Academy of Mages and Shifters 1

by Laura Wylde

  Academy of Dragons and Shifters

  Laura Wylde

  Contents

  1. Megan

  2. Connor

  3. Megan

  4. Artemis

  5. Megan

  6. Duncan

  7. Megan

  8. Connor

  9. Megan

  10. Trevor

  11. Megan

  12. Artemis

  13. Megan

  14. Duncan

  15. Megan

  16. Trevor

  Afterword

  Also by Laura Wylde

  Copyright © 2020 by Inner Beast Publishers

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Chapter 1

  Megan

  As I stared at the large building in front of me, the place where I had always been destined to end up, my heart pounded like crazy in my chest, nerves zig-zagged in my stomach, and I could hardly get enough air into my lungs. Leaving my home town of Ireland behind was the biggest thing I had ever done in my life before. And as brave as I had acted at my leaving party with all of my friends and family surrounding me, now that I was alone, that completely evaded me. I was nervous and small, nothing like the confident, fiery red-head I was known to be.

  You can do this, I told myself furiously as I clenched my fists together in my hands. You can! Remember that you can kick ass, Megan. You have always been the girl that everyone turns to for advice and a good time.

  But I wasn’t sure. I just wasn’t sure that I could. It was my legacy; my family had always been a massive part of the United Kingdom’s Academy of Druidic and Shapeshifting Mages, so I was supposed to be here. I just couldn’t help but wonder how many of my relatives had stood in the same position as me, wondering if they would fit it.

  “’Scuse!” someone yelled out in a Scottish accent, almost knocking me to the ground as they raced into the building without any hesitation. But then Edinburgh was probably this guy’s home, and he was used to Scotland. This was a tourist spot and college city which was the perfect location for us to study was where he was most happy.

  I can be that too… I tried my hardest to convince myself, not that it was really working. I just need to take those steps inside that building. It isn’t hard. Just a few steps and the new steps of my life will begin.

  For some strange reason, at that moment, my brain chose to recall an incident when my grandmother told me about the choice of Scotland for the building. Some of the academy’s founders wanted the academy to be in Wales because it was more central in the United Kingdom, but the illusion of Wales being the hub for dragons stopped this. Welsh lore prided itself on the dragon heritage, but they wanted to be known for more than just that, so Scotland was chosen. And here I was today, so far away from home, it was almost as if I had been transported to another universe entirely.

  I glanced around me to see the outside area of the academy quietening down by the moment. When I first arrived here, it was incredibly busy, but everyone had made their way inside to register except me. I realized I couldn’t put this off any longer. I needed to get my sorry ass into gear and move these feet before I end up on the plane back home. There was a little temptation, but I wasn’t sure that I would be welcomed back with the open arms that sent me away. I mean, what would I even do if I went back to Ireland? There wasn’t anything else waiting for me there.

  My feet began moving, but I felt like I was floating on air, but not in a great way. It was a bit like a nightmare. As I ascended up the stairs, all of my organs tightened and squeezed together in an unpleasant manner. The chatter grew louder, there were people beginning to surround me, and the discomfort was growing by the moment.

  Okay, there are the registration tables, I can do this. Don’t worry about anything until this part is over.

  As I stepped towards the tables, I was struck by the youth of the people organizing the registration. They seemed to be students themselves, perhaps older students in their final year at the academy, but students none the less. This intimidated me far more than if it were teachers waiting to meet us there. These would be my peers…

  I stood awkwardly at the back of the queue and took the time to finally look around. It freaked me out how it was immediately obvious which clique everyone was in, how the shape shifters seemed to stick to their own little groups. I could pick out the wolves because of their bushy hair, the bears because of their muscular wider bodies, the fairies because of their long legs and fair colored hair, the dragons because of their broad shoulders and piercing eyes… even the other druidesses seemed to be in their own little groups and I wasn’t sure that I would fit in to any of them.

  The cliques had always been a part of the academy for as long as it had been around because shifters found it very hard to trust anyone else, which was easy to understand because of the violent history behind all of us. But that was years ago and now we were supposed to be in a new era where everyone made an effort to get along. According to my mother, that was a big focus of the academy these days, to ensure that none of the species died out by ensuring that we all mingled in every single way… especially, the druidesses.

  Oh God! I didn’t want to think about one of my duties while I was here, the scariest one of all… to find myself a shifter harem to continue the magic lineage. That scared the living hell out of me. To be honest, however confident and in control I seemed back in Ireland, my love life was the only thing to hold me back. I hadn’t ever even been kissed, so the idea of taking all of those steps towards my future terrified me. I wasn’t sure how to even make friends with these people, never mind start any kind of spark with them. Was I going to have to flirt? I didn’t even know how! I wasn’t sure how to turn a conversation into anything seductive. But if I didn’t even try, I wasn’t going to be able to achieve one of the main things that was expected of me…

  “Hello, can I help you?” a crisp English voice shot through my system. “Do you want to register?”

