Chapter 4

Novalie POV

We pulled through the gates of the Academy and drove down a long drive before we finally came to a stop infront of a large building. This place was like a small town with teenagers walking around everywhere. When we got out of the car Eddie walked up to me stone faced and told me to walk through the doors into the building behind me to get my room assignment and class schedule. I gave him a grateful smile and told him thank you Alpha before grabbing my two duffel bags and heading into the building. His stone faced expression faltered a little when I called him Alpha, and I knew the words had pierced his heart. I hadn't ever called him Alpha until that very moment. He was always just Eddie to me, my friend, the boy I loved. But he wasn't anymore, he couldn't be. So I sucked in a deep breath as I recognized his pain and just turned around to get on with moving on.

Getting my room assignment and class schedule had been simple enough, and luckily I had been given a map so finding my room was even easier. I walked in to find a brunette girl who was a few inches taller than me already unpacking her things. She had already taken the bed near the door, which I was incredibly grateful for. The room was about the same size as the one I shared with Aunt Marianne at home, and it seemed the set up was about the same as well, except these rooms had closets whereas ours didn't at home. I had passed the dormitory bathrooms on my way to our room so I knew where they were located already. I walked in and sat my duffel bags on the bed that would be mine this school year, preparing to put away my belongings.

"Hi! I'm Katie. I guess we're going to be roommates." The brunette turned around and smiled to me.

"Novalie, and it looks that way." I smiled back at her as I began pulling things out of my bags.

"Oh, your dresser is on the left when you enter the closet, and mine is on the right. What pack are you from?" Katie asked brightly as she began to carry things to the closet.

"Oh, I'm from Midnight Moon, it's in Florida. How about you?" I replied as I followed her to the closet to put my own clothes away in the dresser.

The closet was big enough to fit both of us and our dressers comfortably. As I opened up the top drawer I saw there were light grey knee high socks already there, so I scooted them over to place my undergarments and my socks in there with them.

"Midnight Moon? Really? Sorry if I seem surprised, it's just, well everyone has heard about Midnight Moon, or well, more specifically the type of business they're in. So I'm just surprised that you know you're an Omega, and you're here I guess." She stumbled out shyly.

"Yea, I know right. Me too, honestly. But our Head Omega, Sarah, she's super old, like in her late 80s, so when the Alpha title gets turned over and Alpha Eduardo retires, Sarah will retire too and Alpha Eduardo Jr. will need a new Head Omega. So, Alpha and Luna wanted to make sure I was well trained to take over for her." I explained to her as we walked out of the closet.

"Oh, cool. That's lucky for you, especially, you know, since you're so pretty. I'm surprised they let you get away." She replied bluntly, obviously feeling more comfortable with the conversation.

"Yea, my mom was too. She actually was one of their working girls. She died in childbirth with me, so my aunt raised me. She's the head kitchen Omega, so I grew up in the packhouse, which is rare for any Omega kid, but my Aunt really is that good of a cook. But uh, you know, she just always pushed me to be more than my looks. She had me in the kitchen learning to cook when I was eight, always pushed me to excel at everything I did, so I am a straight A student, and I can actually already do high-school level school work, and I'm an expert baker. Alpha Eduardo loves my blueberry scones, literally eats them every morning for breakfast, and he likes that I have a great memory so he never has to tell me anything more than once. So it's actually not luck that I'm here, I worked hard to make sure that I didn't end up in a brothel house as one of the packs working girls." I told her with a smile so she knew I wasn't upset about the conversation.

I put the rest of my clothes away as we continued our chat. My Aunt Marianne had been right about my uniforms and dress shoes being here when I got here. I found grey plaid skirts in another drawer, with ties to match, along with white blouses and grey vests in another drawer. The plaid skirts and ties were made up of various different shades of grey, while the vests and socks were light grey. Katie explained that Omegas wear grey, while Alpha males wear dark blue and Alpha females wear light blue. Betas wore dark and light green, while Gammas wore light and dark red. She said warriors would be in Orange, since only men were allowed to train as warriors, and Omega males wore dark grey vests. Mid-Ranks all wore black.

Once we unpacked we headed over to the dining hall to get dinner, and since it was packed, we got our food and went outside to find a table. There were students everywhere since everyone was still getting settled in, and I couldn't help but to notice that Eddie, Juanita and Josè were sitting at a couple tables over on the other side of the large walk way. She asked me if I needed to go sit with them and I laughed out a definitely not which made her laugh. I still couldn't help but sneak peeks at him as I ate though.

I had just turned my head to sneak another peak at Eddie when I noticed him. He was quite tall and incredibly gorgeous with the most beautiful green eyes I had ever seen. His skin was bronzed and nearly as dark as my own, which only made his eyes stand out that much more. But it wasn't his Greek God stature or his incredible good looks that had caught my attention. No, it was the marking on his right eyeball that made me stare. I had never seen anything like it before. It was a thin black ring with a shiny opalescent center that reminded me of a full moon, and he had the same marking just behind his right ear as well, only much larger.

