Running back up the stairs a half-hour later, I dashed down the hallway with my tail hanging. I whimpered at the door and thumped it with my paw, careful not to chip the paint. I was seriously in need of comfort, and I didn’t feel like explaining, hence, my wolf form.
The door flew open, and Jack dropped to his knees, his hands instantly scratching behind my ears. “He hurt you, didn’t he?” He sounded furious and smelled of aggression.
Ezra exited the bathroom and blinked, seeing me. Abruptly, he was behind Jack, blurring, and leaned over him. He actually picked me up. I squirmed a little until he adjusted his hold. His fangs were descended, obviously furious, too, as he crushed me against his chest.
Pearl stated with an eerie voice, her eyes glowing, “It’s not that.” She breathed out slowly, her head tilting even though she wasn’t looking at anyone. “She’s not physically hurt. He didn’t touch her.”
Incredulous, Jack muttered, “What? With the way they ran out of here?”
Her lips pursed, and she shook her head, her eyes going back to normal. “He didn’t try anything on her. I got that,” a wave of her hand, “impression.” Her power at work, going all dreamlike, then her knowing what I wouldn’t wish her to.
I was woman enough to admit it was creepy at times.
This time, I only stuffed my snout against Ezra’s neck, sighing in embarrassment and disappointment.
“Seriously?” Jack asked, still unbelieving.
Ezra moved to my bed and lay down, keeping me on his chest. He didn’t comment, and his fangs had retracted when he kissed the tip of my nose. He stared me in the eyes and began scratching behind my ears.
I was grateful he didn’t say anything, with his sensitive nose for emotions.
“Is he not into women?” Jack asked, still throwing a fit, even with Nikki trying to calm him. “Because who the hell wouldn’t want her?” His mate abruptly scrutinized him, and he rolled his eyes, muttering, “Don’t go there. You know what I meant.” His expression turning furious again, he started marching toward the door. “I’m going to have a talk with him.”
Sighing, my nose wiggled. So much for being able to keep quiet…and the ear scratching had been so nice, too. I lifted on Ezra’s chest, hopped to the floor, and raced in front of Jack. I bared my teeth for a second, stopping him, then sped into the bathroom. After shifting in privacy, since I still didn’t bare all to all, I called, “He’s bi, not gay. When we were running, we met up with a drifter that’s staying here. He’s a wolf Shifter, too. They hit it off better than he and I did. End of story.”
I shifted back. The hell with it. I wanted my damn ears scratched.
Tail still hanging, I left the privacy of the bathroom and jumped back onto my bed. Almost everyone was staring at me with shock — yeah, someone had turned me down — and I whined. They stopped gawking.
Ezra patted his chest — one of the few that had worn a carefully blank expression — and I whined a little from my melancholy as I got on him, turning in circles on his hard chest until I found a comfy way to lie. He ran his fingers through my fur and shook my head roughly, ordering, “Quit moping. There’ll be more opportunities for an alpha.” He paused. “Although, don’t do it if they resemble Goliath. He really was too big for you.”
“She’s only moping because she’s going through a dry spell,” Nikki said, trying to be helpful. I closed my eyes in dismay. She noticed everything. Heard and saw way too much about a lot of people. Of course she had noticed that.
“I’m sorry?” Pearl asked, pausing the movie everyone had been ignoring. “What are you talking about?”
“Sugar, I don’t think Lily even knows what a dry spell is,” Jack muttered. “She’s got more dick lined up than she knows what to do with.” Crude, but factual.
“I didn’t say she doesn’t have her pick of Shifters,” Nikki countered. “I said she hasn’t been sleeping with them.” She blinked in the quiet following that, and her mouth gradually shut as she ever so slowly recognized that might not have been information I wanted out there. Nervously, she glanced at me, mumbling, “You know, maybe, I…” She nodded. “I’m wrong. I remember that guy…um…” She trailed off, her mouth bobbing noiselessly.
Okay, she was officially worse at lying than Pearl.
