by G. K. DeRosa
Cass spat out her tooth paste and rolled her eyes. “Someone had to have some fun for the both of us.”
“Touché.” I stared at my reflection as I brushed my teeth, thinking about my pathetic dating history. Despite Cass’s lowly witch status, she’d still managed to get her pick of the male population at the school and I, by association, had many chances as well. I’d tried dating in the beginning, but I never felt that spark.
Nothing like with Hunter.
“So is your mom coming tomorrow?” she asked.
“Nope.” I hoped my voice came off sounding less dejected than it had in my head. In four years, my mom hadn’t come to visit me once. Before I’d left home in North Caroline, she and I had been inseparable. I never knew my dad and had no siblings, so it had always been just me and her. For the longest time, I thought she was mad at me for leaving even though it hadn’t been my choice. But when she was given the opportunity to move to Maginaria and refused, the hurt rang deep. I still hadn’t forgiven her for it. I dropped my toothbrush back in the holder and plastered a smile on my face. “How about your family?”
“They’re portalling in tomorrow. Mom, Dad, and all seven of my younger brothers and sisters. Hope it’s okay that they’re all staying here.” She shot me a wicked grin. “Just kidding!”
I laughed, shaking my head. “I’d be okay with that, seriously. From the stories I’ve heard, your brothers sound like a lot of fun.” I’d never had a big family and growing up, it was all I’d wanted.
“You say that now, but you’ve never had to share a bathroom with four girls.”
“True.” My friend turned on the shower and started to strip so I turned for the door. “Hurry up now I’m getting hungry.”
“Be out in a sec.”
As Cass showered, I threw on some clothes, shoving past the plaid uniforms I never had to wear again. And wanted to burn. “Just one more day, Sierra,” I whispered to myself. “And all of this will be over.” As soon as I left, the past four years would just melt away, like some crazy supernatural dream.
Except for Hunter.
Would he haunt me even when I was far, far away from here?
I shook off the depressing thought and marched toward the full-length mirror. Dragging the brush through my hair, one of the purple tendrils grazed the birthmark beneath my collarbone. The dark patch of skin tingled at the touch. I stared at the odd marking I’d had since birth, and thoughts of my mom flared. I’d caught her staring at the dark patch on so many occasions in my youth, until finally one day she began painting it. Only when she put it to paper, it would come alive—a fearsome wolf head. My mom, the artist, the free spirt.
I traced the shape of the caramel marking, the ear, the muzzle in profile. It kind of did look like a wolf.
Cass burst out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her lithe frame and she dipped into our closet. “You know, I was thinking, we have to do something epic tonight. It’s our last night as roommates and who cares if we’re a little hungover at the ceremony tomorrow, right?”
“Well, I don’t have anyone to impress. What about your family?”
She popped her head out of the closet and waved a nonchalant hand. “Trust me, they’ve seen much worse. My younger brother, Zac, smoked a few too many lila clove sticks when he turned eighteen and lost control of his powers. He stumbled home in the middle of the night and set half of our house on fire. Luckily, my sister, Zoey, heard him and was able to counter his spell.” She chuckled. “Mom and Dad were so pissed. I can’t believe I never told you that story before.”
I couldn’t believe it either. That was a pretty good one. “Okay so what do you have in mind for tonight? I thought you were hanging out with Rafe?”
She emerged from the closet, fully dressed and waved off my question. “I can always catch up with him later. If I feel like it. You’re my best friend and you’re who I want to spend our last night at Arcane with.” She chewed on her lip and I could almost see the gears grinding in her head. “The Black Ravens are having a big grad party tonight.”
I puckered my lips at the familiar coven name. It was one of the largest on campus and home to the biggest b—witch, Davina Spellwright. She was one of the reasons I’d been tortured during my tenure at the academy. The night all the first years were initiated into the academy, I attended my very first masquerade ball. Davina had tripped me on the middle of the dancefloor, and I’d bellyflopped onto the floor, twisted my ankle and ripped my dress, giving the entire student body a bird’s eye view of my lacey thong and bare cheeks.