"What are you staring at Omega? Surely you know better than to stare at an Alpha." The tall brunette girl on his left arm asked with an attitude.

"Lauren, be nice. She's obviously new here and we both know what she's staring at." He told her rolling his eyes before smiling and walking over towards me.

"Hi, I'm Xavier. I'm a Junior and the future Alpha of Hidden Woods. What's your name?" He asked with a gorgeous panty dropping grin as he reached his hand out to me.

I lowered my head in submission as a sign of respect, though he wasn't emitting his aura. He didn't need to though. Everyone in this school knew he was the most powerful wolf on campus, including all of the teachers. He just emitted an air of authority around him.

I lifted my head to see his dazzling smile and smiled back before extending my hand out as well.

"Hi, I'm uh, I'm Novalie, freshman." I told him shyly before glancing back down at the table because it was considered disrespectful to look an Alpha directly in the eyes for too long.

"It's nice to meet you Novalie. That's a beautiful name, by the way. You were wondering why I have this marking in my eye and behind my ear, right?" He asked as he shook my hand with a strong confident grip before releasing it.

"Yes Alpha, I'd just never seen anything like it before." I answered him with a nod as I glanced up quickly before looking away again.

"Please, just call me Xavier, and you can look at me Novalie, don't worry about Lauren she's just territorial, besides, it kinda makes having a conversation weird when you don't." He chuckled as he sat down on the empty bench across from Katie and me.

I looked up to meet his gaze and he smiled that gorgeous grin at me again. The brunette girl Lauren huffed and rolled her eyes annoyed that he had sat down to talk to me.

"That's better. So these markings are a gift from the Moon Goddess. And don't feel bad for being curious about them, everyone is when they first meet me. When I got them the council literally inspected them with a magnifying glass which was weird. No one alive has ever seen anything like this before because they are the markings of a blessed wolf. I'm the first one born in three centuries. The blessed Full Lunar Wolf. I didn't have these until I shifted for the first time on the full moon after my 13th birthday, which ofcourse was unheard of. My wolf is incredibly large, much larger than the normal Alpha wolf, and he is white like the full moon and actually glows like the full moon as well. Then after I shifted back, I got these markings. Literally the most painful gift ever. I actually thought I was like being attacked or something. I shifted back and you know, I was already kind of freaking out because I was only thirteen and just shifted, but then I just got overwhelmed with a searing, burning pain. It was insane. But according to the legends the council was able to find, the markings are so everyone knows what I am and that they probably shouldn't mess with me." He told me smiling as he made facial expressions through his story.

"That's really cool. I mean not the part where it caused you excruciating pain obviously, but you know, the whole being a blessed wolf part." I told him giggling.

"Yea, that part's alright. So which pack are you from?" He grinned with an arched eyebrow.

"She's one of mine. I'm sorry she bothered you Xavier. Sometimes her curiosity gets the best of her." Eddie answered as he strolled up behind Xavier glaring a death stare at me.

"Really? A Midnight Moon Omega? Here at the Academy? You guys running out of places to build whore houses so you've decided to educate them instead?" The brunette girl Lauren asked as she glanced over me with her lip curled in disgust.

At Eddie's appearance and Lauren's words I immediately lowered my gaze again, not wanting to cause a scene on my first day.

"Enough Lauren. Goddess, you know sometimes I wonder what we are even doing together. Give the girl a break. She's nice, it's not her fault which pack she was born into. And obviously her Alpha and Luna must have seen something in her if they allowed her to come here. And you don't need to apologize for her curiosity Eddie, she's fine, really. It was actually quite a pleasure to meet you Novalie. I'll see you around." The smile faded from his face when he addressed Lauren and Eddie, but then he turned back to me and smiled that beaming gorgeous smile that made his eyes twinkle as he got up from the table and walked away.

Lauren chased after him while Eddie stood there glaring daggers at me. I lowered my gaze back to the table and sat there silently as I waited for him to chew me out though I wasn't quite sure why he was so angry. It didn't take long before he pulled me into a mindlink to yell at me privately.

'What the hell was that? Seriously Novalie? We haven't even been here 24hrs and your already drawing unnecessary attention to yourself. And from Xavier of all people? Stay away from him. I mean it. And don't think I didn't notice the way you were smiling and giggling at him. Not a trace of those tears from the plane now is there? STAY. AWAY. FROM. HIM." He growled angrily through the link jealousy radiating through his words.

"Yes Alpha." I responded quietly through the link finally understanding what he was so angry about.

He cut the link abruptly and stared at me angrily for a few more seconds before turning around and going back to his table. As he walked away I quietly told Katie I'd see her back in the dorm before picking up my tray and walking off. I had been so excited to come here but I quickly found myself regretting it.