by Jen L. Grey
The scent of lavender filled my nose, and the tapping of someone’s foot woke me. Where the hell am I? My eyelids were so heavy. I slowly opened them. There were rails on both sides of my bed, and the white ceiling seemed higher than normal.
“Sleeping beauty has finally awakened.” Cole’s polished voice seemed to dance across the room.
“Now isn’t the time for humor.” The lady who sat by the door stood and made her way to me. Each time she took a step, her black heels clicked, and she adjusted her red suit jacket over her matching skirt. “You both better be glad that I showed up when I did.”
Cole’s smile left his face, and he glanced at the ground. “You’re right.”
Rage remained silent, but his dark eyes were on me.
“What happened?” Flashes of the bear racing toward me flitted through my mind. “Oh, God. Did I hurt him?”
The room filled with silence.
“Right now, what we need to focus on is that you don’t have control over your wolf.” The lady’s sharp features were emphasized by the short, dark hair that barely reached past her ears. Her sparkling green eyes were a stark contrast to everything else. “My recruiters weren’t very observant, which is disappointing, but in their defense, we hadn’t expected you to be that out of sync with your wolf.”
“But my wolf and I are fine.” I was lying, and somehow this woman knew it.
Cole frowned. “I told you there seemed to be some kind of disconnect. I saw it the first time I saw her.”
“Even more reason you should’ve been paying attention.” Her stern voice echoed in the room. “You even had Rage go with you in case you needed help.”
Of course, that’s why Rage was there. Great, now he thinks I’m weak and stupid. “I don’t know what happened, but I’ve never blacked out before.”
“That’s because you’d never felt that threatened before.” The lady sighed and walked over to me. “This is not how I expected our first meeting to happen. Nonetheless, this is it. As your headmaster, the first thing we need to work on is your connection with your wolf. You won’t even last a full year if you don’t connect with your wolf completely.”
Those words didn’t sit well with me. “Are you threatening me?”
Her eyes turned hard, and she frowned. “Take it how you will.” She glanced at both of the guys. “I expect better, or there will be consequences.” She turned with her head high and walked out the door.
“Is she always like that?” A headmaster should be supportive and caring. That woman was not like that at all.
“Yeah, Isadora is always like that, but we messed up.” Rage closed his eyes and shook his head. “How are you?”
Is he being serious? “Well, let’s see. I was forced to go with you guys to come here, a bear charged me, and I blacked out. Oh … and the headmaster just threatened me. I’d say it’s been a pretty shitty day.”
“See,” Cole said, grinning at Rage and pointing at me, “we’re totally going to be best friends.”
A low growl emanated from Rage’s chest. “I sure hope not.”
“You better stop.” Cole arched an eyebrow, and the humor fell from his face. “She’s going to need a friend and someone on her side.”
“And it can’t be me?” Rage’s voice turned low and raspy. If I hadn’t been so upset, I’d probably be a drooling mess at this very moment.
“You know why.” Cole’s face was a mask of indifference.
“Guys, I’m really tired.” I couldn’t handle this, not now. I needed a bed and none of their bickering.
One of the guys' phones rang, but neither moved to answer it.
“That’s the fourth time it’s rung in the last ten minutes.” Cole crossed his arms and tilted his head down. “Aren’t you going to answer it?”
Rage took a deep breath and stared straight into Cole’s eyes. “No.”
“The longer it takes you, the worse it’s going to be.” Cole marched toward me and smiled. “Come on, let’s get you to your room.”
“I have a room?” Something weird was going on between them, and I didn’t have the energy to even want to figure it out.
“Of course you do.” Cole glanced at Rage. “You need to go deal with that situation before things get any worse.”
“Fine.” Rage’s dark eyes glanced once more at me. “Sleep well.”
“You’re lucky.” Cole gently grabbed my arm, pulling me from the room. “You only have one roommate, which is rare.”
For some reason, I hadn’t even contemplated that I’d have a roommate. “Oh, is she nice?”
“She’s been at the university for a year now, so she’ll be able to help you learn the ins and outs.” Cole’s warm smile returned to his face.
“Oh, so you guys won’t be around any longer?” Why did that bother me? I’d assumed that we would hang out still. Obviously proving how much of a freshman I really was. Wait … What would I be? They didn’t have freshmen here. Maybe fresh meat?
“I’ve already decided we’re going to be friends, so there is no getting rid of me.” He pulled me down a long hallway. The ceilings were high, and the walls were dark brown.
I glanced behind us, looking for Rage, but almost slipped on the smooth pale floor.
“Hey now, I thought shifters had good balance.” Cole slipped his arm around my waist.
“Yeah, I normally do, but I feel off tonight, and I …” I cut myself off. He didn’t have to know I was looking for Rage.
A loud voice echoed from behind us. “Ragey, where the hell have you been?”
Several feet away stood a girl with dark red hair and a figure to die for. She placed her hands on her hips as she glanced down the hallway in front of her.
“Ashley, I told you I had to go with Cole to recruit someone.” Rage sighed, and his voice sounded tired.
“Come on, let’s go.” Cole tugged on me, but for some reason, I had to stay. I couldn’t remove my eyes from this Ashley.
