by Jayme Morse
“It hasn’t been easy.” I swallowed hard, not wanting to discuss my parents any more than that. I could already feel the tears brewing. “So, what Houses do you think you’ll be sorted into?”
“Both of my parents were Lupines,” Krista answered.
“My mom was a Lupine, and my dad was a Descendant,” Jackie said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “So, I guess I have a fifty percent chance of being sorted into either of the two Houses.”
Krista glanced over at me. “You’ll be a Descendant. Obviously.”
“Why is that obvious?” I asked with raised eyebrows.
“You’re Raven Gallagher.” She said that like it should have meant something to me.
Krista raised an eyebrow. Her chocolate brown eyes searched my face.
Were my parents really that powerful that everyone seemed to know who they were? What had they been capable of? How had they been so strong and I’d never even known it?
At that moment, I heard a clanking sound. I glanced up to find Headmaster Black at the center of the room.
“Good evening. I’d like to officially welcome our incoming freshman to Werewolf Academy. The reason you’re all here is because you were either invited or you’ve gone through our application process and have been accepted. Either way, it has been determined that you would be a good fit for our school. Each year at Werewolf Academy, we break our students into four houses: the Lupines, the Descendants, the Marked, and the Crescents. Chances are, you probably already have a good idea of which House you will be sorted into. Nonetheless, there are always a few surprises.” Headmaster Black’s eyes met mine from across the room for a split second.
“Before we begin, I would like to take a moment to introduce all of our professors.” He glanced over at the table where the professors were sitting. “When I call each of your names, you may rise.” He began calling off their names, one by one, and they rose. “Professor Rhys Anderson… Professor Colton James… Professor Aiden Flores… Professor Theo Rossi.”
I couldn’t help but notice that as each and every single one of them rose to their feet, girls whistled and yelled throughout the room.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who was attracted to the Darken pack.
He read the name of the next professor, this time a young woman who didn’t look like she was much older than me with long auburn hair. Everything about her was beautiful, from her ivory skin to her curvy body. She looked like she should have been in Hollywood, not at Werewolf Academy.
“Professor Caroline Wickburn.”
She stood up and gave a small wave to the audience.
“Professor Mindi Lee.”
A short Asian woman with silky, jet black hair stood up. She looked only a few years older than me, too, but what stood out to me the most was that nothing about her looked even remotely werewolfish. She wasn’t muscular like the others; she was slender.
“Professor Javier Rodriguez,” Headmaster Black read off, and a tall guy with deeply tanned skin, short black hair, and a muscular body rose to his feet. He waved at the audience, and the girls went crazy over him again, the same way they had with the Darken pack.
“And last, but certainly not least, Professor Kesha Washington.” A tall woman with dark skin and chin-length black hair rose to her feet and waved.
“Now that the introductions have been made, let’s move on to the Sorting. The process works like this: after your name is called, you will come up here, and our witch, Gloria—” He motioned to a short woman with a long braid she wore to the side, who was standing in front of a cauldron—“will take a piece of your hair and mix it with a potion. One of the four House mascots will appear, letting us know which house you belong in.”
“So, we will begin calling the names, in random order,” Headmaster Black went on as he moved to the center of the room. “Agatha Daniels.”
A short girl with frizzy red hair walked to the front of the room. She stood in front of Gloria, who used a pair of scissors to cut off a single strand of hair. She tossed it into the cauldron, which began to bubble as soon as the hair touched the potion inside.
A moment later, a smoky fog appeared above the cauldron, and a coat of arms with a gray wolf and the letter “L” appeared.
“Lupines!” Headmaster Black said, and everyone in the room began to clap.
Agatha walked back to her seat, as the Headmaster read the next name. “Charles Smith.”
“It’s Chuck,” a strong-looking guy with a buzz cut said as he walked towards the front of the room. He stood before Gloria, who did the same thing: she cut off a single strand of hair and then tossed it into the cauldron.
The fog appeared, this time featuring a coat of arms with a set of fangs and the letter “M”.
“Marked!” Headmaster Black announced. “Brian Lucas.”
Brian, a tall, gangly guy with short blonde hair, walked to the front of the room.
The witch did her thing, and a coat of arms with a crescent moon appeared in the air.
Wow, so he had been sorted into the Crescents. I wasn’t going to lie. I was sort of surprised. He wasn’t someone who I would have pegged as ‘bad’ based on his appearance, but as they say, looks can be deceiving.
“Crescents!” The Headmaster glanced down at his clipboard. “Jackie Watkins.”
Jackie shot me a nervous look as she stood from our table to be sorted.
After the witch had performed the ritual, a purple “D” on a golden coat of arms appeared.
“Descendant!” Headmaster Black said with a smile. “Congratulations, Jackie.”
Okay, so apparently, the Descendants were the superior class—the House that you most wanted to be in. The House that I apparently would be in, according to Jackie, Krista, and Theo.
Not that I had ever really cared all that much about popularity, class, or status, if we were being honest. But being at a new school—a school that was full of werewolves, no less—kind of made me want to be one of the chosen ones. If it meant being treated like first class royalty, why not?
