Auren slapped his fork on the table, his eyes shining with anger.
"You said what?"
"Amaris will be joining you in Lunegarde, I will pull a few strings for her."
Auren scoffed in exasperation, and looked at Amaris with hate. The bitch was already making his dad have a bad record, giving enemies ammunition to use against them.
"No one pulls strings to get into Lunegarde academy. Even the Wolf King's son got in through his own abilities. And you want to make a wolfless omega girl a student in the esteemed academy? How rich!"
Harvey smiled smugly and chewed on his steak, stepping it down with wine, taking his sweet time to reply.
"You don't have to worry about that. Everything is settled."
"Excuse me? The new semester started two weeks ago, and the admission period is long over. How do you intend to do that? She doesn't even have a junior school certificate."
"I have already taken care of everything. All you need to do is make sure you keep her alive in there, till she's strong enough to survive on her own."
Auren scoffed, and shot Amaris a resentful glare, his blue-purple eyes seemed to have flames jumping in them, his lips trembled slightly, making it obvious he was barely controlling his anger.
"Lunegarde is an academy for wolves with magical abilities, people from special clans descended from the goddess herself, comprising only five percent of the entire wolf population. Yet, you want this…" He paused and shot Amaris a judgemental gaze, weighing her, and finding her short of everything good.
"... Loser who hasn't even shifted to join. You better find a general to babysit her, because she will be eaten up on her first day. And you won't even have a corpse to collect."
"Language Auren, she's your mate and your responsibility. Whether you like it or not, you must obey."
"Then make me!" Auren snapped and shot Amaris a resentful glare which made her shrink, before making his way up. What partiality! His father never helped him for once in life, claiming he should make his way himself and be a man. Yet here he was, cutting all kinds of corners, and engaging in bribery to make something great out of the useless stranger he brought home.
If she had a death wish, he wouldn't stop her. Even the weakest person in Lunegarde could turn her to a pile of ashes. Let the stupid moth fly to the flame.
Amaris' heart was racing like a wild horse, and she couldn't help but tremble under Auren's aura and eyes which made her feel less than dirt.
"You heard him. Lunegarde is an academy for wolves with magical abilities, most students are children of alphas from the most powerful clans, only a very miniscule number are betas, and those are the ones stronger than many alphas with a terrifying battle ability and potent magic. Even the most useless person in Lunegarde academy can massacre an entire clan of ordinary wolves. Non-royal werewolves stand no chance against them. Do you still want to go?, knowing you will be the first person without a wolf or supernatural ability to enter Lunegarde since its establishment. If you're not sure of it, I won't force you."
Amaris took a deep breath and sat up straight, licking her lips. And with an expression that has never been seen before in her eyes, she spoke, her words firm and filled with determination.
"I will go. It doesn't matter if I'm like the others or not, only by facing tough challenges will I be able to awaken my potential. Lunegarde was once a dream I never dared to have, but if you made it possible for me, I must grab this opportunity with both hands."
'Good. That's the spirit.' Harvey's expression was blank as he stared at her, revealing nothing of his true thoughts.
"Are you truly sure about this? If Auren refuses to protect you, it means you will suffer there. Even if you don't go to Lunegarde, I will ensure you live like a princess in Ice castle. No one will be able to bully you under my watch. But if…"
"No, I must go to Lunegarde no matter the consequences. There's no guarantee that I will die there. Even if I do, so be it. I don't want to remain a dirt trampled by just anyone. I must become powerful. Previously, I didn't dare to hope. But you just offered me a future. I won't disappoint you."
"Don't do it for me. Do it for you."
Amaris nodded and got up, going down on one knee, with a stoic expression on her face. She was too overwhelmed with emotions to speak, but Harvey perfectly understood her. He stood up and walked towards her.
"You do not have to thank me. From the moment I brought you home, you became my child, blood or not. I'm only doing what every father does for their children." He took a deep breath and continued. "Since you have already decided, Lunegarde it is. In two days, you will take your school certification exam under special cases, you have to ace it. You're way behind your mates in everything, that means you need to work ten times harder, no, a thousand times harder than them."
"I will. I have never feared hardship or suffering." She whispered. "Only humiliation and being weak." The last part was muttered under her breath, too low for anyone to hear.
Alpha king Harvey made his way towards the stairs. On the first block, he stopped and turned to her, as if he just remembered something.
"Oh. Your personal trainers will have more time with you. Even without a wolf, you should have some martial skills to defend yourself. From now onwards, you only sleep four hours everyday, and the dietitian will prepare your meals, according to what you need. If you crave anything, you can eat it with their permission. You will go to bed by midnight and wake up by four. By four-thirty, your day starts. There's no time at all since you will leave in five days."
Without waiting for her reply, he left.
"Lunegarde academy? Fools do dream big." A servant whispered, giving her a disdainful side eye while the others sneered at her or scoffed, obviously believing that she was an idiot reaching higher than her abilities. But the moment she stood up and turned to them, they all went quiet and pasted a blank expression on their faces.
Since they were pretending so well, she feigned ignorance and returned to her room.
"Look at her, she really thinks she's an alpha princess. She was merely a runty dog that was picked by the wayside. In just a few weeks, she thinks she can change from a local fowl to a Phoenix. Ridiculous!"
"The fool even has an air of pride and arrogance after receiving a makeover. Even if the alpha king dresses her in royal garments. It will never wash away the stench of a slave from her body."
They laughed as they packed the plates.
"She thinks Lunegarde is this place where she plays the boss. What is Lunegarde? A place where only ten percent of alphas, who have royal bloodline go for training. Even the alpha of her previous pack doesn't dare to dream about it. Yet she wants to attend. Ha!"
"She will learn the hard way. Sixty percent of Lunegarde academy's new intakes don't make it to the second year, either killed in combat, or permanently disabled during training. And no one can do anything about it. The ones there are all cream of the crop. I give her one week, and she will die there."
"One week is too big. She won't survive forty-eight hours. In less than two days, the alpha king will be called to collect her corpse. I guarantee that." A gamma in charge of training the omegas in combat said, walking into the dining room. Here was a warrior that understands a bit about power hierarchy and magic—all things Lunegarde academy is known for. And he has spoken, and given his professional verdict. Amaris won't live past two days in Lunegarde academy.