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Wolf

Wolf idly lay on his bed, tossing a stone chip into the air and catching it as it fell. He yawned and blinked as his gaze followed the chip's rise and fall. Of all the things that had happened since he'd arrived at Artemisia, this was probably the most unexpected. He'd anticipated fights, the discovery of his condition, being forced to kill people while his mind was twisted with the ferocity the full moon brought, He'd even expected his own death. But he hadn't anticipated boredom.

Wolf didn't really understand why he was so bored. It wasn't like nothing was happening. Pretty much every student in the school hated him, he'd helped with a murder plot that he wasn't even sure succeeded, and he'd heard a bunch of students screaming outside his door just ten minutes ago. But for some reason, his mind remained stubbornly focused on the fact that he was stuck in his room, and there was nothing to do.

The lock on his door clicked and Wolf bit back a groan. Why was everyone so determined to break into his room?

The door swung open. Wolf was expecting to see Jacin glaring at him from the doorway, or maybe Scarlet. He wasn't expecting for several teenagers to practically fall into his room.

"Hope you don't mind us dropping in." Thorne said with a grin as he clumsily closed the door.

Wolf said nothing at first, instead just studying the group that were currently filling up every bit of empty space in his room. They all looked weirdly dishevelled, and their faces were flushed. He could hear their hearts pounding rapid drumbeats inside their chests and their short, gasping breaths. The stench of sweat hung in the air, though it was nearly overpowered by…

"Please tell me that blood I'm smelling isn't coming from any of you." Wolf pleaded.

Everyone in the room exchanged awkward looks.

He groaned and swung his legs off the bed, nearly stepping on Kai's feet in the process. "I take it that means it is coming from some of you. I've got some bandages in my desk. Who's hurt?"

One hand was reluctantly raised into the air, the blood-stained skin as red as the owner's hair. Wolf's fingers dug into the palm of his hand and he swallowed the growl rising in his throat. His voice sounded strangely hoarse as he said, "Who else? I'm smelling a lot of blood, it can't be coming from just one person."

Scarlet cleared her throat, looking more uncomfortable than Wolf had ever seen her. "Um, no, it's just me."

Wolf gripped the handle of his desk-drawer so hard he swore he could feel the metal bend. "What happened?" there was a clear snarl in his voice.

Some of the people in the room took a step away from him and shot worried glances at Scarlet. She just tossed her head to one side. "I was the unlucky one, that's all."

Wolf concentrated on keeping his voice smooth and even as he rifled through the drawer for a roll of bandages. "Who hurt you?"

"No-one you can hurt back if that's what you're planning." Scarlet told him, "She'd probably do the same to you as she did to me."

"She?" Wolf echoed, his fingers finally closing around the bandages.

Scarlet sighed. "Yes, she. It's a girl."

Wolf made his way toward her, carefully unwinding the thick white cloth. "Show me the injury."

Scarlet hesitated, just for a moment, before bringing her left hand out for him to see. This time, he couldn't suppress a growl as he saw the steadily bleeding stump where her little finger used to be.

"Would you believe me if I told you it looks worse than it is?" Scarlet joked weakly.

Wolf took her damaged hand, carefully wrapping the bandages around it. "Who did this?" he asked again.

Cinder was the one who answered. "It was Levana. She'd figured out that we were the ones responsible for sabotaging the school's side-projects and tried to force us to confess."

"Then why is Scarlet the only one hurt?" Wolf demanded.

"She was trying to use a comrade-loyalty method, you know, where you can stand up to any torture except the kind enacted on your friends." Scarlet explained, "And before you go blaming the others for not saying anything, I goaded her into it so if you're going to get mad at anyone, get mad at me."

"Never." Wolf whispered, so low he wasn't even sure if Scarlet heard it. By the way she suddenly went still, she had.

"Levana probably would've chopped off the rest of our fingers as well, except she suddenly threw her knife into the wall." Kai said, "She said it was Lunar manipulation."

