Fur 'n' Fang Academy: The Complete Series: A Shifter Academy Adventure

by C. S. Churton

  Someone exhaled heavily – Leo, I thought.

  “Guess I’m stuck with it, then,” Leo said after a moment. “The cuff, the academy. You’d think a rogue first-year mauling an instructor would be enough to get this place shut down.”

  “I would think,” Underwood replied, with a note of warning in his voice, “that you would watch what you said, even to me. Anyone could be listening.”

  My heart thudded to a stop in my chest, then raced again. I didn’t think he knew I was here. But just to be safe, I eased back a few steps, as quietly as I could, and then hurried back along the corridor. I turned the corner and slumped against a wall, listening to the sounds of my own ragged breath. No-one followed me.

  The conversation hadn’t made much sense, but one thing was clear: Leo didn’t want to be here, and he had even more motive for wanting to upset the balance of power than I thought. And Underwood hadn’t sounded like he harboured any love for Draeven – but why would he? I’d heard the way the Alpha of Alphas had spoken about hybrids last year.

  Either way, I had no intention of going back to see him tonight. Not until I had a better idea of what it might all mean. I decided it was probably better to ask for forgiveness than permission, after all.

  The plus side of this latest development was that I had time for dinner. As silver linings went, that one wasn’t bad. I doubled back and made for the main hall, and when I got there, I found Mei at the back of a dwindling queue.

  “Oh no, you don’t,” she said, grabbing my shoulders and turning me back to the doors.

  “Hey!” I protested.

  “Cam says you’re to skip dinner and meet him in our dorm.”

  “Yeah, that’s not going to happen. I don’t take orders from guys, not even hot Scottish ones. And I’m hungry.”

  “For the love of God, woman,” Mei said, rolling her eyes. “This is not the time to be waving the feminist flag. The poor guy is trying to be romantic.”

  “Oh.”

  ‘Trying’ being the operative word there, because telling a gal – and a shifter, at that – to skip dinner was not the best way to start a romantic evening. But he was trying, so credit for effort.

  He was waiting for me when I got to our room, and it looked like he was already dressed for the party – smart jeans, dark shirt, drop dead gorgeous face… well, okay, that part was a permanent feature, but I enjoyed it just the same. I liked the goofy smile on his face when he saw me, too.

  He had one hand behind his back, and I cocked my head at him as I stepped inside. His smile widened, and he produced a bouquet of flowers with a flourish, and held them out to me. I looked at the flowers – elegant pink roses, dotted with small purple wildflowers.

  “Thank you,” I said, taking them and feeling my cheeks turn almost as pink as the roses. I couldn’t remember the last time a guy had bought me flowers, and I’d never seen ones quite like these before. I sniffed the pale purple flowers.

  “Are these Scottish Thistles?” I asked. I had no idea how he’d managed to find some anywhere near the academy.

  “Aye,” he said. “And English roses. You and me.”

  “That’s sweet. You are romantic,” I conceded, leaning in and kissing him.

  “And, o’ course, every time I see the thistle, I remember that time by the river when we–”

  I cut him off with another kiss before he could ruin the moment, and I felt his chuckle.

  “What’s all this in aid of?” I asked when we broke apart.

  “It’s our anniversary, remember? We had our first dance – and a couple o’ other firsts – at the Halloween party last year.”

  “I remember,” I said. “I also remember that we split up for a while.”

  “It still counts to me, lass.”

  “Me, too.”

  “How would y’ feel about skipping the party tonight?”

  I’d made an entire dedicated shopping trip just to get my dress for tonight, and a separate one to get the shoes, but I’d never seen Cam’s romantic side before. Not like this. It seemed a shame to discourage him, even if the Halloween party was the event of the Fur ‘n’ Fang year.

  “What did you have in mind?”

  “A trip into town,” he said. “A quiet table at The Wolf and Sheep, dinner for two, a few drinks, and then… whatever follows.”

  “Sounds perfect. Give me a few minutes to get ready?”