The Headmaster continued to draw students from the crowd, sorting them into their chosen Houses.
Finally, he called out, “Raven Gallagher.”
It must have been my parents’ allegedly notoriety in the werewolf world that had all eyes on me as I rose to my feet, but I could have sworn that every person—err, wolf—in the room was staring at me, more than they had stared at anyone else who had been called before me.
Nervously, I walked to the front of the room and stood in front of the witch.
I heard the clip of the scissors, even though she had only cut off a single strand of hair.
Then I heard the bubbles begin after she dropped my hair into her cauldron.
“Hmm. This has never happened before,” Headmaster Black commented.
I glanced over my shoulder to see what had appeared above the cauldron and frowned.
The Descendants’ coat of arms was hanging above the cauldron, but that wasn’t all. Right below it, there was a second coat of arms, this one belonging to the Crescents.
I glanced over at Headmaster Black. “What does this mean?”
“It seems that you have been sorted into not just one but two Houses.”
I swallowed hard, realizing what all of this meant.
I was a bad wolf.
Chapter Five
Headmaster Black had asked me to meet with him after the Sorting Ceremony ended to talk about my situation.
The rest of the Sorting Ceremony dragged on while I impatiently waited for it to end. I was a bad wolf. What would this mean for me—for my future? As soon as the ceremony was over, I headed over to where he was standing at the front of the room.
I caught Theo’s eyes. I couldn’t seem to make out what he was thinking or feeling about all of this, but I couldn’t help but think he looked a little worried.
Honestly? I was pretty sure all of the Darken were just as surprised as I was by this turn of events. There was som
ething about the way they looked at me, with almost caution behind their eyes and smiles.
Of course they were surprised. Who would have thought I would end up being a big bad wolf? I sure hadn’t. I’d always thought I was more like the Little Red Riding Hood of this scenario. I was too innocent to be a bad wolf.
I sat there sulking a little bit, to be honest, while I waited for the room to clear.
Once everyone else had left the room, Headmaster Black turned to me. “Raven. Thank you for meeting with me. Again. You’re probably getting sick of seeing my face.”
I let out a little laugh while my stomach did a little flip flop. I was scared to find out what would come of this meeting.
“As I mentioned to you previously, we’ve never had a student who was Sorted into two Houses. This changes things a little for you, academically.”
“Changes things how?” I asked.
“I want you to have a mixture of classes from both the Descendants and the Crescents,” he explained. “It also complicates your living situation a little bit. I’m not quite sure where to place you. While I would love for you to have a roommate, it’s a bit of a risk. I don’t want to expose you to a wolf from the Crescents and be influenced by them negatively. However, since you have technically been sorted into the Crescents, I also don’t want you to have a roommate from the Descendants, whom you could end up being the bad influence on.” He touched his chin for a moment as he thought about it.
Me? A bad influence? Ha. When had I ever done anything that bad? I was a good girl.
“I think the only option is to give you one of our private living quarters.”
“Private living quarters?” I asked with raised eyebrows.
“They’re usually reserved for the most powerful wolves—which you very well may turn out to be,” he commented. “So, I suppose this arrangement does suit you.” He paused. “Our private living quarters are located in the penthouse in the Lupines’ building. Theo or one of the other Darken could show you how to find it.” He paused. “Your schedule will be delivered to your room first thing in the morning.”
Having my own room was probably going to end up being a little lonely, but it wasn’t the worst situation to be in.
“Okay, great. Thank you. I should probably go find Theo or one of the others,” I said as I walked away from him then.
Truthfully? I just wanted to go to sleep. This had been one hell of a day. It was all so much to take in.
Not only was I a werewolf whose parents had been murdered, but I was a bad werewolf, at that.
***
“So, this is the penthouse,” Theo said as he used a key to open the door and flicked on a light.
As I peered inside the room, my breath caught inside my throat. It was absolutely stunning. There were windows overlooking the forest below. It was dark out, but I could see the shimmery stars in the distance.
In the living room, there were two large, gray sofas and a matching recliner, which were arranged around a gorgeous light gray and aqua rug at the center of the room. There was a TV hanging on the wall above a white fireplace.
Beyond that, there was a kitchen with beautiful granite countertops, gray cabinets, and stainless-steel appliances.
There was a spiral staircase in one corner of the room. Theo followed my gaze. “Those stairs lead up to the bedrooms and bathroom.”
“Bedrooms? I thought this was supposed to be private living quarters,” I commented.
“Yes, well, they assume that you’ll be hosting tons of parties with a place like this,” Theo explained.
“Pft. Well, they clearly don’t know me.”
As his eyes fell on me questioningly, I explained, “I don’t have parties.”
“So, are you saying you wouldn’t let me and the guys come over for a party sometime?” Theo asked, his blue eyes remaining on mine.
“Does five people count as a party?” I asked.
“It counts as whatever you want it to count as. I can always just come alone, if you’d prefer,” he murmured, moving closer to me.
Before I even knew what was happening or who had initiated it, we were kissing. Our tongues were swirling around together, and I let a little moan escape my lips.
