by S. L. Morgan
I started feeling anger bubbling up in me. “So Dom knew this would happen after he forced me to submit to him?”
“Dominic didn’t force you to do anything.” Her eyes were questioning. “Why would you say that? What happened between you two last night?”
“Hell if I know,” I said, truthfully. “We kissed.” I quickly lied to cover up my confusion of Dom and I somehow forming a bond I wasn’t ready for.
“No, it was more than a kiss. What happened?”
I was searching for my next lie, but I had nothing. Damn you, Dominic Rossi!
“I submitted to his wolf. That’s all.”
“Why, though? What would make you and your wild little wolf spirit submit to him?”
“I have no idea. One moment we’re kissing, then the next I felt his power…” I felt the bile creeping up in my throat, knowing I was screwed, hating this version of the story, and having to speak it all out loud.
“And?” she urged.
“And it was like a drug. I felt his strength and let my wolf take the lead. That’s when I knew he was my true alpha, and my wolf was drawn to him.”
“That’s exactly how it all goes down.” She whirled around and laughed. “Dom is a great guy, he’ll always be loyal to you and protect you with that power you felt. There isn’t a shifter out there who wouldn’t be over the moon to have such a fierce wolf as her alpha.”
“Yeah. I’m one lucky gal,” I choked out.
If Lusa was picking up on this, then every supernatural who sensed these things in shifters were going to pick up on it too—especially the shifters.
Oh. My. God. Hope it was worth it, Jenna. Now, you have your alpha.
Screw this, I wasn’t a fully submissive wolf to an alpha. Dom may have been a stronger wolf than I was, but I didn’t need him alpha-running my show. I didn’t need to answer to him for anything or be controlled by him. It wasn’t in my nature to be locked down under any alpha. I felt that in my wolf. She was strong, and she didn’t need some alpha dude taming her spirit under him. Dom and I had to reverse this thing somehow. I wasn’t his to claim, and that’s exactly what I let happen last night by submitting to him.
While running our fight drills that morning, I was kicking ass and taking names. Thanks, Dom! My steady mindset had me thinking clearly with my fight moves and countering with better maneuvers than I’d ever been taught. Our sprint in normal form had me leading the pack, and not sucking air with burning lungs. Okay, so this part of whatever happened between Dom and me was impressive. I could do this. It’s like I took his clear mindset and his physical endurance and was able to function at a higher level than our entire unit. This was awesome.
“See you later, when we all shift. Today we start pushing ourselves to limits. I want you all to pass the quest in two months. No one dies on it. To make that possible, I’m making the morning drills more challenging and afternoon shifter routines will require stealth on your part. Now, get out of here. Nice work today, all of you,” Dom said as he dismissed us.
Dude was to be congratulated for not playing favorites with me or even acting like anything happened between us last night. Part of me wondered if there was a way to mute the effect we had on each other because he definitely acted like nothing had taken place. His sister, on the other hand, was most likely recruiting fairies right now to help enchant the final bond ceremony between our two fated wolves.
I turned to leave and was caught by red-nails Kat. “I can’t and won’t believe you both are true shifter mates.”
And so it starts…with this one, no less. “Well, don’t lose faith just yet. It was just a kiss. Shifters split up all the time.”
“Just a kiss.” She rolled her glaring eyes at me. “You are putting off a lot more than just a kiss vibes today. Everyone is saying that you and Dominic found your true mateship last night. It’s absolutely unbelievable to me. He deserves better.”
“Really? How so, you jealous bitch?” I snapped.
Her lips curled up in a smile of bitterness, “Listen to your foul mouth, you can’t even follow simple rules at this school. You don’t behave like a normal immortal would. You act like a disgusting pig shifter with the way you smack down your sickening pies. Your manners are embarrassing to all shifters, yet you managed to snag the one we all would do anything to be bonded with. I guess his wolf must love bottom feeders.”
Without thinking, I clenched my fist, and just as I was about to do what I’d been dreaming about since she tripped me the first time, my fist slammed into Dom’s hand, stopping me from breaking her pointy little nose.
“Why?” I growled, meeting his dark expression. “Let me go!” I demanded.
“What’s going on here?” Dom questioned me, then looked at Kat’s amused expression.
“Well, if I recall correctly, you just stopped Jenna from a major school violation.”
“You’re a bitch, you know that?” I spat out.
“Jenna, calm down.” Dominic used his alpha master voice on me. Ha. Dude didn’t have the hold I thought he’d have on me with my submitting to him.
“I’ll calm down when Kat takes her BS attitude and gets the hell out of my sight.”
“Kat, you’re dismissed. I will deal with you later.”
“I did nothing more than ask Jenna how it was that she and you could be fated and practically bonded over some lame kiss everyone is talking about.”
“What happened between Jenna and me is our business. If she doesn’t want to fill you in on all the details, that’s her decision, not yours.”
“I don’t want details, I want answers.”
“I said you’re dismissed. Get back to your rooms and classes.”
