"Worse," Kaelen said deadpan before handing her another bag.
It was a laptop bag, but there when she opened it, there were other devices inside.
The exact same custom phone she saw with everyone earlier. Lena wondered why the school would give them a phone, but when she turned it on, it didn’t look like a normal device.
"Is this broken?" she asked, frowning.
Kaelen chuckled, shaking his head. "No. Give it here. I just need to log your details in and you’ll be good to go."
He took it from her and sat behind his computer, connecting a cord to the phone. His expression turned serious as he focused on the screen.
Lena looked away, scanning the cozy interior of the room to distract herself. But one question kept bouncing around her head.
Who was Maximus?
Normally, she wouldn’t care. But the way Kaelen was aggressively shielding the name was making her incredibly curious.
"Who is he?" Lena asked, breaking the silence. "The name is just stuck in my head."
Kaelen looked up from his computer, his entire posture freezing. For a split second, Lena could swear she saw a flash of raw fear on his face.
He quickly looked away, staring back at his monitor. "He’s in an isolation room for what he did. But if I were you, I would burn every thought of him. That’s how he messes you up."
Lena’s brow furrowed. It was frustrating how he kept giving her nothing but half-information. She decided to just take his advice this time.
"I’ve known you for less than an hour and I’d say you’re not funny," she muttered.
She let out a frustrated sigh and leaned back to relax against the plush seat. Instantly, a sharp spike of pain bloomed in her ribs from where Christopher had pinned her earlier. She winced, her jaw tightening.
Kaelen glanced over. "You should go to the school infirmary to have that checked. First days are usually free."
Lena blinked. "What? Why would you have to pay for medical treatment?"
"It’s a joke," Kaelen muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "It was meant to be funny."
Lena’s expression stayed completely blank.
"Because of how you said I’m not funny?" Kaelen explained.
"No, I get the ’joke’," Lena said flatly. "It just wasn’t funny."
Kaelen cleared his throat, breaking the silence. "Done."
Standing up, Lena walked over to the desk to see what he had done. She looked down at the strange device. "How do I turn it on?"
It really didn’t look like a normal phone.
"It needs blood," Kaelen said, his face completely deadpan. "You have to smear your blood on the screen. Like a blood covenant with the academy."
Lena stared at him, her eyebrows drawing together. "What? Are you... trying to be funny again?"
Kaelen’s ears went slightly red. He looked down, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Right. Sorry. I’ll stop."
He pressed a button on the side. "Just put your fingerprint on the glass. Your stats are loading now."
Lena pressed her thumb against the screen. A red loading bar popped up.
"Once it’s done," Kaelen explained, glad to be back on safe ground, "it’ll show your class schedule, your house number, and your room assignment. It also shows your rank so you don’t accidentally get yourself killed. Ranks helps you hang out with your peers and people in your actual strength range."
The bar hit one hundred percent, and the screen flashed.
Lena leaned closer, reading the text. "Wow. I’m ranked Tethered."
Kaelen looked up at her, and for a second, his dark eyes filled with pure pity. "The school operates entirely on ranks, Lena. The lower your rank, the higher your risk of being... well, picked apart."
"What’s the lowest?"
"Stray," Kaelen said. "Strays are the absolute bottom of the food chain here."
Lena let out a small sigh of relief, leaning back. "Thank God I’m not that."
Kaelen just stared at her, his expression deadpan again. "Tethered is the next one up."
Lena’s mouth fell open slightly as the reality of her situation settled in. "So... I’m basically a second-class citizen?"
"Worse," Kaelen corrected, leaning back in his chair with a grim sigh. "The Academy doesn’t just rank us for fun, Lena. Your rank determines your survival."
He gestured to her new device. "First off, high-ranking wolves are legally allowed to ’challenge’ or discipline lower ranks. If an Alpha shoves you into a locker or steals your things, the school Enforcers won’t do a thing. They literally look the other way."
Lena’s jaw tightened. "Are you serious?"
"Dead serious. And it affects everything. Food, rooms, medical care. Higher ranks get the premium meals and first dibs at the infirmary. As a Tethered, you get the leftover cold food and the weakest healing salves. If your ribs are hurting now, you’ll be waiting at the back of the line behind every Ascendant."
Lena stared at the screen, a cold knot forming in her stomach. "What happens if I stay at this rank?"
"That’s the worst part," Kaelen whispered, leaning forward. "Ranks are evaluated constantly. If you stay at the bottom for too long, you face the Culling. You’ll either be forced into high-risk frontline training where people regularly break bones, or you get expelled. And in our world, expulsion means being stripped of your titles and thrown out as a rogue. Trust me, if you can’t survive the academy, you can’t survive what’s on this mountain side."
He pointed a finger at the uniform bag he had just handed her. "Remember how I said Tuesday is labor day? Lower ranks have to perform manual labor or act as assistants to the higher tiers. Cleaning training rooms, fetching meals... things like that."
Lena let out a harsh, dry breath. The relief she had felt holding her welcome basket completely vanished. This place wasn’t just an elite school. It was a brutal, legalized gauntlet designed to break anyone who wasn’t born a god.
"So how do I climb up?" Lena asked, crossing her arms.
"There are three ways," Kaelen said, leaning back. "You can physically challenge someone in the rank above you, you can score high during Wednesday’s field training, or you can earn minor points through lectures. But a single loss in a duel can wipe out weeks of academic points instantly."
Lena leaned forward. "And what rank are you?"
"I’m a senior Prime," Kaelen said, a small stroke of pride in his voice. "The only people in the first tier are the Quad. Well, the three who are left."
He shook his head, clearing the loading screen on his monitor. "Anyway, enough of that. Good luck with tomorrow’s combat class."
Lena blinked. "Why?"
"Because the Alpha you just threatened in the hallway is in charge of one of the houses."
"Houses?" Lena repeated, her brow furrowing.
"There are four houses," Kaelen explained. "Each one is run by a member of the Quad. But because of the fights that happened recently, everything is a mess. Just pray you’re not in Alpha Christopher’s house."
He offered a small, almost sadistic smile, then shifted his gaze to her newly activated device to check her assignment.
Fingers crossed.
Lena tried her best not to panic, but it wasn’t easy. Kaelen was being such an asshole, dragging out the suspense on purpose.
Suddenly, Kaelen’s expression froze as he stared at the screen.
"What?" Lena demanded, her chest tightening. "Which house am I in?"
Kaelen swallowed hard, his dark eyes lifting to meet hers. "House... One."
Lena paused. That didn’t sound too bad. Unless...
"It’s Alpha Christopher’s house," Kaelen whispered.
"Fuck," Lena cussed out loud.