by Kim Faulks
There was no draining energy of the waning moon here.
No manic, consuming power of the full.
Only the peace and serenity of those three perfect days where everything floated to the bottom...and turned dark once more. Nero tugged his hand from mine as I slowed at the doorway. But I gripped him tight, dragging him into the room as the Alpha turned from the blacked out windows.
Judas’ dark brown eyes met mine. But this time there was no spark of excitement, no curl of his lips. There was nothing but cold, stony pain.
“Judas…” I started.
The Alpha turned his back on us, cutting my words off.
The act hurt, more than I ever expected. I swallowed hard, trying to find my voice and glanced to Bond who lounged on a sofa in the corner. He watched me, and then glanced to Judas and back to me, like he was hopeful. We were all hopeful.
“It was my fault.” I found the strength to take a step closer. “If you want someone to blame, then that’s me. I could’ve said no. I could’ve pushed him away. But I didn’t.”
“No, you didn’t. You did the one thing I said we were against. But this was not your doing, was it?”
Nero tugged his hand from mine, and this time I let him go. “No, it’s mine.”
“Pack rules,” the Alpha sneered without turning his head.
I caught Nero’s face turn ashen. “You want me out?”
I shook my head. No. This wasn’t right. “No, Hell no. This is not happening. Not over...over a goddamn kiss.”
Judas just gave a shrug, and this time he turned to meet my gaze. “I told you this was how it’s going to be...it’s all of us, or none of us.”
And he could just do that? Cast Nero out? God he was cold...cold and hard and fuck me, gorgeous. He never bowed, never yielded, did he? He just stood there looking relaxed and angry and pissed all in one. Messy curls pushed back from his face, letting me see every flare of dominance in his eyes. Letting me know just where I stood.
Heat flared, surging through my body, and unlike the dirty gross feeling from my dreams, this desire, I wanted. “You want me to choose right?”
There was a twitch at the corner of his eye.
“You want me to be all in or nothing. And then will you forgive Nero? Then can we move on, and get back to where we were.”
He just shook his head. “We can never get back to where we were, Morwenna.” He took a slow step closer, muscles ripping underneath his academy uniform. Brown eyes shone with a silver glare as he strode toward the moon in the center of the room. “I’m not interested in being played, nor is Bond. We can start from here, but I’m letting you understand, I want more.”
I tried to breathe, tried to catch my thoughts. “More, more than what? More than being my friend?”
He just gave a shrug. “It’s all or nothing, you choose.”
“And how is that fair?” I cut Bond a glare. “And you want this as well?”
The Shifter just pushed from the sofa and strode toward Judas’ side. “We’ve been telling you this all along. We like you, Mor. We like you very much, and yeah, Judas speaks for me.”
He wants me to kiss them? All of them?
Voices crowded in from the hallway. Student. Teachers. All out there...they could walk in at any moment. Judas just crossed his arms...waiting. He was going to make me submit like one of his betas...heat flared through my cheeks at the thought. I couldn’t catch my breath. Couldn’t stop this quake carving through my body.
I swallowed hard, tried to find the steel in my spine and took a step closer. He tried so hard not to react. But I saw his eyes widen. I caught the rise in his chest. I listened to the thunder of his heart...racing.
He thought he was in control. He thought he was the only Alpha in the room.
He thought wrong.
He lowered his arms as I stepped close, the peaks of my breasts grazing his chest. “Is this what you want?” I reached up and speared my fingers through his hair.
His lips parted, sparks ignited in his eyes.
“Is this really what you want? You want me to beg?”
I clenched my hold tighter, yanking on his hair just hard enough to jerk his head.
“Yes,” the husky word filled the space between us.
I rose onto my toes and brushed my lips across his. “Yes, what?”
His pulse spiked, body trembled against mine. “Please,” he murmured.
A smile curled the corners of my mouth as I drove his mouth against mine, taking his breath...taking everything. Desire coursed through me, welling between my thighs. I kissed him until my lips burned, reaching out to pull him harder against me.
