I glanced at Larkin who grinned at me. Rolling my eyes, I put some of my books into my locker, getting out my English Lit book.
"Ladies!" Rhodes greeted, coming up behind us and throwing an arm across Larkin's shoulders.
I couldn't help but laugh every time I saw him coming. He had worn a bright yellow footed onesie today. He stood out like crazy when he walked ... anywhere, really. What was even more disturbing was Ryder has opted to wear a matching one in hot pink. The sight of the tall shifter with a ton of tattoos coming at me in a pink onesie during breakfast made me choke on my orange juice.
I closed my locker and noticed Remy had come over with Rhodes, but he was dressed in a pair of jeans and a white shirt. With the exception of Pack Color Day, he hadn't seemed to care about joining in the daily dress challenges.
"Hey, Remy," Larkin greeted. She shrugged Rhodes' arm off and barely spared him a glance. "Hey."
My eyes met Remy's, and I winced at Larkin’s brush off.
Ever since Rhodes had announced he was taking a girl from one of the Canadian packs to the dance at lunch at the beginning of the week, Larkin had given him the cold shoulder. Breakfast the last two days had been seriously awkward. The worst part was Rhodes truly didn't seem to get why Larkin was brushing him off.
Which made Larkin even more frustrated.
"I need to get to class," Larkin told me with a thin smile.
I saw Remy frown out of the corner of my eye. Clearly, he noticed something was going on with his friends.
"Okay," I said. "I'll meet you later? Same spot?"
"What spot?" Rhodes asked curiously. "I want to come to the spot."
The spot was the copse of trees on the edge of the property that Katy and Larkin and I had been using to work on my shifting.
"You can't," Larkin said sharply.
Rhodes blinked and took a step back. "Why not?"
"Girl time," I said quickly, flashing him a weak smile.
Rhodes grinned unabashedly at me. “You know I love girl time.”
I scrambled for another excuse. "Larkin and Katy have been helping me catch up on my classes and stuff."
"Yeah," Remy said suddenly, snapping his fingers. "Katy mentioned you guys have put together some kind of study group."
I smiled at him, grateful for the assist. The secretive smile he returned made my stomach flip in the best way possible.
In the last week I had gotten closer to Katy and Larkin, but I had also gotten to see more sides of Remy. From him settling a fight between younger shifters from different packs to the way he was almost revered around GPA. There were other alphas on campus, but even they seemed to seek out Remy when they needed help.
I still wasn't sure why he had seemed so bothered coming out of Elias' office, and even this past weekend when we were all hanging out at the cabin with a few others from the pack, Remy stayed in his study with the doors closed most of the time.
Katy and Rhodes both said it happened from time to time, but I could sense both of them were a little concerned.
“Exactly. Studying,” Larkin said. She flashed a smile at Rhodes that was anything but genuine. “We all know that’s the last thing on your mind.”
Rhodes was still frowning at Larkin as she turned and walked away down the hallway. After she disappeared from sight, he turned and looked at us. "Am I missing something?"
I wasn't sure what to say until Remy grinned at his friend and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "All the time, man."
Rolling his eyes, Rhodes shrugged off Remy's hand with a huff. "Whatever. I'll catch you guys later."
Remy and I started walking towards English Lit. It was definitely my favorite class, and when I was actually being honest with myself, a lot of it was because of the alpha walking next to me.
We slid into our usual seats in the back row, and I glanced up to see Andy hurrying down the aisle.
My eyes went wide when he tripped over a backpack on the floor and almost went flying before stopping in front of my desk. Remy leaned back with an amused smile, but I could see him glance at me, checking to make sure I was good.
A herd of butterflies took flight in my tummy.
It felt nice to have someone care.
Who was I kidding? It felt nice to know Remy cared.
It was getting harder and harder to hide the fact that I had my first crush from Mom when she called.
"Hey, Remy," Andy said with a nod, making sure to greet the alpha first. Then he turned to me and gave me a soft smile. "Hi, Skye."
