by S. L. Morgan
“My God,” I said over and over again. “We have to fight this. You said you would protect me, damn it!”
“I was protecting you. Why else would I bust my ass to make sure I was your instructor when I learned Edgewater was pulling you into this stupid new class? I used freaking annoying-ass Kat to get information about how you were doing. Her jealous gossip was enough to send me over the edge, but she kept me informed while we separated you out and used isolation to get you focused on claiming your wolf like you have. Everything worked, but it all seemed to have come at the price of losing you in the end.”
“We’ll work on this,” I said with certainty.
He nodded, but I could see the defeat in his face. “I’ll do anything to get you back, but we need to figure out why you and the wolf are rejecting what was once true mateship between us. That, on top of you no longer wanting me, is the most impossible part for me to accept.”
“It doesn’t happen, Dominic. I grew up knowing how shifters are. You don’t find your true mate only to wake up one day and realize it was some mistake. That shit doesn’t happen in our world, and we both know it.”
“You’re different, Jen. You’re much more unique than the average shifter. Your other genetics may be coming into play now, and your wolf is adapting to who you really are.”
“And that is?” I growled.
“Someone who may not accept shifting mates like the rest of we shifters do. Do not take that the wrong way, Jenna, I’m serious. Think about it, your wolf has more power, she acts like an alpha, she’s never answered to my alpha commands—it’s as if since setting her mind into a healthier state, she’s learned there’s a more powerful mate to be your equal. Or perhaps, someone who isn’t an alpha. We also know the rules of that too.”
“No two alphas are compatible mates,” I answered dryly.
“Exactly,” he said and reached for my hand. “I’m so relieved you are healthier and stronger as a shifter now. It may have cost me the only one I’ll ever love, but if it means that it made you who you were meant to be—stronger, better, in control—the price was worth it in the end. Now, you and the wolf are balanced and will be so much better off at this school.”
“I’m not giving up on us,” I reminded him. “I’m dead serious. This is some weird twist up in my genetic makeup. I won’t let me being some part fairy-witch screw up my life.”
“I’ll do anything you ask to help, but I’m not certain anything will work.”
“Well, if my wolf changed her mind once, then she can change it again,” I said resolutely.
I got a bit of a smile out of Dom for that one, and I used this happier expression to my advantage and reached my arms under his and drew him in close again. “I don’t know if we’re going to keep the break-up between you and me going—probably should since I’m in the troubled kids’ classes and you’re the one beating the rebellious nature out of us. So, we might need to work around it all.”
“I don’t give a shit what anyone at this school thinks. I’ve already lost you. If you’re willing to give me a chance to get you and that wolf back, then I’ll do whatever that takes.”
“Well, then, at least we’re on the same page and not letting this beat us.”
He licked his lips and sighed. “If we manage to bring these wolves back together, it’ll be a damn miracle,” he said with a subdued laugh.
“You know,” I ran my fingers up the t-shirt he wore and ran my hands along his robust frame, “we could always go for it and force the bond…through other methods, of course.”
Dom grinned. “That’s a great way to push a wolf shifter who’s rejecting me to the opposite end of the mate spectrum.” He bent to kiss my nose, “Let’s take it all one step at a time, and if somehow you grow tired of trying to accept something that isn’t there, I’ll respect your decision.”
“Not going to happen,” I said with a smile.
“I hope not because I might just kill the first person who comes along to take you completely away from me.”
“Don’t talk like that.”
“I felt that your wolf was drawn to the bear shifter tonight,” he said from out of nowhere.
“Oh, please. She was only drooling over a freaking bear…a bear whose ass you kicked in drill-downs a few days ago,” I laughed. “She’d be an idiot to fall for anyone besides the strongest shifter at this school.”
Dom nodded. “That’s why she won’t. Two alphas, remember?”
“Stop!” I said. “We’re not going down that road. You saved both our asses on that vacation. I felt our closeness too. I felt you come in, hold me, and keep me safe until that demon released my wolf. You are the one, Dom. This damn school is probably screwing with us again. We need to fight past it.”
He pulled me into a tight embrace. “It’ll be hardest on you, but I won’t stop trying to win you both back until you tell me to stop.”
“It’s a deal. We’re not giving up.”
“Deal,” he said with a curious expression. “Let me walk you back to your dorm before someone realizes we’re out here.”
“Wait,” I said. “I don’t know what tomorrow is going to look like, but I can’t leave without a few more minutes of you and me making up for lost time.”
“Damn, I love that you feel this way.” He brushed my hair off my shoulder, “There might be some hope in this after all?”
I brought his face back to mine, and the next thing I knew, Dominic was kissing me like this was the last time he would ever have the chance to be this close to me. Forgetting the time, place, or who could walk down and catch us, we both slid behind the trees, lying on the ground and making this kiss begin the start of us bringing our wolves back together.
Feeling Dom’s lips all over my skin gave me goosebumps everywhere. His hand glided under my shirt, and I knew he was testing my response to his daring exploration of my body since he knew I wasn’t accepting of him anymore. While it didn’t send me over the top, wanting to go crazy with him, it did do things to me that made me squirm beneath his touch, begging him to give me more than this make-out session.
