Winter Term

by J. J. Krzemien

  “There’s something I need to tell you,” I said.

  When I didn’t continue, he asked, “Is it better said in person?”

  “No. No, this will change our plans for Friday.” It was my turn to deeply inhale. “Dad, I’m already mate bonded.”

  A long pause. “Well, congratulations. Who is the lucky she-wolf?”

  I gazed up at the grey stone ceiling, this was the hard part. “She’s not a wolf.”

  An excruciatingly long pause followed.

  “Dad, you still there?”

  “Yeah. Not a wolf? Then what? How do you know you’re bonded? Maybe it’s infatuation.” At least he wasn’t yelling.

  I let out the breath I’d been holding. “It’s Caprice Sorrentino, Isabella’s granddaughter.”

  “The dragon-shifter?”

  I startled. “How did you find out?”

  “Everyone knows.” He sighed. “Are you sure you’re bonded? Maybe the sex is really good and you’re confused. I had that happen once when I was young—”

  “We haven’t had sex. I’ve barely touched her.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Dad, it’s driving me crazy. I haven’t been with anyone. I haven’t chased any girls, as you put it, since I met her. Keeping away is getting so hard. I knew you wouldn’t approve, so I tried to stop it from happening.”

  My dad’s voice filled with more sympathy than I’d heard in years. “Oh, my boy, you have it bad. I remember what it was like with your mother—pure agony and absolute joy.” He sighed. “Of course I want you with a werewolf mate. It’s important to keep the line pure—especially the Alpha line.”

  “I know. I’m sorry—”

  “But, I understand that this is beyond your control. You do harm to yourself by resisting it. It’s also so rare to find this bond that it should be celebrated.”

  I took the phone away from my ear to stare at it, bewildered. Replacing it, I said, “Ah, okay.” Lame, but it was all I could think to say.

  “I’ll see you in a couple of nights. We’ll talk more then.” My dad hung up.

  Cancer had changed my father. Tears stung my eyes, I rubbed them with the heel of my palm. Fuck, my dad was fucking dying. I wasn’t waiting until Friday. I needed to take a leave of absence—now.

  I sniffed, pulling my shit together. Tears could wait, I needed to get to my family, they were my responsibility now. I pushed off from the wall and jogged down the stairs. It was close to dinner time and the dean would probably be in her dining room.

  On the ground floor of Academy Hall, I strode purposefully down the corridor. A door clicked shut behind me and I glanced over my shoulder. I did a double-take as Caprice stepped out of May’s office.

  My wolf’s reaction was instantaneous. Pure, primal lust and possession prickled over my skin as I let out a low growl.

  Caprice’s head turned toward me, and I halted in the middle of the hallway. A battle of wills raged inside me. My eyes had to be glowing, as they so often did around her, which probably made me look like a creepy freak just standing there staring. No, not staring, devouring her with my gaze.

  I wanted to run my fingers through her long dark hair. Her full breasts made my mouth water. My gaze ate her up, following the trim line of her waist to those full hips and slender legs. I wanted to pin her against the wall and claim her as my own. My cock twitched.

  But she wasn’t something to be claimed, she was a powerful woman. I wasn’t going to ravage her and dominate her like some kind of animal. The more human half of me was in control, most of the time.

  Besides, she might not even want me. At that thought, my heart broke. What if she didn’t want me? She had Jaxon and Liam, did she really need me as well? Before dinner last week, I’d told her that she made my blood rush, but she never hinted that the feeling was mutual. Sure, she’d held my hand, but…that didn’t mean anything.

  My wolf raised his ugly mug. She was mine. The growl that escaped my throat echoed in the hall, making Caprice stand still. She stared back at me, her chest rising and falling too fast. I could hear her pulse pounding like a scared rabbit—or was she excited?

  I took a step toward her. When she didn’t flinch, I closed the distance between us. I wasn’t going to ravage her, I just needed to feel a connection. I needed to know if she would give me a chance. Would she be my queen and Pack co-leader? Or was that too much to hope for?