  It looked like my dress and shoes weren’t going to waste, after all. A few minutes were never just a few minutes, of course. The Wolf and Sheep might not have much of a dress code, but if we were going on an actual date, I wanted to make an effort. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one. When I emerged from the bathroom more than a few minutes later, wearing a deep-green dress that stopped halfway down my thigh and shoes to match, and my hair set in loose waves around my face, Cam had completed his look with a dinner jacket which had to have been custom made to fit across his shoulders. I wolf-whistled him with a grin.

  “Right back at yer,” he said, running his eyes over my dress with obvious approval.

  “Hey, eyes on the prize.”

  “They are on the prize,” he said, not taking his eyes from me.

  “Dinner first,” I told him, stretching up on toes to kiss him.

  “Whatever y’ say,” he murmured against my lips.

  We did, in fact, eventually make it to The Wolf and Sheep, and Cam wrapped his arm around my waist as we stepped through the door into the almost empty bar. The barman, the same guy who’d been working on our last visit, took one look at Cam and shook his head.

  “Out.”

  “We just want a quiet drink and a bite tae eat,” Cam said. “We’re nae looking for trouble.”

  “You did a pretty good job of finding it last time you were here.”

  “Ach, come on, man, I didnae give the lad anything he wasnae asking fer.” His arm around my waist drew me closer. “I couldnae let him speak to m’ lass like that.”

  The barman looked undecided, so I smiled up at him.

  “I promise, it was a one off. Cam just got a little over-protective.”

  “Well, I doubt anyone will be insulting you again after last time,” he said, and glanced at Cam again, who promptly pasted the most innocent expression he could muster on his face. “Alright, you can stay. Take a seat and Jenny will bring a menu over.”

  We made for a table in the corner before he could change his mind, and I couldn’t help but notice the eyes of the pub’s few patrons followed us as we went, their expressions wary. Either they knew what we were, or they’d heard about Cam’s right hook.

  Apparently, our waitress had spent enough time with shifters to know that we tended to be less cranky when we had food inside us – that, or she thought we were likely to be good tippers, because we’d barely settled into our seats when she came over.

  “Hi, I’m Jenny,” she said. “I’ve got some menus here for you, and can I get you started with some drinks?”

  “I take it your boss would prefer we stayed away from the bar?” I said.

  She glanced at the bar, then back to us with a smile. “Don’t mind Jim, he just likes to keep things peaceful in here. We all do. It helps to keep a low profile with the law.”

  She set the menus in front of us and lowered her voice.

  “Between you and me, that sleaze had it coming to him, and if your fella hadn’t done it, someone else would have.”

  “Still, we’re sorry,” I said. “We didn’t mean to cause any trouble.”

  She laughed. “Jim’s been tending the bar here for twenty years. I doubt there’s any trouble he can’t handle, even… those of you with unusual tastes in jewellery, shall we say?”

  She gave a small nod to the cuff around my wrist, and I wondered how clued in she really was. I still couldn’t get my head around mundanes knowing about us – but I suppose they had as much reason as we did for keeping our secret.

  “Now, what can I get for you both?”

  “I’ll hav
e a glass of house red,” I said. I didn’t drink wine often, but I figured since we were both making an effort, I should drink something classier than vodka and energy drinks.

  “A pint o’ carling,” Cam said. “Are ye serving steak?”

  I was flipping through the menu, but I stopped to look over at the waitress when he asked, because I couldn’t resist a good steak. Hell, it was practically all I ate these days.

  “We do,” Jenny said. “But a lot of your friends find they particularly enjoy the chef’s one-pounder cheeseburger, cooked to your choice of temperature, served with chips, coleslaw, onion rings and corn of the cob.”

  “Aye, lass,” Cam said, nodding enthusiastically. I rolled my eyes. At least he wasn’t drooling. “I’ll have that. Blue.”

  “I’ll have the same, but medium rare.”

  We passed our menus back to the waitress, and she headed off with our orders.

