Chapter 54: What We Were Waiting For - Riven's POV

I watched Callista get pulled into conversation with Kalley as their voices dropped to whispers almost immediately. Well, good, she was already gathering information.

Now I just had to figure out how to do the same without getting myself into another fight or getting my face punched in.

I opened my locker, grabbing the books I needed for history with Mr. Cross. At least this time in class would give me time to think about how to approach the guys who had challenged me at the ceremony.

Derek Thornwood had been the first one on my mind, but I had nearly killed him before Callista pulled me back, so that might not be the greatest foundation for a friendly conversation.

Conner Silverpine had been the second. He was also left bloody and humiliated.

Marcus Stonecrest was the third, which was the worst of them all, but he still glared at me in the hallways as if he were planning to murder me as soon as I let my guard down. You know, typical high school things.

Then there was Adrian Moonridge, who had proposed the postponement to learn all about me. He’d been the most tactical and strategic. Not that it really got him anywhere, but he might be the one I needed to talk to first, then see how things went from there.

“Nightshade,” a gruff voice called out.

I tensed, recognizing the voice instantly. I turned, finding Derek standing a few feet away. His bruises and everything else had faded since the ceremony. Well, all but one along his jaw that I was sure was where I had really hit him good.

“Thornwood,” I said, closing my locker and keeping my voice friendly. “How have you been?”

He looked uncomfortable, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “I heard the Alpha King summoned you. Is that true?”

Word traveled faster than I thought. “Yeah, he did.”

“And?” Derek’s eyes were sharp. “What did he want?”

I weighed out my options. I could lie and keep it vague, or use this opportunity to see what Derek might know. Instinct leaned toward the latter one.

“He made me an offer to train as his successor.”

Derek’s eyebrows shot up. “His successor? But you’re sixteen and not even any blood relation to him.”

“I’m aware.” Very aware and scared, but aware.

“That’s—” He stopped himself, then glanced around to make sure no one else was listening too closely. “That’s not normal, Nightshade. The Alpha King just doesn’t pick teenage wolves for succession training. What about his own son?”

“His own son died,” I said, keeping my voice just as low. “That is what he told me. I also know it’s not normal.” I leaned against my locker, trying to look casual. “Did your father ever mention anything about the Alpha King and his successors or replacement ones? I’m trying to figure out if this is legitimate or if there is something else going on.”

Derek studied me for a long moment. I could see him trying to decide whether he wanted to answer it or not. The Alpha heir code that Callista didn’t understand was definitely in play.

That meant since we had fought over a female, and I had won, beating him to a bloody pulp, he probably should tell me to suck it up and figure it out myself.

Curiosity seemed to win out.

“My dad said something weird last night,” Derek admitted slowly. “He said that…there were rumors his son was alive in another wing of the house. Someone saw him when they were visiting, looking out the window. But he didn’t know how true it was and the wolf who saw him was pretty spooked.”

“Maybe he’s a ghost,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

“That’s what my father said,” he murmured. “As for the other, there’s only been two times in our history that the Alpha King didn’t have a male heir. Both of those times, he turned down some of the strongest in the region, but he always ended up choosing an adult. So why you?”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.

“Be careful, Nightshade,” Derek said, his voice dropping. “My dad also said that when the Alpha King does something unexpected, there's always a reason. And it's usually not one that works out well for the wolf he's focused on."

The warning bell rang before I could ask what he meant by that.

"Just... watch your back," Derek said, then headed off toward his first class.

I stood there for a moment, processing what he told me. Derek Thornwood, who I’d beaten bloody just last weekend, had warned me to be careful. That alone told me something was seriously wrong with this situation.

Callista appeared at my side, slightly breathless. "What was that about?"

"Derek warned me about the Alpha King," I said. "What did Kalley say?"

“That the Alpha King has only been without a successor twice in our history, which I had known,” she said, her voice dipping low. “What I didn’t know was that he always chose an adult to replace him. Of course, we know why this entire thing is happening and they don’t.”

“Yeah,” I said, looking down the hallway. “It’s not like we can tell them that I have…a condition and that is why I’ve been chosen. I just need to know what’s really going on and if it’s true that his son has a demon, but they all think he died too.”

“It’s hard playing dumb,” Callista said, following my line of sight. “But we can’t tell them the real reason and have to keep doing it.”

She grabbed her books and we headed to Mr. Cross’s history class together. The hallway was already clearing as students rushed to make the final bell.

“Derek thinks the son might still be alive,” I said quietly as we walked. “There are packs doubting what the Alpha King said already. Someone his father knows saw him in the window. They’re trying to brush it off that it might be his ghost.”

“If the packs are suspecting, then it’s what we thought,” she whispered. “They’d never help us. They’d sweep it under the rug and wouldn’t stand by our packs if we didn’t take the offer and something happened to us.”

I glanced at her, my gaze narrowing. She made the same connection I did.

We slid into our seats just as the final bell rang. Mr. Cross was already at the board, writing in his neat handwriting.

"Territorial Expansion and the Consolidation of Alpha King Power."

I exchanged a glance with Callista. Of all the topics we could be covering today, this felt convenient, but then I remembered this is exactly what our project was about.

“Today, we’re going to examine how the Alpha Kings throughout history kept their authority and ruled,” he said, turning to face the class. “And our first topic, which is very critical and often overlooked, is control.”

That word caught my attention immediately.

“Why would the Alpha King suppress certain historical records? Why would some events be removed or edited from pack histories?”

A few hands went up. Mr. Cross nodded at a student in the front.

"To hide mistakes?" the student offered.

"Possibly. What else?"

"To prevent panic," another student said. "If something bad happened that might scare people, they'd want to keep it quiet."

“That’s an excellent perspective,” Mr. Cross said as he pulled out a thick, leather-bound book from his desk drawer. “Both answers are correct. There have been several instances of the Alpha Kings erasing our records to suppress information. Sometimes it’s for good reasons, while others are less than noble.”

I was locked in as he flipped to a certain page.

“There was something that happened in the 1800s, a series of incidents with wolves going mad. They attacked their own pack members, lost control of their wolves, and then died. The official records of that time have been scratched, except for some packs who kept handwritten notes that didn’t go to official libraries.”

The classroom was silent. My eyes were wide and so were Callista’s. This was what we had been waiting for.