by S. L. Morgan
“I know what I feel,” he answered, eyes never leaving his plate of food.
“What’s your name?” Tanner asked the guy.
“Ethan Carter,” he said, finally looking over at me. His silver eyes told me he was a shifter, but not a ground shifter. A winged one. There was no freaking way I was sitting next to a bird of prey. I loved this kid already and didn’t even know who he was. He was slender and had soft features, but there was something more to him. It was like he could pick up on anything and everything. This guy was unique, and I hoped he and I could get to know each other.
Usually, the winged shifters didn’t like the ground shifters. Ground shifters were more obnoxious and annoying to the elegant and intellectual winged shifters. The fact that he would come to sit next to me was actually a compliment, seeing as though I just absently licked apple pie from the corner of my mouth instead of using a napkin like he would have.
“Well, Ethan Carter,” I said, feeling the importance of his name alone in just the way he said it, “It’s really nice to meet you. I’m Jenna Silvers.”
“From House Silvers,” he questioned after he dabbed each corner of his mouth with a napkin.
“House Silvers?” I asked. “Do you know about my family? How would you know anything about a House Silvers?”
My prying seemed to make him back way off. He gripped the sides of his tray and stood. “Nice to meet you, Jenna. Sorry, I must go to get a good seat.”
With a rush of wind, Ethan Carter bounced on us all, leaving our entire table speechless. I looked at Tanner and Vannah in disbelief.
“Jenna, don’t get too excited,” Tanner was the first to speak. “He may have known your name from something else. I mean, I’m pretty sure your name is being gossiped at every table in this place by just the way you walked in with enough food to feed an elephant shifter.”
Vannah placed a hand over my suddenly cold one. “Tan is right. Please don’t let this Silvers House thing get your mind going in a hundred different directions. Maybe he knows something, maybe it’s nothing, but don’t go down this road.”
“I’ve never heard of ancestral, monarch-type supernatural house names until I got here and read my school schedule. What if I came from a family that was important enough that someone might know who I am…someone might know my family.”
“Dang it, Jenna,” Vannah released my hand, “Please, don’t do this to yourself. Just take it one day at a time here, okay? Let’s make friends and try and have fun.”
Vannah was right. I was going to spin out and spiral down for the same reasons I didn’t want to come here, but to hear my last name was probably part of a shifter monarch house? There was no way I wasn’t a full-blooded shifter if that was true. Vannah was right, I was already doing it. I needed to stop and focus.
“Alright, so back here at 5:00 sharp, everyone,” Tanner said, standing from the table first. “Then after that, it’s chillax time. See you all then.” He looked at me and smiled. “Well, let’s go. Time to head off to House Braeclaw.”
Thank God I had Tan with me. I was in a strange new school, but to have a familiar friend at my side was just what I needed to help keep me grounded.
Chapter Seven
The cobblestone path Tanner and I walked on illuminated in brilliant hues of different colors, something intriguing if you didn’t feel the fairy magic at work beneath your feet. Being a wolf shifter, I loved to feel the earth beneath my feet—whether I was in an enchanted, hidden place on the planet or not. Shifters felt the magnetic pull and were one with nature the closer our feet were to the soil.
This fairy-enchanted stone walkway kept a barrier between that, and I was really starting to long to be in my element again. This academy felt like it was stifling me. I might’ve been breathing fresh air, but I still felt like I was suffocating.
The stones led us to two stone pillars with lions carved on them. All gray, no glitter—no magic. That was nice because it felt like home. The pathway turned into a regular gray brick walkway that matched the brick of the building House Braeclaw was crafted from. With dark green ivy sprawling up and all around the building, you’d believe it was abandoned for centuries, but to me, it was the most beautiful place I’d encountered at this school so far.
We stepped up into the building, following Tanner’s bug on his map. His was bright green, where mine was brown. Hopefully, Bug wouldn’t be pissed at me for following another bug on a different map. I suddenly got the feeling that I was going to have to make up for this massive betrayal. I’d make it up to Bug later by giving him some paper shavings to eat or whatever these fake navigating bugs ate.
