CHAPTER 100: THE RED WOLF

{Elira}

~**^**~

"Can you remind me again, how did I not hear about this until now?" I asked, glancing from one of them to another.

"You were a late entry," Nari reminded me, shrugging. "That, and the last post from the blog came out like a week before you joined. You wouldn’t have known unless someone mentioned it, like now."

"And most people avoid talking about it now," Cambria added. "The Council made sure of that."

I pressed my lips together, thoughtful. "Do you think it could come back?"

Nari sighed and folded her arms. "Honestly? I wouldn’t mind. The Moon’s Whisper was messy, but it was brave. And it actually exposed some serious stuff."

"They need it," Juniper muttered. "Those crazy Council members need to be held accountable. If it takes a scandal, so be it. That smug attitude they walk around with? I’d love to see them squirm for once."

Cambria gave a small chuckle. "Plus, let’s be honest, it was kind of fun to wake up and read fresh gossip. Even if it wasn’t about anyone we knew."

We all laughed at that, our footsteps echoing softly against the stone tiles of the corridor as we reached the entrance to our dorm building.

The automatic doors whooshed open, and the scent of lavender from the nearby potted plants greeted us.

But something tugged at me still.

"Can’t the school do anything?" I asked as we stepped into the elevator. "Like... remove the Council members if they’re abusing power?"

Tamryn gave me a sidelong look as she hit the button for our floor. "In theory, yes. But in reality? Not unless there’s undeniable proof. And believe me, every single one of them is backed by someone powerful."

I already knew that much. Regina — my cousin — came from Beta stock. Cambria had explained the others to me when we first met: a princess, a regional ruler’s son, and so on. They were no joke.

"They were voted in," Tamryn continued, "not appointed. Except for maybe Kaelis..."

Juniper leaned closer. "Yeah. There’s a rumour that the Vice-Chancellor personally pushed Kaelis into the position. The board just rubber-stamped it because, well, she’s royalty."

That made my stomach twist. This school wasn’t just filled with entitled werewolves — it was steeped in political strings, generations of power, and hidden alliances.

The elevator dinged. We stepped out into the hallway, our footsteps padding over the tiled floors.

"That’s... a lot of power for six students," I mumbled.

"You don’t say," Nari murmured.

We entered our dorm room, and I finally voiced the question forming at the back of my mind. "Then what would it take to bring one of them down?"

Cambria turned to me slowly, the light from her bedside lamp casting golden shadows across her face. "Something big. Solid evidence. Something so bad that even their connections won’t save them."

There was something in her voice — not anger, not excitement. A quiet steel.

My stomach clenched.

Nari flopped onto her bed dramatically. "But until then, we can only dream. The Moon’s Whisper might be gone, but my blog will rise tomorrow."

"You better come correct," Juniper teased. "We want interesting stories."

"Not drama about which student wore socks with sandals," Tamryn deadpanned from across the room.

"Hey! That’s part of the student experience," Nari protested.

We laughed again, and I let it wash over me as we began to prepare for our study session.

---

After the study session finally ended, my entire body felt like it had been wrung out and left to dry under a blazing sun. but my brain was fried.

Cambria, Juniper, and Nari still had enough energy to keep the conversation going as we walked back to our dorm room, but I mostly stayed quiet, trailing just a little behind them.

I was too tired to think, too tired to care about anything but my bed.

Once inside our room, I didn’t waste a second. I peeled off my cardigan, grabbed my bathrobe and towel, and slipped into the bathroom. The warm water helped a little, washing away the exhaustion clinging to my skin, but I was still half-asleep by the time I stepped back out.

I didn’t even dry my hair properly. I just threw on a soft cotton shirt and pajama shorts, then wandered barefoot to my desk where I’d left my phone.

There were no message notifications from anyone.

A small sigh escaped my lips, and I placed the phone back down. That was fine. It wasn’t like I had the energy to text anyone back anyway.

I crawled into my bunk and burrowed beneath the duvet. The coolness of the sheets made me shiver, but it was the good kind — the kind that meant I was about to fall into a deep, undisturbed sleep.

"You’re going to bed already?" Nari called from across the room.

"Yeah," I mumbled, my cheek pressed into the pillow. "Goodnight."

"Night, Elira," she said.

"Night," came a chorus of other voices — Cambria, Tamryn, Juniper — warm, familiar.

I smiled faintly into my pillow, then let out a long yawn. The ache in my bones was undeniable now.

I hadn’t napped during siesta earlier; that time had gone into being with the triple brothers and studying.

Even during our group study in the hall, I’d been so close to dozing off that Cambria had nudged me discreetly at least three times.

Now, finally, I gave myself permission to drift.

Sleep took me swiftly — one moment I was in bed, and the next...

I was somewhere else.

A quiet, foggy forest. Moonlight sifted through the canopy of trees above, turning everything into silver shadows and dim light.

I wasn’t scared or even surprised.

I looked down at my feet — I was barefoot, but the grass beneath was soft, warm, almost humming. The air smelled of pine and something ancient.

And then, I saw her.

At the far edge of a clearing stood a wolf — but not just any wolf.

She was magnificent. Her fur was the colour of smouldering embers, a rich, molten red that shimmered as she moved.

Her eyes gleamed with knowing—not the wild kind of knowing, but something deeper. Something that reached into me.

I stared, completely captivated.

Something about her made my chest tighten — awe, maybe... or recognition?

Slowly, I stepped toward her, careful not to startle. But she didn’t move. She stood tall and calm, regal even.

When I reached her, I extended a tentative hand, and to my astonishment, she didn’t shy away. Her head tilted slightly, and then... she leaned into my touch.

Warmth radiated from her fur.

She... liked it.

I began to stroke her slowly, and the feeling that spread through me was both alien and familiar, like stepping into sunlight after years in darkness.

The connection I’d never felt in myself — the one I feared I lacked — was suddenly alive, pulsing just beneath my skin.

Still petting her, I asked quietly, "Who do you belong to?"

The wolf lifted her head and met my gaze, and then—she spoke.

Not with lips or sound, but with a voice that echoed directly into my soul.

"Elira," she said. "You don’t recognize me?"