Chapter 2: Umbra Academy


    Poppy POV


    When I opened my eyes, I found myself looking into something dark. A ck bag covered my face. The


    usual. My hands were shackled back with silver chains which blistered my wrists to the degree that I


    dared not move them.


    The damp and musty smell on the stone was enough to tell me that I was back in the dungeons. My


    grandfather would send his Beta to whip me again. Why? You can guess it. Nash Dawson rejected me.


    The pain of rejection was so strong that I wondered if I would feel the pain of whipsshing on my back.


    I had never felt this miserable in my life. Why did my mother choose to leave me? After she left, my


    father drowned himself in alcohol to the extent that he could no longer be deemed as the future Alpha.


    My grandfather, James Vincent, was still at the helm of the Shadow Moon pack. And I? I was an


    abomination he had to live with every day.


    Yes, this was the secret of the Shadow Pack. An heir without a wolf. An old man who was looking for a


    powerful heir but was handed someone like me by the moon goddess. He wanted me to be mated to


    Nash Dawson who was the heir to the secondrgest pack of America and produce a powerful heir for


    him. He was sure Nash’s genes would give him an heir with a wolf.


    Water sshed over my face and I gasped for air. The bag was lifted from my face and I peeled open


    my eyes to see Axl, my grandfather’s Beta, with a ck leather whip in his hands. He had the same


    sadistic glint in his eyes which I came to realize he had when he whipped me.


    “Chain her!” he yelled to the guards.


    The guards yanked me up and chained me to the hooks on the wall. And then the whipping started.


    “Where’s your wolf? Get it out!” he yelled.


    My shrieks were drowned in the walls of the underground dungeon. I don’t know after how many whips,


    but I cked out, unable to bear the pain. The warm blood trickled down my back and pooled at my


    feet. I knew it would take at least a week for me to recover because I was wolf-less. Normal


    werewolves recovered within a day or the powerful ones within a few hours.


    A weekter when I woke up from my temporary unconsciousness, my nanny, Hilda, came to me with a


    worried expression. “Poppy,” she said, “Alpha wants to see you.” Alpha, not grandfather.


    “Why?” I asked, my throat going dry.


    “I don’t know,” she replied in a toneced with pity. She handed me the usual concoction of tea that had


    herbs to heal my wounds. As I had the tea, she stroked my hair.


    I got dressed in ck leggings and a white sweater. Once again, I put my chin up to never show my


    weakness to the outsiders or to him. I headed straight to the Alpha’s office and knocked on his door.


    “Come in,” his cold voice made me tremble. When I entered, he snapped. “You’rete.”


    I remained quiet as dread skittered down my spine. At twenty-one, I had schooled myself never to go


    against him or reply to him. A few of my red hair had escaped my braid and were itching on my cheeks,


    but I didn’t have the courage to remove them.


    He threw a few papers in front of me and said, “I am sending you to the Umbra Academy. You will leave


    in a few hours. These are your admission papers.”


    My mouth fell to the floor. Umbra Academy? Panic bubbled in my chest. The Umbra Academy


    belonged to the most powerful Umbra Pack in North America and its Alpha son, Damon Lombard, was


    known to be the most notorious werewolf. It was said that he could kill a dozen werewolves with his


    bare hands.


    The academy was a school for the elite of the shifters and witches where the heirs of the packs and


    covens were taught how to… rule and steer ahead in the power-hungry world. It was for a period of


    four years. And only a few made out of it. Alive.


    My grandfather was never interested in making me the Alpha of the pack, so why was he sending me


    there? To kill me? Or was he interested in using me as marriage fodder for his political ambitions. The


    academy was over five hundred miles from here.


    It meant only one thing — he was trying to get rid of me. The Umbra werewolves would kill me as soon


    as they knew that I was weak and wolf-less. I had heard my nanny talking about how the Umbra wolves


    threwte night parties that ended in depravity and debauchery. And they hunted.


    “But grandfather—”


    A snarl slipped from his mouth. “That is Alpha for you!” His wolf tried to rear its head up as his green


    eyes flickered with gold speckles. His fangs sharpened. “You are going to the Umbra Academy and if


    you protest, I will drag you over there myself!”


    My hands tightened into fists so tight that my knuckles went white. “I will go…” I managed to mutter as I


    ConTEent bel0ngs to N?v(e)lD/rama(.)Org .


    winced under his Alpha aura. My grandfather was a hundred times more powerful than me. There was


    no point in getting mauled by him.


    His wolf receded and my nerves settled a little. “Go pack your bags,” he ordered. “Your flight leaves in


    four hours.”


    I nodded and came out of his office. I didn’t stop until I reached my room and crashed on the bed. I


    knew that he must have arranged to get me murdered in the academy or maybe he hadn’t because I


    would be killed anyhow. How convenient. At least now I won''t be his problem.


    My shoulders wracked with uncontroble sobs. I was alone in this world. Until now I had a pack. They


    were cruel with me, but I wasn’t abandoned. Those who were abandoned were called rogues. Rogues


    didn’t have a life. They were killed as soon as they were spotted. And they were mostly spotted by the


    Umbra Pack warriors.


    I bade goodbye to the only person who ever showed kindness to me, Hilda. She gave me a bag that


    contained the herbal tea she had made for me to carry and a thick envelope. “This has money in it that


    I had been saving for a long time. You can use it.”


    “Hilda!” I was amazed. “I can''t—” I shook my head.


    Hilda hugged me tightly. She turned her face to my ear and whispered, “Use it to run away.” A shudder


    passed through my body. She grabbed me tightly. “Umbra wolves are dangerous. Just get out of the


    academy and go to the human world. You will be safe there.”


    The driver stopped in front of the gates of the academy and after dropping my luggage rather quickly,


    he sped the car away disappearing into the thick mist. I looked up at the ominous spread of dense


    clouds that were hanging low.


    Umbra Academy was an impressive massive structure of red bricks with tall boundary walls. There


    were two towers that rose on each side.


    I bit my lip as I entered the heavy iron gates which rolled back when I announced who I was.


    I dragged the luggage to the principal’s office through a set of beautiful gardens where I was given the


    instructions on what to do and was handed a few cards to use. Library card was weird onyx and purple.


    “You are supposed to go to your dorm and tomorrow join the ss at 8AM,” the moderator, a girl in


    ck dress, informed me.


    As I made my way towards the dorm using the map given by the moderator, I could feel someone


    watching me. My heart raced wildly and I quickened my steps to my room.