Free Web NovelChapter 39: Academy Crash course
WILLA
The history classroom sat at the highest point of the academic building.
Unlike Professor John’s classroom, this one felt ancient. It looked ancient too.
Dark wooden panels stretched across the walls, broken only by enormous portraits of stern-looking men and women dressed in silver-trimmed robes. Beneath each portrait rested engraved plaques with names too complicated for me to fully read before my attention drifted elsewhere.
Above us, the ceiling arched high overhead, painted with moon phases and strange symbols that looked centuries old.
Verah and I tiptoed quietly into the room, earning curious glances from a few students nearby.
Verah immediately pressed a finger to her lips, silently telling them not to draw attention to us while we carefully made our way toward our desks with the professor’s back turned.
"You." ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
My breath caught instantly. Verah and I froze mid-step.
Wide-eyed, we looked at each other before slowly turning toward Professor Joy with matching sheepish smiles.
So much for sneaking in unnoticed.
"Sorry we’re late," Verah muttered before lowering her voice enough that only I could hear. "House Alpha jerk situation."
Professor Joy narrowed her eyes on us.
She looked older than most of the professors I’d encountered so far. Silver streaks ran through her shoulder-length dark hair, and thin spectacles rested low against the bridge of her crooked nose.
One brow slowly lifted. The expression clearly said she was waiting for more explanation before deciding whether to spare us.
Neither of us spoke. Verah shifted awkwardly beside me while I avoided the professor’s gaze entirely.
Unlike Professor John, who seemed completely indifferent about attendance, Professor Joy clearly cared.
And right now?
I was almost certain she was furious—not only because we were late, but because we had interrupted her class.
The silence stretched painfully between us. Even the students remained quiet.
Honestly, I would’ve preferred someone whispering or laughing like they had during Literature class.
At least that would’ve eased the tension suffocating the room.
Professor Joy pressed her lips together before finally saying in a clipped tone, "See me after class."
"Yes, ma’am," Verah answered immediately, tugging me toward two empty seats near the middle of the room.
Without another word, Professor Joy returned to the front and tapped the silver pointer in her hand against the board.
Instantly, seven glowing symbols flared across the dark surface, each shining with a different color beneath the dim classroom lights.
"Tell me," Professor Joy began calmly, "what is the purpose of the Seven Houses?"
A boy seated near the front lazily raised his hand. Felix, from house Valerius. "To separate students according to bloodline."
Professor Joy nodded once. "Partially correct."
She slowly paced in front of the class. "Bloodline determines inheritance," she explained. "Not suitability."
"Most of you believe House placement is based entirely on family lineage." Her gaze swept slowly over the students. "If that were true, half of you wouldn’t currently belong where you are."
Several students shifted uncomfortably in their seats. The seven symbols suddenly vanished from the board.
In their place appeared an enormous map. Mountain ranges. Forests. Territories divided by borders. And directly at the center sat a large region marked boldly:
VELKAN.
"The country of Velkan," Professor Joy continued, "was established after the migration ended and the war concluded."
Another boy asked, "When exactly did the war begin?"
Professor Joy turned toward him slowly.
"No exact date exists," she answered. "Most historians estimate the war began roughly seven centuries ago after a massacre involving both human and supernatural settlements."
Her pointer slid slowly across the map.
"The war itself lasted decades. Every species records a different version of how it started." She tapped one region lightly. "Humans blamed the wolves. Vampires accused the wolves of territorial expansion. Wolves claimed the other species united against them first."
"So who actually started it?" another student asked.
A faint smile touched Professor Joy’s lips.
"History rarely grants the luxury of a single villain," she replied. "Though you should know it certainly wasn’t the wolves. We’re quite peace-loving."
A few students chuckled softly. Then her expression turned serious again.
"The conflict escalated until supernatural society fractured completely. Temporary alliances formed between species. Entire bloodlines vanished during that period."
"What ended it?" Verah asked.