Hard muscles quivered and shook as he gripped my waist, driving his hips against mine.
And in a heartbeat I tore my lips from his, and then turned to Bond. “This what you want too?”
He just nodded, unable to speak a word. I reached out, grasped the front of his school shirt and dragged him closer. “What do you say?”
“P-please,” he tripped over his words and stuttered. “K-kiss me.”
“That’s a good boy.” I dragged him closer.
He was harder, hungrier, taking everything I had to give. Heavy hands slid around my waist and then slipped to the curve of my ass. Bond held me tight against him. Still I could feel the others in the room, and the pungent smell of a Wolf’s desire followed.
I drew the scent in, until it flooded my lungs, and then I pulled away. Red lips, needy eyes. Bond leaned into me, his hand clenching around my ass as I let go of his shirt. Instead I gently pushed him away and turned to Judas. “We good now?”
The look of bewilderment in the Alpha…
I just smiled and caught Nero’s smile. I gave him a wink. “So glad we got that figured out.” Then I strode from the room.
“What the Hell was that?” I heard Bond murmur as I strode through the door.
“You sure showed her, Alpha,” Nero chuckled. “You are definitely the Alpha where she’s concerned...not.”
“Boys,” Judas gave a sigh. “I think I just got played.”
Chapter Thirteen
Fight. Fight. Fight!
Holy shit! When had I turned into Ms. Dominatrix? I’d taken charge of three Wolves, one of them an Alpha, and now I burned up on the inside as the truth of what I’d done sliced through me. I’d trembled so hard when Nero first kissed me, and now… Look at me go. Ava would be proud.
With everything going on, I’d wanted stability… needed my Wolves by my side through whatever the hell was going on with me. So yeah, turned out I was a tiny bit dominating. Who would have thought? But it felt amazing.
Despite the confusion and seriousness of the diamonds, my dream, and even the dead Vamp in the tunnels, I smiled. Maybe something might go right for me.
I was fiddling with my shirt that had ridden up—naturally none of the Wolves had told me—when someone walked past me so close their shoulder knocked into mine.
I tottered backward, jerking my head up.
Nesrin sneered in my face before storming past. I should have said something back, showed her my strong side, but my words failed me when her two minions snarled, throwing me so much hatred someone might think I was a demon with horns. When in fact, they’d tried to kill me by stealing my ring. Who were the real monsters here?
I raked a hand through my hair, just in case I’d sprouted horns. Nope, just plain old me.
Shaking off the uncertainty, I pressed on down the hallway to my next class located in the gymnasium. Etiquette. I grimaced, picturing myself walking with a straight spine with books on my head. I wouldn’t put anything past this school.
A short, sharp pain struck in the center of my chest and I rubbed it with a fist. What in the world had that dream been about? But I struggled to believe it was just that—a dream. They’d started with the diamonds, and it was funny coincidence that Mr. Leathers himself was new to the school too.
As I walked past his classroom, I stopped, picturing his intrusio
n, and fury bubbled in my chest like a cauldron. So, I backpedaled, then peered through the tiny window in the door. He was collecting a bundle of papers from his desk and neatly tucking them into a black satchel.
Before I could gather my thoughts, I thumped the door open with a palm and marched into the room, fire swallowing my insides.
Mr. Leathers looked up, surprise on his face quickly morphing into a smile.
“Hello.”
“Stop coming into my dreams,” I snapped.
Stiffening, his eyes widened incredulously. “Pardon me?”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t pretend you don’t know. Just tell me why. What do you honestly hope to achieve?”
He flicked hair out of his eyes, shut his satchel in slow motion, before rounding the table and sitting on the edge, his legs crossed at the ankles, arms folded over his chest. “Morwenna, I have no idea what you’re talking about. But I think you’d better tell me what’s going on.”
Why was he acting so...so fucking nauseating? I was fuming, gritting my teeth. “You keep coming into my dreams.”