"Hey, Andy. How's it going?" Remy replied nonchalantly.
The smaller shifter shrugged. "Not bad. Hey! I heard you're going to the dance with Natalie! Good for you."
Remy stiffened slightly beside me before nodding. "Yeah, she's cool."
All the blood in my body drained from my head, pooling like ice water in my gut.
He had a date? When had this happened?
It wasn't like we were best friends or anything – definitely not anything– but wouldn't he have mentioned taking someone to the dance tomorrow night? Or wouldn’t Katy have mentioned it?
Then again … why did I care?
I was still trying to sort out my emotions on this when I looked up and realized Remy and Andy were staring at me.
Shit. I had missed whatever they said.
"I'm sorry," I apologized with a sheepish shrug, desperate to downplay the roiling emotions in my heart. "What was that?"
Andy cleared his throat with a blush. "I asked if, um, you might want to come to the dance tomorrow? With me?"
My eyes went wide and the pen I held slipped from my fingers. "Go to the dance? With you?"
He nodded slowly, and I could see him bracing himself for rejection.
I glanced at Remy, who sat there with a completely neutral expression, staring at the front of the classroom like he hadn’t heard a single word.
"Sure," I answered slowly as I looked back at Andy. I bit down on my lower lip hard, not sure if I was giving the right answer or not.
Andy's eyes went wide, an incredulous grin breaking out. "Really? O-okay, wow! That's awesome."
I heard Remy snort lightly under his breath, but he was still a block of concrete when I checked him from the corner of my eye.
"So, do you want me to pick you up at your dorm?" Andy pressed. He gave me a big smile. “I can escort you in, my lady.”
Remy stifled a barely disguised laugh, morphing it into a cough at the last second.
"Actually, how about if we meet there?" I countered weakly, trying to ignore the awkwardness. "I'm not sure if Larkin is going with anyone, and I don't want to make her go in solo."
Andy bobbed his head, understanding. "I get it. I'll bring some of my friends. Maybe she'll hit it off with one of them."
"Sounds great," I replied, not sure if Larkin was good that I had basically just wrangled her into a date, too. Several guys had asked, but she said no to each of them. I think she had been secretly hoping Rhodes would ask her.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Andy said quickly. After a beat, he suddenly reached down and gave me an awkward, but fast, side hug. I barely had time to react and process what was happening before he was heading back to his seat across the room.
We still had a few minutes before class started, and this was usually my favorite time. Remy and I would chat about anything – books we were reading or had read. He would sometimes tell me about growing up in Blackwater or hilarious stories about the pack.
But right now he was still impersonating a statue. The sudden, stark silence hanging heavily between us felt awkward and off. Even my wolf wasn't happy about it.
As my shifting abilities had grown, so had my bond with her. Most times I knew exactly how she felt.
And right now? She felt annoyed and frustrated.
Me, too, girl.
Unable to take the weird silence, I finally asked, "Are you okay?"
Remy's head turned and he fixed those beautiful brown eyes on me. "Of course."
>
"Oh. All right," I murmured, looking away.
Remy cleared his throat. "Andy's a good guy," he said, somewhat begrudgingly. "You two will have fun together."
Then why did it sound like he was chewing broken glass to get those words out?
"Thanks." My words were soft. "And you'll have fun with Natalie."
Of course he would.
The shifter from Quebec was in our grade, lithe and willowy with pale blonde hair that looked like a silk curtain. From everything I had seen she was as kind as she was beautiful.
They would make a striking couple.
My heart clenched painfully.
"Yeah," he replied absently. "Natalie's a great girl."
"Yeah," I echoed.
Thankfully the teacher came in and started class, but we didn't look at each other or speak to each other again for the rest of class.
And that made me even more sad for a reason I couldn't quite put my finger on.
Or wouldn't put my finger on.
19
The girl in front of the mirror looked like me, but there was no way she was me.
Katy and Larkin stood behind me in the mirror, matching grins on their faces as they high-fived each other. They had spent the last hour putting me together for the dance.