Theo lifted me into the air with ease, and I wrapped my arms around his neck as I deepened the kiss.
He placed me onto the countertop and began to kiss my neck at first before moving his mouth downwards.
Soon enough, he was pulling my bra off and licking his way down my breasts until he hit my nipples.
“Oh, god,” I whispered, arching my back at his tongue swirled around one. I had never felt anything like his touch before.
What was I thinking?
I shouldn’t have been doing this. We were practically strangers. But I was still attracted as fuck to him…
Theo pulled away from me then and met my gaze, his intense blue eyes piercing through mine.
“I wasn’t saying I want to stop,” I said softly.
“It’s okay. I don’t want to pressure you into something you may regret later.” Before I had the chance to respond, he brought his mouth down on mine again.
I wrapped my legs around his waist, trying to pull him back in closer to me, but he wouldn’t budge.
I wanted him. I wanted him bad. I was getting warm and wet in all of the right places.
When he broke away from the kiss, we were both breathless.
His eyes locked on mine. “When you’re ready, you’re all mine, Raven Gallagher.”
Chapter Six
The next morning, I was just pulling on my shoes when I heard a knock at the door. I ran over to it to open it, secretly hoping that it was Theo. I was a little disappointed to find that it was just a white envelope with my name on it on the other side of the door.
I ripped the envelope open and found my schedule inside. I was so curious to find out what my classes were. What did werewolves even study? And more importantly, which professors did I have? I was hoping I would have Theo for at least one class.
8 a.m. – The Art of Shifting with Professor Rhys Anderson (Descendants Room 101)
9 a.m. – The History of Werewolves with Professor Aiden Flores (Descendants Room 102)
10 a.m. – Taming Your Dark Wolf with Professor Theo Rossi (Crescents Room 101)
11 a.m. – Weaponry with Professor Colton James (Crescents Room 105)
12 p.m. – Lunch
1 p.m. – Lunar Magic 101 with Professor Mindi Lee (Descendants (Room 103)
2 p.m. – Werewolves and Dark Magic with Professor Caroline Wickburn (Crescents Room 104)
I frowned.
I was surprised Theo was teaching one of my classes in the Crescents’ House. For some reason, I had assumed that he only taught Descendants’ classes. It almost made me wonder one thing.
What had each of the guys’ houses been when they were students? Was it possible that Theo had been a Crescent? It would have surprised me if he had been, but it also surprised me that I was one, so that didn’t say much. Truthfully, nothing should have surprised me anymore.
But it did make me wonder if I could really trust him. Then again, someone could have just as easily have wondered the same thing about me.
Then again, how did I know if I really could be trusted? Was it possible that I had been Sorted into the Crescents’ House for a reason? What if I really was bad? Maybe I belonged there.
I wondered how it was even determined from a single strand of hair that someone was potentially a bad wolf. And how had I ended up in two Houses?
It made me wonder if it was somewhere in my DNA that there was a chance that I may have been good or bad. Maybe there was still a chance for me to get rid of the bad part…or maybe it wasn’t really even there. Maybe it was just a possibility that I could’ve ended up being bad.
I sighed. It was way too early for me to be thinking about any of this. I needed to get to the Dining Hall for breakfast. The pantry here was stocked with plenty of food, but I was feeling
social. I wanted friends. Sure, I had the Darken pack, but it wasn’t the same.
The thought of making new friends made me miss Maddie. I wondered if she missed me. And my Uncle Ryan. They both probably thought I had just run away or, even worse, that something bad had happened to me. I knew that I should probably write them a letter letting them know that I was alright.
I couldn’t help but wonder if Uncle Ryan knew the truth about me and my parents. Was it possible that he himself was a werewolf?
I was going to have to ask Theo.
As if on cue, I heard Theo’s familiar voice say, “Morning, sunshine.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked him. “Don’t you have classes to teach?”
He glanced down at the time on his watch. “There are no classes at seven a.m.,” he replied with a chuckle. “I figured I would walk you to the Dining Hall. You know, just so you don’t get lost. The other guys are already waiting for us there.”
“Thanks,” I replied. “That was really thoughtful of you.”
He nodded. “First days can be nerve-wracking. I still remember my own first day at the Academy.” He glanced over at me then. “I was a Descendant, by the way. I overheard you wondering.”
“Seriously? You can hear my thoughts even when you’re not near me?” I asked with raised eyebrows.
“Yep. So, if you’re going to think anything bad about me, just remember that it will get back to me,” he replied with a chuckle.
“I’m sure I could never think anything bad about you,” I said softly.
“Oh, I don’t know about that. We’ve only just begun. Let me know how you feel about me in ten years from now.”
“You’re assuming that we’ll even be in touch ten years from now.”
“We will be.”
“You don’t know that,” I insisted.
His blue eyes flicked over to meet mine. “Actually, I do.”
I didn’t know how he could be so sure.
Not that I really wanted to picture a life without Theo in it, which probably sounded batshit crazy of me to think. I had only met him twenty-four hours ago, but he already felt like such an important part of my life.