His eye cocked as if he held back a laugh.
“I’m not fantasizing about you, okay. This is something else, something damn serious, and you keep appearing. T-touching me. Then last night you became a female and jammed something into my chest.” Hell, when I said it out loud, it sounded like a damn fantasy.
I gripped my hips and waited for him to explain himself.
He ran a hand over his mouth. “Morwenna, I give you my word I’ve not bewitched you or your dreams. I’d never disrespect you in such a way, or your father.”
And that right there was the reason I knew he spoke the truth. Daddy Dearest terrified most… in particular other Vamps. Plus, there was something sincere in Mr. Leathers’ voice, his expression made me believe him. So, I wanted to believe him, told myself he was being honest.
So, if it wasn’t him, why would someone impersonate him and want me to believe he was involved. Or was I just imagining the whole thing and having weird-ass dreams because the diamonds were affecting me? I’d been marked, Dad said.
Speaking of Dad. I thought by now I’d be raked over the coals, or grounded for the next five years at least after venturing into the tunnels. Maybe Chuck didn’t tell him about the body?
I yanked my phone free from my pocket as an ache cut across my chest.
“You okay?” he asked.
I took a step backwards, rubbing the spot and winced. “Yeah, just…” I couldn’t find the words and shook my head. “Got to go.”
My message to Chuck hadn’t sent. It still sat there with the red letters. Failed to send. “Ugh! Can this shit get any more complicated?”
But Mr. Leathers moved fast, the air shifted, blowing through my hair, and he now stood in front of the door, pulling it open for me.
“At our next session we’ll talk about the power of dreams.”
Yep, I spoke to fucking soon. Complicated was becoming my new best friend.
I nodded and shoved my phone into my pocket once more. I’d try to message Chuck again later. First I needed to get out of this embarrassing damn situation and stormed out into the hall and hurried toward the gymnasium.
Stupid. So stupid. Now he’d assume I had a crush on him.
With fast steps, I entered the gym where I found everyone standing in a double column, boys on one side and girls on the other, facing each other.
Ms. Whitecotton frowned in my direction. “Nice of you to finally join us. Hurry up and join your classmates.”
If they were giving out year awards, Ms. Whitecotton would receive, Most Likely Teacher To Kill You With Her Stare!
“She’s always late,” Brylee snarled, standing halfway down the line.
I rushed forward and squeezed in next to Ava, who’d waved me over. Bond stood across from us, winking, his blond hair shaggy around his strong face. I was totally smitten with all three of the guys, though there was no sign of Nero or Judas in class though.
A loud clap had me flinching and I turned to find Ms. Whitecotton at the end of the two lines, holding an armful of masks. She handed them out, starting with the guys. They put them on, and each resembled a wolf’s face. Bond stared at me, his head lowering, his shoulders rising in a wolf attack posture, studying me like prey. Was that how he saw me? Was he thinking of our kiss back in the moon room because I sure was, my lips tingling at the memory, not to mention his hand on my ass. A zip of excitement raced down my spine, and all I could think about was being pressed up against him again.
Ms. Whitecotton cleared her throat and shoved a mask into my hands before moving on. Ava jabbed me in the ribs with her elbow.
“Stop drooling over him in public,” she whispered.
I glanced around but only the cat gang stared at me with daggers in their eyes. What was their problem?
“Everyone put your masks on.”
I stared down at mine. A deer. All the girls were innocent deer, while all the guys were predatory Wolves. Yeah, I could see where this was going.
“Most dances are steeped in tradition to appease the gods, whether it’s a ritual to beg for rain for your crops, or to ensure a bountiful hunt, everything had a dance. As is customary at Bestias Academy, the Black and White Ball will include the Horn Dance.”
Everyone broke into chatter and laughter; when the teacher blew a whistle, the sound deafening. I cringed and covered my ears.