I closed my eyes again. This evening had gone from bad to worse.
Silence.
“Perhaps she’s sick,” Gideon whispered. “It’s not like a Shifter to not have sex.” Pearl had never spilled the beans to him about me, but a Vampire had just as much friendliness as a Shifter.
“No. She wanted it an hour ago,” Pearl mumbled, sounding thoughtful.
A rough shake of my head by powerful hands, and I blinked my blue eyes open to stare into green ones that were analyzing me before Ezra asked, “How long’s it been, sweetheart?”
As if I could answer him. Not that I would.
His eyes darted to Nikki.
She mumbled, “The kids at school say the last person she slept with was Felix.” She paused. “There’s lots of talk about it.” Her eyes met mine. She was even starting to look worried. “Did you fall for him?”
Everyone in the room froze, watching me.
All over again, Ezra shook my head, hard, and growled, “Shift.” I stared at him and, slowly, he blinked, before grabbing the edge of my comforter and throwing it over us.
I shifted.
My face buried in my hair and Ezra’s chest, I explained, “I didn’t fall for Felix.” I paused, licking my lips. “But, I’m not someone that sleeps with everyone and their brother.” Another pause. “Although, I did push the extreme when I first started having sex again after Dominic died. And, even though I didn’t fall for Felix, I realized I didn’t want to sleep with someone who fell in love with me after one kiss. Felix reminded me of what it was like to be with someone strong-willed. I don’t want to have a relationship with anyone, but whoever comes to my bed from now on is going to have their own mind and their own thoughts, not beg to know what mine are, so they can conform to them.” I sighed. “Never mind. You guys won’t understand. You’re mated, and the only one that’s not is a man-whore.”
“Hey,” Ezra grumbled instantly, sounding affronted, and grabbed a handful of my hair, lifting my head to stare me in the eyes. “I’m not a man-whore.”
I snorted. “When was the last time you had sex?”
Instant. “Last night.”
“And the time before that?”
“The night before.”
“And, before that?”
“Three days before.”
“And were any of those encounters with the same woman?”
“No.” Black eyebrows were gradually furrowing.
“I rest my case,” I muttered, tugging on my hair, which he didn’t let go of.
His brows finished scrunching with a slam, before lowering deeply.
“I think it makes sense,” Pearl stated. “Even though I’m mated, I remember what it was like to be single.” She paused, and sighed — someone must have been giving her a look, but I couldn’t see anything except Ezra’s glower thanks to his hold. “She wants her lovers to be men in their own right. Not a bunch of pussy followers.” She made a gagging sound. “Who would want that in their bed, anyway?” A pause. “Other than Ezra. He doesn’t have a preference.”
His scowl intensified, his eyes rocking in her direction, and he grumbled, “You think I’m a man-whore, too?”
Immediate. “No. I don’t.” A short pause, then she whispered, “But, I do think you fill your bed to forget.”
Silence.
His jaw clenched.
Damn, I hadn’t even had the balls to say that.
Gideon cleared his throat loudly. “Who wants to finish watching the movie?”
Quickly, Nikki stated, “Let’s put the other one in. It’s a comedy.” She busied herself doing just that, talking a mile a minute with her soft voice to fill the strained hush.
Ezra turned his head away from
the television and shut his eyes, the action so desolate, hiding his face like that.
My heart swelled even further for him, knowing the obvious pain he tried to hide.
His hand had slacked in my hair, and I moved up, placing a gentle kiss against the corner of his mouth. His eyes opened, and I saw his pain there as he stared back. It was deep. So much more profound than he let on, keeping it tucked away much better than I fared.
His lids drooped closed, and he murmured, “Shift. I’ll scratch your ears.”
Shaking my head, I kissed his temple this time, whispering, “No. I think I’ll pet you instead.” I did just that, running my fingers through his spiked hair until he fell asleep.
Chapter Nineteen
Awakening.
If I had thought I was nervous before in the past four weeks, well, that was a joke.