After that incident, I’d inherited the name Moon Girl and it stuck.
My cheeks still heated at the memories.
“I don’t think so,” I finally answered.
As if reading my mind, Cass placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “I promise I won’t let Davina mess with you.”
My best friend was sweet, but completely naive. Not only was Davina the queen witch, she was also hella powerful. Cass was awesome, but her witchy powers couldn’t hold a candle to hers.
“It’s not really the epic night I’d envisioned,” I countered.
She nodded quickly. “You’re right. Let’s go off campus then. We can check out one of the new clubs they opened in Midtowne. I can get Rafe to portal us there.”
I eyed my friend. If Rafe showed up, I had a feeling he’d be staying and being the third wheel, all night did not sound the least bit epic. But anything was better than risking a chance encounter with Davina. “Sounds good.”
Cass clapped her hands, bouncing up and down on her tiptoes. “We’re never going to forget this night, Sierra Wildstone. Mark my words.”
No truer words had ever been spoken.
The first book in the Wolfish series, Moonborne will be out on May 18th and you can preorder it now! Don’t forget to join my Facebook group to get the FREE prequel short story!
Also by GK DeRosa
Royally Hitched Series
Royally Hitched: The Fae Prince
Royally Hitched: The Fae Twins
Royally Hitched: The Fae Princess
* * *
Darkblood Academy
Darkblood Academy: Half-Blood
Darkblood Academy: Supernatural Slayer Squad
Darkblood Academy: Demons
Darkblood Academy: Prophecies
* * *
The Hitched Series
Hitched: The Bachelorette
Hitched: The Top Ten
Hitched: The Final Five
Hitched: The One
* * *
The Vampire and Angel Wars
Wings & Destruction
Blood & Rebellion
Souls & Salvation
* * *
The Vampire Prophecy
Dark Fates
Dark Divide
Dark Oblivion
* * *
The Hybrid Trilogy
Magic Bound
Immortal Magic
Beyond Magic
Magic Bound: The Hybrid Trilogy The Complete Collection
* * *
The Guardian Series
Wilder: The Guardian Series
Wilder Destiny
Wilder Revelation
Wilder Legacy
Wilder: The Guardian Series The Complete Collection
Acknowledgments
A huge and wholehearted thank you to my dedicated readers! I could not do this without you. I love hearing from you and your enthusiasm for the characters and story. You are the best!
A special thank you to my loving and supportive husband who always understood my need for escaping into a good book (or TV show!). He inspires me to try harder and push further every day. And of course my mother who is the guiding force behind everything I do and made me everything I am today. Without her, I literally could not write—because she’s also my part-time babysitter! To my father who will always live on in my dreams. And finally, my babies, Alexander and Stella, who bring an unimaginable amount of joy and
adventure to my life everyday.
A big thank you to my new talented graphic designer, Sanja Gombar, for creating a beautiful book cover. A special thank you to my dedicated beta readers/fellow authors Jena, Tiea, Bethany and Mary Ellen who have been my sounding board on everything from cover ideas, blurbs, and story details. And all of my beta readers who gave me great ideas, caught spelling errors, and were all around amazing.
Thank you to all my family and friends (especially you, Robin Wiley!) and new indie author and blogger friends (you’re the best Mary Ellen!) who let me bounce ideas off of them and listened to my struggles as an author and self-publisher. I appreciate it more than you all will ever know.
~ G.K.
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author, G.K. De Rosa has always had a passion for all things fantasy and romance. Growing up, she loved to read, devouring books in a single sitting. She attended Catholic school where reading and writing were an intense part of the curriculum, and she credits her amazing teachers for instilling in her a love of storytelling. As an adult, her favorite books were always young adult novels, and she remains a self-proclaimed fifteen year-old at heart. When she’s not reading, writing or watching way too many TV shows, she’s traveling and eating around the world with her family. G.K. DeRosa currently lives in South Florida with her real life Prince Charming, their son, daughter and fur baby, Nico, the German shepherd.
www.gkderosa.com
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