Chapter 53 SILVER EYES

Chapter 53 SILVER EYES
CHAPTER 53. SILVER EYES

IRIS'S POV 

The silence in the room is deafening. It is a heavy, suffocating weight that presses down on my shoulders, thick with an unspoken, lethal tension. We are locked in a silent, brutal battle of wills.

I am standing my ground near the edge of the massive bed, glaring dagger-like holes into Davina. My chest is heaving, my hands curled into tight fists at my sides. A dark, primal urge is boiling deep within my veins—a terrifyingly violent instinct that I have never felt before. The newly awakened wolf inside my soul is roaring, scratching at the walls of my mind, begging me to lunge forward and literally skin this girl alive for daring to invade our sanctuary.

Davina and her two loyal cohorts stand near the heavy oak door, looking back at me as if I have completely lost my mind. The silver-haired girl tilts her head, her nose wrinkling in disgust, while the dark-haired girl shifts her weight, her eyes scanning my defensive posture. They look at me like I am a pathetic, rabid stray dog that has somehow wandered into a palace and decided to claim the throne.

Davina is the first to break the heavy silence. She takes a slow, arrogant step forward, her boots clicking sharply against the polished wood floor.

"You really shouldn't feel so high and mighty, Iris," she says. Her voice is dripping with a toxic, artificial sweetness that makes my stomach churn. "Just because you suddenly discovered you are a supernatural, it doesn't make you royalty. You are still nothing in this pack. Don't let Kaelen's little charity case routine go to your head."

I bite down hard on the inside of my cheek, tasting the faint, metallic tang of blood. I force my fists to unclench, flattening my palms against my thighs. I am trying desperately to keep a tight leash on the wild, erratic energy fizzling beneath my skin.

"I don't want any trouble, Davina," I say. My voice comes out low, steady, and far calmer than the raging storm inside my chest. "Just turn around and leave."

Davina stops in the center of the woven rug. She crosses her arms over her chest, letting out a short, humorless laugh that echoes off the vaulted ceiling.

"Oh, there is absolutely no trouble here, sweetheart," she replies, her golden eyes flashing with a wicked, patronizing gleam. "We are not here to fight you. We are simply here to take you exactly where you belong."

My eyebrows pinch together in a deep, confused frown. A cold spike of dread shoots down my spine, freezing the hot anger in my veins. 

Where I belong? 

"What are you talking about?" I ask, my eyes darting between the three girls. "What do you mean by 'where I belong'?"

Davina scoffs loudly, rolling her eyes toward the ceiling as if dealing with me is the most exhausting chore in the world. She drops her arms and looks around the luxurious, masculine room, her gaze sweeping over the dark furniture and the heavy drapes.

"Well? Where is your luggage?" she demands, snapping her fingers impatiently. "Or did you honestly cross the border into our realm wearing nothing but the filthy clothes on your back?"

I just stare at her, my silence fueled by pure, unadulterated confusion. My mind is racing, trying to piece together her sudden demands.

Davina lets out an exaggerated sigh, shaking her head. "God, you are incredibly dumb, aren't you? It is actually painful to watch." She takes another step closer, a cruel, triumphant smirk stretching across her lips. "I am here to take you over to the girls' dormitory. As explicitly instructed by Alpha Kaelen himself."

The words hit me like a physical blow to the chest. All the air is instantly knocked out of my lungs. I freeze, staring at her in absolute, staggering disbelief.

Kaelen instructed them? The same Kaelen who had just sat on this very bed, his golden eyes filled with warmth, telling me how glad he was that I was here? The same man who called me beautiful, who held me in the dark alleyway as if letting me go would kill him? My heart drops into my stomach, a cold, heavy weight replacing the fluttering butterflies he had left behind.

"You're lying," I whisper, my voice shaking.

Davina scoffs again, throwing her head back with a sharp, mocking laugh. The two girls behind her join in, their giggles sounding like venomous little snakes hissing in the background.

"Am I?" Davina asks, tilting her head as she gives me a deeply pitying, mocking look. "Did you really think that Kaelen would actually want to spend the night with you? Did you honestly believe that the future Alpha of the Crescent Pack was going to share his private bed with a clueless, untrained stray?"

She shakes her head, clicking her tongue against her teeth. "It is strictly against the rules of this realm, Iris. It is considered an absolute abomination for separated genders to stay in the exact same room overnight, especially outside of a formal, recognized mating bond. We have laws. We have order. You would know that if you weren't a pathetic outsider."

My mind begins to spin completely out of control. 

Why didn't Kaelen tell me any of this? If it was such a strict, unbreakable rule, why didn't he simply mention it before he left for the Council meeting? Why did he leave me here, feeling safe and comfortable, only to send his worst group of bullies to drag me out into the dark?

Doubt begins to cloud my thoughts. Was he just playing a game? Was all that sweet-talking and protective posturing just a way to keep me calm until he could hand me off to the dormitory matrons?

"We have to leave. Immediately," Davina commands, her voice snapping like a whip, pulling me out of my spiraling thoughts. "The Alpha gave an order, and I am not going to stand here all night waiting for you to process basic instructions."

But as she steps forward to grab my arm, the cold doubt inside me suddenly burns away. It is replaced by a hot, fierce flare of pure stubbornness. My newfound wolf instincts scream at me. I do not trust this girl. I do not trust her friends. And I absolutely refuse to be dragged out of the only safe room in this entire terrifying academy.

I plant my feet firmly against the floorboards. I lift my chin, squaring my shoulders as I meet her arrogant gaze.

"No," I say firmly.

Davina stops, her eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. "Excuse me?"

"I said no," I repeat, my voice growing louder, echoing with a strange, vibrating authority I didn't know I possessed. "I am going to wait right here for Kaelen. I don't trust you, Davina. I don't trust anybody in this place right now. If I have to move to a different building, I want to hear it directly from Kaelen's mouth."

The air in the room instantly turns toxic. Davina’s face contorts with a sudden, vicious rage. The arrogant smirk vanishes, replaced by the lethal snarl of a predator whose authority has just been challenged. She glares at me, and I watch as her eyes ignite, glowing with an eerie, burning golden light that illuminates the shadows on her face.

I gulp hard, a sudden wave of primal fear washing over me, but I refuse to back down.

The threat in her glowing eyes triggers a violent, explosive reaction deep inside my own biology. A massive surge of adrenaline floods my system. I can physically feel the hot, rushing pulse of blood charging up my neck and blasting into my skull. A strange, electrifying static crackles across my skin. The wild, untamed energy of my newly awakened wolf rises to the surface, roaring in defense of my territory.

Suddenly, the heavy, aggressive tension radiating from Davina shatters.

She gasps, stumbling a full step backward, her golden eyes widening in pure, unadulterated shock. Behind her, the silver-haired girl and the dark-haired girl both let out sharp, breathless shrieks, clapping their hands over their mouths.

All three girls are completely frozen in place, gazing at my face with wide, confused eyes. They are no longer looking at me like a pathetic stray. They are staring at me as if I have just transformed into a ghost. They look at each other in frantic, silent panic, before snapping their gazes back to my face.

The silver-haired girl points a trembling, shaking finger directly at my face, her voice cracking in absolute terror.

"Silver eyes?!!!" she exclaimes, the sound piercing the quiet room. "Where the hell did that come from?!"