If it came down to us completely losing control and taking the sexual road, that wasn’t going to be a problem for me. He was my true mate whether or not this school seemed to be disrupting that between us.
15
I was the one to absently kill mine and Dom’s moment by no longer being able to continue on, feeling emotionless about what was happening. It started off well, then I fought the indifference of my wolf for him, and then I did the worst thing I could have done, shoved him off of me in absolute defeat. There was no mentally beating this feeling, this sensation of having zero interest or spark in me for him anymore—no matter what my heart seemed to think about him.
Dom was amazingly cool about it, even though it was apparent in his eyes that everything he’d explained to me about my wolf no longer seeing him as a mate was coming into full effect. While this may have been a way for him to try and see if it was all true, I was using our reunion to make sure I kept him, and to make sure my wolf understood who her true mate was now that she was thinking like the true shifter side of me would.
Dom was a damn trooper. Instead of sulking around, he was back up and kicking all our asses the next day in drills. I admired him so much, I just had no idea why I wasn’t able to click in with him anymore. Shit!
“You’re all showing some fantastic improvement,” Dom addressed us before releasing us from his grueling workout. “Keep with this mentality, and you’ll all be back to normal routines in no time.” We turned to leave for the showers before Dom whistled to grab our attention. “After lunch, all are to meet in Crystal Hall Theatre in House Draugar. The dean has a guest speaker who wishes to address the students who’ve been pulled into these programs. Dismissed.”
I gave Dom one last glance, but he was occupied by a clipboard some shifter chick had run over to him. He seemed fully absorbed in whatever he was reading, so I left him alone. Apologizing for bei
ng a distant bitch to him the other night for the millionth time would get both of us nowhere.
I was famished and looking forward to getting back to my normal life. I knew that would help me. I was mentally shut down, going through this program, and I hadn’t been around any of my friends since the start of the school year. I was all sorts of screwed up in that department, and if I wanted to work on finding Dominic as my mate again, then I knew it would need to start with things going back to normal. I needed to adjust—so did my wolf—to the new way we looked at the world.
The craziest part was I didn't agree with my inner wolf not seeing Dom as our mate, and I was in control of her. It was this horrible feeling of not having emotions like that around him. I guess this is what it felt like to fall out of love with someone. Who knew?
I sprinted up to the line to grab the usual potato soup and stale bread. Damn, I hope I still like pie after this. If that craving and enjoyment went away, there would be hell to pay.
“Mind if I join you?” Bradley’s voice hit me while I was shoveling a spoonful of soup down my throat. “Dang, girl. You eat like a male shifter,” he laughed.
“You think this is bad?” I smiled across the table at him. Damn, this guy had eyes and a smile that struck me hard. “You should see me with real food…and pie, of course.”
“I heard that about you,” he started in on his soup. “The shifter who could eat two pies in one sitting. Rumors false on that one too?”
“I can neither confirm nor deny those allegations,” I laughed. “In fact, I think if we keep our crap together, heads down, and get through this stupid program, I’ll prove it to you. I might break my own pie-eating record.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” He took a bite of bread while the other troubled students made their way over to our tables of isolation. “So, what are your thoughts on the dean’s guest speaker today?”
“I don’t know what to think about anything at this school these days. All I know is that I’ll be studying late in the library again because I’m sure this is going to be a waste of our time, and of course, our instructors won’t give us a pass on lessons today.”
“True,” he answered. “If you don’t mind, maybe I’ll join in again. I can get you up to speed and past the first lesson of the year on vamps if you want.”
I rubbed my forehead. I would’ve rather had Dominic help me out, but he was most likely going to be doing more drill-downs during that time anyway. Someone always screwed up and pissed him off, so he was always out working their attitudes off in extreme exercise.
“Sounds good,” I finally answered.
“Time’s up. Everyone is to report to Crystal Hall. That’s the only room on the third floor of House Draugar if you’re wondering,” the lunch warden who always made us feel like we were in prison announced to the troubled kids’ groups.
We walked into the lavish hall, which was obviously named after the wonder and the beauty of the crystal—crystal every-damn-where. Even the candles in their lavish holders on the burgundy painted walls were crystal. Stadium seating again, and somehow, every dumbass beat me to the seats that hid in the back—glad I stopped for a bathroom break.
“Hey, Jenna!” I heard my name from the front freaking row, and an arm was waving me down. “There’s a seat right here.”
I glanced around, even though it would’ve been fine sitting next to Bradley, I did not want to be front and center for a guest speaker who was most likely here to rip into all of us for being the idiots of the school.
The place was jam-packed with every bad kid in their respective groups. The crappy fairies, lame vamps, loser shifters, and the dud witches. Good names for how they all treated us outcasts these days.
I turned and headed toward the front. “Thanks for this,” I said, sitting in the cushioned chair next to Bradley. “As much as I hate the front row, it’s better than being yelled at for standing in the back or sitting next to a group of chattering sprites.”