  “So,” I said, “apparently I’m shacked up with the campus bad boy – or at least, that’s what everyone round here thinks.”

  “Aye, and I’d do it again.”

  “You do realise I can take care of myself?”

  “Aye, I’ve seen ye fight. But that doesnae mean I’m not going tae stand up for ye anyway.”

  Jenny came back with our drinks – I still wasn’t quite sure why we were getting the VIP treatment, but I could get used to it. I thanked her and took a sip of my wine. As I did, the light glinted on my cuff, and from the corner of my eye I caught a flash of movement – a head turning in our direction. I set my glass back down and tried to keep from twisting in my seat to get a better look.

  “Did you see that?” I asked Cam.

  “Aye. Fella and his buddy are a little interested in you.”

  “My cuff,” I said.

  “Shifters?”

  “Maybe. I can’t catch their scent from here.” The scents of alcohol and wood polish were heavy in the air, making it hard to pick up anything else that wasn’t close to us. “Think they’re looking for trouble?”

  “We’re about to find out,” Cam said.

  The two men rose to their feet and moved towards us. They came at a steady pace, not rushing, and I noticed both of them had their hands hanging loose by their sides, not in their pockets. If I was going to pick a fight, I’d want my hands free, too. They were both tall, one broad shouldered, the other a slighter, wiry build. Both of them looked in good shape.

  “Can I help you, lads?” Cam said as they neared table. There was an unmistakable menace in his tone, and his hands were braced against the table, ready to shove it aside at a second’s notice. I relaxed my shoulders and tensed my legs. If they wanted trouble, I’d give it to them.

  “Easy,” the broad-shouldered guy said with a smile, raising an arm a few inches to bar his buddy’s path. They both came to a halt a couple of feet away. “We’re not looking for trouble.”

  I tasted the air. Shifters. Or at least, broad shoulders was. Maybe not the wiry one. He didn’t smell like wolf.

  “My name’s Oliver,” broad shoulders said. “This is my friend, Zane.”

  Cam inclined his head, still watching them closely. I didn’t like sitting down while they were standing. It put us at a disadvantage. And I didn’t like not knowing what Zane was.

  “Cam,” Cam said, and nodded to me. “And Jade.”

  “We don’t want to intrude,” Oliver said. “But you’re from Fur ‘n’ Fang, aren’t you?”

  I whipped my head round, scanning the bar. Several heads were turned our way, Jim’s included. It wasn’t smart to draw this much attention – I didn’t want to get barred again before we’d tasted those burgers.

  “Maybe you should sit,” I said.

  Oliver gave Cam a wary glance, then nodded his head in thanks, and pulled a chair over from the neighbouring table. Zane pulled one up, too, and the pair of them sat, though I noticed they took care not to crowd us. Nobody wanted to start a fight accidentally.

  “Can we buy you both a drink?” Oliver asked, and Cam nodded. The man twisted round and signalled Jenny over his shoulder. She cut her way straight across the bar to us.

  “A refill of whatever our new friends are having,” Oliver said. “And two pints of Stella.”

  Oliver turned back to us as Jenny left.

  “Second years?” he guessed.

  “How did you know?” I asked.

  “The cuffs,” he said, talking to my face and not my chest, which earned him a couple of points in my book. “And I haven’t seen you before. If you were third years, we’d likely know your faces. And if you were first years, you wouldn’t be here.”

  “You’re both shifters,” I said. “Ex-students at Fur ‘n’ Fang.”

  It was a guess – I wasn’t sure that Zane was a shifter, but he didn’t smell human, and they both seemed pretty well informed about the academy and how it worked. I suspected that was the point he was trying to make.

  “Yes. Zane here’s a lion, but don’t hold that against him.”

  A look of wariness flickered over Zane’s face, but Cam’s expression stayed carefully blank, and I didn’t share the wolf prejudice against other types of shifter.

  We all fell quiet as Jenny brought over the tray of drinks, set them on our table, and left quickly.

  “What can we do fer you?” Cam asked when we were alone again.

