JEROME DAWSON's POV
Observing from the outside, the orphanage appeared to be such a stunning infrastructure with an arched ceiling and gigantic white pillars that supported the balcony on the second story. There were also some stained glass panels that portrayed magnificent sceneries. The air smelled like grass and soil since the windows weren't closed on both sides.
"Master Jerome, aren't you going inside?" asked Jin, the one responsible for guarding the entire orphanage. He's the only son of the owner, so I guess that he would be the one who'd inherit this orphanage someday soon. "Everyone else is waiting for you in the dining area. Your lunch has been served by the maids," he added.
I nodded my head, then kept my mouth shut as I entered the orphanage. The other children were really waiting for me to arrive as they all turned to look at the entrance where I appeared. "Sorry I made you all wait for too long. Let's eat," I said.
There wasn't anything special with today's meal either. I don't know why I've been anticipating another type of meat, I'm getting fed up with the same flesh of humans. It doesn't taste any different than those of animals.
I long for something else. It can either be raw meat of a pure werewolf or their blood.
"Master Jerome, it's time for your physical training," Jin said as soon as he noticed that I've finished the entire serving on my plate. "It won't do you anything good for you to waste your time on useless things."
I sighed. "Can't you at least give me a few minutes to rest?"
Jin instantly shook his head. "You weren't permitted to rest even for half an hour or a whole day. My dad has high hopes for you and he said that you're going to be the alpha of a prestigious pack in the near future. That only means that you can't laze around and rest as you please. You must keep on enhancing your capabilities so that you wouldn't get beaten by any other wolf in Grimstone even after you step out of this orphanage." He selfishly grabbed my forearm then pulled it towards him, which made me unwillingly stand up.
"Why are you doing this to me? There's a wide variety of other children that you can choose among the members of this orphanage; they might even possess a greater potential and strength than I have. Why do you have to keep on torturing me like this?" I consecutively asked, letting my emotions take over me.
It's not like I'm totally on my own here. My mom merely left me in the orphanage to train, she isn't even dead, and yet the people here kept on treating me like their guinea pig.
I felt like my patience had run out, so I resisted Jin's grip on my forearm, then walked out of the dining area. I let my feet take me wherever I wanted, and I stopped in front of the library where only a few children wanted to stay inside.
All of them weren't fond of books. Having to deal with intellectual training every single day must be a burden to them. I'm surprised that they're still holding on though.
Without a second thought, I went to the library. "Is anyone here?" I asked, my voice echoed all throughout the room.
No one gave a response, so I proceeded inside then sat on the nearest chair at the same time that I shut my eyes to rest. Luckily, the air conditioner was already turned on. It wouldn't be a problem for me to stay here for a few hours to ditch my training session for today.
Just right about when I believed that there was nobody around here, a girl's face was the first one that I saw by the moment that I opened my eyes.
"What're you doing here, Jerome? Aren't you supposed to be in the training room?" Luna asked, the only friend that I can actually be brutally honest with.
I heaved out a loud sigh as I fixed my sitting posture. "That damn Jin got on my nerves. He has the guts to say that I'd be the next alpha as if he doesn't even consider how I think about it."
"But, you really have no choice other than to become the superior alpha out there. If you don't become one, then you'd just end up..." Luna glanced elsewhere, like she was having second thoughts whether she would continue what she was about to say.
I held her chin to force her to revert her gaze back to me. "What is it, Luna? Tell me."
She bit her lower lip in hesitation. "If the higher ups don't approve of your current capabilities, then... You would be the next candidate to be led astray; you would be executed before the next day approaches and your entire body would be the next set of flesh that would be served to us for dinner," Luna explained what bothered her.
"T-that's not true. W-where did you hear and start to believe such rumors that are obviously f-fake?"' I stuttered with my hands shaking.
I can't seem to understand what I'm supposed to feel right now.
I refused to acknowledge what I perceived. There's no way that those that I've eaten for dinner the entire years that I spent my life here were all people that I knew. There's a part of me that wants to seek vengeance for those children that went missing all of a sudden. However, there's also a part of me that's terrified of what the higher ups can actually do to us if we don't obey their commands.
Luna shook her head to imply that it was all true. "Butler Jin said it to me himself. I was having trouble trusting his words for the entire week the first time that I heard it myself, so he decided that I should confirm it through the other maids and other servants that were around the orphanage..." She bowed her head, then stared at my hands which were continuously trembling. "They all said the same thing --- fragile children should be killed, those that are weak shouldn't be granted a future."