Bloodwood Academy Shifter: Semester Two (Bloodwood Year One Book 2)

by Rae Foxx

  Now was not the time to worry about such things, not with psycho werewolf number one staring me down.

  Nicky stepped forward as the gorillas did, their muscled arms wrapped over their chests until they made a wall of throbbing, glaring assholes.

  Hairy gorilla assholes.

  Eww.

  “You’re kicking me out of the school?” I asked with a voice louder than I intended. “You’ve got some real fucking nerve, lady. I’m surprised they allowed you to stay here.”

  I was one step away from breaking their damn decree, I would have too, just to wipe that dumb-ass smirk from Nicky’s face.

  “Yes, now, before you choose to embarrass yourself with a further outburst, I suggest we leave.” She was dead serious.

  A hole was burning in my chest, a weird groan rumbling from both wolf and soul.

  This was really happening. Holy hell.

  Before I could say anything else, Scarlet was on her feet, chair clattering to the ground as she started yelling.

  “This is bullshit! She wasn’t attacking anyone. It’s like she said, she was defending herself from you and, from those two monsters,” she gestured toward the two muscle men, whose nostrils flared open so far I could see their nose hairs. “We had to escape after they--”

  “That’s enough!” Nicky roared, cutting her off.

  The cover-up continued.

  Between Scarlet and I, we were one step away from taking down Nicky. If we could get past the gorilla brothers anyway. I was pretty proud of Scarlet, standing up to Nicky like she was. Would have been better if she didn’t look as though she was about to blast off like a steam engine. Nicky turned to Scarlet so slowly, I could have sworn she ran out of batteries. Well, until she fixed my roommate with a look that could kill baby rabbits and stepped forward with a resonating clack of her damn shoes.

  “If you’d like to follow Ivy’s lead and exit the school, I’d be happy to call your parents, Scarlet,” she said, pulling focus now. She was as bad as Selene with her need for attention. I was starting to see how they were related. “I’m sure they’d enjoy the extra income. Doesn’t Daddy have to work two jobs so you can continue studying here?”

  The dead silence that had spread through the room was broken with full belly laughs. Scarlet went an even deeper shade of red, her face flushing as her shoulders sagging.

  So much for my awesome rubbing off on Scarlet. She was back to cowering. Damn. That bitch Nicky was going down.

  “If I were you, and I’d never be you, Scarlet, I’d keep my filthy mouth shut.”

  Scarlet made to clunk down in her chair like a child that had been put in her place, except that the chair had fallen when she stood, so instead she fell to her ass with a clatter and a chorus of laughter.

  Owen, who had been sitting two seats behind her, jumped up, standing between Scarlet and the she-wolf with a scowl I wouldn’t have expected from the kitten.

  “Now who’s abusing students,” Owen snarled, his eyes shifting into slits. “Why are you even here? Why don’t you tell everyone why you are really getting rid of Ivy?”

  The laughter died down, every eye swirling toward the werewolf, who was smiling.

  My wolf was growling, the angry canine snarling with an eager need to take Nicky down. I stepped forward, ready.

  Nicky’s eyes didn’t leave mine before she raised a finger and the buzz of questions stilled. “The next person to speak is expelled.”

  There wasn’t a peep. This is why she had so much power. They allowed it.

  “Good,” she still hadn’t looked away from me, even the gorillas were staring me down now. “Come with us, Ms. Potter. You can leave your things here seeing as they no longer belong to you.”

  She turned on her heels, everyone staring from the door to me in question.

  “See ya around, peeps,” I said, giving Scarlet a farewell salute that hurt far more than it should have and taking off out the door, slinging the bag over my shoulder. I didn’t care what she said. That shit was mine.

  Nicky was halfway down the hall, watching me be escorted toward her with that greasy smile on her face. The same one from when we had walked into her subterranean torture chamber.

  Oh god. Was I that dumb girl from a horror movie that walks into the trap? I mean, my hair might be blonde, but I had always played it smarter than that.

