by Jayme Morse
I saw Theo sitting with the Darken in the Dining Hall that morning, but I didn’t bother to sit with them again. The last thing I needed was another lecture about it from Professor Wickburn. Plus, I wasn’t exactly sure how to approach Theo after he had obviously turned away from me the night before.
During his class, we didn’t talk, either. In fact, he barely even looked at me. Our eyes met a couple of times, but we had both looked away, pretending that the other hadn’t noticed.
And Theo wasn’t the only one. None of the Darken talked to me for the next few weeks, except for when it involved coursework for their classes, and even then, their communications with me in comparison to the other students were minimal. Colton was the only one who touched me—and that was only to teach me how to properly hold the gun he was teaching us to use in Weaponry.
The worst part about it all? As the weeks went by, it felt like my body craved Theo even more than I had in the beginning. It was the withdrawal of not talking to him, of not touching him, or kissing him. It was almost like I missed him so much it ached. I would him between the class we did have together and then throughout the entire night.
The strange thing was that I still had no idea why the Darken were even avoiding me. It wasn’t like anything had even happened, or like I had done anything that could have made them want to avoid me.
I kept wondering if Headmaster Black might have said something to them. Maybe they had been told they needed to back off from hanging out with me, considering other wolves—both professors and students—had begun to notice.
Or maybe Professor Wickburn had already dug her claws into Theo. Maybe she had let him know she had feelings for him, so now he no longer had any interest or need for me.
I tried not to think about all of the worst-case scenarios and just focus on my classes, but that was a lot easier said than done. It didn’t even make sense how I could have been so hung up over a guy who I had kissed twice. I felt pathetic, but at the same time, I missed him like crazy.
I missed all of them. But I tried not to let my feelings show.
Iris, Vince, and I fell into a comfortable routine of eating all of our meals together. Somehow, Iris convinced both me and Vince to join the Track and Field team. So, when we weren’t at class or hanging out in my private dorm suite, we were usually running the track.
I couldn’t get over my running time now that I was a wolf. Back in the human world when we had to run track during gym class, it took me ten or eleven minutes to run a mile. Now, it only took me about three and a half minutes, and I was growing faster every day.
The truth was that, for the first time in my life, I actually kind of liked running. It was the only time I was able to clear my head and really take my mind off of everything: my parents’ deaths, Milos, and Theo and the Darken. It was my only real escape from reality.
When Iris, Vince, and I weren’t at Track and Field practice, we hung out together after school. Usually, the two of them would come over to my place, since I had such a big dorm room. They spent the night a lot, which made me feel better. On nights when I was alone, I worried about the possibility of Milos figuring out where I was. I even had nightmares about it sometimes.
Even though it was nice to have Iris and Vince as friends, they didn’t fill the void I still felt for Maddie. I knew that at some point I was going to need to make an effort to get in touch with her and Uncle Ryan to let them know I was okay. I was sure they were both probably worried sick about me. They had probably assumed that I’d either run away or that something bad had happened to me. Either way, I wanted them both to know that I was safe—I just wasn’t sure how to do that without letting them know the truth about where I was or about the whole werewolf thing. I assumed that Uncle Ryan must have known about my parents and that he might have even been a wolf himself, but I couldn’t have been certain.
The only ones who would have probably known were the Darken, but I didn’t want to be the first one to break the ice between us.
***
During the second week of November, I watched, from the corner of my eye, as Colton walked over to me during Weaponry class.
I didn’t pay him any attention. I was focused on my target. I was aiming for the human-shaped target, which I pictured to be Milos.
I didn’t actually know what Milos really looked like, but I had conjured an image in my mind that I saw often: a guy with dark hair, a large nose, and wideset black eyes. For all I knew, Milos may have been blonde and blue-eyed, but it didn’t matter. This was what I pictured any time I thought of him. It helped me to stay focused by picturing something, even if it was an inaccurate representation of him.
Most of all, what I saw was pure evil. And I wanted nothing more than to kill him.
I narrowed in on the target’s heart.
The one thing I had learned in Weaponry class was that there were two ways to kill a wolf. The first was silver, straight through the heart. The other was fire, obviously.
Well, kill my family with fire and you were going to get that silver right through your heart.
Drawing my bow back, I released it. I watched as the arrow whooshed across the room before sailing straight into the target’s heart.
“Wow, that was incredible.” Colton was standing next to me then. “Great job, Raven.”
“Thanks.” I grinned. I was actually proud of myself. I hoped that I would actually hit Milos that way—the real Milos, not the target Milos.
“So, you have a birthday coming up,” Colton said. “Tomorrow?”
My eyebrows rose. “How do you know my birthday?”
“It’s in your student file,” he explained. “So, we were wondering if you wanted to come over to our house tomorrow. We’d like to throw you a little party.”
I hesitated for a moment before asking. “Who do you mean by ‘we’?”
“The whole pack,” Colton replied.
“Even Theo?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yeah, it was actually his idea.”