“Silence,” she bellowed. “The Horn Dance is about mimicking a hunt in the wild. Boys and girls will take five steps toward each other, then pass one another, shoulders brushing, then another five steps. Turn and repeat five times. Then the hunt begins and you will spread out in a circle, the Wolves chasing the deer round and round, and every third step must be a skip. Are you ready?”
Okay, didn’t sound too hard.
“What are we doing first?” Ava nudged me as she was staring down at her phone, messaging someone while hiding behind me from the teacher. I tried to look at her screen and could have sworn I’d caught Chuck’s name, but she shut it off and stuffed the phone into the back pocket of her school tailored pants.
Ms. Whitecotton blew her whistle again and I flinched. She hit a button on her phone and a folklore tune boomed from the speakers. Our line moved forward.
I fumbled with my mask and slipped it over my head, walking to catch up with everyone. Bond brushed past me, our shoulders grazing, his hand finding my ass. I gasped and coiled around to hear him laughing as he walked away. We spun and faced each other once again. We continued, back and forth, each time we passed, he pinched me, slapped me lightly, lifted his mask and blew me a kiss. I buzzed all over with excitement. A girl could so get used to this kind of dance. Ava was next to me making gagging sounds, but I bet she’d be all over Chuck if he was part of the dance.
Suddenly the music picked up in tempo, and the teacher blew her damn whistle. “In a circle, quickly. The wolves are hunting. Go!”
We all spread out into a wide circle, moving clockwise, and goddamn skipping. I was convinced if I were a deer running from a wolf, skipping wouldn’t be involved.
Ava was ahead of me, giggling, enjoying herself. Across the circle was Bond, his eyes on me.
“Faster!” Ms. Whitecotton yelled and the tune sped up. She pumped up the volume.
Hell, was she insane? But everyone moved faster. One step. Two. Skip.
Quicker.
The music was like coffee injected right into my veins. I sweated, and yet we kept moving. I wasn’t made for running from prey. Vamps were the hunters, Dad would say. Anger roared through me, or was it the desperate need to run, to escape danger right on my heels? Whatever it was, I was ready to go hunting.
“Faster!”
Fuck.
Someone kicked my feet out from under me and shoved a fist into my lower back.
I cried out, tripping over, and collected Ava with me on the way down. We both slapped the floorboards hard, gasping for air, sweating.
A l
oud cackle pierced the never ending drumbeat song. And I knew exactly who it belonged to.
My adrenaline was soaring, and I scrambled to my feet and swung around.
But I stopped, eyes widened. It wasn’t who I expected.
No pause. Brylee lunged for me, a snarl curling in her throat. Pure fury flooded her eyes. So much hate when I’d never done anything to her. But I was sick of them pushing and pushing. It was time for me to push back.
I charged and met her aggression, both of us colliding and falling to the ground. Punches, kicks, claws raking down the side of my face.
An explosion of screams burst around us, coupled with the chant, “Fight, fight, fight.”
A swift hit to my gut and the pain jolted through my body. Brylee pulled away.
I rushed off the ground and hopped onto her back, an arm looped around her throat.
She scratched at my arm, pulling my hair, struggling against me.
I bit back the pain of her nails in my skin.
The teacher was yelling, the music blaring, and Ava had jumped into the action, laying a loud slap across Brylee’s cheek.
Everyone ooed and ahhed while Nesrin darted toward Ava, claws extended.
Except Ms. Whitecotton was there, blaring her fucking whistle in our faces, pulling on my arm and Nesrin’s who had Ava in a headlock.
But I wasn’t letting go of this bitch, I was tired of their attacks and insults.
Bond was at my back in seconds, his hands seizing my waist, prying me off Brylee. Trying to anyway, because I clung to her, my legs wrapped around her like an octopus.
“Enough!” the teacher yelled, then proceeded to call someone on her phone. But the masses were cheering, and we fought without power but with our hands and pure animalistic fury.
“Bitch!” Brylee hissed, her claws digging into my arms’ flesh.
In a heartbeat, the light and music died, throwing us into a darkened gymnasium.