  Slowly, I brushed my fingers through her silky hair. She gazed up at me with those intense hazel eyes under thick lashes. I inhaled her exotic, floral scent, closing my eyes. This was heaven on earth, standing this close to her. I tried to ignore how uncomfortably tight my jeans had become.

  Her cool hands touched my chest and I opened my eyes. She slid her hands up to my shoulders and around my neck, then tugged gently downward. I tried to relax and let her do with me as she wished.

  My face was inches from hers when she stopped pulling. I searched her eyes, finding a primal need that seemed to match my own. Her full lips parted, inviting. I’d wanted to kiss her for so long, but now that the time had come, I hesitated. What if I couldn’t control myself?

  Caprice splayed her fingers in my hair, drawing my lips to hers in a searing kiss. She plastered her body against mine from chest to hips. The sensation, the smell of her arousal, it was too much. I snapped.

  In a second, I had her around the corner with her back against the hard stone wall and her body pressed against mine. I grasped her jaw in one hand, kissing her with bruising force. My other hand palmed one of her luscious breasts. I undulated my hips against her hot center, giving her pleasure through her jeans.

  She gasped, gripping my shoulders as I continued to savagely claim her mouth. Her slim body enveloped in mine released all my primal instincts. I wanted to protect her, claim her. She was mine, my mate.

  I slipped a hand between us, down the front of her jeans, and touched her warm wetness. She was soaked. I stroked her clit and she tensed. She was so turned on that a few moments later her body trembled as she came. I muffled her ecstatic cry with my tongue in her sweet mouth.

  I tugged the top of her sweater down to expose her smooth shoulder. Tearing my lips from hers, I bit down where neck and shoulder joined. And tasted blood.

  She shrieked.

  My head jerked up. Did I just bite her? Like a fucking vampire? What the fuck?

  7

  Caprice

  Angel looked mortified. “I’m so fucking sorry!”

  He released his death grip hold on me, and took a step back. I touched my shoulder where he’d bit me, my hand coming away with blood. The wound stung in an unnatural way, as if tingling with magic.

  I recovered from the shock of it, feeling a bit sheepish. But seriously, these guys needed to warn me if they had weird sexual instincts.

  “Is this a werewolf thing?” I asked. “Do you always bite while…”

  Angel’s eyes grew wider. “No!” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know what that was. I’m so sorry.”

  I reached for his arm, but he flinched away. Why was nothing ever easy with him? And where had that sudden change come from? For months he’d kept his distance, never touching me unless necessary—except for a few nights ago when he held my hand.

  But when I saw him in the hallway, and he’d turned to me, I’d never forget the intense, primal connection that I’d felt. I’d wondered for a while if our inner animals related to each other. Finally, I had felt it, in that moment. Had he felt it too? He must have when he picked me up and hauled me around the corner.

  Pleasure and pain had been so mingled, it was hard to tell them apart—until he’d bit me.

  “Angel—” I started.

  Liam appeared from around the corner. “What’s going on? I heard a scream.” He spotted the blood on my shoulder. “What the hell, Angel? What did you do to her?”

  Angel recoiled, making his tall, broad frame as small as possible. He gazed at the floor. “I’m sorry. I have to go.” He hurried down the hallway. />
  I kept my eyes on his back until he disappeared from view. This was classic Angel. Every time we got physically close, he freaked out and ran away. Why? Was there something wrong with me?

  Liam brushed his fingers down my arm. “Are you okay?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine,” I said, even though Liam had to know that was a lie. Confusion and feelings of insecurity twisted my stomach.

  “Can I walk you up to dinner?”

  I met his gaze. “Not tonight. Sorry. Tell Jaxon I’m sorry, too.” I needed to clear my head and get away from the guys for a while.

  In the Freeman dorm, I had a room all to myself. The one window faced the back of the building and the dense forest beyond. Somewhere back there was the massive wall that separated us from the Tromara.

  I opened the window wide, breathing in the pungent smell of pine, decay, and rain. A nearly full moon glowed behind thick cloud cover. The only sound was the pattering of rain.