Today, I had actually barfed three times throughout the first half of the day. With my stomach in knots, I had only stared at my pizza at lunch. Now, my friends were, literally, yanking me down the deserted hallways after failing to talk me into moving from the cafeteria bench when lunch was over.
“I’m gonna puke again,” I mumbled, jerking with the tug Pearl gave my left arm.
“Again, huh?” Jack murmured, hands on my hips, shoving me from behind. “I thought she looked pale.”
“Pale?” Ezra snorted, yanking on my right arm. “She looks like shit. The Kings are going to notice.”
“I should run now,” I mumbled, trying to plant my feet, which didn’t work because Jack kicked the back of my knees, making me move forward. “Really. I should just go before I get anyone in trouble.”
Pearl jerked my chin around. “They’ll catch you if they think you’re just trying to skip out on being Queen.”
I blinked, my feet stumbling forward with their insistent hauling. “Are you saying they won’t catch me if they think I’m running because of something else?”
“There’s a real possibility of that.” She nodded. “They’ve gotten to know you. You’re someone to them now, not just a type.”
Ezra rumbled, “They’d at least give her a head start before they let the hounds loose.”
I whimpered, attempting to plant my feet again.
Ezra was done with this. He sighed heavily and moved too fast. The next second, I was over his shoulder with my stomach firmly planted against his shoulder, my head and arms dangling over his back.
Jack and Pearl were both left blinking as he marched down the hallway.
He swatted my butt when I started squirming. “You’re going. Hold still and try not to puke on me.” The puking thing was a real possibility upside down like this. He smacked my butt again. Harder. “That’s for being a pussy.”
Jack and Pearl caught up with us as he stalked toward the gym, where the Kings waited.
With four Mys, one of each faction, ready to be Awakened.
The first four days of the week had mainly been used to train us…to keep a blank face.
Seriously.
The Kings had pretty much done everything possible, magically, or not so magically, to get us to crack and show emotion. It was very important not to show any type of reaction to someone’s power level — no hurt feelings — after their Awakening, which was damn ironic with the way they had reacted at mine.
But, I was “unique”. How special.
Also, I had been given a book to study in my off time. It was a book on Earth’s animals worldwide. A Shifter’s Awakening could result in any animal that was a bird or mammal as long as its primary habitat was land based, so I was required to know what they were in case there was ever any question.
We had also been educated on the reasons why an Awakening wouldn’t work. Mainly, pregnancy for a Shifter woman. The reason for the overabundance of abstinence talks in my sex education class last year, even though Mrs. Fowler had still harped about it this year.
A possible pregnancy was a perfect example of the necessity for a blank face as a Shifter male tested a Shifter woman for pregnancy. I would never forget the stories the Kings had told us about multiple males — only the father of the baby knows by scent — being called for one female when the Shifter had been a smidge too promiscuous. In other words, forget blood tests. It takes too much of our precious time, so instead, we do it by good ol’ fashioned scent if the pregnancy wasn’t apparent, with no compunction for the embarrassed woman and man or men. In my opinion, Shifters got the bum end of the deal for Awakenings compared to any other Mys faction.
There was one other reason a Mys might not be able to go through an Awakening: if they were just too weak. I had never heard of this, and the Kings emphasized that in their entire reign they had only come across it three times. Ostensibly, there was no rhyme or reason for it. The explanation they had given was a comparison to the Com’s infant mortality rate. Sometimes, nature just grabs hold and takes innocents.
This was the only valid reason I saw for embarrassing a Shifter to test for pregnancy immediately. I wouldn’t want to assume the woman is in one category, but she is actually in another, and allow her to leave. It would only leave Mysticals who weren’t as powerful as us to attempt the Awakening later for the weak Mystical who was standing on the precipice of living or dying.
King Fergus had glanced at me during that spiel. He had said he thought I was going to be their fourth for this sad circumstance. The three times they’d had to bring in added power to pull someone through an Awakening, it hadn’t ended well. They had tried for almost three days straight — I couldn’t even imagine the pain those Mysticals had suffered — to pull the Mys through, all to no avail. Those three had died within the year, falling into a coma and passing away in their sleep.
