NOVA NYX 🌙
"Where are we?" I asked Kassian as followed his lead up the winding hilltop.
"The Lykos Ridge" he said, grabbing my hand to steady me when I tripped over my own feet "Kids don't come up here unless there's a party or annual back to school bonfire."
"I can see why" I grumbled "Too much freaking walking"
He looked back at me "I don't think I've ever met a wolf that hates the outdoors as much as you do."
"I've never liked the outdoors" I wrinkled my nose "Too many bugs and creepy crawlies. Not to mention, the sun is an absolute scorcher. I much prefer the indoors, where it's dark and I can curl up in bed with a good book."
"I think we kidnapped the wrong girl" His grin widened "I think we kidnapped a vampyre instead of a Wolf."
I laughed "Are there really vampyres?"
"The five realms coexist right next to each other" he said, nodding his head.
"Really?" My eyes widen "There really are vampires?"
He grinned at me "Yep"
I cocked my head to the side "Five?"
He nodded.
"The Shifter realm is in the epicenter of the five realms" he explained "The North houses the Vampyres, the South housing both the Fae Realms, the East housing the Humans, and the West housing the Witchlands."
"And how do you know where one piece of land ends and the other begins?" My eyes widened "If these realms are so close?"
He snorted "Trust me, you'll know."
"How?" I asked "Are there like borders or something?"
"In a way" he said, shaking his head "In order to cross the lands, you'd have to be apart of an ancestry."
"What?" I asked in confusion "What does that mean?"
"I'm horrible at explaining things" He apologized in advanced "So let me try this again. In order for you to get into another realm, you must have a portion of that other realms DNA running through your veins. Like, let's say you wanted to go back to the human realm. You can exit from our realm and enter the human realm only if you had a parent that was a human."
"Oh" I hummed "Kind of like a key?"
"Yeah" he said "Like a special key only you have access too."
"So if I wanted to go back home, all I'd have to do would be to just cross the boarder to the East?"
"Uh..." he paused "That would be how it would work typically but it might not work for you."
"Why not?"
"Because you're a Wolf, not a human."
I blinked at him "But I lived in the Human Realm my entire life."
"Yes, but we don't know how that was possible" he cocked his head to the side "We're still trying to figure out how you managed to slip past the Penta's radar."
"What do you mean?"
"The Penta should have put in more effort into trying to find you" he grumbles "When they realized what happened to your father, they should have shifted all their efforts into finding you and confirming your whereabouts."
"I thought the Penta said they found my birth mother lying next to my birth father during the fire?" I said "Wouldn't they have done some testing or stuff to confirm if that was really them?"
He pursed his lips.
"You don't think they ran confirmation tests?"
"I don't know what I think" he sighed "But I don't think that the Penta tried as much as they should have."
"Isn't your parents on the Council?" I asked "You doubt your own parents?"
He let out a small laugh "You're not the first person that's told me that."
"If I'm not first person that's told you that then apparently this issue has been discussed before."
He shrugged, holding out a hand to help up the particular steep portion of the hill "You and Phoenix have surprisingly similar responses."
I looked at him in horror "Phoenix told you the same thing?"
"Enough about this" he said "Let's focus on the real reason we came here."
The top of the hill came into view when he took a step away from me, leaving me breathless.
The view from up here was...indescribable.
And so worth the treacherous hike.
The Academy looked minuscule compared to wide expanse of lush green land surrounding it.
"It's...beautiful."
"Yeah" Kassian whispered "It really is."
I turned my head and found Kassian staring down at me, not the view in front of us.
I bit my lip and looked away, cursing the stupid warmth that rose up my neck.
Kassian cleared his throat and took a step away from me, focusing on some type of flower nearby.
"These are called nightweeds" he pointed out "They only grow at night and their roots usually increase in size about five to ten feet at a time."
"And why are they important?"
"When you pick them at night, after they bloom, then you can grind them up and use them in special tonics or medicines. Their properties usually have a numbing effect that can spread throughout the body when used correctly."
I raised a brow "Those little flowers do that much?"
He nodded "Sometimes the smallest things in life have the most impact."
"Hmm..." I shook my head "I never really thought of it that way."
He grinned at me, his eyes sparkling in the daylight "That is why I am the teacher and you are the student, young grasshopper."
"Then by all means Obi Wan" I snorted "Teach me your ways."
