Chapter 5

• I avoided the cafeteria for a few days and, to my delight, the girls who had been harassing me finally stopped bothering me. To make things even better, I didn't see my supposed mate again, which forced Lisa to calm down, allowing me to focus more on class.
• It was physical education period, and after the warm-up exercises, I sighed deeply while staring at the cloudy sky before sitting on the bench. Once again, I had been left on the sidelines instead of participating. After class, I headed to the archery club for the first time in three weeks, mentally preparing myself to deal with my classmates.
• I was disappointed to find that there were more people in the club than I had imagined. Back in Heington, it had been one of the least popular clubs, but here there were at least a dozen people getting equipped and preparing to train. I got equipped slowly, letting the others take the lead. No one greeted me or welcomed me. Honestly, maybe it was better that way...
• "Oh, what a shame! We're out of bows!" teased a thin, blonde girl named Lorraine, a friend of Morgan's. She was part of the group of girls who tried to play the paint prank on me.
• "No problem, I'll lend you mine," a deep voice said behind me. I didn't need to turn around to know who it was. I had already memorized his scent specially so i could avoid him,which meant I sensed him approaching before he even reached me. Nicolas stopped beside me and held out his bow. I hesitated before taking it.
• "You're lending her your personal bow? It's very valuable, and that clumsy human might end up ruining it," Lorraine sneered mockingly.
• "In that case, I'll teach her how to use it myself." His supposed courtesy didn't fool me, as he seemed to completely accept the insult directed at me. I took the bow and arrow from his hand, positioned myself on the open lane, as far away from the target as possible, and sharpened my senses. Nicolas handed me an arrow from his quiver, but before he could step closer to explain anything, I already placed the arrow against the string, adjusted the sight, and fired.
• "Wow!" he exclaimed in surprise when he saw the arrow hit the center of the target.
• "Pure luck!" Lorraine crossed her arms in disbelief. This drew the attention of the others to the spectacle.
• I took another arrow from his quiver and shot it before positioning myself meticulously. The arrow cut through the first one, hitting the center. Quickly, I took another arrow and repeated the feat. Three perfect targets in a row.
• The stunned expression of the other members faces made my wolf complain again about keeping a low profile, but I couldn't help myself. Being called a "clumsy human" made me realize that they knew nothing about me. It wasn't just because I had grown up among humans, but also because they thought I was human.
• I returned the bow to Nicolas without saying a word and ran off. That was not only my first day at the club, but it was also my last.
• "Eliza, wait!" Nicolas shouted as he ran after me. I stopped where I was and turned to him.
• "What do you want?" I asked, sharply. I swore to myself that I would tear his face apart if he dared to try to humiliate me again.
• "Have you considered signing up for the archery championship? Registration will be open soon. What you did back there was incredible!"
• "No!" I replied curtly. "I'm leaving the club. Excuse me!"
• "Why are you so arrogant?" He grabbed my arm to confront me, but what followed was even worse. Pulling me toward him, he hugged me and we fell rolling on the grass.
• The clip holding my hair came loose and I found myself trapped beneath him. His brown eyes stared at me with a mixture of concern and irritation. His slightly square jaw opened and closed as if he wanted to ask something, but instead he suddenly cursed loudly.
• "Who was the idiot who missed that arrow?" He stood up, staring at the approaching group, picked up an arrow from the ground that had fallen right where we were, and broke it into pieces. Seeing Nicolas' angry gaze, that group immediately backed away and disappeared from view in seconds.
• "What the hell! The next person who shoots an arrow over the club's boundaries is expelled!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, completely ignoring me on the ground.
• I sat up and took off my glasses to check their condition. The frame was bent, and one of the lenses had cracked during the fall. I felt a sharp pain in my head and ran my hand over the back of my head, where the blow had landed, anticipating the bump that was about to form there. I couldn't believe I was so angry that I didn't even see the arrow coming.
• "I'm leaving," I muttered quietly while undoing the remain of my bun and fixing my loose hair, still a little stunned by what had happened. Before I got up, Nicolas reached out to me and looked at me intently.
• "I think you should visit the infirmary first," he suggested.
• "No need, thank you!" I ignore his hand and stood on my own, ending face to face with him. For several long seconds, we simply stared at each other, and I saw his eyes change. The irritation in his eyes slowly shifted into confusion and then admiration. One of my greatest fears had just come true, and it was only the third week of school.
• "Lisa? Lisa!" I immediately shook my head and looking away, but Nicolas gently touched my face, forcing me to meet his gaze again. "It's you, I'm sure of it! I'm your biggest fan!"
• I couldn't stay there. Unable to answer him, I turned and sprinted toward the school exit, praying nobody else recognized me. My heart was racing, thinking about what would become of me in the coming months. I understood crazy fans better than anyone, and I didn't want to be stalked again. I thought I could start over from scratch, as an ordinary person or even a nobody.
• "Eliza, wait!" Nicolas caught up quickly, grabbed my arm, and pulled me toward the school parking lot. My hands were tied. Causing a scene would only attract even more attention. After Nicolas took the keys out of his pants pocket, I heard the alarm go off on a red pickup truck parked a few meters away from us. "Get in!"
• Reluctantly, I obeyed his orders and got into the car. As soon as he got in, he started the car and backed up without saying a word. The silence only increased my nervousness. I stared at him for a few moments and noticed him glancing at me a few times, as if he wanted to say something.
• "I was at that concert," he finally said.
• Painful memories immediately flooded my mind about the day I gave up my career.