Rejected by Four Mates: Awakening of the Silver Wolf

Chapter 40: Chapter 41: I would like to go with Dorm Red

Elion’s hand wrapped firmly around mine as we walked toward the courtyard, just as Mr. Asher had commanded.

His grip was steady. Warm. Grounding, like an anchor in the middle of a raging storm.

But I barely felt it.

At some point along the way, I had simply... stopped caring about anything beyond the single, terrifying, suffocating certainty that had taken root deep inside my chest and refused to let go.

My death had already been predicted.

Out of the seven or eight of us who were supposed to enter Morvalis... I was the most likely one to die.

The weakest variable. The easiest loss. The most expendable piece on whatever cruel board the universe had decided to play this game on.

The realization sat like a lead weight in my chest, pressing down on my lungs until every breath felt like a deliberate, exhausting effort. It made the world around me feel distant, muffled, as though I were already walking through the first stages of fading away.

Should I try to convince Mr. Asher not to send me?

The thought came suddenly, desperate, fragile, flickering like a candle in the wind.

But just as quickly as it appeared, it crumbled into dust.

No.

That wouldn’t work. Not even close.

Mr. Asher didn’t look like the kind of man who bent his decisions for anyone, not for pleading, not for tears, not for raw, naked fear. His words carried the weight of iron once spoken. They became law. Unbreakable. Inevitable.

So what was the point in begging?

Still...

There was something that didn’t make sense. Something that gnawed at the edges of my spiraling thoughts like a splinter buried under skin.

Liora had said eight went in.

Seven came back.

But there was going to be seven of us heading into that cursed place.

Eight.

So where did the extra person fit into her vision?

Did it mean the vision hadn’t shown the full, horrifying truth? That it had only revealed a fragment of the nightmare waiting for us?

A cold, slithering unease curled tighter in my stomach, sending icy tendrils up my spine.

Would Mr. Asher himself be the eighth?

No... that didn’t feel right. He was a professor... A figure of authority. Not someone who would casually step into a punishment meant for reckless students.

But whoever the eighth turned out to be...

It didn’t matter in the end.

Because no matter how desperately I tried to twist the numbers, no matter how hard I searched for another explanation or loophole....

I was still the one at the greatest disadvantage.

"Nyx."

Elion’s voice pulled me sharply out of the dark spiral threatening to swallow me whole.

I looked up at him, blinking as if emerging from underwater.

His expression had shifted completely. The usual playful glint in his eyes was gone. In its place was something quieter. More serious. Almost concerned.

"We need to tell the others about the vision," he said, his tone low and steady. "They should know. So they can prepare. So they can protect themselves.... and each other."

For a long moment, I simply stared at him, searching his face for any trace of the cocky, teasing Elion I had grown used to.

Then I let out a quiet, exhausted breath.

"What’s the point?" I said, my voice flat and hollow, drained of all energy. "It’s obvious who isn’t coming back."

His grip on my hand tightened slightly, a subtle but unmistakable pressure.

He frowned, brows drawing together. "Don’t say that."

"It’s true."

"We don’t know that for certain."

I gave a small, humorless laugh that tasted like ash on my tongue. "We do. Deep down, we both do."

He tilted his head slightly, studying me with those sharp, unreadable eyes. Then, with a faint smirk that didn’t quite reach the seriousness lingering in his gaze, he said,

"What if it’s me?"

I looked at him properly then.

He was half serious. Half joking.

Trying to lighten the crushing weight pressing down on my shoulders.

Trying to coax even the smallest smile from me, to chase away the shadows clawing at my mind.

But I couldn’t.

Not with the vivid, unseen future still clawing relentlessly at the edges of my thoughts, a future where one of us would be left behind forever in the darkness of Morvalis.

I simply nodded, too drained to argue further. "Fine. Let’s tell them."

He nodded back, still holding my hand with that steady, unrelenting warmth as we continued forward through the winding paths.

When we finally reached the courtyard, the others were already there.

All five of them stood in a straight, rigid line, facing forward like soldiers awaiting judgment.

And in front of them...

Seven professors.

I paused mid-step, surprise cutting through the numbness.

I had expected only Mr. Asher.