  “Oh right, yes,” I replied awkwardly. “My name is Megan O’Malley.”

  “What is that accent?” the girl asked me without even meeting my eyes. “I haven’t heard it before.”

  “Irish.” Was she serious? I wasn’t from another planet, was I? It sure as shit felt like it here. “I’m Irish.”

  She screwed up her nose, almost in disgust as I talked about my heritage. This instantly got my back up. What the hell was wrong with me being Irish? I was proud of my home, I loved who I was.

  “I suppose I should have guessed that from the red hair and freckles.”

  “Er, right?” Really? “Well, I don’t know about that. Is there anything you need from me?”

  But my attempt to change the subject to what we were actually supposed to be doing here went ignored.

  “I think you might find yourself alone here,” she spat back, a little spitefully actually. “I really think that you must be the only Irish person here. I guess the magic in your home country must be dying out.”

  She met my eyes then, showing me the resistance that I was going to face here, for some unknown reason. I didn’t know what was wrong with me being a little bit different, but I was going to have to find a way to handle it.

  “There are a lot of magical people in Ireland,” I couldn’t resist biting back. “But I’m not here to discuss that.”

  “You will be in room sixteen in the Portentous building, sharing with another druidess, Zena Jones.”

  Zena. I hoped more than anything else th
at was someone I could get along with. Not everyone had to be like this nasty piece of work. I had been so thrilled to come to the academy, I didn’t want that dream shattered.

  “Okay, thank you.” I took my welcome pack from the girl, still using my manners even if she was a bitch. I didn’t have to let her behavior affect my own. I had been raised right, after all. “You have been most helpful.”

  It seemed like others continued to hang around in the entrance hall to meet one another, but this wasn’t the place for me. I wanted to get to my room and unpack before I talked myself in to leaving and running away. So, with my head down, I stomped through the building until I was back outside and sucking in eons of fresh air all over again. Okay, so the start might not have been exactly what I wanted, but the rest of the experience could be different…

  “Oh, Connor!” I heard a shrill giggling voice call out. “Stop tickling me, will you?”

  I saw a couple hiding in the shadows, practically fooling around outside. He was a dragon, I could immediately see that, and she was a druidess with a thick Welsh accent. Urgh, what the hell was that about? One on one wasn’t supposed to be happening. This Connor was supposed to agree on a druidess from his clan, not fool around for fun.

  Then again, he wasn’t the only one, was he? Plenty of people did until they found their ‘one’. I was the only one who didn’t have any experience, probably, which would be just another thing to make me stand out.

  I put my head down and continued walking, trying to focus on myself rather than anyone else, until I finally made it to the Portentous building, my home for a while now. I walked in with much more ease than I did in the registration building and I headed for my room. There were a few other girls hanging about in the hallways, chatting with ease to one another, but none of them made any effort with me. Not that it bothered me, I wasn’t about to make a huge effort myself, to be honest. Not with anyone but Zena who I hoped to meet soon.

  “Room sixteen,” I muttered to myself. “I guess it’s here. Time to go inside. Face the music.”

  I sucked in a breath and pushed the door open… and there she was. A strikingly beautiful raven-haired, violet eyed girl who immediately intimidated me in every single way. She was like a model and I was simply the freckle-faced girl who spent all of her time outside in the lovely Irish countryside. Oh God, I couldn’t handle this.

  “H… hi,” I stammered awkwardly. “My name is Megan. Er, Megan O’Malley. I guess, I am your roommate…”

  Instead of taking the hand that I offered her to shake, she ran her eyes judgingly up and down my body and it was obvious that she didn’t like what she saw. I couldn’t help it. I didn’t much like myself either. I folded my arms protectively over my chest, trying to hide myself as much as I could from her which was crazy. I wasn’t a twelve-year-old pre-teen trying to fit in, I was an eighteen-year-old woman for crying out loud.

  “Hmmm, yes.” She cocked an eyebrow. “I can see that. I’m Zena Jones.” She was cold. Or cool, I wasn’t quite sure. Either way, she made me feel small and like a young child. “Are you attending the party tonight? That lame welcome thing they are holding to try and get everyone to mingle or whatever?” The way that she waved her hand dismissively made me feel like it was definitely something that I didn’t need to be attending so I shook my head. “Oh, shame. It seems like everyone is going to be there. Could be a lot of fun.” She shrugged. “Who knows?”

  Oh God, I was drowning. I couldn’t get my head above water however hard I kicked my legs. This was a damn nightmare. I stared at Zena and just knew that this was going to be the hardest challenge I had ever faced yet. I wasn’t sure how I was going get through it with my head held high… but I would try. I promised myself I would.

  The first two weeks of classes passed in a haze. Things weren’t going exactly as I thought they would. I hadn’t exactly made any friends, never mind got any closer to anything harem related, but I honestly didn’t think that would happen for me here anyway. Not only did I not fit in here, I did not like anyone either. They were all snobby and rude with a particular dislike of my Irish heritage. I hadn’t yet worked out why and I didn’t care either. I wasn’t going to worry about that. Instead, I was happy to concentrate on the educational side of things instead.