  On nights like this, my life seemed unreal. The Culling, the Tromara, my future enslavement to their King, none of it seemed possible. Maybe I was in denial, or maybe my brain simply could’t process all of this. I knew I’d been using the guys as a distraction—to keep me sane. But, I couldn’t avoid reality forever and each week that passed, brought me closer to the inevitable.

  I had to get out of the Culling Club.

  At this point, I was hoping Isabella’s talk with Demarcus would be enough to get Montrell off my case. January was already half over and mid-terms would be here too soon, I didn’t have a lot of time.

  Taking off my boots, I lay face-down on the bed. My collection of shells and the ruby necklace lived in separate boxes under my bed. I retrieved them, first opening the necklace that I was supposed to be wearing. It was the only thing I had that belonged to my family, a family I didn’t know I had until recently. That made it too precious to wear every day. Closing the velvet case, I put it away.

  Next, I opened the tin box of sea shells. These were my treasures, my dragon hoard. Each shell had its own memory, a trip to the beach, associate with it. Luckily, they were all good memories of running barefoot in the sand and splashing in frigid saltwater. No matter what was happening in my life, or which foster family I was with, going to the beach always made me feel free.

  I ran my fingers over the smooth surfaces. This act soothed my mind and seemed to bring clarity.

  Isabella said she was taking care of the Tromara while I figured out how to not get Culled. The King knew that I was a dragon-shifter, what could Isabella offer him that would make him leave me alone? Did I even want to know?

  I shoved those worries aside.

  Putting the tin box away under the bed, my fingers brushed against a cold, hard object. I scooped it up. My obsidian wand. Should I turn it in now that I was no longer a witch—not that I’d ever been one. Holding onto it seemed wrong, yet I was hesitant to let it go.

  As I looked at the shiny wand, I felt that inner magic well up. I stood up and shifted to my dragon form. Holding the wand in one hand, I pointed at a textbook on the desk and willed it to move.

  Nothing happened.

  I frowned. The magic, the energy was there in me, but how did I get it out? Obviously, not with a wand.

  I walked up the chilly stairwell to Shifter Physiology, thinking about Angel. Dragon-shifters were supposed to take multiple mates, but was I doing that? I was so damned horny all the time, especially around the guys. Was it only them? Was there a mate-worthy connection with each of them? Or was I turning into a slut who’d jump any cute guy?

  Honestly, I was beginning to worry about myself.

  Plopping down in the back row, I did my best to ignore Montrell. I wasn’t in the mood for him and his bullshit tonight. Did Demarcus Freeman really not know why his son was being such an asshole? Or was he lying and covering up for him?

  Class started without Montrell singling me out. I sighed in relief, hoping tonight would be different and I wouldn’t have points taken away for some ludicrous reason.

  Montrell’s deep voice filled the stone room. “Your project for finals week is fifty percent of your class score, so I want you to get started on that now.” He surveyed the students with that unforgiving hazel gaze. “You’ll pair up and work on the research paper together. Topics will be randomly assigned. Find a project partner. Now.”

  I groaned. Montrell pinned me with a glare. The other students quickly found their partners, moving from their seats to pair up. No one approached me, so I sat there like an idiot.

  “Mr. Collins,” Montrell barked, “pair up with Ms. Sorrentino. You’re already in the Culling, so if she eats you there’ll be no great loss.”

  Across the room, a white-blond boy stood, his face matched the color of his hair. With horror-filled pale blue eyes, he slowly made his way to where I sat. He was tall, with a slender build.

  Not meeting my gaze, he lowered himself into the desk next to mine. I inwardly fumed at Montrell’s comment. Ignoring the fucking asshole, I turned toward Collins and summoned up my friendliest smile.

  “Hi, I’m Caprice.”

  “B-Brody Collins.” He dared a quick glance at my face.

  I extended my hand, which he hesitantly shook. “Nice to meet you, Brody. What kind of shifter are you?”

  He steadily met my gaze. “Eagle-shifter.”

  I wouldn’t have guessed a bird of prey was inside such a fearful guy.

  My smile broadened. “That’s cool. I’m a dragon-shifter. And I don’t eat people.” I shot a glare at Montrell, who stood watching us. “I’m actually a nice person.”

