by S. L. Morgan
“It is the truth.”
“And that’s why I love owls. Nothing but facts and truth spewing from your mouths,” I teased. “Come on, let’s walk.”
He conceded with a stiff nod. “We have eighteen minutes, I cannot be late for bed.”
“I know, and I can’t be either.”
“No, you can’t.”
“Come on, my favorite owl,” I said as I encouraged him onto the path that led to the trees where no supernatural could hear us.
“Why the silent trees?” Ethan asked as we approached the rainbow bark of the eucalyptus forest.
“Silent trees? Why do you call them that?”
“They aren’t like the other trees that have been spelled by witches and enchanted by fairies at this school. Leaving these trees was an oversight the school never believed students would take advantage of. The other trees listen and inform the administration of student behaviors.”
“Oh, so the trees are the tattle-tale bastards of this place, huh?” I covered my mouth, “Sorry. Didn’t mean to cuss.”
“You use your strong, unnecessary language too much. You can make better points without profanity.”
“I know. You’re right. I’m working on all of that.”
“Why are we at the silent trees?” he pressed.
“Ethan, I saw something. Something that you’ve stated to me about immortals dying at this school. I need to know if you had anything to do with it.”
Ethan broke free of my friendly hold on his arm. “I know what I need to know. I also know that you don’t need answers to that. You already know I would not harm anyone.”
Thank God. “Yeah, I know that. Why is this school killing immortals? How is that possible?”
“I can’t answer these questions. Please don’t put these questions in my mind.”
Being desperate, I ignored Ethan’s warning. “Ethan, immortals don’t die, but you said they do. Did you see Jess? I saw her.”
“Immortals will die.” He started fidgeting and chanting, and that’s all it took for me to know I’d freaking blown it.
“Ethan, please, calm down. It’s okay.”
“You’re not safe. Immortals will die.”
His feet stomped hard into the ground, and he paced harshly back and forth. Crap! He was going to shift, and Dom was going to kill me for this. All his efforts to keep his cousin safe, and I ruined it by trying to get info from the one person I believed knew what I knew.
“Ethan. Please. Calm down. It’s okay. I’m following the rules. Please,” I pleaded with his frantic spirit.
“You are not safe. House Silvers was not safe.”
What the hell did that mean? I was so dumbstruck by what he’d proclaimed that I couldn’t say another word to stop him from shifting. He burst into a glorious Great Gray Owl, blasting me with strong winds as he climbed the air with his wings to the top of one of the trees. That shouldn’t have happened. Including Dom and me, Ethan made the third supernatural who could use their talents around these trees. Dom made it seem like he and I were unique by feeling our wolves while being around the trees that somehow diffused supernatural magic.
I was glad he was safe up there and not flying away, but we had fifteen minutes before lights out. I was about to bite the bullet and go get Dom, but he was already racing up to us, his expression black with anger.
“Why?” he growled at me. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I just had some questions.”
He looked up to where Ethan was perched on a high branch. “Jenna, I told you to stop with the questions about everything! How hard is that to follow? Why Ethan? Why would you use him to answer questions that I told you needed to stay unanswered.”
“Because my life depends on it, and you know it.”
“Now, his life is in danger. I can’t protect both of you at once. Damn it, Jenna.”
“I didn’t do this on purpose.” I felt my eyes pool with tears of frustration and regret. “I tried to stop him.”
“I have to get him back. Go! The last thing I need is for Dean Edgewater to find us out here and see Ethan has not only shifted during non-shifting hours but also that he’s shifted under the trees that should mute that ability.”
As soon as I started to leave, I saw the large owl soar out toward the forest of glittering purple blooms of the wisteria trees. This was not good.