“Really? Sorry, but I find that really hard to believe. He was the first one to stop talking to me, and now suddenly he wants to throw me a birthday party?” I found myself saying.
“And we have all been feeling really crappy about the way things have transpired,” Colton said, his gray eyes taking on what appeared to be a genuinely sad look. “Please just come to the party tomorrow night so we can explain things.”
I hesitated. “It’s my birthday. I already made plans with Iris and Vince. I can’t just ditch them.”
“Then bring them along,” Colton said. He reached out and grabbed my hand in his. Something about his touch and the look in his eyes had the butterflies swirling around inside my stomach…
I glanced around. There were other students around, though they were all in their booths, not paying any attention to us.
“Please, Raven?” Colton pressed. “Tomorrow night at eight.”
I rolled my eyes, trying to suppress my smile. “Fine. I’ll ask Iris and Vince if they want to come, and as long as they’re willing, we’ll be there.”
Even though a small part of me wanted to talk my friends out of saying yes so that I would have an excuse, the truth was that I was secretly dying to be around the Darken again.
I was also curious to know what they were planning to explain. It wouldn’t change the fact that they had gone completely M.I.A. from my life, but at least I would know the reason why.
Chapter Twelve
At eight o’clock, Iris, Vince, and I stood on the front porch at the Darken’s house.
Nervously, I reached out to ring the doorbell—just as the door was flung open.
Aiden stepped out onto the front porch and scooped me up into his arms, twirling me around. “Happy birthday, birthday girl. I’m so glad you’re here.”
He continued to twirl me around in the air a few more times like I was a figure skater, before gently putting me back on the ground.
“Thanks,” I replied, grinning up at him. I
t had been so long since I had gotten this close to him, or any of the Darken besides Colton, that I had forgotten how damn tall they were. I felt like a baby bunny next to an elephant when I was with them.
“Come inside,” Aiden said, holding the door open.
I followed him into the house with Iris and Vince following close behind me. As we entered the foyer, Rhys and Colton were also standing there. Meaning, three of the four Darken were in the room. The only one who was missing was Theo.
“You guys, these are my friends—Iris and Vince,” I introduced them, even though I knew I technically didn’t need to, considering they were their professors, too.
“We already know them,” Colton said, as if reading my mind. “Thank you guys for coming to celebrate our girl’s birthday.”
Our girl? What. The. Fuck.
I could feel myself growing a little annoyed and the implication that I was their girl when they hadn’t spoken to me in, literally, months.
I felt something then: my bones tightening.
Oh, no.
My anger was causing me to shift into my wolf form. Of course my birthday had fallen on a full moon.
Calm yourself, Raven.
Trying not to let myself grow angrier by Colton’s comment, I pushed the thought to the back of my mind.
“So, what type of party is this?” I asked.
“What do you mean? It’s a birthday party. Your birthday party, birthday girl,” Rhys said. “Happy birthday, by the way.”
“Thank you. But I mean, what exactly are we doing? I doubt we’re going to just sit here and twiddle our thumbs and toes.”
“Well, we can do that if you want. But I was thinking we could play strip poker.” Aiden shot me a cocky grin.
“That sounds like fun to me,” Vince said.
“Of course it sounds fun to you,” I replied with an eye roll. “We’re not playing strip poker.”
“And why not?” Aiden asked.
“Because I don’t even know how to play poker.”
“Even better.” Aiden waggled his eyebrows at me.
I rolled my eyes. “Seriously, though. What are we doing?”
“Well, I figured we could hang out in the pool, maybe watch a movie, have some birthday cake, and then you can open your presents,” Colton said.
“You got me presents?” I asked with raised eyebrows.
“What type of birthday party would this be without presents?” Rhys asked.
A smile hit my lips. It was thoughtful of them. But I was curious to know what they could have possibly gotten me. It wasn’t like they knew me well enough to know what my interests or hobbies were.
“Why don’t we hit the pool now?” Colton asked.
“We didn’t bring bathing suits,” Iris, who had been quiet until now, spoke up.
“Well, that’s an easy solution. We’ll just skinny dip,” Aiden said.
I glared at him.
I wasn’t going to lie. I wouldn’t have minded skinny dipping with him—or with any or all of the other Darken.
But I didn’t want to share them with Iris, or with Vince, for that matter. I knew that was probably really selfish of me. It wasn’t like I was dating one of them, let alone all of them. I just wanted them to be… well, mine, and only mine. It was a feeling I couldn’t even begin to describe.
“Aiden’s just being an asshole. We have some extra bathing suits in the changing room leading to the pool. Come on. Let’s give you the tour,” Colton said.
***
Every ounce of their home was… well, completely stunning. It felt like I had stepped into the home of some famous Hollywood movie star or something. From the marble floors to the granite countertops and the expensive-looking wallpaper, everything about the house was completely gorgeous.
I knew it was probably a crazy thought for me to have, but I could have totally pictured myself living in the house.
