C7 Shadows In The Quiet

Selene's POV

Rowan didn't speak again after calling her early. He simply brushed past her with the calm of someone who never had to explain himself.

Selene stood stiff as his shoulder barely missed hers.

No emotion. No suspicion. Just eerie composure.

How much did he know?

She kept her breathing even as she took the bed opposite his, placing her bag down with the softness of someone afraid to wake a sleeping beast. It didn't escape her notice that the floor between them had been marked with a black chalk line - maybe some past cadet's joke or rule.

She had no intention of crossing it.

The room itself was modest but efficient. Two single beds on opposite sides, each with a desk and a small trunk at the foot. The windows, tall and arched, let in the pale morning light through sheer navy curtains. Everything smelled faintly of pine, old parchment, and wolf musk.

There was no privacy, no curtain to hide behind. Only discipline.

Selene didn't undress - only pulled the blanket over her uniform and lay still, hands tucked into fists under her pillow. Across the room, Rowan didn't stir either.

But she knew he was awake.

She could feel it in the way the air hummed.

Her first week sharing a room with Rowan Volkner passed with an almost eerie rhythm. He was quiet. Always gone early. Back late. No unnecessary words. But every movement he made was clean, precise. The kind of person who folded his sheets like they were part of a military inspection.

Selene, under the name of Silas Dusk, mimicked that orderliness as best she could.

Her disguise was tight. Chest bound, voice lowered to a soft gravel, hair trimmed short and kept tucked under a beanie when off duty. In the Alpha Academy, the stakes were too high to slip.

The cafeteria became her refuge. Bustling and filled with noise, it made her invisible. Lines of cadets filed past rows of enchanted silver platters that kept food steaming hot. There were long tables for each tier, and she quickly learned to eat near the Beta end, where people didn't ask questions.

Most meals were variations of protein-heavy portions: spiced venison, boiled eggs, sour rye bread, root vegetables in thick broths. Nutritional, bland, and meant for endurance.

She always kept to herself, balancing the fine line between noticeable and forgettable. But once in a while, when she dared to glance up, she'd catch Rowan at the Alpha table, surrounded yet alone. He never really laughed. He never lingered in conversation. There was a gravity to him - magnetic, but unreadable.

Their classes were structured with brutal efficiency.

Combat Theory was taught in the largest training hall - a domed chamber with mirrored walls and enchanted floors that could shift into various terrains. The instructor, Commander Ireth, was a former war-alpha with a voice like cracked granite and a permanent scar down his jaw.

He didn't play favorites. Didn't tolerate mistakes.

Selene kept her head down and mimicked the other boys' stances, feeling her muscles ache as she trained harder than she ever had. Silas couldn't afford to be weak.

Wolf Ethics & Control was an unexpected favorite. Professor Linden, a smaller man with white-blond hair and thick glasses, taught with a soft voice and iron rules. He emphasized restraint, self-discipline, and the mental tenacity it took to control the shift.

"Dominance isn't about teeth," he said one morning, pacing the aisle. "It's about knowing when not to bare them."

Selene liked him. He never looked at her too long, never made her feel out of place.

Tracking & Instinct was... harder.

Cadets were blindfolded and taken into the forest that bordered the academy, then told to find their way back using only scent and sound. On her first try, Selene nearly wandered into a hidden ravine.

She caught herself just in time.

It wasn't until a rainy evening at the end of her second week that someone noticed her struggle - and helped.

She had dropped her books in the courtyard, trying to balance an extra training manual she borrowed from the library. The rain soaked the pages before she could grab them all.

"Oi, Silas!"

A hand extended into her vision, offering the last book.

She looked up into the brown eyes of a boy with curly dark hair and dimples that creased when he smiled. He had the easy confidence of someone who didn't take the academy too seriously.

"Name's Kieran," he said, still holding the book. "You new?"

Selene nodded cautiously. "Yeah. Thanks."

"No worries. Books are a pain here. They make 'em weigh more, I swear."

She blinked. "They do?"

"Probably. Just to break our backs early. Anyway-" He tilted his head. "You're in Rowan Volkner's dorm, right?"

She froze. ..."How do you-"

Kieran laughed. "Because everyone knows Rowan. And no one survives being his roommate without a minor breakdown."

Selene offered the smallest of smirks. "I'm fine."

"That's what they all say at first."

He handed the book back.

She took it.

"See you around, Silas Dusk," Kieran said with a wink, then disappeared into the fog of cadets shuffling across the stones.

For the first time in days, Selene felt something almost like... warmth.

Back in the dorm, she found Rowan reading in bed - a leather-bound book balanced against one knee. He didn't look up as she entered, but he flipped the page slowly.

She dried her boots at the small heating grate and slipped into bed without a word.

And for a moment, in that quiet, she felt like she might actually survive this place.

If she could keep her secrets tight.

If she could keep her heart quiet.

If she could keep Rowan Volkner at a safe distance.

But something about the rhythm of the academy was changing. Not darker. Not dangerous. Just... different.

And she wasn't sure if she'd stay invisible much longer.