The Kings Kitten

13 - Natural Enemy

It's not that school was more or less a pain for me, it just that there was no real necessity for me to be there.

My education didn't matter, I was the daughter of an alpha it was either I became the next Sol, who's position was already given to the oldest child, or I reigned under the Sol as loyal family members. Even if I wanted to walk down another path like being a medic, or a warrior, or a teacher, I couldn't because of my status in our pride. It wasn't allowed.

My school had a uniform, not because we were a private school and it cost families tens of thousands of dollars a year for the children's education. But because we as students were a representation of my father's sophisticated community, a future generation of the pride. Although that wasn't necessarily upheld in the uniform itself.

Due to the climate here in the pride, uniforms only came in one variety, a "summer uniform" was curated to allow students comfortability in the weather. The material was breathable but presentable.

It was my father's decision to push uniforms as an expectation due to frequent excursions in and out of the territory, wanting to boost its own self image through a presentable academy of education for the future members of your pride.

But I hated the uniform.

And as I trudged my way to school I held my skirt down so it wouldn't bellow in the oncoming wind, tights weren't a part of the dress code unfortunately.

But I didn't miss how all eyes became trained on me when I entered the school building, the busy hallway seemed to slow down it's pace as students halted their conversations to glance at me. It wasn't unusual for me to get looks from other students, I was the Alpha's daughter after all. But today the atmosphere felt different, like they weren't just looking at me, they were judging me.

I decided it was best to ignore it, act as though I didn't notice the attention and it didn't bother me. Who were they to judge someone like me?

"Hi Madeline, it's good to see you back here in one piece." My friend, Robert, greeted me as he came up to my side to walk with me.

I wouldn't say Robert was necessarily my friend, more so one of the jocks that insisted they had a crush on me, but he was smart and we had a few classes together so it wasn't like I didn't enjoy his company. To be honest, if I hadn't convinced myself he was only trying to get in my pants all these years, I probably would have let him take me out, we could have been an item.

But that was like dust in the wind now that Demetrius was here, and the idea of Robert approaching me as he did almost every school morning rubbed me entirely the wrong way as I no longer viewed Robert as a friendly acquaintance but rather a threat to my bond with Demetrius.

I giggled and tugged at the straps of my backpack. "Why do you say that?"

"Well there were rumours you were kidnapped."

I suppressed the chortle that threatened to slip out, either he was talking about my brief time in the Werewolf pack or my near miss with the fairies. Neither of which I was comfortable discussing at school. "And you believed them?" I teased.

I glanced at Robert next to me and I saw his eyes divert to the floor instantly. "Well not necessarily, you'd have to be stupid to kidnap a Falkov."

If that was supposed to be a compliment I wasn't flattered in the slightest.

"Look so now that you're back, there's a lot of homework you missed out on, and I can come over after school to help you with it if you'd like." He offered, changing the subject completely. We arrived at my locker and I sighed, slinging my bag off my shoulder and opened my locker door which were filled with the remains of my text books the day I was told about the trip to meet Cressida. I prayed to the goddess that she was safe at the moment.