  ‘Excuse me, Howl,’ I whisper screamed, still not one hundred percent sure how to operate Howl and my brain meld. ‘I think I might have walked into a trap. I need your help. And Finn’s. Finn! Finn!’

  Okay, clearly, we should have figured out all of that stuff before now.

  “So, where are you kicking me out too?” I asked as I caught up to her. I was fully aware that the Gorillas were a little too close for me. Maybe I should fart in their direction and hope to take them out by smell. “Dropping me off at the gates? Taking me six feet under?”

  Nicky sneered. “One could only hope. But alas, I have much better plans for you.”

  “Such as?” Nicky only smiled at my question. Okay, so she was back to her dumb question thing. I rolled my eyes.

  “I’m not kicking you out of this school. That would be foolish. But your dorm, your allowance, even your tuition scholarship is null and void. You can stay, but you will need to stay on your own terms. Can you do that?”

  There was something about this school and about this woman that had a skill of turning my insides to solid rock. Every step felt like I was dragging the gorillas rather than being stalked by them.

  “You know I can’t.” That twisted smile of hers was liable to cut her face in half it stretched so far over her features.

  “Well, in that case, you’ll simply have to find a place to live, a way to get what you need. Oh, and tuition is due on the first of every month. That’s next week. I wouldn’t worry though, from what I’ve heard, you have some unique skills that may land you cash fast.”

  Oh, this fucking cunt. I ought to choke her with her own starched skirt. Hell, it was stiff enough that I could choke her with it if I wanted.

  “Fine.” I snarled as we reached the beautiful wooden door that had once been a sign of home, the thing swinging open like the traitor it was to reveal the mess that was Scarlet and my room.

  Just Scarlet’s now.

  “Get your personal things. My men will pack up the rest.”

  The two guards grunted like the beasts they were. That was all the warning I needed to send me hurling into the room, grabbing anything I could deem as a ‘personal item’, which I was sure meant the stuff I came here with.

  Pulling the tattered suitcase out from under my bed, I filled it full of a few things and slipped in the leather-bound book about harems, basically about me, covering the thing with a selection of bright red bras.

  Fitting.

  ‘Howl, can you hear me? I’m kind of in need of your assistance.’ Assistance? God, I was talking to him like he was some telephone operator I was trying to sweet talk to get the power turned back on.

  I froze, slowly straightening. The reality of how similar those situations felt was like a jackhammer playing chopsticks on my spine.

  I guess I still had my skill. Good, seeing I was headed right back there.

  I zipped up my suitcase and faced the smiling she-devil who had been staring at me the whole time. Or so I thought. She was looking at the letter from the Alpha.

  I guess I dodged that bullet if I was getting kicked out of here.

  “What do we have here? Oh, Pater failed to mention this to me.” She skimmed the thing, before shaking it before me, like she thought I was going to swat at it like a cat. “Well, I have been busy. I can’t wait to see you at the challenge if you make it.”

  The gorillas chuckled and gave each other a fist bump like the meatheads they were. Well, if there was one thing I wouldn’t miss, it was getting my head beat in by those hairy assholes.

  Again with the gorilla assholes. I needed to scrub my brain with bleach.

  I
rolled my eyes and took a step toward the door, only to be stopped by Nicky’s flat hand.

  “Not so fast, the uniform is property of the school. Hand it to me.” Her teeth were flashing in the light so brightly that I was sure they were coated in poison.

  “Right now? You do realize I threw away most of my clothes, right? You want me walking around this joint in my underwear?”

  “Uniform.” She shook her hand at me expectantly.

  Truth be told, I hadn’t gotten rid of my clothes. I had expected her to bail, but no, bitch called my bluff. Well, I would have to call hers.

  I dropped my stuff and stripped myself down to the red bra and black panties I had picked that morning, suddenly very glad I had saved the thong for later.

  I threw the fabric at her and blasted my way out of the room, the cold air of the hall feeling ominous like welcome back to the hell I was destined for.

  ‘Especially considering I couldn’t get Howl to respond!’

  “Come on, I have new students coming in who would love this room after it’s been properly cleaned and... disinfected.”