I had kept silent during the King’s confessed prior concern. They knew I hadn’t been weak when I had finally shifted, my powers going online at that time. I hoped they never revisited why it had been hard for me to shift, happy that they had chalked it up to an anomaly. Again, I was “unique”.
Before we had entered the gym, Ezra had dumped me back on my feet — no Ceremony Arena this time for these four Awakenings. He had brushed my hair onto my face, ordering me not to look the Kings directly in the eye, since I looked so dreadful. He had also reminded me to stay far away from King Venclaire and King Kincaid because I stunk of fear. I had done exactly that, then Pearl and I had gone into the girls locker room — Jack had ordered Pearl to keep an eye on me to make sure I didn’t run — to change into our black ceremonial robes.
Now, we were back in the gym. The Kings were already changed into their robes and the four guinea pigs were in their white robes and lined up next to each other. Truly, they were test subjects. They had volunteered to be our first. Our practice round, per se, and were fully aware it was, more than likely, going to hurt. A lot. Nonetheless, someone had to do it, and they had been brave enough to donate themselves to the cause.
Shifter male, Vampire male, air Elemental female, and Mage male. It wasn’t the same for every Mystical. Elementals had to wait until they were nineteen or twenty, normally the last day of their sophomore year. Mages and Shifters had to be eighteen or nineteen and Vampires had to be sixteen to seventeen, their lower age due to their need for blood.
The only one I really knew was the Elemental. Had I stayed in the grade I had started the year at, I would have graduated with her in a few years, instead of graduating this year. Honestly, I really did like the girl. She wasn’t the bad sort, so that made this even worse, knowing I might put her through agony without a real outcome — her Awakening.
“Prodigies, listen up,” King Nelson stated calmly. All the Kings were abnormally solemn today. No jokes. No money being exchanged. Just somber faces, knowing what these four Mysticals were going to have to endure — even if I could be used as a vessel. “We went through this before. Each of these individuals’ powers are beginning to peak, so when you push your Shifter, Vampire, Elemental, or Mage power into them, it will immediately attach itself to their power
. And then, you pull. Pull their power so it physically touches your Core, then let go as soon as you feel it.” Or you will put them through needless pain. He didn’t say it now, but the Kings had said that just yesterday.
King Fergus glanced at each of us. “Just your raw power. That’s all. No other push is needed. When you’re on point, your own faction of Mys will call to their new sparking power.”
This was exactly why I wasn’t sure if I could vessel. I had two. Not one. The push might not work for just raw power without our will, both of which we had used in funneling through a Mystical of another faction.
King Kincaid said quickly, “Don’t start the process until the other three are at max power after you’re linked. Even the tiniest fluctuation of power during the process can be a distraction to the person on point and cause interference with the pull.” And put them through needless pain. Again, not said, but heard.
“Any questions?” King Venclaire asked casually, his poker face the best right now out of all four Kings.
Pearl inhaled sharply. “How long is the average first try?”
We knew they kept logs on this.
“Around eight minutes for the first attempt,” King Nelson said softly.
None of us looked at the four volunteers. We knew that meant eight minutes of the most horrific pain they had ever felt before. At our hands. Honestly, I was surprised the Kings didn’t bring them in one at a time, so they couldn’t hear each other’s screams. The last person was going to be a mess by the time we — if we did —got to him or her. Although, I was ecstatic the Kings were making their families and friends stay in Mrs. Jonas’s office until we were through. Witnessing the agony of test run Awakenings would have been too much for their loved ones to take.
Pearl and Jack and Ezra had me positioned farthest from the Kings, also, coincidently, the closest to the fire exit, leading directly outside. If I was unable to do this, I was to bolt immediately while they kept the Kings at bay, and meet with them in a week’s time in a little restaurant two towns away. I hadn’t mentioned where I would hide during that week, but I had places I could hunker down at. We would go from there with whatever strategy we came up with at that time.
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