As they strolled through the hallway, Emily cheerfully responded to all the greetings she received from the students.
She was the Beta's mate, and that position demanded respect.
Entering their class, they sat together, staring boringly at the whiteboard and plain walls.
Since they were early, no lectures had started, and only a few students were loitering about.
"Seriously Emily, who are you?" Anabelle asked in amazement, her eyebrows raised as she checked out her new textbooks.
"I'm a werewolf," Emily replied, resting on the desk.
"I know that everyone here are werewolves, but I'm not talking about that. Your warm reception indicates you're not an ordinary one."
"I am Beta's mate, a female Beta, that's why," she smiled lightly.
"Oh, so who is the Beta?" Annabelle asked, curious as she had limited knowledge about werewolves.
"The Beta is Lucas, my soulmate. He works with Alpha Alvin," Emily explained simply.
"Oh.. okay," was all Annabelle replied. That means Emily is pretty close to Alpha Alvin.
But what If she was being nice just to make her stay and accept their Alpha? She wouldn't fall for any of that.
"How about I show you around before lectures begin? And I bet you, this school isn't as boring as it is now," Emily said, and with a nod from Annabelle, they got up and left the classroom.
~
"Wow, your school is very large and beautiful," Annabelle remarked as she looked around. She hadn't expected werewolves to be so modernised. She thought they were animals, so they would be worse than illiterates, but everything she has discovered proved her wrong.
To be sincere, if she hadn't seen Alvin transform from a wolf into himself, she wouldn't have believed that she was living with werewolves. They were very neat and wealthy, unlike animals. They were just like humans, but extraordinarily beautiful.
They were even wealthier than most of the renowned men she knew in the human world.
"Indeed," Emily replied, happy that their Luna was impressed by their school. At least it should be an improvement because their Luna has always had a detestation towards them.
"My school isn't even up to a dime compared to yours," Annabelle commented and chuckled.
"This is the richest school in the city. It's for wealthy kids with renowned parents," Emily spoke as she kept leading the tour around the school.
"That means I'm not supposed to be here. My parents aren't here, and my dad isn't close to being called renowned," Annabelle grumbled to herself with a sad sigh, forgetting that the girl beside her was a werewolf with keen hearing abilities.
"Don't worry, Luna, Alpha got you covered," Emily whispered, winking at her, while Annabelle smiled lightly.
Before she could make a reply, the sound of the bell interrupted her, and they headed back to their class.
Emily walked into the classroom, but immediately Annabelle stepped into the class, the heads of the students turned towards them.
They all stared at Annabelle, making the once noisy class become as quiet as a cemetery.
"Seriously, Emily…. why are they all staring at me like that?" she whispered to Emily, feeling uneasy.
"Keep cool Annabelle, they won't eat you. Just avoid their gazes and feel free," she told her when they approached their seats, and immediately a lecturer walked in.
"Good day class," the teacher greeted before starting lectures.
~
"I thought she was supposed to introduce me to the class?" Annabelle asked, surprised as the female lecturer finally rounded up his lessons and walked out of the class without noticing her.
"You are meant to keep a low profile, Annabelle, so there was no need for an introduction."
"But that's the spec of attending a new school. What a life I have to live here," Annabelle complained, sadly flipping through her notes before burying her face into it.
Emily turned to her, a flicker of sadness in her eyes, but it disappeared immediately.
"Don't you have any friends?" Annabelle asked further, noticing Emily's lack of communication with her classmates.
She should be familiar with them, unlike her. Or was she doing it because of her?
"I do have friends," Emily replied, scribbling things into her notepad.
"Then where are they?" she asked, looking around.
"Don't look behind, Annabelle, I said keep a low profile," Emily half yelled, and immediately turned Annabelle's head to face forward.
"Jeez!! Do you want to break my neck? And besides, I was only searching for your invisible friends," she said with an angry glare, while massaging her neck.
"They are not here, Annabelle. They aren't in the same classes. You'll see them once we get to the cafeteria."
"Okay." Annabelle replied and remained quiet.
"Bullies are also here, so you need to be careful and always walk beside me. You know how rich kids always behave," Emily warned, peeking at Annabelle who remained as though she was in thoughts.
"I'm not scared of bullies," she replied, closing her eyes.
"Really?" Emily asked, raising her eyebrows.
"I actually turned myself into one due to how situations were for me," Annabelle replied, shrugging, her eyes still closed.
"Are you tired?"
"No."
"Have you started feeling the pains of the marking?" Emily asked with a gasp, her eyes wide.
"No! That's not it," Annabelle said with gritted teeth, and eyed Emily.
"Then why are your eyes closed?"
"I'm trying my best not to look at the faces of the eyes that are staring at me in this class," she lied, but it wasn't totally true. She was feeling weak and exhausted, and she knew it was a result of the marking.
But she refused to tell Emily about it, because if she did, what would Emily do about it? She'll tell it to her Alpha, and that wasn't what Annabelle wanted.
She would endure it, whatever pain it was.
Emily took some time to study Annabelle, before she asked, "Did you say you were a bully?" Emily asked, glaring at all the students that were staring at Annabelle, and they immediately stopped staring.
"I was bullied in my old school, and I bet you, you wouldn't wish to live if you were in my shoes. So after I changed schools, I became a bully in order not to get bullied."
"Oh… umm.. but you don't look like a bully."
"I don't need to be chubby to be a bully. Besides, I don't just bully anyone, I actually bully bullies and also beat them to pulp. Let's just say I'm a different kind of a bully," Annabelle replied, a slight smile appearing on her face but immediately disappearing.
She could have dealt with Mirabell when she returned to school the next day, but all thanks to a strange king of werewolves, she couldn't have her revenge.
She couldn't even complete and submit her experiment which was the reason for which she got abducted.
"That isn't the bullying I'm talking about, Annabelle. Come back to your senses and stop daydreaming. You are living with werewolves and not humans; you need to be careful."
"That's right," Annabelle said, her eyes flying open.
"I'm living with werewolves," she murmured, ruffling her hair and pouting sadly, while batting her lashes rapidly.
"If I were you, I wouldn't do that," Emily said with a shake of her head.
"Do what?" Annabelle asked innocently.
"Ruffle your hair and pout like that."
"Like how?"
"Really, Annabelle, you didn't realise how attractive you looked when you did that? I can only hope no one saw that; if not, we are in for it."
"Seriously, Emily, so I can't even ruffle my hair?" Annabelle asked with wide eyes.
"It's not my fault that you look cute," Emily replied and laughed lightly.
"I was able to do things freely when I was living with humans," Annabelle complained.
"Annabelle, you don't understand. That wasn't what I meant. You are trying to keep a low profile, and no one is supposed to know that you are a Luna; what if a guy falls for you and starts following you around, you know what will happen, right? That's why we can't risk anything."
"What would happen?" Annabelle asked, paying attention to what Emily was about to say.
"Alpha won't like it," Emily blurted, and immediately Annabelle's mood changed.
She had expected her to say something important that could help her escape.
"Are you sure he wouldn't like it?" she asked, and Emily nodded.
"Then I think that's a good idea. I'll like many guys in our school, and you'll let your Alpha know so that when he finds out, he'll get totally pissed off and let me go. He'll know that truly, I can't be a Luna, so what do you think?" Annabelle asked, busy plotting how to carry out her plan, but when she turned to Emily, she stared at her pale face.