Claimed : { The Remiluna Trilogy }

Claimed : { Chapter Six }

Copyright © 2013 Gabriella Pernal.

All rights reserved.

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Chapter Six:

WALKING INTO THE primary class house, Noella trailed slightly behind a random blonde girl. The high ceilings stretched to the star-spangled sky, resembling something like a human university building but instead of being supported by steel, it was forged entirely out of wood.

Normally this would be considered a huge fire hazard but there was something mystical or magical that protected this place. Something unknown to all but the Remiluna elders, of course.

Hand-painted signs hung above entryways leading into large classrooms. Noella's eyes were searching steadily for a sign labeled 'Fellow Creatures'. Finally reaching an offset narrow hallway, she glanced to the end, squinting at the distant sign. Sure enough, 'Fellow Creatures' was painted in neat script strokes on the timbered slab, surely a woman's handwriting.

She entered the classroom and was immediately greeted by none other than a female professor.

"Hello, Noella. Wow, you looks so much like your mother," the woman beamed, grey-streaked hair pulled back into a tight bun. "I'm Rachel Patch, but you may call me Rachel."

"You, er, knew my mother?" Noella stumbled, taken aback by Rachel's knowledge. "And how did you know my name?" Then it clicked. "Oh, magic. Right."

"Actually, no." she laughed heartily. "I taught your mother when she came to the Academy. But back then I was an agility professor. Old age has gotten the best of me, I suppose."

Rachel looked no older than thirty, maybe twenty-seven at most. But then again, werewolves stopped physically aging at the age of twenty-five or so. The only clues to her decades of living were apparent in her grey hairs contrasted in her jet black hair-do along with her weary brown eyes.

Continuing on, "And as for who you are, it's right there on the hall walls."

Eyebrows furrowed, Noella gave her a look of pure befuddlement. Classroom still nearly empty, Rachel checked her watch before instructing Noella, "Here, follow me."

They ambled down the long hall again, ending in the now-bustling corridor. Students of all shapes and sizes were scrambling to their first day of classes and the volume echoed around the tremendous space. The pair stalled in front of a wall centered aside the prime common area.

Columns of family portraits lined the surface, reaching all the way past the far dining area. Rachel's eyes skimmed the array of frames, a remembering smile spreading across her face as memories encircled her mind. Finally her eyes settled on one picture and she raised a slim finger to point at it.

There Noella was, cradled in her young mother's arms as she lovingly revered her baby girl. Noella's father stood dark and hauntingly behind her mom, almost a following shadow. He was staring at the camera vehemently, as though the camera was a danger to Juniper.

Misha was clutching onto their mother's hip, chortling at what probably had been the camera man, trying to get the young boy to smile.

A chill zig-zagged down Noella's back as she suddenly felt incredibly cold. Rachel's concerned gaze fell upon her as Rachel's grin swiftly dissolved into a petite frown.

She knew about my dad? Noella wondered intuitively.

Of course she knew; every pack member knew. When a wolf goes rogue or is banished, all ally packs are notified via parcel almost immediately as a safety precaution.

Noella examined her baby-self more closely. In the picture, the baby's lips were pulled slightly up as she speculated her mother's face, memorizing each detail in her little mind every time she saw Juniper's face. Her teeny eyes glowed a sunny yellow, much brighter than they were now.