“He’s never asked you to go on a recruit with him before, so why now?” She pouted, emphasizing her already plump lips. “I’ve missed you.”
“He needed a wolf shifter for back up.” Rage appeared but didn’t seem to notice both Cole and me standing there.
She eliminated the distance between her and Rage and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Well, you’re back now, and that’s all that matters.” She raised up on her tiptoes and placed her lips upon his.
Not able to watch their kiss, I turned and began moving once more with Cole. Surprisingly, he kept his mouth shut until we made our way through one of the back doors.
The fresh air filled my lungs, and I focused on breathing. I was upset over Rage and that girl even though I had no right to be. So what if his lips were on another girl. I had a boyfriend at home, waiting for me. Somehow reminding myself of that made it worse and not better.
Chapter Seven
After a few moments, Cole asked, “Hey, are you okay?” He led me toward the building on the left.
Tonight, the humidity was high, and it wasn’t even officially summer yet. The moon was full, which tugged on my wolf inside. There was no way I was going to attempt shifting after what happened earlier. “Yeah, just taking it all in.” I didn’t want Cole to know how upset I was over Rage and his girlfriend.
His eyes narrowed as he examined me but then sighed. “It’s a lot. That back there …”
Oh, hell no. We weren’t going to talk about Rage, so I cut him off. “What’s my roommate like?”
A small smile spread across his face. “Well, she’s no me.”
“At least that one prayer was answered.” Each step I took made me more nervous than the last. The headmaster already wasn’t impressed with me, and now I had to meet some kind of supernatural that would be my roommate. I wasn’t even sure what to expect at this point.
“Lookie there.” Cole reached over and tapped me on the nose. “Even when you’ve had one hell of a day, you still have some bite. Be glad. You’ll need it.�
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“If you were going for comfort, let me tell ya; you failed.” If these were his pep talks, I’d have hated to see what the opposite would be.
We reached the building, which was much more modern than the main one. It appeared to be a steel type building with large portions of glass. Many had curtains that were closed so no one could see inside.
“Wait.” I needed a minute to collect myself. In one day, my whole world had been ripped apart, and I was off-balance. I needed a chance to center myself before another new obstacle was presented to me.
“Of course.” Cole paused and took a step back, giving me space.
Despite what he tries to put off, Cole seemed like a good person. Maybe we’d be friends after all. I didn’t have many true friends back home. I always had to be cautious and tried to blend in. Still, look how far that had gotten me. It’d be nice to have a friend that I didn’t have to hide from.
I lifted my head and glanced at the moon. It was a crystal-clear night, and the view was gorgeous. A distant howl filled the air. Maybe one day that’ll be me.
“It’s okay to feel overwhelmed.” Cole leaned against the side of the building and smiled. “Each one of us here feels that way pretty regularly.”
“Really?” For some reason, that made me calmer. It was nice knowing I wasn’t alone.
“Yeah, but the first thing you’ve got to learn is not to show it.” Cole stepped toward me and placed his hands on my shoulders. He leaned in so we were looking eye to eye. “This place is where the cream of the crop is. If you show any weakness, they will pounce. Feel it, talk to me about it, but keep it locked inside if you want to survive.”
He was right. The one thing all strong supernaturals wanted to do was dominate others when threatened. I was a new threat coming in and apparently not in sync with my wolf. I was already off to a great start too. “But my wolf and I …”
“It’s okay.” His normally ice-blue eyes seemed warm. “We are all here because we’ve got weaknesses. We still aren’t ready to be the leader each of us needs to be. You just don’t admit it and refuse to break down in front of anyone. Bloodshed is named that for a reason. This is a cutthroat school. You have to keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. Do you understand?”
“So I shouldn’t even trust you?” At least back home, we were all one pack.
“I’ll let you make that call yourself.” Cole dropped his hands to his sides and winked. “Now, let’s go get you settled.”
Hanging out here wasn’t going to fix anything. “Alright, let’s do this.” I took a deep breath and opened the door.
“Look at you go.” Cole chuckled behind me.
I marched through the hallway, which strangely resembled a hotel. The walls were a light grey, and the carpet was a slightly shaggy medium grey. I had no clue where I was heading so I kept going straight and turned down a hallway on the right, which led me into a large lounge area. There was a group of girls sitting on two couches that faced each other.
A coppery smell hit me hard, making me notice the two girls on one couch, drinking from blood bags. The two on the other couch leaned back, talking as if this was an everyday occurrence.
“Are we just going to walk around a while, or are you ready for me to take you to your room?” Cole was attempting to hide a smile, but it didn’t work.
“You said to take charge.” Did he already forget the conversation we had just a few minutes ago? “So I did.”
He raised both hands in the air and chuckled. “True, but it’s okay for you to follow and let someone else lead the way when you have no clue where you’re going.”
Clearly, I was in over my head. “Well, this is going great.”
“Come on, Ravey.” Cole wrapped his hand around my waist and tugged me to the left where there was a set of elevators.
“Cole?” One of the girls stood and tossed the bag of blood on the couch. Her long, jet-black hair bounced as she made it over to us. She pulled her v-neck hunter green shirt down which made her cleavage more pronounced. “What are you doing here?”