"The Hollow Treaty." Professor Joy enlarged a section of the map with a flick of her pointer. "This treaty established territorial separation between species. Wolves withdrew into Velkan and neighboring territories governed by packs."
A girl opposite us frowned thoughtfully. "So the academy was built after the treaty?"
She nodded.
"The war left wolves unstable," she explained. "Young wolves began losing control of their transformations. Random shifting. Increased aggression. Bloodlust. The academy was created to prevent another collapse."
She paused before continuing. "So, to answer the original question—" Her attention shifted toward the girl who had spoken earlier.
"Students are assigned to Houses based on far more than bloodline. Temperament. Instinct. Wolf compatibility. Leadership traits." She pointed toward the glowing house symbols that had reappeared above the board.
"A Valerius wolf raised within Draven may become dangerously imbalanced. A Draven wolf forced into Garrick may never fully mature."
Some students nodded immediately like they fully understood everything Professor Joy was explaining.
Others still looked completely lost. Just like me.
"So what happens after graduation?" someone asked.
Professor Joy pointed toward the map once more.
"Most Alphas inherit pack territories," she explained. "Others enter council governance, military command, border protection, or diplomatic relations between territories."
"And marriage?" a girl near the windows asked curiously.
Several students snickered. Professor Joy ignored them entirely.
"Marriage between bloodlines has historically strengthened alliances between packs and Houses."
I swallowed hard as Elliot’s earlier words resurfaced instantly in my mind. The pack house we were supposedly meant to build together.
A future that never could’ve existed if their families already hated each other enough to forbid the relationship entirely.
There was no point dreaming about something impossible. I quickly shoved the thought aside.
Glancing around briefly, I realized no one looked distracted anymore. Everyone was focused completely on Professor Joy now.
She rested the silver pointer against her desk.
"For centuries, this institution has maintained balance between bloodlines that would otherwise destroy each other," she said firmly.
Her gaze hardened. "And that balance matters now more than ever."
A hand rose from the back row. Felix. Again.
"What about the Great Divide?"
The room fell silent instantly.
Professor Joy’s expression didn’t change. But I noticed her grip tighten slightly around the metal pointer on her desk.
"What about it, Mr. Pratt?"
Felix leaned lazily back in his chair, completely unfazed by the sudden tension swallowing the classroom.
"If this academy exists to prevent instability," he began slowly, "then why erase the part of history involving the Lycans?"
Several students stiffened visibly. Someone muttered under their breath—
"Oh, for fuck’s sake..."
Professor Joy remained silent. Felix continued anyway.
"I mean, they were stronger than modern wolves, weren’t they?" Felix continued casually. "So what exactly happened to them during the Great Divide?"
The temperature in the room seemed to drop instantly. Beside me, Verah shifted uneasily.
"My goodness," she muttered under her breath, "I hate this nosy boy."
"Certain subjects," she said tightly, "remain restricted because incomplete knowledge often leads to dangerous interpretations."
Felix grinned. "That sounds like a yes."
"Enough," Professor Joy said, warning clear in her voice.
But Felix still looked more curious than intimidated.
"I read somewhere that some people believe the Lycans weren’t actually wiped out during the Great Divide. They just—"
"I said enough!"
Professor Joy slammed her palm against the desk hard enough to make several students flinch violently.
Silence crashed over the classroom. Even Felix looked startled this time.
Professor Joy’s face had gone noticeably pale. A thin sheen of sweat glistened near her temple as her sharp gaze swept across the room.
"History," she grunted, "is not gossip material for bored students looking for conspiracy theories."
The grin slowly disappeared from Felix’s face.
"And for your own sake," she added darkly, "learn the difference between curiosity and recklessness."
No one spoke afterward. Not a single person. But despite the silence, curiosity still churned restlessly inside me.
I had no intention of asking the questions circling my mind out loud,
Still, I desperately wanted to understand why the mere mention of Lycans filled both the students and Professor Joy with such obvious fear.
