CHAPTER 24: _ MATE BOND AND RELATIONS

Heidi is relieved and almost giddy as she straightens her skirt. Finally, a class that might actually help her survive.

A silence blooms suddenly as the door at the front of the class glides open in an eerie, soundless hush. Ms. Vesper strides in like she was born from shadows and starlight. She doesn’t walk; she arrives. Today, she’s in a dark plum blouse tucked into a charcoal skirt.

Heidi straightens further. This woman screams power just as she had during orientation.

"Good morning, Level Ones. I trust you all slept well." Commences, Ms. Vesper.

A few Omegas mutter polite replies, others murmur greetings. The classroom is stiff with the fear of saying the wrong thing.

Ms. Vesper smiles doesn’t seem to care.

"Let’s get started," she says, striding to the center of the room and facing them with the slyest gaze Heidi has ever seen.

She taps her clicker once, and the board lights up behind her with the words:

MATE & BONDING RELATIONS – Lesson One: Nature, Perks, and Consequences.

She turns back to them, hands clasped neatly. "Can anyone remind me what the perks of being a werewolf are?"

A few Omegas blink like startled deer. One boy gulps. Another girl looks down at her desk, faking deep interest in the wood grain.

Heidi raises her hand instantly. She feels the weight of the classroom shift toward her. Why did her hand go up? Because she’s always been the answer girl. Because silence makes her itch. Because not answering is almost as bad as failing.

Ms. Vesper gestures smoothly. "Yes? Your name?"

"Heidi. Heidi Grace Castell."

She can see a small twitch of Ms. Vesper’s arched brow. "Miss Castell. Proceed."

Heidi clears her throat. "Uh... strength and abilities, ma’am. We get heightened senses, speed, healing... those kinds of things."

Her scholarly gene made her read all those books about what being a werewolf means the moment she discovered what she was. Now, it’s coming in handy.

Ms. Vesper nods slowly, obviously the only approval glint one could expect in such a stone-hearted woman. "Correct. Among other things."

Her gaze cuts across the classroom now like she’s reading their weaknesses directly from their bloodstreams.

"One of those abilities," she says, beginning to prowl slowly along the front row, "is elevated hearing."

There’s a pause that makes the students stiffen.

Ms. Vesper tilts her head. "You see, unlike humans, we don’t need to strain our ears to catch a conversation. Especially when that conversation is conducted within a fifty-meter radius."

Heidi frowns, confused for a heartbeat until it clicks. Oh. Oh no.

Ms. Vesper stops directly in front of the middle row. Her voice lowers, but every student hears it perfectly.

"On my way here, I overheard something... curious."

Every seat stiffens.

Her eyes glimmer like onyx under a storm cloud. "During your orientation, I specifically stated what I would like to be addressed as." She raises a single finger. "Let me remind you. I said, ’Please have mercy or just call me Ms. Vesper.’"

Someone chokes on a breath as they all begin to figure it out. From the front row, a quiet, panicked squeak resounds.

"And yet," she continues, stepping closer to the middle of the room, "apparently some of you have deemed it appropriate to invent your own nickname for me."

The silence is loud. Even Junie isn’t breathing.

"The Witch of Duskwind."

The words drip from her mouth like venom from fangs. Heidi’s blood runs cold. Uh-uh.

"Now," Ms. Vesper concludes, clasping her hands behind her back and smiling again. "If the students who found it clever—oh-so-hilarious, even, to call me that, would kindly raise their hands..."

Heidi stifles a scoff. Who in their right mind would do that? She’s right, no one moves.

"Ah. So we’re cowards too." sighs, tipping her head back like she’s speaking to the ceiling now.

She pivots slowly and begins a slow march between the rows. She stops beside a trembling Omega boy whose ears have turned red.

"Do you know what happens to students who make poor choices here at Duskwind?" she asks gently.

He shakes his head in terror.

Her voice is soft. "They regret them."

She moves on.

"Now listen very closely. I do not traffic in petty nicknames. I do not tolerate disrespect. And I most certainly do not suffer fools who think they’re clever at my expense."

She turns toward the board again.

"This is your first and only warning. Anyone caught spreading such nonsense again will not only attend detention—oh no, that’s far too quaint... they will write a twelve-page essay on werewolf etiquette and deliver it to me in front of a pit full of rogue vampires that won’t hesitate to tear into werewolf flesh just for the fun of it."

The room shakes in dread. Horrified goosebumps sprout on the back of Heidi’s neck.

There’s an audible gasp. Someone in the back actually whispers, "She’s evil."

Ms. Vesper’s ears twitch. "I heard that," she says sweetly.

Heidi swears she just saw a soul leave a body.

Ms. Vesper turns to face them once more, folds her hands again, and offers them a beaming smile that could scare a ghost back to life.

"Now. Let’s begin the lesson, shall we?"

And with that, the room that is still tense as a stretched rubber band, turns their eyes to the board. Heidi dares a glance at Junie, who is sitting as stiff as a corpse in Sunday clothes. Junie mouths: We’re so dead.

Heidi bites back a laugh and focuses on the board again as Ms. Vesper beams: "Now, let’s talk about mate bonds. Since the Awakening Ceremony is tomorrow, you are all advised to prepare to discover your mates, if they are in this pack and school, that is. But more importantly, tomorrow is the day when you will all unite with your wolves. Tomorrow, we see the height and limits of your strength."

She pauses and takes a deep excited breath. "Tomorrow is a day of celebration in DUSKWIND!"