A huge wolf thundered past me, and before I could shut my wolf down, I went into protective mode and shifted too. Officially, I had just screwed all of us. I knew better. Damn it. I dug my paws into the hard soil, and my wolf followed the trail Dom’s wolf was making through dense bushes. We were a mile into this dense forest of glitter when Ethan landed on the ground. The wolf dropped his head and stalked toward the owl. A whimper came out of the wolf as it went into a submissive pose, lying down, snout resting over his front legs stretched out before him.
Ethan’s owl blinked a few times, then I could sense his natural form returning. I turned to leave when I realized my unexpected shift had destroyed the clothes I was wearing. I had no idea how to get back to my dorms naked and evident to everyone I had just shifted back from my wolf. It was either walk the halls naked or prance my wolf right in. Neither of those options was acceptable.
While walking back to the dorms in wolf form, I was met by Dominic’s wolf. He was pissed, and I was screwed. The wolf snarled at me as if I were its longtime enemy. I dropped my head and crept forward, challenging Dom’s wolf further. Oddly, I wasn’t afraid of the wolf like any wolf shifter would have been.
I bared my teeth at the exact time he did, but not being as trained and fierce as his wolf, I was stopped and taken down. I was pinned, and in natural submissive behavior, I cowered under the wolf’s massive paw. He brought his snout to my neck, letting me know he could rip my throat out faster than my heart could take another beat. My wolf took over at this point, and I let her. Never in my wolf shifting life—training or tests—had I been in this position before. I knew I was the weaker of the two, and Dom was the dominant one.
In typical wolf form, Dom continued to sniff my neck until my wolf conceded to the submissive position we were in. My wolf licked his snout, his neck, and along his face—tail tucked and all. This was worse than kissing someone’s butt, this was full submission and allowing Dom to be my dominate wolf. My tail was tucked, and legs curled as my wolf continued to give Dom her power. The only reason I didn’t fight this off was that I knew I was wrong to shift, and now Dominic had to risk his own butt in shifter form—another rule broken because of me. I was about to owe this dude my life because I lost it and shifted out of guilt for what I did to Ethan.
That guilt only made things worse for the three of us now. Dom rose his head up and looked on, bristled, yet pleased I had submitted to his authority over this matter. He eventually backed off of me, and his silver lined brown wolf irises met mine with some understanding that I wasn’t fighting him and making a horrible situation worse. He stepped away, and now I was royally screwed. What did we do now, wait in the freaking forest for a pair of clothes? All of us see each other in our birthday suits and waltz back onto campus for all eyes to take in the naked body of the three who shifted outside of school guidelines?
Hell, I was ready to just prance my stupid butt right into the dungeons and let the jerks have me. I was so confused, and mostly because I gave everything up to Dom right now. I had to follow his lead. He yelped, prompting me to look over at him. Ethan was clothed, and I had no idea what the hell made that possible.
Dom let out a soft growl, and it was an order to follow him through the trees. I did. He led me around a tree stump and through bushes covering the base of it. He eyed me once before nosing the bushes and pushing his head into them.
I came over and sniffed and scented the area. I smelled the cotton of clothes behind the greenery and poked my head through the thick shrubs covering the stump of the tree. It was a den, I could smell the fresh dirt. Dom’s wolf nudged my shoulder, and I wa
lked through the bushes. Inside the den was a small cave. Clothes scattered, all Dom’s clothes. This must have been where he hid stuff for emergencies.
I shifted back, hearing his wolf outside the den. I pulled on black pants that I had to cinch around my waist, and a black long-sleeved shirt that was lying on a pile of other ones. This was all of Dom’s training clothing. Dude was definitely looking out for himself, and this stuff was planted for protecting Ethan. I could tell the clothes hadn’t been here long. It all seemed to be an area set up because Dom knew Ethan wouldn’t be able to control his shift at times with the strange rules of shifting only once a day at this academy.
Drowning in his clothes, I could smell his fragrance again. He was to be trusted, and I was the one making it worse for him. The loyalty I caught coming off his wolf was riddled through the weaves of his cotton shirt material. His heart was purposed to keep those he loved safe at all costs. My gosh, what did I do? The guy would probably hate me now, and he’d most likely use my submitting to him to discipline me in our training. Not that I didn’t deserve it, but it was totally going to suck.
