CHAPTER THREE: ROOM OWNERSHIP

There he was. Xaphan. Sitting on my bed.

“What the hell?” I blurted out. “Who gave you access into my room?”

Xaphan didn’t even bother looking up. He was balanced on the bed with his shoes crossed together, arms crossed behind his head, a smirk playing on his lips. “I own this room.”

“No, this is my room,” I said, standing in the doorway stupefied. “I’ve been here since yesterday.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been here since forever,” he replied nonchalantly, finally looking at me. “You’re the one arguing for what’s not yours.”

I was utterly dumfounded, my mind struggling for a comeback. But the truth was that, I didn’t have one. But I couldn’t let a mere demon intimidate me over what’s mine.

“you’ve got to be kidding!” I snorted, looking at him with disgust. “There’s no way you can just walk in here and claim the room because you feel like it.”

Xaphan sat up slowly, his dark eyes locking onto mine. “I don’t feel like it. This is my room. The principal probably put you here because they thought I wasn’t coming back.”

“I don’t care.” I snapped, folding my arms. “You have no right to kick me out.”

His eyes widened, like he was surprised at my boldness. I was also in shock as to where the courage to talk back was coming from.

“Is that so?” He asked now staring fully at my appearance.

“Yes! This is my room, and I’m not……”

“Lyra,” he interrupted, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous tone. “You’re not in control here. I am. I don’t have all day to do this with you.”

Before I could respond , he stood up, his presence overwhelming the small room. I had to turn my head to catch his gaze. and for a moment, I held my breath. He was beautiful, but in a way that was unnerving. His dark eyes seemed to see right through me, and his scent, dark but intoxicating. Until he walked past me without saying anything, leaving me standing there, speechless.

He was muttering something about the principal as he walked out, slamming the door behind him.

_____________________________

“I-I’m terribly sorry, Xaphan,” the principal stammered. “We had no idea if you were coming back, and the room couldn’t be empty. We had to make the room for a special student.”

Xaphan barely looked at him, his expression one of utter boredom. “And this ‘special student’ is?”

The principal shifted uncomfortably. “Lyra. The Alpha leader’s daughter.”

Xaphan’s eyes flicked toward me for some minutes, but his face remained unreadable. “I don’t care. Just fix it today.”

The principal continued to ramble nervously. “We’ll, uh, we’ll figure something out. Maybe we can move her to another….”

“No need,” Xaphan said, cutting him off. “I’ll manage.”

The principal blinked, clearly shocked. “Thank you for understanding, Xaphan.”

Xaphan sighed, turning his gaze back to me. “I’m not doing this for you.”

_____________

"Lyra? You there?" Kael’s voice echoed through the phone.

I jolted, coming out of the daze I was in since the moment I got back to my room. The tension I faced the last few days, feeling more inferior that I don’t belong here, and Xaphan. I could still feel his presence even in his absence. It was all too much.

"Yeah," I said, adjusting my phone on my ear. "I’m here."

“How’s school going? Are you... holding up, okay?” There was a soft concern in his voice making me smile. He always worried too much about me.

“As I expected,” I replied, my voice sounding a bit hollow even to myself. “I mean, everyone’s still kind of... hostile.” I paused, my teeth biting my lips lightly. “Especially Xaphan.”

Kael didn’t need to ask who Xaphan was. I had mentioned him before, very briefly, when I tried explaining why things felt so intense around here.

“Your roommate,” Kael said, his voice laced with tension. “Did he do anything to you?”

“No,” I quickly reassured him. “it’s just that… I kind of feel something despite his hostility.”

My wolf was drawn to him in ways that confused me, and yet his coldness cut deep, leaving me torn between fear and... something else.

“Just be careful around him,” Kael warned, his tone serious now. “he’s a demon. We don’t know how they operate.”

“I know,” I whispered. But that didn’t change the fact that something about him pulled me in, even when I wanted to run the other way.

Kael sighed on the other end. “There’s something else, though. Something happened in one of the packs.”

I straightened, my heart skipping a beat. “What do you mean?”

“One of the wolves from the crimson ridge pack she was attacked by... something. We’re still not sure what. You weren’t in their discussion this time.” Kael explained.

The memory of when I was small, bringing a wave of unease with it. The packs had always been strong and stable, but strange things had been happening over time, no one could explain. And for some reason, people always looked at me with suspicion whenever something went wrong.

"They didn’t call me?" I repeated, surprised by what I heard.

“No,” Kael said slowly.

I closed my eyes as the memories flooded back, remembering when the pack’s trust in me became shattered.

Flashback

I was only ten when the first attack happened. One of the hunters had gone missing in the forest, and when they found him, his body was broken, twisted in ways that no normal creature could’ve done. There were whispers, heightened conversations behind closed doors. No one said it outright, but I could feel their eyes on me. I could hear their whispers.

Then more attacks followed. Unexplainable events that sent some of the pack into chaos. Wolves injured or killed by something lurking in the woods, a dark presence no one could identify. And though I had nothing to do with any of it, some pack members started looking at me as if I were cursed. As if I were the reason for all of it.

I’ll never forget the day they called me a danger to the entire pack, whispering that I should be killed. I was an abomination. Michael had stepped in, ordering me not to step out of the house for some time. His words were sharp, cold, and laced with fear. That was the first time I felt the divide between me and everyone else. The first time I truly felt alone.

Back to the Present

Kael’s voice jolted me back to reality. “Lyra, are you okay?”

I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. “Yeah... I’m fine. I need to go; I’ll call you later.”

Before Kael could respond, I hung up, my hand shaking as I tossed the phone onto my bed. The tears I was holding back for long fell freely across my cheeks.

I rushed to the bathroom, locking the door behind me. The cool tile floor beneath my bare feet, did little to calm my burning blood within. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and immediately looked away, unable to face the reflection of the girl who had always been different. I pressed my palms on the sink, my breath wheezing as I struggled to keep myself from breaking completely.

Why does my life have to be this way? Why couldn’t I just be normal?

I hated everything. How I felt, how everyone treated me, the daily accusation from my childhood. I wiped my face roughly, as if trying to erase my weak state. But the pain was there, hurting.

I was startled by a noise outside the bathroom door. Could it be Xaphan? I thought.

No, he can’t see me this way. I quickly washed my face opening the bathroom door slowly. Peeping into the room. No one was there. My wolf instincts perceived a witch around. It wasn’t Xaphan. Something was wrong but couldn’t tell.

I stepped outside of the bathroom, hoping to see any sign of… what I wasn’t sure of. I peeped outside the door also no body.

Forcing myself to believe it was my imagination, I went to the bed to watch Netflix. Ignoring something just happened.