Chapter 87

Chapter 87
Olivia's Point of View

Liana walks beside me down the hallway, both of us clutching our notebooks like they are the only things keeping us anchored to something normal. Students chatter around us, laughing, complaining about homework or weekend plans, and all of it feels… distant. Like background noise in a life that suddenly shifted a few inches off center.

We slip into our first class, Pack Dynamics, and take our usual seats near the middle. Professor Hale is already shuffling his papers at the front, humming under his breath like nothing in the world is wrong.

I wish I could feel that normal.

Liana sinks into her chair with a sigh. “How are we supposed to focus after everything yesterday?”

“I really don’t know,” I admit, flipping open my notebook even though I already know half of it will stay blank. “But we have to try.”

The room fills steadily. The low buzz of voices blends with the scrape of chairs until Professor Hale starts the lecture. He talks about historical alliances between wolf packs, shifting politics, territory lines...

All I can think about is Stonehowl.

About Kael’s tired face.
About burned houses.
About innocent pack members caught in the chaos.

About the fact that Nightvein is still out there.

Liana leans close, whispering, “Do you think they were targeting Stonehowl specifically? Or… just testing another pack’s defenses?”

I chew on the inside of my cheek. “Kael didn’t say much about the attack itself, but… it felt too coordinated to be random.”

She nods her head slowly, her fingers tapping restlessly against her pen. “And the fact that they have not caught anyone...”

“probably means they are planning something else.” The words slip out before I can stop them.

Liana gives me a worried look. “Liv…”

“I know,” I whisper, forcing my pen to move even though my notes are just a bunch of half formed scribbles. “But pretending everything is normal is not helping either.”

Professor Hale’s voice fades in and out as he moves on to interpack negotiations. Under any other circumstance, I would be focused, this is the kind of stuff we are supposed to be training for as future leaders. But my mind keeps drifting to the families picking through rubble, the frightened kids, the silent grief on Kael’s face.

It does not feel distant at all.

It feels close.
Closer than it should.

Beside me, Liana sighs again, her shoulders drooping. “This is impossible. My brain is just… stuck there.”

“Mine too.” I glance at her, offering her a small smile. “We are doing our best.”

“Yeah,” she breathes, though her eyes do not leave the page. “And hopefully someone catches those bastards soon.”

I grip my pen tighter.
I hope so too.

Class keeps going, but neither of us really hears any of it. We sit there, pretending to be students, pretending to focus on old alliances and treaties, pretending everything is fine.

But beneath the surface, the worry buzzes like static.
About Kael.
About Stonehowl.
About Nightvein.

About who they will attack next.

And why.

The moment class ends, Liana exhales like she has been holding her breath for the entire hour. Honestly… I feel the same.

We join the flow of students heading into the hallway, but it feels like we are moving underwater, slow, heavy, voices muffled.

Liana hooks her arm through mine. “Okay. Next class. Maybe this one will be easier.”

I snort. “You mean the class where Professor Yates assigns ten pages of reading every session? Sure.”

She bumps me with her shoulder. “Optimism, Olivia. Try it.”

“I did,” I say dryly. “It lasted eight seconds.”

Liana laughs, tired, but real, and somehow that makes the hallway feel a little less suffocating. We weave through the crowd towards our next class, Tactical Strategy. Normally, we both love it. Today… it feels tense. Loaded. Like every hypothetical scenario suddenly is not so hypothetical anymore.

When we step inside, the air shifts. Students lower their voices. There is this undertone of unease, like news of Stonehowl traveled faster than sleep or breakfast.

I feel eyes slide towards me. At Liana. At anyone connected to Kael or Ezra or their pack.

Liana leans closer, whispering, “Pretend you don’t notice them.”

“Too late,” I mutter.

We take our seats near the back this time, neither of us has the energy to interact. Professor Yates walks in, sharp as always, her posture rigid, her gaze slicing through the room like she can tell half of us didn’t sleep.

“All right,” she says briskly, “let’s continue where we left off, pack defense contingencies in the event of a coordinated attack.”

My stomach drops.

Liana inhales sharply beside me. “You have got to be kidding me.”

I shake my head, pressing my lips together tightly. It is not Yates’s fault, she made the syllabus months ago, but the timing feels cruel.

As she lectures, diagrams flashing on the holo-screen, my mind keeps overlaying Stonehowl’s layout onto every example.

Breached perimeter.
I see the northern tree line.
Smoke rising.
Bodies being carried.
Kael’s voice cracking when he said, four dead.

I flinch when Yates says, “Speed and coordination are key. If an enemy knows the weak points, they will exploit them without hesitation.”

Liana’s hand drifts towards mine under the desk. Not to hold it, just to be near. Close enough that I can feel her presence, grounding and steady. I brush my fingers against hers, just briefly.

We are both pretending to take notes.

Neither of us writes more than a sentence.

Halfway through the class, Yates pauses mid sentence. Her gaze sweeps across the room and lands on me for a beat too long. I straighten instinctively.

“I know,” she says quietly, unexpectedly, “that some of you have more on your minds today than tactical diagrams.”

A hush spreads. Even the air stops moving.

“Take what you learn seriously,” she continues, her voice steady but softer. “Because times like these are when knowledge becomes survival.”

My throat tightens. Liana swallows hard beside me.

The lecture resumes, but the atmosphere has shifted, less academic, more… real.

When the class finally ends, students filter out slowly, murmuring again. Liana and I stay seated for a second, collecting ourselves.

Finally she whispers, “Liv… I hate this. I hate feeling useless.”

I nod my head. “Yeah, me too.”

“We helped yesterday. But sitting here? Listening to lectures while Kael’s pack is rebuilding everything?” She scrubs a hand over her face. “I just want to do more.”

I stare down at my notebook, the blank page staring back like an accusation.

“Then we will,” I say quietly. “Whatever that ends up being.”

Liana lifts her head, searching my expression. “You really think we can make a difference?”

I think of Kael holding that coffee cup like it was the only thing keeping him upright.
Of Ripley’s steady presence.
Of the promise in all of our eyes that morning.

“Yeah,” I say softly. “I do.”

Liana exhales, tension sliding out of her a bit. “Okay. Good. Because the alternative is panic and I am not in the mood for a breakdown before lunch.”

I let out a small laugh, finally standing. “Come on. Last class before the break. We can survive that, right?”

She grins weakly. “Only if they don’t bring up pack warfare again.”

“Please don’t jinx it.”

We walk out together, still tired, still worried, still carrying more than any student should, but side by side.

And somehow, that makes it bearable.