Wow, she hadn’t even looked in my direction, acting as if I were invisible.
“Showing our new addition to her room.” Cole’s hand tightened on my side, and he frowned. “Not that it’s any of your business.” His voice took on an edge.
“Don’t be so mean to Jordan.” The other vampire glared at me as she approached. Her fingernails were painted blood red, which almost blended in with the bag she was clutching. Her long, dirty blonde hair fell past her butt, and her light green eyes had a ring of red.
“Madison, why don’t you mind your own fucking business?” Cole’s cold tone surprised me.
“I’ve never seen you get so cozy with a new recruit.” Jordan’s eyes landed on me. The same red ring was around her golden eyes. “Honestly, I haven’t seen you this close to any girl that you weren’t about to fuck. Should I warn her about you?”
That was surprising seeing as Cole had been nice to me from the start. “Have you ever considered that you were a little too late with that warning?” The words fell from my mouth before I had time to think it through.
Cole’s fingers dug into my side, pulling me even closer somehow.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” Jordan's beautiful face contorted into a scowl. “Did I give you permission to talk to me?”
“Well, it’s a good thing I didn’t ask.” My wolf surged forward, and my eyesight began to darken.
“You better restrain your mutt.” Jordan spat the words as she wrinkled her nose. “She’s beginning to smell like the dog she really is.”
“That’s enough, you two.” Cole took a step into the girls’ space, but his normally beautiful face contorted into something completely different. His ice-blue eyes narrowed, and a look of pure disgust filled his face. “Go back to your gossip, and get the hell out of our way.”
I was so glad I wasn’t on the receiving end because I’d be scared shitless.
“Fine.” Madison lifted her chin and grabbed her friend’s arm. “Let’s leave them to whatever they’re doing. It’s not like he’ll pay any attention to her in the morning.”
I had thought Sheila was a pain in the ass, but now I realized how wrong I’d been. She still had morals and was nice. These girls were ruthless, and I began to understand why Cole had warned me a few minutes ago.
Jordan glanced at me once more with pure hatred. “Fine, but this isn’t over.”
Great, already had an enemy, and I hadn’t been here for … wait, how long had I been here. I wasn’t entirely sure since I’d blacked out.
“Come on, Ravey.” Cole released his grip from my waist and took my hand. “Let’s get out of here.” He walked over to the elevators and pushed the up button.
The elevator immediately dinged, and the doors opened. We both moved inside. Once the door was closed, he pushed the number seven and turned toward me. “I’m sorry about them.”
“It’s not your fault.” I wanted to ask a question but wasn’t sure I could handle the answer. “Why did they have a red ring to their eyes?”
“You really haven’t been around other paranormals, have you?” The Cole I’d met was back now. A small smirk sat on his face, and his body was relaxed.
“No, I haven’t. That thought hadn’t even occurred to me till now.” Granted, I knew the basics but never had real-world experience. Our pack back home was close-knit. Somehow, even though my parents had been outsiders, they were welcomed with open arms. Apparently, our family was the first outsiders the pack had ever accepted.
“Well, luckily you’ve found an ally with me.” He winked and waved both of his hands with his pointer finger out in my direction.
“Please, never do that again.” I couldn’t help but giggle a little. Cole seemed sincere, and for some reason, I felt like I could trust him. “But really, will you answer my question?”
“It’s because she was feeding.” He leaned on the door and rested his head. “Whenever a
vampire feeds and shortly thereafter, the red ring is the tell.”
Okay, that made sense. They both had been drinking from blood bags. “Got it.”
The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. “Come on, your room is this way.” He stepped out in front and went to the right. “We got you rooming with someone trustworthy.”
For some reason, I trusted him. “Thanks. I need all the friends I can find.”
“I will warn you she is slightly different.” Cole stopped at the door on the right which was labeled 716. “But both Isadora and I thought this would be the best placement for the both of you.”
Great. Here’s hoping that she won’t attack me.
He knocked on the door and then placed a key in the lock, turning the knob. The door swung open, and he reached in, turning on the lights.
A large couch and television were placed in the center between the openings to two hallways. Right across from the room was a decent sized kitchen that included a table for four.
“Holy crap. I was thinking this would be more like a university dorm.” This place appeared to be a luxury style apartment instead of a dormitory.
“Remember the cream of the crop of the supernatural worlds attend this school.” Cole entered the room and plopped himself on the black leather sofa. “Don’t get me wrong … your classes and training will be horrendous, but we get to live in luxury.”
I glanced down the hallway that was closest to the door. It had a door on the right, and at the end was a bathroom. “So we don’t even have to share showers with the whole floor?”
“You don’t even have to share with your roommate either.” He stood and motioned for me to follow him down the hallway. He stopped at the first doorway and opened it. “This is your room.”
The room was twice as big as the one I had back home. There was a queen bed sitting in the middle with a teal comforter on top. The room had a walk-in closet to the right. I even had a chest of drawers and a dresser. “This is huge, and teal is my favorite color.” I couldn’t stop myself from going to the closet and opening it up. There were clothes that I’d never seen before hanging in there.