Larkin had called in Katy for help when I said I was planning to go to the dance in my usual jeans and t-shirt.
Who knew there was a dress code for a school dance?
But I couldn’t deny that the dress looked stunning, and it made me feel pretty for the first time in my life.
My hand fluttered to my throat, landing on the exposed column delicately. Had my neck always been this long? Did I have some latent giraffe shifter gene lurking in my DNA?
"This is me?" I whispered, afraid to speak too loudly in case the image in front of me shattered.
"I tried to tell you how hot you are." Katy smirked at me in the mirror.
I couldn't even blush. The girl in the mirror was beautiful.
The red dress had tiny beads that caught in the light. It had a built-in shelf bra and lifted my breasts, making them appear fuller and higher against the deep V-neck. The dress stopped just below my knees, the skirt flaring gently around me as I walked. The halter straps were tied behind my neck, the waist cinched tight to show the feminine way my hips flared out from my narrow waist.
But the face is where I started to think the girl looking back wasn't me.
My dark hair had been pulled up and away from my face. Katy had painstakingly pinned it into place, shoving bobby pin after bobby pin into the thick tresses to create a casually sophisticated updo. Then she turned her focus to makeup, using light eyeshadow but using a thick black winged liner, going light with blush, and finishing with a lip oil that tasted like mint and made my lips shine.
My green eyes were bright with excitement and a smile played at my lips.
I looked ... happy.
I turned and hugged my friends together, crushing them both to me.
"Thank you," I whispered.
"Watch the hair," Katy griped, easing back with a grin. She reached up to toss her curled red ends, glancing in the mirror to make sure they were still in place.
Larkin rolled her eyes, looking every bit a princess in a soft pink silk dress that fell to her ankles. Her dark hair was swept to the side, half up and half down. Her cheeks had a beautiful pink flush and her lips were soft and pink.
Katy looked us both over. Of the three of us, she had definitely gone the most glam. Her glittery black gown fell to her ankles but had a slit on one side nearly up to her hip. Her lips were a vibrant, cherry red and her winged liner was sharp enough to cut.
She planted her hands on her hips and gave a sharp nod. "Okay, girls, I have to meet Maren, but I'll see you both there. Save me a dance."
Turning, she looked at me with pursed lips, her dimples flashing. "You, have fun with Andy." She turned to Larkin and sighed after a second. "I can go kick his ass."
Larkin squared her shoulders. "Nope. I'm not even saying his name tonight. I'm going to hang out with Skye for a bit and then dance. Maybe with a couple different guys. Andy said he was bringing friends."
"That is a great plan," Katy grinned. She looked at me, both of us vowing to keep an eye on Larkin when we could in that glance.
Katy left to meet Maren, and I left with Larkin a few minutes later. We almost made it down the steps of the dorm when I stumbled in my new heels.
Larkin caught me with a laugh. "Take your time," she admonished.
"Easy for you to say," I grumbled, watching as she moved effortlessly in a pair of nude heels. "I feel like a baby horse."
"But a really pretty baby horse," Larkin confirmed as we walked down the pathway to the main building. There was a steady stream of students heading into the building, and music became louder as we walked inside.
The dance was held in the large cafeteria, but most of the tables had been removed and the entire room transformed. Fake trees and leaves, a riot of fall colors, hugged the walls. Twinkling lights hung in strands from the ceiling, giving the effect of stars glittering above us.
Across the room was a drink station and a few tables with food. Several tables from the cafeteria stayed up but had burnt orange tablecloths spread across them, mason jars filled with leaves and twinkling lights tucked into them.
I stopped as we walked in, freezing the flow of traffic as I gaped, taking it all in.
"Pretty amazing, right?"
I turned to see Andy standing to my left with several males I recognized as his friends. A few were in classes with me, but right now they were all looking at Larkin with awe.
"You look nice," I told Andy with a smile. He was cute in a gray suit with a pale blue shirt. His hair had been slicked to the side, making him look even more innocent and boyish than usual.
