**Harper''s POV**


    Once all my belongings are in my room, Archie leaves to go unpack his stuff while I unpack mine. Arge white envelope, with my


    name scrawled across the front, is on top of one of my boxes.


    Inside, I find my academy issue phone and some information booklets with a campus map, ss schedules, and more importantly, dining hall


    opening times. My stomach nimbles as I look over the sample menu. I haven''t eaten since yesterday and I still have two hours before the dining hall opens for dinner.


    The moment I turn on my phone, it dings with multiple notifications. Most of them are wee messages, my personalised timetable and a guide on how to use the phone. I''m please to see that it''s already load Dillon''s contact information. I click on his contact card and then hit the message button.


    Harper Marshall: Hey handsome.


    I text, but I know he will still be in


    ss, and won''t be able to respond. I find Demi''s contact


    and message her too, apologising for leaving her and wishing her and her new bonds well.


    Next I search for Sage''s contact, but she is not listed. I guess I''ll have to wait


    for her to contact me. I hope she is not angry with me for what happened.


    With a sigh, I toss the phone on my bed and start with the task of putting my clothes away. The wardrobe is a walk in one that doubles as a dressing room.


    I hang most of my clothes on the rails provided and I shove my pyjamas and socks into the drawers. A flush of embarrassment washes over me as I look at my underwear. My panties are all in cotton. Are the I hid the underwear under my pyjamas, just in case anyonees snooping around in here, and then I


    reach for my personal


    phone to ask my mum for underwear advice, but then I cringe. I don''t want to talk to her about underwear to impress my bonds. Instead, I message her and ask how I get new clothes.


    Previously, I have bought all my stuff on shopping trips with her, but this feels like something I need to do alone. I''m just not sure how I''m supposed to fund such things. I''m aware the academy supplies everything, but surely they don''t provide our underwear too.


    "Almost done in here?" Archie calls from the doorway of my room and I quickly m the underwear drawer shut and shove my phone into my pocket.


    "My clothes are done, but I still have my other stuff to unpack. Have you finished already?"


    "Yeah, I didn''t bring very much," he shrugs as I walk out of the wardrobe.


    "My bedroom at home is being given to Be, so I brought everything I own."


    "I figured." he nods towards the stacked boxes he''d helped me carry in. "I read in the wee pack that we are supposed to go down to the uniform shop to collect our uniform. Do you want to go now?" I look around at my belongings that I still need to put away and shrug. They can wait untilter. "Sure, let''s go."


    We walk down the stairs and find themunal area almost empty now. My mum and Luke are nowhere in sight, and I assume they have gone to assign rooms


    elsewhere.


    "ording to the map, the uniform shop is close to the dining hall," Archie says as we walk out of the front door of our building.


    We find the main building easily and then follow our noses towards the dining hall. I''m not sure what they are preparing for our dinner, but it smells amazing and my stomach grumbles loud enough that Archie h "Wow, when was thest time you ate?" He ask in an amused tone.


    "Yesterday," I admit.


    "What? Why?" He demands, a look of concern on his face.


    "I was too nervous to eat earlier."


    "That''s no good. We are supposed to be increasing our food intake as we prepare for our first


    shift and the use of our gifts."


    "I know, and I will eat more. It was just one day, Arch, I don''t n on skipping meals regrly," I reassure.


    "Good, you''re already so slim with all that dancing that you do."


    "I know. I''m thinking of giving up dancing for a while."


    "Please don''t. I love watching you and..."


    Archie''s words trail off as an angry growl bounces off the corridor walls, making it hard to distinguish if it''s just one wolf, or multiple of them. "What the hell?" I gasp.


    Shifting inside the building is


    forbidden, so why can I hear a wolf?


    Archie moves to stand in front of


    me, shielding/ me from the


    I hear footsteps approaching and I peek out from around Archie''s broad back to see a


    tall man with mousy brown hair and an excited grin running towards us.


    An angry bark and shrieks of fright echo from the corridor behind him and he cast a quick nce over his shoulder, almost barging into us. "Sorry, man," he says to Archie, dodging us at thest second.


    When his eyes meet mine, he stops dead in his tracks. "Well, hello there, littledy. Aren''t you a sight for sore eyes?" he grins and reaches out a hand towards me as if he''s about to introduce himself.


    A crash at the end of the corridor draws his attention before I can respond. Nook over to see a huge ck wolf scrambling back to feet from where it had just mmed into the wall. The wolf''s piercing blue eyes fixate on the man in front of me as it growls low and menacing.


    "Sorry, can''t talk right now. Chase wants to use me as a chew toy," the man says as he takes off running again,ughing as he goes.


    The wolf barrels after him and Archie sandwiches me against the wall.


    "Here boy," the tall man mocks and whistles at the wolf as he barges out of the door to the outside.


    Secondster, my dad, Mason, runs past us, chasing the pair out of the building with a furious look on his face. "Good luck to those two," I snort augh.


    "Your dad is one scary dude. If he ever looks at me that way, I''m pretty sure I''ll mess my pants," Archieughs. "Let''s get out of here before hees back," I say, grabbing Archie''s hand and leading him down the corridor.