It was Drelduin's college that Talilia took admission in, and she knew he would come to keep an eye on her any time he wished. She couldn't say no to him as he helped her get away from her sister. He made Talindra say yes so that Talilia could come back to Dainava. He also swore that he would look after her. Just on his words, she was allowed to leave Boucherlow Island, so now, even if she didn't want to, she had to obey Drelduin.
She knew now she would be surrounded by werewolves all the time. His pack warriors would be close to her every single time. They would report all her activities to Drelduin and in turn, he would tell everything to Talindra. No matter whether Drelduin was a werewolf, a beast, she was more afraid of Talindra. She just wanted to get away from her helicopter parenting.
Moreover, her father was getting old, he needed someone to take care of him. Talindra hated Dainava so it was decided that Talilia would come back and finish her studies while Talindra would take care of the Boucherlow Island branch of VRIK. No one knew except Drelduin why Talindra hated Dainava, but he never spilled the beans, no matter how many times she asked him. He would say - ask your sister and asking her was like tying the bell around the cat, which was an impossible task.
All those five years flashed before her eyes. How she went to school surrounded by bodyguards both werewolves and vampires, how no one was allowed to get near her, how she had limited friends and no boyfriends, how restrictive her life was, how she was always angry at her sister, all that caused a lot of pain.
She loved her sister but at the same time hated her too. She had no idea why she became overprotective of her and stone-hearted for everyone else. Every employee, every client of hers used to call her SH – stone-hearted. But it was like she liked that name. She was becoming more of a stone, day by day. She showed no emotions, no feelings, not every anger. She always remained stoic in every situation. Even stoic was a mild word for her.
Talindra tried her best to take care of her sister. She became over-protective as she didn't want what happened to her to happen to her sister. She never wanted her heart to break. She did what she only knew, become over-protective.
Talilia closed her eyes, left the past life outside the college gate, took in the earthy smell of early morning soil, and stepped inside the college campus. She inhaled and let her lungs fill with fresh morning air. She stood near the gate and looked around.
The huge campus was spread around acres and acres of land. Every department, every stream, every subject, and every degree were available in the college. One could find the finest faculties, finest lecturers, finest laboratories, essential equipment, and necessary facilities in the college.
She had dreams in her beautiful brown eyes. She wanted to enjoy her life to the fullest. She moved ahead and started searching for the admission office to complete all the first-day formalities and ask for her classroom. She was wandering idly when a group of girls came toward her.
"Are you new?" asked one of the girls.
"Yes," replied Talilia.
"Can we help you?" asked a second girl in a robotic tone. Talilia noticed that the group of girls had a few pamphlets in their hands.
"I am looking for the admission office," she said.
"Oh, go straight, take a left then immediately right on the first intersection. Here, take a map," said the second girl and handed her the map.
"Thank you," she smiled at them, but they moved ahead without any reaction.
One girl turned and replied to her, "you are welcome." She then ran to be with her group.
Before Talilia moved further, she heard the first girl say again like a parrot, "Hello! Can we help you?" It was like she byhearted the dialogue and kept repeating it at every fresher.
Talilia kept following the map the girls gave her and reached the intersection. A large group of boys were sitting there blocking the path. They were scanning the girls with their eyes from head to toe, making lewd comments at every girl and rating them out of 10.
Girls that they deemed ugly were sent directly to the admission office but the girls they thought to be beautiful were first bullied, harassed, and then sent on their way. It was a repulsive act. But boys found nothing wrong with that.
The moment Talilia walked in a small group of boys stood up. As they were commanding every other boy, it seemed they were the leader pack. The rest of the boys wolf-whistled at her. A rugged face, strongly built boy who was dressed in a pale yellow shirt, black jeans and leather jacket raised his hand and the atmosphere went silent. Talilia looked around; she was the only girl. She gulped. Now she was regretting the 'no bodyguard' rule. She prepared herself to fight.
Even though Talindra made sure that Talilia should learn some sort of martial art, she was still a novice. She could not fight that many boys. Her mind went to Talindra, she had to become like her. To win with these boys she had to become SH and show them her sass and her anger.
"Wow! You are beautiful," said the boy and moved towards Talilia. She kept her body firm and refused to move back.
"Thank you," she replied, stoically.
"My name is Drathal, Alpha of this pack. What is your name?" He had lust in his eyes. He looked at her from top to bottom and licked his lips with a lustful smile on his face.
"Alpha?" she sniggered. "You are just a pup, wait till you meet a real Alpha," she thought. "My name is Talilia," she answered, indifferently. Every boy hooted after hearing her name.
"Such a sweet name, just like you." He pinched her cheeks. She moved her face away from his reach and swatted his hands away.
"Thank you, now can you move, I have to go to the admission office," said Talilia with confidence.
"No," he replied instantly without even thinking twice.