"You look gorgeous," he breathed, his eyes moving across me, taking it all in. There wasn't a leer in his or even his friends' gazes. They were simply happy to be standing with us, which was unexpectedly nice.
I turned to Larkin and caught her staring across the room. Rhodes was standing behind a table, a hand on the chair of a blonde he was leaning down to talk to. She threw her head back and laughed, licking her lips as she met his gaze.
Dammit, Rhodes.
I reached out to touch Larkin, but she was already stepping past me to one of Andy's friends.
"Ian, right?"
The brunette with glasses gulped and nodded. "Yup."
Larkin turned a beautiful smile on him and extended a hand. "Dance with me?"
"Sh-sure," he stammered, taking her hand and letting her pull him onto the dancefloor where several other couples were moving to an upbeat song.
"Do you want to dance, Skye?" Andy offered.
I saw Remy and Natalie come in the other entrance then, moving towards Rhodes and his dates. Natalie looked stunning in a gold dress, contrasting against Remy's black pants and black shirt, his sleeves rolled up his forearms.
I forced myself to focus on Andy.
My date.
And his request, which was something I hadn't considered when he asked me to the dance.
I gave him a sheepish smile, embarrassed. "I don't really know how to dance."
Relief exploded across his face. "Me neither. Want to sit down and talk?"
I nodded, clocking Larkin dancing with Ian. A few steps over, Tate was dancing with Ryder. Maren, Katy, and Dante had joined Rhodes and Remy.
For the first time since coming to GPA, I felt out of place. Unsure if I walked over, I would be welcomed.
I let Andy take me over to a table on the edge of the dancefloor, sitting down with him and his friends. I knew Andy was a senior, but his friends were juniors named Luke and Isaac. They were from a small seaside town in Maine and loved everything computer programming related. Half the time I didn't understand a word they spoke, but it was fun to watch Andy and his friends joke and tease.
At one point, Larkin cam
e over and switched dance partners, taking Isaac to dance with her. Several dances later, she returned him to the table and took Luke. Two dances later, Luke returned red-faced and panting, but sans Larkin.
"Where's Larkin?" I asked, looking around.
"Bathroom," Luke gasped out, reaching for his drink and draining the water in it in a single swallow. "I need more." He gestured to the drink table and started for it, Ian and Isaac got up to go with him.
I looked at Andy and watched him fidget on his seat.
"Are you all right?" I asked curiously, somewhat amused.
He blushed and pushed his chair back. "Do you mind if I go to the bathroom, really quick?"
I held in a laugh. "Go right ahead."
His chair scraped back in his haste to head to the exit that led to the bathrooms down the main hall.
I lifted my glass of punch and chuckled into it. I didn't see Andy and I dating as a thing, but he was a nice guy, and I could always use a new friend.
"What's so funny?" Remy dropped down into the now empty seat beside me.
I almost choked, setting my cup down.
"Hey." I looked around. "Where's your ... Natalie?"
A smile twitched on his lips and he pointed across the room where Natalie was dancing with someone.
My eyes went big. "Oh, my God. I'm sorry."
Remy laughed, the sound warming my body. "No, it's fine. I only brought Natalie to help her out of a sticky situation.”
My face must have expressed my confusion.
“The guy she was dating last year is apparently having a hard time letting go and was bugging her about the dance,” he explained. “She asked me to be her date to get him to back off. Anyway, he decided not to come tonight, so she’s doing her own thing."
"So, you two aren't together?" The words came out way more hopeful than I would have liked.
He turned and looked at me, his smile slowly fading. He shook his head. "No," he said softly. "We're just friends. I was just helping her out."
"Oh." The word came out as a tiny breath.
He cleared his throat. "How's Andy?"
"Good," I answered quickly. "He's a really great guy."
Remy’s smile froze for a beat. "That's awesome. I'm happy for you. You two look good together."
Sanctum (Blackwater Pack Book 1) Page 16