The room we sat in was reasonably large, and rows of seats curved around the podium where this professor would teach us. There were no desks, just wooden chairs, and nothing was on the walls to distract us. Everything was situated to stare straight ahead and listen to lectures.
“Afternoon students,” the brawny shifter professor from the introduction assembly said, taking his place at the podium. Behind him were five chairs, with four people sitting in them. The first was a muscular female with short, choppy brown hair, and to her left sat three robust dudes. All three guys had buzzed heads and typical, ground-shifter type bodies: they were shredded with broad shoulders, and long, muscular legs. A chair was empty, so someone was late, and thank God it wasn’t me.
The four sat behind the professor and nodded when he gripped his wooden podium and looked back at them. Strangely, none of them were dressed in the ridiculous uniforms the students wore. They wore ninja-like fighting attire, all black. They looked hardcore, and I couldn’t help but wait to find out who exactly they were.
“As you may recall from earlier, I’m Sir Samson Candor. Once we all get acquainted, maybe I’ll let you call me Sam.” He chuckled. “That was a joke. Call me Sam, and you’ll be in the kitchen scrubbing pots while the others are out in their shifter form.”
Never call the dude Sam! I made a strong mental note.
“Moving on. It’s a pleasure to have our nonshifters with us at House Braeclaw. We hope you enjoy learning the history of who we are and why shifters are so important to the supernatural universe. Especially the Immortal Shifters.” He held his hands up just as I wanted to internally curse the fact this wasn’t a shifters only class. “Trust me, you may someday be in a position—if you haven’t been already—where you’ll find your talents fail you, and a shifter will be the one to save your life.”
“The shifters will always be more powerful,” I heard a familiar voice come from beside me.
“Ethan Carter?” I whispered to the kid.
He nodded without looking at me. He was intently focused on Professor Samson. I followed his lead, feeling the wisdom pouring off the shifter.
“Behind me are the masters for the shifter classes. I’d like for you all to meet them because they are the best in their classes and have been promoted to master for a good reason.” He motioned for the shifters to stand. “Finley is the only female thus far to ever have been awarded this most prestigious of titles, and she earned it by the end of her first year at IA too. No other shifter has ever been able to achieve such a high status at such an early stage at the school before. Shifters, if you are assigned to Master Finley, you might just get the workout I’m sure you’re craving.” He smiled, prompting her to loosen up and smile at him in return. A devilish smile to be exact. “Next up, we have Master Scott, and to his left, Master Ian. Unfortunately, Master Dominic is not with us as he is on a special quest with a few shifters at this time. Shifters assigned to Master Dominic will report to Master Scott for your training until your assigned master returns.”
“None of those shifters look like a winged master. Do you know who you’ll be with?” I quietly asked Ethan.
“The winged shifters have no master,” he immediately informed me.
“Weird,” I said, prompting him to look at me with questioning, yet stern blue eyes. “But super cool.” I lifted my eyebrows with a smile.
Ethan half-smiled, and up until that point, I figured this kid was stiff and too smart for me. Truth be told, he had been starting to intimidate me with the authoritative way he spoke and the way he could cut into any conversation with the hard facts he delivered.
“So, let’s get started.” The lights dimmed, and a holographic screen appeared, going over the details of the many different shifters out there.
After what seemed like four hours of learning about how the first shift for any shifter can start at age thirteen and how it is an agonizing experience, the class finally dismissed. Shifters were to meet with their masters, and for the first time since getting here, shift into our animals and turn them loose.
“I never felt the pain that he described the first time I shifted,” I said to Ethan, trying to conjure up him mentioning House Silvers from earlier. “You think that’s normal?”
“Only one percent of shifters don’t experience any pain with their first shift,” he stated factually.