  I liked the classes and the teachers too. That side of things was fun and made sense to me. The magic education, plus the dueling and the history of all of the species fascinated me. I enjoyed it all. The only class that was problematic for me was demonology. Not because of the teacher or my abilities, but because of the dragon clique. Er, they were hard work and unpleasant. Arrogant as well, especially Connor, the one who seemed to think he was the leader. Not just of the clan but of the whole damn academy. He just had that vibe about him.

  The sad thing was no one seemed to see it but me. All the other guys in the academy liked him, even from rival shifter clans, and the druidesses fell at his feet. At all the dragon’s feet. Sure, they were all pretty handsome in their own ways; Connor with his tall, dark, and handsome thing going on, Duncan who was shorter but burly with massive arms for a dragon, Trevor and his light, sky blue eyes and black hair, and Artemis with his height, with light brown hair, blue eyes and dimpled cheeks. But they weren’t nice guys. Who would want that?

  But everyone continued to fall at their feet, basically begging them for attention. Sometimes one of them would flirt a little, but it was pretty obvious that they weren’t going to pick their ‘one’ any time soon.

  They made the demonology classes awful in general, but I continued to work pass all of that. My education had become my priority and that was all I cared about right now. Getting through my work. I focused my eyes forwards as I sat in my usual seat in class, ignoring all the snobby irritating people around me.

  “Hey there.” I turned with horror as I heard an all too familiar deep husky voice beside me. “Who are you?”

  Urgh, it was Connor. It seemed that today was the day that he had chosen me to focus his attention on. Couldn’t he tell that I didn’t want it? There were plenty of others that did, there were daggers coming at us from every angle. Why couldn’t he go and bother one of those women? They were screaming for his…

  “I’m Megan,” I replied coldly. “And I’m just trying to get on with my work here, so…”

  “Megan… from Ireland?” I didn’t even bother to acknowledge that. “Nice to meet you, Megan. You are an O’Malley, aren’t you? I think I might know who you are related to.” I shot him an unpleasant look, but it seemed that wasn’t enough to derail him at all. “Tara, right? The original druidess from this academy, one of the founders.” Again, I ignored him, even if he was surprisingly accurate. I wasn’t sure how he knew that. “That’s cool, but it must be a lot of pressure on you, right? You must want to make them proud. Your eyes must be open for a harem.”

  “I don’t know if that is any of your business,” I bit back coldly. “Can you please just leave me alone?”

  “Oh, I see.” He nodded slowly. “You want to play it cool? I like that.”

  “I’m not playing it cool. I just want to be left alone.” I opened up my textbook and stared intently at the page as if I was actually reading it, but I wasn’t. My heart was pounding heavily in my throat. “Please, just go.”

  He reached out and touched my shoulder which had me flinching like crazy. It was as if he had burned me, everything shot through my system like a lightning bolt. I glared at him as a heat of anger traveled through my body, but this only made him laugh. He seemed to like the way that he was tormenting me.

  “Oh wow, you are a fiery one. I like that. I like that about you. I think that you and I should go on a date.”

  “I have seen how you act on a date,” I growled. “And it isn’t for me.”

  “Ah, jealousy. I like that as well.” He wiggled his eyebrows in a playful manner. “It shows you care.”

  I could tell that I wasn’t going to be able to say anything that would shut him up because he wa
s such an arrogant asshole, so I turned away and tried my hardest to ignore him. He didn’t usually sit anywhere near me anyway, so I simply had to wait for him to leave… but that never happened.

  “Duncan, Trevor, Artemis,” he called out. “We are sitting here today. Come on, guys.”

  “Is that leaving me alone?” I half yelled, frustrated tears flooding me. “I just want to concentrate. Will you go?”

  “I do as well.” He smirked at me, clawing hard under my skin in a way that I despised. “Which is why I want to sit with you today. I want to learn. I think that you might be the positive influence that I need.”

  If only he meant this in a nice way, but I could tell that he was teasing me, being a massive asshole which truly was not what I needed. After everything that I had been through since arriving at the academy, I wanted to remain under the radar and hidden from sight. With Connor and the dragons around me, everyone would be looking.

  I half wished that there was someone I could talk to about all of this, but I didn’t even have that. Zena, my roommate, hadn’t exactly become the friend that I wanted. We barely saw one another. She was in and out of the room like a social butterfly leaving me on my own, reading and working, for most of the time.

  Still, this right here, sitting in demonology class with the dragons surrounding me and everyone’s eyes upon me, was the loneliest that I had ever felt at the academy. This was the lowest that I had ever felt, rock bottom, and I wasn’t sure if I could climb myself out of this hole, however hard I tried.

  Chapter 2

  Connor