NULL.
I think I might faint.
My hand was gripping my scent charm so hard while my legs just wouldn't stop shaking.
I cannot breathe right. Why didn't Cael tell me about this part? What the fuck is scent registration even?
If it's what I think it is, then they are definitely going to find me. Easily at that.
I'll probably glow and burn. Something on that screen will scream Last She-Wolf, and that'll be the end of all my plans for freedom.
On the raised platform was one flickering screen of some sort, with a silent man beside it while the young instructor still stood stiff with his clipboard.
"Step forward when your name is called. Do not speak," he said.
The scanner looked rusted and cruel. More like a brander for cows than a scanner for people.
It definitely looked like it was made for catching things that shouldn't be here.
Me.
"Jace Auberon."
That was the first name called. The boy walked up to the raised platform with the kind of ease I could not, in any way, imitate. He was so loose-hipped and casual.
When he finally stepped into the light.
It turned out to be naked boy.
My roommate.
Heat almost flushed to my cheeks again remembering our encounter, but I was too preoccupied with the registration.
I was literally preparing to slash my own wrists and call it a day. It was better than being used to make babies for the rest of my life anyway.
The scanner was pressed onto Jace's chest, and the screen flashed.
Rank: Alpha Blood
Pack: West Fang
Wolf: Active
After he was done, he made a playful bow and got off the podium while a few boys made low sounds.
I, on the other hand, didn't react.
Not on the outside at least.
Inside, I was battling with the way my wolf stirred again.
But I didn't get to dwell on it, because the next name was called.
"Silas Cole."
Another boy stepped into the light. Very pale-skinned, hooded eyes. His hands were in his pockets as he walked toward them. Only when he got there did he pull one out, just to smooth his shoulder-length gray hair.
Honestly, he looked like he knew how good he looked but cared less about it.
Rank: Alpha Blood
Pack: None
Wolf: Active
That made the boys start to whisper.
One said, "Rogue?" Another snorted, "How's it even possible to be Alpha blood and a rogue at the same time?"
Okay. So None means he's a rogue? You can be born that strong and still… not belong?
My wolf twitched again.
That was definitely her panicking. We are both panicking at this point.
More boys went up, but I was too out of my head to note any more of their scans. I tried so hard not to keep looking, but every single beep seemed to make my shoulders rise.
"Ronan Ravenstone."
On that name being called, the whole yard went silent all of a sudden. No murmurs. No sidetalks. I could swear my heartbeat might be heard because of how still it got.
Not even Headmaster Vale commanded that much silence.
It was the kind of quiet that means everyone knew the name.
Everyone but me.
He stepped out of the shadows. Tall, sharp-edged, and with a stare that didn't blink. His shoulders were like stone and his hair like a storm.
I'd be honest and say that he looked like he was carved, not born.
My wolf stirred again. She hadn't done that since the white-haired boy. I'd thought maybe my nerves were finally down.
Nope. It was back.
The scanner whined louder than it had for the others. The screen lit up:
Rank: Alpha Blood
Pack: North Fang
Wolf: Active
A ripple moved through the boys now.
"Shit. He's here too? Isn't it rigged already then?"
"North Fang."
"That's the heir to the most powerful pack on the island."
I, on the other hand, suddenly found it hard to breathe.
My fingers dug into the edge of my sleeve.
North Fang. My pack.
The one that locked me in a dungeon and called it a room. The same one that bred me like cattle and never even gave me a name.
The same one I had just escaped from.
The same one that gained their "most powerful" title because they held the last she-wolf.
Me.
What if he sees me? What if he smells me?
Heck! What's to say that he doesn't even know my face?
Even if I used to have the longest red hair and I now have the shortest black hair, it probably won't fool him.
Not him.
He'll throw me back underground.
He'll probably be the first on the rotation list to have me.
My wolf lurched.
Not forward, but up. Like she wanted to claw right out of me and run.
Yeah. Me too.
I was still in the same position, stuck in fear, when another name was called.
"Dren Vale."
I tried hard to pay attention, like that would take my mind off the fact that I was in the same vicinity as someone who could be my worst enemy.
A shorter boy than me walked up the raised platform slowly. He looked harmless and small, just like I did.
Rank: Omega Blood
Pack: South Claw
Wolf: Dormant
There was a little quiet before the murmurs started up again.
"Dormant? What the hell is that even?"
"Stillborn wolf or what?"
"He's defective?"
The boy looked downcast as he walked off the platform. Our eyes met for just a second before he looked away, sad.
I didn't get to dwell on that either, because the next thing I heard was:
"Null."
No last name. Nothing. Just Null, like I had chosen.
I must've taken too long spiraling because my feet didn't move. The name was called again before I finally started walking toward the platform like I was on some kind of autopilot.
This is it. It'll say impostor. Or worse, girl. She-wolf.
The scanner was pressed onto my chest. Even through the layers of binding, I could feel the cold metal of that thing.
Maybe it would be better if it just fried me now. Before it exposes me.
The screen stuttered.
It buzzed. Then glitched. Flickered. Glitched again.
Then finally displayed:
Rank: Unknown
Pack: None
Wolf: Dormant
The silence this time felt thicker than the others.
Then one boy broke it.
"Another dormant?"
"Unknown? Did the system break?"
"Everybody has a rank. How can he be unknown?"
I was frozen until the young instructor tapped my shoulder.
Then I walked back to the middle of the boys.
I could hear the murmurs. A few laughs. But none of them registered.
My head was spiraling again.
What does this mean?
Well…
At least it didn't show gender.
That's good, right?
Right?
"Hey."
A voice jolted me out of my thoughts, and I almost flinched.
I looked to my side and saw the boy who went right before me. Omega rank. Dormant wolf—like mine.
"That scan is brutal, right?" he said softly.
Then, with a shrug, he added, "Guess we're the only ones with dormant wolves in Hollow Academy."
I didn't know how to answer that, so I just nodded.
I think I did?
He smiled in response and stayed beside me, like we'd suddenly become friends without having to say it.
I let him.
Because it's the first voice that hasn't growled, mocked, or threatened me.
My very first friend.
Maybe.