But this...

This felt bigger. More official.

Like we weren’t just being sent on a simple punishment detail...

But on something else entirely.

"Why are you both just arriving?"

The voice came sharp and authoritative, slicing through the tense silence like a whip.

Mr. Patrick, the formidable leader of Dorm Green, stood with his arms crossed, eyes narrowed in clear disapproval.

Elion and I said nothing.

We simply walked forward and took our places at the end of the line, shoulders brushing against the others in the tight formation.

But the moment I stepped into position, I felt it.

Thorne’s gaze.

Heavy. Sharp. Burning into the side of my face like a brand pressed against bare skin.

I ignored it.

Completely.

Let him stare. Let him burn holes through me with those intense eyes. I had bigger monsters to fear right now.

"It’s unfortunate," Ysara began, her voice calm but edged with carefully measured disappointment, "that we had intended to educate you further about the dangers of Morvalis before sending you there."

Her gaze swept slowly over our group, lingering on each face as if committing our expressions to memory.

"But Dorm Red has made it abundantly clear that hardship is the only language you are ready to understand."

A faint, uncomfortable tension settled over the courtyard like a gathering storm cloud.

"This time," Mr. Kaelen continued, his tone firm and unyielding, "you are to enter only the border of Morvalis. You are not to go any deeper into its territory." fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

His eyes hardened slightly, cold as polished marble.

"Especially since you have not yet been taught how to properly deal with the creatures that reside within those shadowed depths."

"If any of you decide to go further..." Selena added coolly, crossing her arms with elegant precision, "that will be your own responsibility. We will not intervene."

A faint, almost amused smile curved Irene’s lips.

"Oh, don’t say it like that," she said lightly, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "You know how young people are. Curious. Reckless. Drawn to danger like moths to flame."

Her gaze flicked over us one by one, assessing.

"We won’t stop you from doing whatever foolish thing you want... but whatever you encounter in there...." she tilted her head slightly, her smile widening just enough to show the edge beneath, "....will be your own cup of black coffee. Bitter. Strong. And entirely yours to swallow."

I barely reacted.

I was already far too used to her particular way of speaking, the honeyed tone wrapped around razor blades.

Used to the sting hidden beneath every seemingly innocent word.

"You all should be careful."

Mr. Asher’s voice cut through everything else, calm, steady, and grounded in a way that demanded attention.

"Be your brother’s and sister’s keeper out there."

His gaze moved slowly across our line, deliberate and heavy with meaning.

"When danger comes, and it will come, protect yourselves, but do not abandon one another."

Then his eyes lingered.

On me.

Longer than on anyone else.

"Do not look down on anyone because of what they lack... or what you think they lack."

My chest tightened slightly, a sharp twist of uncertainty knotting behind my ribs.

Was that directed at me?

Or at them?

Was he telling me to stop underestimating myself....

Or quietly warning them not to underestimate the wolfless girl standing among them?

I couldn’t tell. The ambiguity only made the weight in my chest heavier.

"Excuse me."

Elion’s voice broke the charged moment cleanly.

Every head turned toward him in unison.

He didn’t look nervous in the slightest.

If anything, he looked mildly annoyed, as though the entire situation was beneath him.

"Aren’t you going to give us weapons?" he asked, the question hanging boldly in the still air.

The question lingered, bold and unapologetic.

Ysara’s expression didn’t change, not even a flicker.

"No," she said simply, her tone final. "You will not be given any. This is a punishment, after all."

A visible flicker of tension rippled through our group.

Kaden stepped forward slightly, frustration bleeding into his voice.

"So because it’s a punishment," he said, edged with barely contained anger, "we’re just supposed to walk in there and die?"

Before any of the professors could respond...

Another voice cut in.

Clear.... Confident.

Completely unexpected.

"I would like to go with Dorm Red to Morvalis."

Everything stilled.

The courtyard fell into absolute, breathless silence.

Every head turned.

Including mine.

I snapped my gaze toward the direction of the voice, my heart giving a sharp, sudden, painful beat against my ribs.

Who the hell...

Who would be stupid enough Or bold enough....

To willingly volunteer to walk straight into the jaws of Morvalis?