I knew that was just a pipedream, though. I was going to be stuck in my private dorm suite for the next four years.
Not that I could really complain about that. I actually did like my living quarters. But this house had one thing that my dorm room didn’t have.
The Darken.
“And this is the changing room,” Colton said finally as we entered what looked like a gorgeous powder room. “Change into the bathing suits and meet us at the pool—right through that door.” He pointed his chin at the door to the left of the room.
“Okay,” I agreed with a nod.
Once they had all left the room, Iris turned to me with wide eyes. “Holy crap. This place is right out of a fairytale!”
“A fairytale? Honey, I’m pretty sure I saw it on WHGTV once.” He glanced over at me and explained, “The werewolf version of HGTV.”
“Well, we’re just here for a party. It’s not like they’re inviting us to move in or anything,” I said, trying not to let my own disappointment about that show on my face.
“No, but you could totally be spending way more time here.” She glanced out a window and said, “Um, did you guys see the pool?”
I glanced out the window and then frowned. “The pool is outdoors? It’s November. It’s freezing out!”
“Raven, you’re forgetting something. We’re werewolves,” Vince reminded me. “Even if it was snowing outside, our body heat would melt it. We can swim during any season.”
“Oh.” Duh.
I glanced around the room and that’s when I spotted the bathing suits. They were all brand new with tags.
I began to go through them all, looking for one that I could wear before groaning. “You guys, they only have bikinis.”
“So? You could rock a bikini. Have you even seen your tight little bod?” Vince asked, scanning my body. “I mean, not that you don’t have curves in all of the right places. But that is most definitely a bikini bod.”
“Thanks,” I replied, but I still felt weird about it as I grabbed a black bikini and then slipped behind one of the curtains to get changed.
When I emerged, I glanced at myself in the mirror. “Um, my boobs are practically falling out of this.”
“I think you look awesome,” Iris said a moment later as she remerged soon after disappearing behind another set of curtains, wearing an emerald green bikini with sequins.
“And you’re trying to get Theo’s attention, right?” Vince asked a moment later. “Your boobs hanging out of that thing are a damn good way to do that.”
“So,” I said, glancing at myself in the mirror, “There’s something I haven’t told you guys yet. You both already know I have feelings for Theo, but…”
“What is it?” Iris pressed as she pulled her hair up into a bun.
“I think I have feelings for… all of them,” I said in a quiet voice, just in case any of them were listening from the other side of the room.
Something I’d learned in my classes at the Academy was that werewolves actually didn’t have supersonic hearing like you’d believe; that sense only kicked into high gear when we were in predatory mode or trying to protect ourselves. So, the odds were that if the Darken weren’t right outside our door, they probably hadn’t heard me.
“All of them?” Iris just stared back at me. She paused for a moment and then said, “Well, I can’t say I blame you. All of them are hot, and they all seem interested in you.”
“I don’t know about that,” I replied with a sigh. “None of them have even talked to me for more than a month.”
“Well, you’re about to find out the explanation for that tonight,” Vince reminded me. “I’m sure that strutting around in that barely-covers-anything bikini top will help you in that department. Now, let’s go swimming.”
“Okay.” I took a deep breath and then glanced at myself in the mirror one last time. I had actually straightened my hair for this occasion and put on—gasp—makeup. My black mascara and black eyeliner made my green eyes pop.
I wasn’t sure if it was the lighting or if it was my new life as a wolf, but I thought I l
ooked better than usual. My skin had this vibrant glow it’d never had before.
In fact, I hadn’t even looked this glowy all week.
Was it possible that it could have been because I was around Theo again? Everything about me just felt—and maybe even looked—better when I was within a close proximity to him.
The only question was why?
Chapter Thirteen
“Ow, ow!” Aiden hooted as I climbed down the ladder into the pool. “You look freaking hot, birthday girl.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Thank you.”
“Why don’t you come over here and sit on my lap?” he asked.
I swallowed hard. I wasn’t going to lie. The idea did sound tempting, but… I wasn’t sure about doing that in front of the others. I didn’t want to make anyone jealous.
And in front of Iris and Vince? That would have just been too much for me.
Don’t get me wrong. I loved having my friends here to celebrate with me. It was more than any girl could have asked for on her birthday. I just wished I could have been alone with the Darken pack tonight.
Really though, it was probably best that Iris and Vince were here. I deserved answers before anything could happen between any of us, especially after the Darken had been so weird lately.
“The water is so warm,” Iris commented as she climbed into the pool after me.
“That’s all body heat,” Colton explained. “Since we’re Ancients, our bodies tend to be a little hotter than regular wolves, so having just three of us in an average-sized pool like this can make it heat up to hot tub-like temperatures.”
“It’s amazing,” I told him as I swam across the pool, enjoying the warm water. I thought about the last time I had gone swimming. My parents and I had gone to the beach just a few weeks before their deaths.
It was my first birthday without them. I tried to push the thought to the back of my mind.
“So, where is Theo?” I asked then, noticing that he was still missing.