  The Gorillas piled three trash bags in the hallway and Nicky took my key from me, locking the door behind us with far too much flourish.

  She clearly knew how to be a bitch. Hard.

  “Well, good luck. Maybe we will see you tomorrow. If not enjoy your journey out of my school.”

  She smiled and waved as the bell rang, leaving me with her goons, in my underwear, as the halls filled with students.

  Guess I should have ripped her face off.

  Chapter 3

  One hallway down and I was already pulling focus so bad that one of the older male students had plowed his way headfirst into a wall. I had a feeling that it wasn’t because of the gorillas behind me either.

  If I was going to be forced to walk down the hallways in my underwear, I was going to do it as confidently as I could. Tits out, tail wagging. Howl’s bite mark gleaming red on my hip.

  Good thing even my wolf was enjoying the attention.

  Whistles, catcalls, and female sneers followed me down the halls. As much as I wanted to flip them all off, my hands were full of tattered bags and garbage sacks. The gorillas couldn’t be bothered to help.

  I was sure the noise was enough to alert Scarlet and even Howl to my whereabouts, but I couldn’t even smell them now. When I tried to divert my walk of fame towards the economics hall, the gorillas turned themselves into a wall and forced me the other way.

  ‘Yo! Dog bastard! Get your tail over here!’ For a split second, I wondered if they had also been punished by Nicky, but she’d said nothing to Howl in class.

  My head was as empty as my heart as we reached the front door. The gorillas opened it, glaring at me as I walked past them.

  “Enjoy sleeping in the woods. I hear there are some caves not far from here if you want to check them out,” one of the gorilla brothers said. The two of them were laughing as they pulled the door shut and left me alone.

  In my underwear.

  Holding my entire life.

  Still, it was somehow better than a fate with Tommy, who I swear I could smell around me right then. Or rather, the smell of his cigarettes, like I needed the reminder of what I was heading back into.

  “Unless one of my bastard mates get their sexy asses over here,” I growled a bit too loudly into the stone steps I was now dragging my stuff down, bags and suitcases clunking along depressingly.

  “Finn!’ I know you can hear me,” I continued as I dragged my things toward the forest, the towering trees feeling as good as anything else right then.

  I continued to yell for Finn like a crazy person while mentally screaming for Howl, all while wishing Saxon and I had some magical way to communicate as well.

  Maybe he did. I didn’t know. He had one thing going for him, a secret underground Keep that I was guaranteed to find him.

  I had no idea where Finn hid, there was no way I was going to Howl’s house, so Saxon’s it was.

  Not that I needed him to save me. I could save myself. I could sleep in the trees if I needed to. I just didn’t want to.

  It took me almost an hour to even find that damn door that was cut into the side of the school. You would think that since it was part of the school it would take no time, but no. By the time I found it I had enough sweat running down my back that I had a feeling my panties were going to need to be peeled off. I even had leaves sticking out of my bra.

  It was a good look, which is why I busted my way through the iron door like I owned the place.

  More than a few of the vamps skittered with my arrival, racing forward to slam the door shut and lock me in the dark.

  Shit. I really did not think this through.

  Hissing and snarling were suddenly everywhere, that icy darkness seeping through my bones.

  “Food has come to us.”

  “Blood drips from her already. I can smell it.”

  Gross. So, I went from being terrified of the vampires to breaking my way into their underground cavern when I was about ready to start my period.

  Smart Ivy. God, I’m an idiot.

  “Not food!” I called, well aware that my voice was shaking. “I’m here to see Saxon.” The hisses picked up. This time they sounded more scared than aroused. “I’m his food.”

  My stomach flipped eagerly, thinking of his teeth biting into me bringing more wetness to my panties.

  “Ivy?” I recognized that voice, my eyes started to adjust to the dim foyer enough that I could see him cut through the crowd to reach me.

  Yep. Crowd.

  I guess I smelled appealing.

  “Saxon?” I called out, dropping the bags like they were dead bodies. They clunked as loudly and a few vamps looked at them with interest.

  “Ivy? Are you okay?” He was next to me in a second, moving so fast he was a blur. He wasted no time pressing his lips to mine, looking me over in a panic, his nostrils flaring.