"Fine. Give her a taste of her own medicine!" Scarlet shouted as Wolf finished dressing her hand. His lips twitched into a smile. Missing a finger and probably suffering from blood loss, and still as fiery as a dragon.

"Still, it's worrying, isn't it?" Kai continued, "You all know what Lunars are like!"

"And that would be?" Kinney prompted, a slight edge to his voice.

"Well, you know. Manipulative, greedy, treacherous…" Kai listed.

A small movement drew Wolf's eye, and he saw Cinder shifting uncomfortably as Kai went on about how evil Lunars were.

"Alright, alright, we get the picture." Thorne snapped suddenly, "And we get that you're extremely narrow-minded."

Kai frowned at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Were you even listening when Levana started hurling out accusations? Jacin and Cress are both Lunars, rember? I suppose that some of those adjectives fit Clay's profile-"

"Gee, thanks." Jacin drawled.

"but Cress is just the sweetest creature around! And I'm willing to bet that she's not the only one! You're basing your opinion of an entire race off of one person!"

"Well a lot of Lunars are pretty horrible." Wolf conceded.

"Wolf!" Scarlet hissed.

"Well, it's true. Aside from Levana, there's Jael, and Professors Park and Mira. I'm not saying that there's no such thing as a good Lunar." He added as Scarlet opened her mouth to argue further, "I know that from first-hand experience. I'm just saying that there is some reason behind Kai's admittedly rather narrow view of us."

"Us?" Scarlet echoed.

Wolf nodded. "Yes, I'm Lunar as well." He glanced at Kai, who was staring at him with open shock, and more than a little distrust, "If it makes you feel better, my… condition made me lose my gift, so you don't have to worry about me messing with your head."

"You don't have to worry about Jacin or I either." Kinney said, "Both of our gifts are too weak to do any manipulation. Yes, yes, I'm Lunar too." He added exasperatedly at everyone's surprised looks. "Loads of the kids here are. Get used to it."

"And I don't have a gift at all." Cress added.

Cinder perks up. "Of course, you're a shell!"

Cress raised a confused eyebrow. "Um, yes?"

"That means you saw what Levana really looks like! You know her biggest secret!"

"Um, yes, yes I know what she really looks like. But what does this have to do with-"

Cinder looked up and studied everyone in the room. "You guys all know how a pensieve works, right?"

She was met with nods and yesses of confirmation.
"Good. All we need to do is set up something like that, but for the whole school to see. It will tear down her mental defences, and provide the perfect opportunity to bring her down for good." Cinder said determinedly.

"You're going to need more than one person's memory to pull off an image like that." Jacin said sceptically.

"I've seen what she looks like." Wolf said quietly, "Levana, I mean. I think it's a side effect of the forced transformations. With each one I lose a bit more of my humanity, but it means that I'm practically immune to Lunar manipulation, since it doesn't work on animals. You can use my memories as well."

Iko raised a hand, beaming. "Don't think you're counting me out! I think metamorphagi like me are also immune to the Lunar manipulation. Maybe it's a shapeshifter thing? Anyway, you can use my memories from those times I got sent to Levana's office."

Cinder grinned. "That's perfect. Three people's memories of the same thing should create a pretty strong image."

"We can broadcast it from the top of the Astronomy tower, that way everyone will see it." Cress suggests.

"I know a shortcut to get there, but I'm going to have to just give you the directions." Thorne said, a hint of frustration lacing his tone.

"How complicated is it?" Jacin asked.

Thorne sucked in a breath between his teeth. "Well, there are a few extra conditions to make this one than some of the other passageways in the castle…"

"In that case, it's too risky to go off directions alone." Cinder declared.

"But how else are you going to find it? I can't exactly point it out!" Thorne exclaimed gesturing towards his eyes.

"So we're just going to have to make you able to point it out." Cinder said firmly, before turning to Iko and Kinney. "Do you guys remember seeing Professor Erland during the centaurs' attack?"

A/N: And finally we hear from Wolf again!

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