CHAPTER 1

KATHERINE. 'Life goes on.' Those were the words on my mind as the car I was in the passenger seat of moved down the road that led to the university. They were the same words that had been on my mind as my pack's council began to prep me to take over the pack the day my parents' bodies were placed in the ground. They didn't seem to care about the fact that I had gone from 'precious daughter' to orphan overnight. All they were worried about was the pack. And their worries were what had now separated me from Kit, my little brother… Well, their worries and the pack's seer's words. My chest ached at the fact that I wouldn’t be seeing Kit for a while and that he was going to be devastated that I had left seeing as we just lost our parents a couple of months ago. I swallowed hard, trying to keep tears from burning my eyes, before turning my face to the right so my aunt in the driver’s seat wouldn’t be able to read the emotions on it, and I paused when I saw my reflection in the side mirror. I looked like shit. Eye bags were prominent under my eyes from tossing and turning every night throughout the week, trying to figure out how to make the council change their decision to send me to Blackwood University. My dirty blonde hair was messy, my silver eyes were dull and almost lifeless, and my lips were a bit chapped. 'Damn.' I began to run my fingers through my hair, slightly regretting my decision to not properly prepare myself before leaving home. Yes, I hated the fact that I had to leave but the first semester at Blackwood started two weeks ago, meaning eyes were going to be on the newcomer, and I would be having my picture taken for my student ID. I couldn’t show up there looking like this. “You’re going to be fine, Kath,” Aunt Vivian said just before I fished my concealer and lip balm out of my bag to fix my eye bags and lips and I hemmed in response, not wanting to engage in conversation. Minutes later, I heaved a sigh when I was done and glanced at the side mirror once more. I didn’t look amazing but I looked presentable and that was good enough. There was nothing I could do about the lifeless look in my eyes though. They had been that way ever since my parents died. “We’re here,” Aunt Vivian said and I returned my attention to the road to see the black gates of Blackwood University up ahead. My breath caught. I was actually going to do this. The giant BU letters on the gates seemed to mock me when we finally got to it and my aunt brought the car to a stop, waiting for the towering gates to open. Part of me wished it wouldn’t. That whoever was watching the gates with the cameras perched on walls would take one look at us and dismiss us as wandering humans but of course, that didn’t happen. I swallowed as the gates opened easily and the car began to move again. I’d be lying if I said the campus didn’t look good, it practically oozed beauty, and as we moved down the light-colored stone pathway, I couldn’t help but take in my surroundings. Imposing buildings, some of which looked like castles, stood on the campus and each of them was connected to the pathway we were on. There were even towers and stone gargoyles and beyond all the buildings was an impenetrable forest. Students walked around, moving from one building to another, and as I had expected, most of them were staring at the 'newcomer'. I moved away from the window, shrinking into my seat while clearing my throat, just before my aunt pulled up in front of an austere gray-colored building that had high, stained-glass windows. “Okay. Do–” I got out of the car and shut the door behind me before heading up the stairs that led to the building’s double doors. I didn’t know if this building was where the registration office was and I would feel pretty dumb if it wasn’t but I just didn’t want to talk to my aunt right now. Not after the way she backed the council up when they said I wasn’t mature enough to take over the pack and when they decided I would enroll in this university to find my mate. Yes, my mate. Blackwood University wasn’t a run-of-the-mill university, it was strictly for werewolves and it was where the pack’s seer said I would meet my mate. Without my mate, I wouldn’t be able to take over my pack so here I was. I just needed to meet him and that should be easy enough to do, right? Well wrong. I wouldn’t be able to feel the mate bond till I turned eighteen and that was months away but I could not wait till then so all I needed to do, according to the pack’s seer, was to find the 'one whom my heart aligns with'. 'Ugh.' The sound of the car door shutting behind me reached my ears followed by my aunt jogging up the stairs after me as I pushed one of the building’s doors open. My eyes immediately zoomed in on the woman standing in the station that spanned the left side of the room and when she turned to face me, she flashed me a smile. “You’re new here,” she said and I nodded before she waved me over. I pulled out the folder that contained my admission letter and everything else I was required to bring as I walked over to the station. “Your admission letter?” I handed it to her and while she typed something on the paper into her computer, my aunt joined us. “Kath,” she whispered behind me but I kept my attention fixed on the woman in front of me and after she returned the admission letter to me, she handed me a printed slip and directed me to the registration office. Aunt Vivian wasn’t allowed to follow me there and I was grateful for that. Half an hour later, I was back in the lobby with a packet that contained my student ID, class schedule, campus map, dorm assignment and other things I’d need, and according to the dorm assignment, I was in room 305 in Stavenger Hall and it was a two-man room. The woman who had led me to the registration office, whose name I learned was Heather, offered to call a student to escort us to my dorm but I turned it down because I didn’t want to inconvenience anyone and followed my aunt back to her car. With the help of the campus map, we easily found my hall and we both got down from the car to get my bags out of the trunk. “I know you’re upset with me and you have every right to be,” my aunt started when we were done and I gave her a blank stare. “But this is for the best, okay?” I hemmed in response and her shoulders sagged when she realized I wouldn't actually say anything to her. She then pulled me into a hug. "I love you, Kath. Take care of yourself," she muttered before pulling away and tucking a lock of my hair behind my ear. "...I hope you find 'him' soon." And with that, she got into her car and drove off, leaving me at the steps of Stavenger Hall.