All that mattered was that Dom was saving all three of our butts with this little closet he’d made a den for. I owed him again and again. I mainly owed him an apology for misjudging him. He could have easily left me screwed, and God knows what this school would do to me for shifting like this if I was caught. He didn’t, though. Instead of leaving me to fend for myself, he helped me cover up the fact that I shifted.
I crawled out of the den, and his wolf swiftly disappeared into it. “You okay?” I asked Ethan, who was wearing Dom’s black clothes too.
“I am fine. We must go back. Dominic will protect you,” he stated.
I wasn’t going any further in conversation than that. I wasn’t risking anything at this point.
Dom came out as quickly as he went into the den. He ruffled his black hair, clearing it of any debris and then turned back to cover up his hidden clothing area.
“Ethan. Head back now. When and if you’re asked, you will answer you were looking for Jenna and me. Do you understand me? You must lie.”
“I was looking for you and Jenna.”
“Who were you looking for?” Dom questioned Ethan, who was acting nervous again. Owls didn’t lie. This would be one for shifter history books if Ethan could pull it off. “Ethan. Why were you in the woods past lights out?” Dom urged his pacing cousin.
“I shifted.”
“NO!” Dom growled. “Ethan, why were you in the forest? You must protect her. You have to lie, or they will hurt her.”
Ethan’s eyes fell on me, and he stiffly nodded. “I was looking for Jenna. I was worried about her.”
“You keep her in your mind going back. If they find out we all shifted, I can’t help anyone anymore. Lock that in your owl mind. You’re doing the right thing, E! You’re protecting her.” He crossed his arms. “Ethan, why were you in the forest?” he asked again.
“I was looking for Jenna. I was worried.”
“No hesitation. Hold on to that and get back now.”
Ethan ran swiftly out of our location and back to the school yard.
Dom looked back at me. “When we’re stopped, you let me do the talking.”
“I’m not letting you take the hit for what I did. This is my fault.”
“I’m not letting you go down because my cousin can’t control a shift when he’s agitated. Now, when they ask why Ethan went looking for you, my answer will be that I took you off to the woods alone. I wanted to scare you off the masters’ quest.”
“They’re not going to buy into that.”
Dominic shocked me when he smiled. “Oh, they’ll definitely not buy into that lame story. They’ll think I was out here getting a good night kiss from the girl I just got back together with.”
“What? That game is over.”
“You just revived it and raised the stakes. You’re lucky the dean is all about his students finding their true mates at this school, or it wouldn’t work. Welcome to being my girl again.”
I rubbed my forehead, “Will it all ever end?”
“I asked myself that question when I watched you lure my cousin out to the trees to get info from him. It’s all I ask myself about you these days, Silvers.”
“Something isn’t right at this school. How can’t you see that?”
“I think you know I know something is up, but I’m not dumb enough to drag everyone around me down as I try and get through these years. You have got to chill, and since your wolf submitted to me,” he eyed me, and I sighed…here we go, “you’re going to follow my lead and at least try and last three full years here. God dang, that’s if you can last three more minutes. I swear you’re going to ruin me, Silvers.”
He finished and silenced me by snatching my hand and resuming the new fake Jenna and Dom relationship status again. This new relationship should really be awesome now—Dom and Jenna out making out in the woods and getting caught. Maybe being starved in the dungeons was the better option for me at this point.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Being submitted to Dominic actually seemed to help tame my senses and erratic feeling. It was serving as the grounding force I really needed. I felt it the moment we were approached by Dean Edgewater at the front entrance of our dorm rooms.
Instead of panicking and feeling like I had to jump in and speak for Dom, my mind shut off to the creepy dude, and I let Dom do all the lying. Thank goodness Ethan held to his lie of looking for me in the woods, and Dominic took it from there.
