing. Some sort of cliff structure on all sides, and towers rising past it. Training buildings?
Whatever it was, it smelled like war.
No. Worse.
Like war after it's already over. Like blood and sweat and smoke baked into the stone.
The scent hit me like a slap. Rot, musk, cologne, heat, and under all of it, wolves. Male wolves. Too many of them.
My knees nearly gave out.
My fingers curled tight around the charm again. Like it could do something. Like it could fix this.
My wolf stirred again. She twitched. Not fully awake but there. A small shiver inside my ribs. I couldn't tell what she was reacting to. I never could. But I knew it wasn't good.
Too many scents. Too much noise. Too many chances to be caught.
She had to be afraid. Same as me.
After we had all gotten into what seemed like an orderly line, a towering figure suddenly climbed up the rusted stairs to the raised platform in front of us.
Headmaster Vale.
That had to be him. Cael had made sure that I at least knew of that person, even if there was no picture to explain him, he had described him properly.
His thick shoulders, patchy gray beard, eyes like butcher knives, and one arm that ended in a scarred stump wrapped in metal bands. It was him.
Cael's description was on point.
He stared down at us in silence at first, then started speaking.
"Hello. For the new students, my name is Vale Kum. But you'll call me Headmaster Vale. I know you probably expected a nice little 'Welcome to Hollow Academy.'"
He smiled, and it wasn't nice.
"But why bother welcoming you when you're not welcome here?"
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Some boys turned to whisper to each other. Some scoffed.
I didn't move. I just kept my head angled like I was listening, but inside, everything was locking up again.
Some of the boys looked confused. The newer ones. The others didn't react at all. Like they'd heard it before. Like this was just part of the script.
Vale didn't wait for us to settle.
"Oh please, shut it already, will you?" he barked, and the yard went dead quiet.
Just like that.
"What were you expecting? That we'd be happy to have you here? Your parents tossed you at our feet like scraps, praying we'd make you useful. Filth. That's what you are. That's what you came in as. And we're here to turn filth into weapons."
His voice never wavered. Like this was the truth. Like he'd seen it happen over and over again and didn't care if it broke us.
"There is no pack here. Your rank matters, but only if you can prove it. You can be Alpha blood and still fight like an Omega. You can have a bloodline and still die in a hallway."
He paused. Like he was letting the words sink in. Or like he was already tired of saying them.
"We have only two rules. Fight to rise. Obey to survive."
I didn't move. Didn't even breathe.
"If you're lucky," Vale added, "you'll die fast. If you're unlucky… you'll live long enough to fail."
What the hell kind of orientation is this?
Is that supposed to be encouraging? Is that supposed to be a warning?
I glanced at the other boys. Some looked shaken. Most just looked blank. Like they were pretending not to care.
Or maybe they didn't have to pretend.
A lot of us seemed to have questions, but no one was bold enough to ask any of them.
He seemed to be done because someone else walked in from the shadows.
Crisp instructor jacket. Black gloves.
He turned out to be the same man that had registered us in. Now that I was able to stare at him properly, he looked barely older than most of the students in here. He was very good-looking, yet he had zero warmth in his bones.
Why is he even an instructor at such a young age? What did he do to get so fast-tracked?
His walk was too smooth, like a wolf who does not care who's behind him.
He pulled a scroll from his belt then started speaking.
"Roll call for the new registrants. Listen to your name and don't speak unless you hear your name."
Names started to roll while I listened hard to make sure I heard mine. When the name Null was finally called and I answered, a few boys glanced toward me.
One snorted.
"What kind of name is even that?"
I refused to look in their direction and simply kept my head down instead.
After the last name was finally called, the man paused.
And then—
"Line up for scent registration. Now."
My heart stuttered at this point.
Scent what?
No one even reacted like I did. No one questioned it either.
They just moved.
Like it was normal.
Like it was nothing.
I had never heard those words in my entire life, yet my brain could somehow conjure what it might mean.
It could tell that this might be where all of the lies crack.
Or worse, where I meet my end.