  The two men shared a look, and Oliver took a deep drink from his glass, then lowered it back to the table.

  “Is it true that you had some trouble at the academy last year?” he asked. “With some Bittens?”

  “If it is?” Cam asked. His shoulders tensed, and Oliver leaned back in his seat, relaxing his posture in response. He shared a look with Zane.

  “I’ll take that as a yes, then.” He turned to me, took a slightly deeper breath through his nose, and cocked his head. His eyes widened a fraction.

  “You’re one of them, aren’t you? Your scent, I couldn’t place it at first.”

  “So what if I am?” My body went as rigid as Cam’s and I glared at him, not caring about making eye contact. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “No offence meant,” he said, raising his hands, and letting his eyes slide off to one side, not meeting my challenge. “Just curious, that’s all.”

  “It’s a sore subject,” said Cam.

  I turned my glare on his companion, who was still staring at me, wide-eyed. Oliver noticed the direction of my gaze, and his, and nudged an elbow into his ribs. Zane jerked his eyes down to the table top.

  “Forgive my companion,” Oliver said. “He doesn’t mean any harm. No-one has seen a Bitten in our lifetimes.”

  I stared at his face for a long moment, then dipped my chin. Cam visibly relaxed, which was good news – I didn’t need him pulling any more knight in shining armour stunts in the only bar in town that catered to shifters. I flicked a glance at Zane, still examining the pitted table top, and then back to Oliver.

  “Why doesn’t he speak?” I asked. Immediately, I got the sense I shouldn’t have voiced my question – Zane started, and Oliver’s brow knitted.

  “I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “That’s none of my business.”

  “It is okay,” Zane said, speaking slowly and carefully, but still slurring each accented word. “When I was younger, I had a fight. My tongue was damaged, and never fully healed.”

  I wanted to ask why – there weren’t many things a shifter couldn’t heal from – but I’d already pried enough, and in the interest of keeping the peace, I kept my curiosity to myself this time.

  “Thank you for telling me,” I said instead, sharing a smile with him, and hoping I didn’t look as queasy as I felt. Someone had damaged his tongue beyond repair, and probably on purpose. This new world I’d been bitten into was turning out to be more fucked up by the day. I turned my attention back to Oliver, grasping for a change of subject.

  “Yes, we had trouble last year – there were three other Bittens. I had a hard time adjusting, but they fo
und it harder. Two of them escaped.”

  “After a showdown with Alpha Draeven, I hear,” Oliver said, taking another swig of his drink and watching me over the rim of the glass. I nodded, taking a sip of my own drink.

  “It was good to meet you both,” Oliver said. “We’ll see you around. Enjoy the rest of your night.”

  The pair of them took their glasses and retreated to their table.

  “What was that all about?” I asked quietly.

  “No idea,” Cam said. “But they had a lot of questions.”

  We didn’t get any further with our discussion – Jenny came over with two plates piled high with food, and the moment the scent hit my nose, all other thoughts were driven from my mind.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The food was incredible, as was the rest of our date, but eventually we left to head back to the academy – much to Jim’s relief, I suspected.

  We took our time walking back to Fur ‘n’ Fang – it was a beautiful night, and neither of us were in any hurry to get back to the busy academy. When we did reach the gates and step through the wards, I leaned into Cam and looked up into his face under the moonlight with a sigh.

  “Do we really have to go back inside?”

  “Nope,” he said, holding onto my hand and steering me away from the entrance hall. “Come on, let’s take a stroll.”

  I paused and squinted up at him.

  “Okay, spill. Did you read a book on romance?”

  “Me? I’ve always been a romantic, lass.”

  “You’ve hidden it well so far.”

  He grabbed my hands and pulled them up over my head, and tickled my side until I squealed.

  “Okay, okay!”

  “Say it,” he said.

  “You’re the most romantic shifter in the whole of Fur ‘n’ Fang.”

  “Aye, that’ll do.” He grinned, and let my hands drop, but kept hold of one of them.