Dean Edgewater excused me with his usual half-smile that gave me an internal shiver every time he flashed it, and Dom followed the man back to his office. I would’ve naturally assumed he might be in danger, but something told me he would be safe, and he could pull this all off.
“So,” Lusa smiled at me from her bed, “You and Dom are pretty serious about each other then?”
I looked at her in confusion, “Um, what makes you ask that? Rumors can’t possibly spread that quickly. Do you and Dom have a crazy mental twin connection or something?”
There was no way Lusa could have found out that our fake relationship was back on. It just happened last night, and when I snuck into our dark dorm room, princess vamp Lusa was snoring louder than a bear shifter.
She walked over to me and hugged me, her flowery fragrance filling my senses and calming me. She stepped back and folded her arms, glittery blue vamp eyes staring into mine.
“I’ll admit it, in just the short time knowing you and all the years knowing Dom, I never thought it would happen.” She laughed.
“What happened? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Confused was a mild word for how I felt.
“I can sense him in your aura.”
“That’s a bit trippy for me. Can you keep the witchy phrases out of this, what the heck are you sensing?”
“His wolf calls to yours, and he’s allowed his wolf to accept that. Alphas will not do that unless their wolf is certain it’s found its true mate.”
I wanted to collapse onto my bed. What the heck happened to me after that submissive situation last night?
“Lusa,” I licked my now dry lips, “trust me, it’s not what you think it is.” I studied her eyes, and I could see she was still a bit stoned on whatever this school did to twist up the brains of the supernaturals here.
“It’s exactly what I think it is. Dean Edgewater is going to be thrilled to learn that under his leadership at Immortal Academy, two wolves found their true mates. These sorts of things are huge. Shifter mates don’t come easy, and when they are found at an academy, it makes the academy look that much better than the others.”
Okay, she’s back to worshipping the creep dean and singing his praises. Go with it, Jenna.
“Yeah, it was crazy how it happened.”
“So you do admit it. He’s your true mate!”
“You’ve been pissed about this since you came back from your quest. You know, me holdin
g your brother back and all?”
Not to mention shifters don’t necessarily find their true mates until they reach their maturity and stop aging at twenty-five, I internally reminded myself.
She giggled—the fairy-juice annoying giggle—and sighed. “You know as well as I do that when shifters find their one true soul, they bond first,” she smiled again, “then mate. The bond itself is enough to make you two very powerful, but bringing your wolves together by sealing the bond through mating?” Her cheeks tinted red, “My gosh, with the power Dom has alone with his wolf, you both will be a powerful force. It will be amazing.”
Yep, she was on the juice bigtime, and I was done with this mating ritual weird conversation. “Yes, but let’s take it one step at a time. Dom and I aren’t mating, I hardly know the guy.”
“But you trust him. He’s already helping you and your wolf right now. Why wouldn’t you want that?”
“I don’t know, maybe because I’m young and I’m not ready for an intense bond and relationship. Can we just sideline this conversation?”
“You both waiting until you graduate from Immortal Academy for the ceremony then?” She paced the room, “It will be gorgeous. We’ll have it at our family’s estate. I’ll help the designers with the décor. Outside or inside ceremony?”
“Slow it down.” I felt a growl erupt from my throat, then sucked in a breath to calm myself down. “Seriously, Lusa, I’m more happy that you’re not pissed at me. The sealing of mateship bonding will be something we talk about if I can get through the next three years at this academy. My grades suck, and I’ll be lucky if I even get out of here.” That was actually true.
“You’ll see how your grades will change now.” She smirked. “With your wolves joined, he will excel, and so will you. You both will complement each other in ways you never saw coming.”
“How do you know this crap? I didn’t even know this would happen after I let my wolf submit to him.”
“Second year here, Jenna. All the basic learning is in your first year. Between our second year and having a father who is a direct descendant of House Braeclaw, Dom and I both know how it all goes down.”