I grabbed his arm, and he immediately reacted like I had just electrocuted him.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. Okay, Jenna, boundaries! Dude likes his space. “You mentioned something about House Silvers—”
“All of Master Dominic’s shifters please follow me. The faster we shift, the more time we have in our animal forms.”
“Bye, Jenna,” Ethan said politely before he turned and walked out of the room.
I was shuffled over to where Master Scott and his green eyes probed through all of us like we were bottom feeders and way beneath him. Seriously? Why did a shifter have to act like a friggin vampire? We were all on the same team.
I glanced around and saw my buddy Tanner heading off with Master Finley’s group, and I laughed, imagining how Tanner would try to charm her. From the look of the scowl on her face, Tanner was in for some tough training, and hitting on his master would be a really dumb thing to do.
We followed Scott out of a side door that led to lush green lawns and another building.
“Ladies to the right, gents to the left,” he said. “You may shift in your locker rooms, and then meet out under the white oaks.”
I wasted no time getting into the locker rooms, stripping down, and shoving my clothes into a bottom locker. It was the first time I was pleased to be short and not all legs like everyone else. My wolf was practically leaping inside and clawing to get out. It was time to set her free and have a good run or go through an obstacle course. Anything. She needed to breathe too.
The obstacle course was an intense and excellent one. I was right behind Master Scott’s large brown wolf, my wolf so eager to be out and doing anything aggressive. We sailed over large creeks, raced through paths in the white woods, and lunged over large brick walls set up higher and higher the further we got into the forest. By the time we’d hit the largest obstacle, my wolf should have slowed and contemplated, but she didn’t care if we both slid off the rock face and fell back into the small pond we had just cleared to climb the face of the granite rock we were on.
I was blown away that I was flanking Master Scott’s wolf, and my wolf still wanted more. Good grief, I didn’t even realize my wolf could knock it out like this. She was certainly taking full advantage of her time.
After the rejuvenating hour of the run, I trotted hesitantly back to the locker rooms. My wolf was hungry, so that was a good reason to shift without having an internal argument with her. Once dressed, I left the lockers, looking for the Master to be dismissed.
“You’re pretty stealthy,” Master Scott said, studying me as I walked to him. He was definitely a looker, but not my type with his arrogant demeanor.
“A lot of practice,” I answered.
We were joined by more in our team under Master Scott. “You one of mine?” he asked, planting his hands on both hips.
“No, I’m assigned to Master Dominic.”
His face crinkled in humor. “Nice.”
“Did I miss something?”
“Take my advice on this, don’t show off like you did for me today. Master Dominic isn’t into that. He’s into—”
“Hold up,” I said, mirroring his stance, “I wasn’t showing off for anyone. I was just running the obstacle course.”
His face grew more serious. “You are free to do whatever you want, but trying to beat out your master isn’t a bright idea—especially with Master Dominic.”
I clamped my mouth shut. I wasn’t going to get into it with the asshole of a master shifter, but this place was making even less sense now. Usually, the shifters all had each other’s backs, especially their trainers—at IA they were called masters. Either way, we all got along. Not here, apparently shifters were cool being douches to their own kind; and apparently, vamps, fairies, and witches were all cool with each other.
This place was upside down and inside out. I was trying to do this, God knows I was, but this first day felt like I’d already been here for three years. I was ready to decompress or internally combust with everything being so out of sorts for me.
I stopped the negativity as soon as we were dismissed, and I decided to walk over to a white oak tree that looked centuries’ old. I slumped down next to it and pinched the bridge of my nose.
Why fight the system when this school was working to unite all of us? Why be afraid of changes? They served awesome food here. The vamp I was bunking with was cool. The fairies all seemed chill, so that was good. Maybe it was just me and my attitude. Maybe I was trying to prove to Master Scott that I was a pretty killer shifter wolf, and that was a lame idea. I had a lot to learn, and my attitude was the first thing that needed to change.
I was acting like a spoiled brat, but I had to be careful, my inner wolf could prey on this weakness and take over. She would dominate, and I would sit backseat all because I was afraid of change. I didn’t want to come to this school but guess what, I was here. I needed to be all in or all out, and there was no way out—at least for three years.