Bradley laughed. “No problem,” he answered, “I saw you head off down the hall for a quick break as the mobs started coming in behind us. I figured I’d hold you a place just in case. We’ve all come too far to get yelled at for something as stupid as them not finding a place big enough to fit all of us.”
“I second that.”
My eyes roamed over the sweet, out-of-this-world sexy bear shifter. Wow! You could actually see his quad muscles through his khaki school-uniform pants. A quick scan and I saw he had biceps like Dom’s—how was it that muscles stretching short-sleeved shirts were a total turn on for me?
“Attention,” Dean Edgewater called out to the prattling voices in the room.
Immediately silenced.
“Wow,” he gripped each side of the podium and leaned toward the microphone that magically floated above it. “I’ll say, I’m impressed. Maybe this is a program we’ll put the entire school through. I don’t think we’ve ever silenced a group this fast. I’m proud of you.” He smiled out at us. “Speaking of proud, let’s bring out each of your instructors. They need no introductions. I’m sure you know them well.”
I watched as a tall guy with long black hair who was sporting a fancy suit walked out—vampire. Then a lime-green spiky-haired chick walked out with a lethal expression—crazy fairy. A woman who held herself with the supreme authority only magic users waltzed around with followed behind—witch. Then my eyes followed the one who stole the room as he walked across the stage in his all-black combat clothes. Damn you, Dominic. His good looks went on for days, and here I was, rejecting all that man up there…what the hell was wrong with my genetics? I was like a freaking mutant.
A laugh came from the bottom of the stage. My wolf hearing instantly picked up on the unfamiliar tone, leading my eyes over to a man with sandy blonde hair who was dressed in an all-black suit that put Dean Edgewater’s billion-dollar suits to shame. The man’s eyes glimmered in a light blue hue, and when he and I locked gazes, he didn’t shy away from it. Instead, the man smirked in some self-assured way, casually leaning against the wall.
“I ask you all to give your masters a round of applause for helping you learn the proper ways of behavior at our school,” Edgewater said, bringing my attention back to him.
Like any of us are going to applaud having our asses beat down by the masters since we started this school year.
I clapped anyway. The last thing we needed was to get busted for not appreciating the people who beat us down every day.
“Now,” Edgewater smiled widely at us like a supernatural celebrity was here, “it is an honor to have firsts at our school. Sadly, this first isn’t one that comes because a group of individuals wants to applaud the school but to set careful reminders of why you’re here and then encourage you to stay on the path you’re on. Allow me to introduce a person from the realm of a Guardian who is here to address all of you before we start looking to reintegrate you into the school.”
He turned to the man I’d locked eyes with. “Harrison Oxley, Guardian leader and protector of humans, please allow me to introduce you to our students.”
The man walked onto the stage, crossed it like he owned it, and nodded at Dean Edgewater, totally shocking me when he didn’t shake the dean’s extended hand.
I think I like this guy! I thought, loving how he totally brushed the dean off, making Edgewater look like the creepy asshole he was.
“And so here I am,” his raspy, yet kind of sexy voice started with a smile. “I must say, it’s an honor to stand before all the students who have gone to great lengths to be deemed the most troubled students at this place. Congratulations, your loved ones must be so proud.” He exhaled, making it completely obvious that he wasn’t happy to be part of this. It was more like it just had to be done, so he was doing it. He made eye contact with me. “Some of you might be thinking this very second, ‘This guy looks like he doesn’t want to be here. It’s like this is just something that has to be done, so he’s the one who has to do it.’”
S
hit! He’s a damn mind reader too?
He smiled at me to confirm that thought, then became more serious. “First of all, Dean Edgewater,” he looked back at where Edgewater sat, legs crossed and with perfect posture, “Maybe you need to hit one of the training fields with your students to stimulate your mind so you can pay attention more in council meetings.”
Dean Edgewater flashed a smile of confusion, trying to hold his own against whatever point this man was trying to make. “My name is Harrison Oxley, folks.” He turned back to us, “If your dean of students, here, paid attention in our Elite Council, he’d also know my accurate title, which is Guardian Commander. I’m from a dimension that wasn’t named after the order of operations in your basic math class—Pemdas.”
I actually laughed at that name, among others.
“I’m glad that sounded like a joke, but since our dimension is far from a joke, I ask that you get your laughs out now because it’s all about to get serious.”
The room fell silent. It wasn’t hilarious that the place the guy was from was the initials of the operations in the order of math, it was the way he’d set it up.
“You all should be grateful that something came up with our emperor, and he was held back on business—the business we’re used to handling—you certainly wouldn’t have wanted to get this talk from him. We don’t do school visits. We don’t patronize any individual or being who messes with the human population. However, we’ve decided to step in and give you all a little history lesson about what we do and why we do it. Why? Yes, I heard that in all of your thoughts.” He grinned, “How about that? I may not crave human blood, play with elements, cast spells, or shift into an apex predator like all of you, but I will tell you there’s a lot more to mine and my warriors’ simple appearance. Not to worry, I’m not here to brag about myself—you don’t have nearly enough time for that.”