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The sun was setting by the time we finished with our lesson for the day.
"Thank you Kassian" I said sincerely, "I really appreciate you helping me with this."
He smiled at me, holding out his hand to help me down from a particularly high rock.
"It isn't a problem Princess" he grinned "I think this is the most fun I've had in a long time."
"Now I know you're lying" I laughed "You couldn't possibly have had fun on your day off."
"I'm serious" he said, grabbing the backpack from my hands and knocking his shoulder gently into mine "You were a great student."
"It definitely helped that you simplified a lot of things" I said "Whenever I sit in Estrella's course, it always sounds like she's speaking another language."
"She's definitely overwhelming at times" he said "Especially when she gets lost in her lectures."
"How were you able to make this class so easy?"
"I honestly don't know" he said, palming the back of his neck "I think it helps that my Mom's a scientist and she was always finding ways to integrate that stuff into my learning when I was younger."
I looked over at him in surprise "Really?"
He nodded.
"When it was time for Mom to go back to work, she always felt guilty about leaving me at home with a nanny" he twirled something around his finger that I immediately recognized as the familiar ring that all three of the boys wore "So instead, she chose to bring me along."
"And it's just you?" I asked "You don't have any siblings?"
"No," He shook his head, smiling sadly at me "Shifters have a hard time reproducing as it is. My parents...they've been married the longest out of all the other Heirs Parents, about fifteen years longer. After their struggles to have a child of their own, they were just about to give up on their dream of having a family when my happy ass came along as a surprise."
I laughed "I bet it was a very happy surprise for them."
"I'm pretty sure they didn't believe I was really real until the day my mom's water broke" He snorted "They didn't even have a nursery put together or give me a name until I was about two weeks old."
I glanced at him "And how'd they come up with the name Kassian?"
His lips pursed "Kassian's my middle name."
I raise an eyebrow "What's your first name then?"
He grimaced "I rather not say."
"That's not fair" I nudged him "You three know everything about me but I know basically nothing about you all."
"I'll answer anything else" He groaned "Just not that question."
My interest perked up at his words, wondering just how bad his first name had to be in order for him to go by his middle name.
"You know I'll figure it out" I warned him "And when I do, I'll never call you by your middle name again."
"Good luck with that Princess" He smirked at me "Because no one, not even the other two, know what my real name is."
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"Where have you two been?" Atlas asked casually from his lazy perch across the couch, a sleeping Brutus snoring halfway on his chest and halfway on the couch.
I gazed down at Atlas in equal parts shock and amazement.
"How did you get him to do that?"
"Do what?" He raised an eyebrow at me before looking down at my snoring dog "Sleep? He does that a lot actually, in case you didn't notice."
I narrowed my eyes at him "You know what I meant jackass."
He chuckled, gently rubbing the pointy part of my elderly dog's head.
"I heard him crying for you when I was in the kitchen making lunch" he explained "I figured since I didn't know when you'd be back, it wouldn't hurt for him to come out and explore the house for a while. He was a good boy, only going into rooms with the open doors and didn't even bark once. I was fine leaving him alone, and minding my own business on the couch, when he suddenly came up, sniffed my elbow, and jumped on top of me. He's been sleeping like this for an hour and a half."
"He hates men" I whispered, never taking my eyes off of my content little guy "The shelter said that he adores women and small children but has despised men ever since his last owners abused and neglected him. Every man he comes into contact with, he attacks them on sight."
Atlas smiled at Brutus, gently scratching the underside of his chin which had my dog leaning into his touch.
"He's been nothing but a sweetheart" he cooed "As you can see, my face is intact and I still have all of my fingers and toes."
"What sorcery is this?" My mouth dropped open even further "What makes you so different?"
"Atlas has an advantage" Kassian said, rolling his eyes as he handed me my backpack "He's been raised around all types of animals, both domestic and farm, all his life. His grandma in particular used to save elderly dogs that were left at the kill shelters, many of them happening to be bulldogs that were used and abused for breeding or baiting."
My eyes snapped towards Atlas who was looking down at Brutus with a fond look in his eyes.
"Animals are much easier to understand then people are" he said, locking eyes with me "My grandmother taught me that Animals aren't just animals. They're living beings with souls purer than our own. We don't deserve them or the endless amount of love they give us, no matter how broken they might seem."