Chapter Eight
After a solid week at this new school, I was finally getting it all down. The morning drills with Master Scott were invigorating. I only wished that the two-hour time block consisted of turning my wolf free and letting her go. By the time her hour arrived and I took on my wolf form, my wolf took off and acted like she’d been set free in the wild.
Master Scott had shown his annoyance with my wolf keeping up with him, even to the point of veering off one of the courses and forcing an injury to poor Jessica, the fox shifter. She was too slow to make the jump, and he accidentally broke her hind leg in the process of climbing over her. Shifters heal very quickly, so I thought it was weird when it took her an entire day in the infirmary to recover from that. Maybe she was a weaker shifter, but dang, the chick was an immortal—you’d think that would help her out a little bit in the speedy healing process.
All-in-all, Scott was a complete dick, and I despised the punk. He was a sore loser and was definitely glad to be rid of me by the last drill we ran tonight. Truthfully, it sucked to have a wolf shifter get pissed that you’re an asset in being great in what you do. I was just not normal. With an attitude like that, Master Scott shouldn’t have been a master at this place at all; instead, he should’ve been doing the freaking dishes with the fairy crew because that’s pretty much how he acted—like a freaking pixie who didn’t get his way and was throwing tantrums over it.
I walked in with my usual two plates of meat and sank down at our usual table. Vannah did the typical eye roll, but I think she was getting used to the fact I wasn’t here to impress anyone.
“How are you feeling, keeping your cheetah locked up for twenty-three hours a day?” I finally had a chance to ask Tanner after his new girl, Emma the sprite, took off to get a bowl of fruit.
“Meh, it’s fine,” he said, chomping into his bacon burger.
“Really?” I asked in confusion. “My wolf is mad as hell about it.”
“You shouldn’t use profanity.” Ethan’s monotone, quick-to-the-facts voi
ce made me smile.
I loved the mystery of this kid. He was an owl shifter, one of the rare, winged shifters, which pretty much meant not many people bothered him. He could probably run this joint with how intuitive and how in tune with their surroundings the owls were.
Owl shifters in their person form saw everything through different eyes. It was like their brains functioned at the highest possible capacity, whereas ours were pretty much average…well, less than average in some cases. To put it plainly, Ethan was unique, ultra intelligent, and very intuitive, and my wolf and I perked up and loved the energy he exuded any time he was around us.
Sadly, winged shifters stuck together, but the owl shifter, being the way he was, didn’t go with the flow of his kind. For some strange reason, he was my lunch buddy who had adopted me and corrected me every time I screwed up—like now.
I looked at him and smiled. “Sorry if that offended you, old wise owl,” I teased.
A smile lifted on the corner of his lips. “You understand the rules. You know better, Jenna Silvers.”
“I know, Ethan Carter,” I poked back. “Anyway,” I brought my attention back to the others in my group, “What about you, Vannah? You cool with having your witchy powers limited, using them for only an hour a day? Don’t you think this is weird?”
“What’s weird about it? They want us to learn outside of our supernatural abilities in case something were to happen while living in the human realm, and we are unable to use them. We’re learning to survive with and without our supernatural abilities.”
I had shoved a huge bite of steak in my mouth, listening to her BS, perfect-student of IA answer. I swallowed and sighed, poking my fork into my meat. I shoved my plate away, and Tanner’s eyes widened.
“Dude. Jenna, it’s all cool. What’s with the questions? The vamp in your room giving you trouble?”
“Why would you bring her up?” I asked. “Lusa’s sweet, but she’s a freaking chairman or something of the Committee for Entertainment. She’s arranging this stupid Ageless Ball, and we all have to have a pixie help us dress up for it, so that’s taking all her time I guess.” I leaned my elbows on the table. “I just think it’s all weird. We’re at an academy that I imagined would help us hone our supernatural skills; instead, it feels like they’re trying to take it away.”