  God, I must reek of blood.

  He turned my arm over carefully, revealing a few small gashes on my forearm. Geeze, I had a worse trip through the forest than I thought.

  Saxon leaned down, quickly licking away the blood the touch of his tongue against my skin igniting my cells. The sound of his moan as he tasted me was enough to have me push him against a wall and have my way with him.

  You know, if I didn’t have bigger problems.

  “Why are you here? Not that I mind,” he said, lifting his eyes to mine before shooing away the lingering vampires who’d clearly been hoping for a taste.

  “Fucking Nicky kicked me out of Bloodwood Academy,” I said, my chest tightening in a vice. God, saying it aloud struck me so much harder than I was expecting.

  “What?” His hand tightened around my wrist in concern and comfort, but I tightened my jaw, refusing to let Nicky’s mind games get the better of me. “She dragged me out of class, barged into my room and made me throw my shit into bags. I couldn’t get ahold of Howl on my brain phone and Finn wasn’t answering me, so I came here.”

  “I am glad you did, my rose,” Saxon leaned his forehead against mine. His face contorted in anger as he let out a growl. “We will figure this out. I will call for the boys. Now come, before these scavengers get other ideas.”

  Saxon swept up my bags as though they were nothing, his hand on my lower back as he led me through the icy hallways toward his Keep.

  I had barely been able to keep myself warm the last time I was in these halls. That time I had been fully clothed and carried by a super warm werewolf. Wandering nearly in the buff, guided by the cold hand of my vampire mate, I was confident that I was going to be an ice cube by the time we got there.

  Luckily, when the door swung open, the fire was lit. I rushed over there, ignoring the fact that there was another vampire in the room, his hungry eyes already following me.

  “Avel,” Saxon said to the other vampire, before branching off in another language I had no hope of understanding. In fact, the on
ly thing I did understand was ‘Howl’ and ‘Finn’ before the guy responded and took off.

  Guess he was delivering the message.

  “Ivy,” Saxon said once the door had closed, “why are you only wearing your underwear?”

  I sighed and looked down before turning around and flaring my hands toward the fire.

  “What’s the point of getting kicked out of school if a heavy dose of humiliation can’t go with it?”

  Saxon’s growl of anger was loud in my ear. I hadn’t realized he was so close to me. Note to self: vampires were clearly fast.

  “I will make her pay for what she has done,” Saxon said, his cold breath drifting over my skin.

  “It didn’t bother me,” I lied, shivering as his fingers traced the straps on my bra, along the thin lines of bone and skin over my back.

  “You are covered in scratches,” his voice shook, desire and hunger filling the air and I shivered.

  “Am I…” I had no clue what I was trying to say there.

  My entire world had been turned upside down and Saxon was making it all go away. I was comforted, yet fully aware how wet he was making me.

  Aware he could smell it.

  “You are.” His finger traveled down and pulled at the line of my black lace underwear. “You are bleeding, too… red blood is dripping--” he inhaled.

  “My rose,” he whispered, his hands moving to wind around my abdomen, trailing over my ribs pulling at the underwire on my bra. “I would like to feed from you,” he took a shaky inhale, “I need to feed from you. I can’t restrain myself,” after another breath, he was clearly having trouble controlling himself, which was fine. I wasn’t doing much better.

  The erotic whisper of his voice, the touch of his hands against flesh, his tongue darting out to pluck the droplets of blood from my shoulders.

  Oh god, my belly was swollen with need and all that damp lust had turned into a flood.

  “Let me feed from you while we wait for the boys. I would like to make you feel things. May I?” I nodded like a bobblehead.

  And my jaw was hanging open. He didn’t care. He swept me up, carrying me to the nearest of the oversized couches in his Keep, the backrest shaped like an inverted ‘s’. I had avoided this one last time because it didn’t seem a place to sleep, let alone fuck. As he laid me on it now, I instantly understood the appeal. With my back arched over the back of the couch, my breasts were displayed to the ceiling, my neck spread and opened to him, as were my legs.