  Brody nodded, but I didn’t think he believed me. The silence stretched between us.

  Montrell walked up the aisle letting students draw their research topic from a box. When he got to us, he withdrew a folded piece of paper from his shirt pocket and handed it over. “This one’s for you two.”

  I unfolded it and read: Mutated Genetics. Had he selected this topic for us because I was a dragon-shifter or because Brody was an albino? I glared at Montrell’s back as he walked to the front of the class and started the night’s lecture.

  I hadn’t noticed before that Brody was also in my next class. He sat at the far corner in Math class, with his head down. The poor guy didn’t seem to have any friends. I frowned, knowing exactly what that felt like. At least I had May and the guys here on campus.

  In English class I turned in my paper on Hamlet early, and Mr. Sharpe awarded me five points.

  I sat next to Lana in Beast Shifting, we smiled at each other as usual but didn’t talk. I glanced around the room, startled to discover that Brody was also in this class. I felt like a real jerk, never having noticed him before. Again, he sat alone and ignored everyone around him.

  Nalea strode in, clapping her hands. “Everyone up, let’s practice that shifting.”

  I stood, casually drifting over to the corner of the room Brody had claimed. He was concentrating hard, brow furrowed. Black talons grew from his fingertips, and his head morphed into an eagle’s. His feathers were a mottled dark brown and gold. In his half-form the rest of his body appeared human. I was surprised a bird-shifter had a half-form. How big was this eagle?

  “Hey, that’s cool,” I said. “What kind of eagle are you?”

  His dark bird eyes blinked at me. “Golden eagle.” Brody shifted back to appearing human. “Look,” he said, “you don’t have to be friendly to me just because we got paired up for that stupid project in Physiology, okay?” His harsh tone startled me.

  “I’m not. That’s not why—”

  “Oh, it’s because I don’t have any friends, is that it? I don’t need your pity.” He brushed past me, bumping my shoulder with his arm.

  My jaw hung slack. So, Brody Collins had some guts after all. He certainly wasn’t afraid of me anymore, which only made me more curious. Why did he choose to be alone? Why was he so angry?

  “I tried to be friendly with him once, too,” said a voice at my back.

/>   I turned, surprised to find Lana talking to me. “What’s his deal?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “No clue.” Lana swept long, straight black hair over her shoulder. “Maybe it’s because he’s in the Culling Club. Some people don’t take it very well.”

  “I’m at the bottom of that, and I’m not a jerk.” I folded my arms.

  Lana’s lips twisted. “No, you’re just unapproachable.”

  I gaped at her. “What?”

  “Why do you think the other shifters don’t talk to you? You’re a big, scary dragon-shifter and you seem to like keeping everyone at a distance. Am I wrong?” Lana’s dark brown eyes bored into mine. “I mean, until today I’ve never seen you talk to anyone in this class besides the teacher.”

  Was she calling me a snob? I wasn’t sure if I liked this girl or not.

  “I’m not— People could talk to me—”

  “I’m just pointing out what I see. That’s all.” Lana turned and strode to her usual place nearer the mirrors.

  I stood in stunned silence. The other shifters weren’t afraid of me, they thought I was a snob—an elitist, or maybe a teacher’s pet. Had I really been unfriendly? But they all glared at me when I smiled at them! How was I supposed to be nice to people like that?

  Maybe it had nothing to do with my being a dragon. Maybe they treated me this way because I was Isabella’s granddaughter. Half of the witches had thought that my family was cool, while the other half hated me for being a Sorrentino. Did the shifters have something against my family? Montrell certainly had a problem with me.

  But that didn’t make any sense. Isabella was best friends with Demarcus Freeman and she’d said he was the leader of the shifters. Besides, the Sorrentino family—my family—was their royalty. I’d be their Council Queen someday.

  Okay, that did sound a bit elitist. But was it really my responsibility to be friendly and make the first move with people? Suddenly, I had a feeling that was exactly what I was supposed to do. This wasn’t the human world, apparently the social customs here were different and no one had bothered to tell me. Not that I was great at making friends under the best of circumstances.