Dom’s alpha voice submitted her fully, and she scurried off, stomping like a three-year-old who didn’t get a piece of candy.
“Can I go?” I looked at him, knowing this was going to be a more lengthy conversation than I wanted.
“I want to talk to you about what’s going on. I’d be an idiot if I thought you weren’t mad about it.”
I planted my hands on my hips and looked into his dark sunglasses. “Yeah, what exactly happened after I let my wolf submit to yours? I mean, I only did that to keep us out of trouble. Why all of a sudden am I picking up on your strength, vibes, and crazy crap like that?”
“You’re saying you don’t like it?” He smiled.
“Don’t play games with me. Tell me what the hell happened.”
“Well, to rest your mind at ease, it’s not a full attachment.” He kept the kind smile on his face. “Obviously, or you wouldn’t be throwing curse words around like you wanted to be on cleaning duty for the rest of the week. You’re not following my alpha—which you promised you would to stay out of trouble—so there you have it. I’m not your true alpha, you—as complicated as you and your wolf really are—have somehow managed to take on some of my natural instincts like bonded shifters would.”
“So, this is all my fault?”
He jerked his sunglasses off. “Yes, in fact, it is. Do I need to remind you about last night and what you did to startle E and make him go into a frenzy worrying about you? Maybe you forgot how all three of us shifted and should be in the dungeons right now.”
“Fine, got it.”
“Now, thank goodness you have this power of projection because it’s helping everyone buy into our story. My punishment from the dean was nothing compared to what it should’ve been.”
My mind went back to Dom selflessly taking the hit for Ethan and me last night, and I felt like crap for acting like this to him. Thanks to Kat pissing me off, I was irritated about everything in the Dom and Jenna showmance again. I had to give Dom some credit here, he was grounding my mental state back to where it should be.
“What did the dean say anyway?” I asked softly. “I’m sorry that happened. I’ll keep my attitude in check, I owe you for saving my butt last night.”
“Dean Edgewater was ecstatic about one of his strongest shifters bonding so ear
ly at his academy, but, of course, he had to bring down a punishment, or everyone would be heading off to the woods to share a romantic kiss—or worse—mate behind a bush or something completely out of line like that.”
“That’s disgusting,” I added.
“Yeah, well, your friends all act the type to go off and do something like that.” He smiled and laughed.
“They were nothing like this before getting to this school.”
“Stop it with the school stuff, Jenna. I’m dead serious.” His eyes were stern when he said the words, and that’s when I felt it hit me. He knew something, he just wasn’t telling me. “Anyway, he gave Finley my Head Master status, and after we get back from the quest, if you’re looking for another kiss from me, you can find me on kitchen duty, scrubbing pots in the back.”
“Are you kidding me? He pulled you from Head Master Shifter over a stupid kiss?” I practically shouted. “Why didn’t he bust me for it too?”
“Because it was my responsibility to make sure you were back in your dorm rooms and not out enjoying a kiss with the best kisser at this school.” He pulled his lips up into some crooked smile I’d never seen before. My heart jumped out of rhythm in response to how sexy he looked with a smile like that. “See, I can see it on your face, you know I’m a great kisser.” He laughed.
“Not fair. You can’t hit me with some flirty Dom smile and think I’ll be okay with that.”
“Dom smile?” His irises lit up in amusement. “You are too much, Silvers. Sometimes I want to make you do push-ups until your muscles seize up with exhaustion, and sometimes I do just want to kiss you—or slap you on the butt.”
“Dude,” I looked at him in shock, “take it easy. We didn’t kiss. Remember? And I feel horrible you lost the Head Master status.”
“It was a slap on the wrist for what it could have been. We’re all good now, and the dean is allowing you on the quest so long as Finley approves it.” Unexpectedly, he intertwined his fingers with mine, and the showmance parade began. “Finley says it’s cool with her, but I still don’t understand you wanting on this mission so badly.”
“I like challenges,” I lied.
“Yeah, I don’t believe that for a second. You have motives, I just don’t know what they are. You’re a puzzle I can’t put together, and it drives me insane.”
“Good.” I smiled over at him. “Well, you ready for a day filled with hate tribes, judgy eyes, and stupid looks from everyone?”
He shook his head, his sexy smile playing on his lips as he walked at my side. “If I actually cared what anyone thought of me, I guess I’d actually be giving them all that power right now with being concerned about their opinions.”
“That’s a pretty smart way of looking at it.”
“I know. If you hadn’t noticed yet, I don’t give anyone my power. Until last night at least. You and Ethan will probably be the death of me.”
“Do you feel it like I do?” I felt my cheeks warm up with the question I was a little embarrassed to ask.
“Feel like you do what?”
“You know, um, the power thing? I’m thinking more clearly, and if you hadn’t noticed, my fighting skill has enhanced since I submitted to you last night. It’s the stuff everyone is picking up from us,” I managed.
“I just feel a soft hand in mine.” He glanced at me, then looked out away and off to his right, “Other than that, all I feel is relief that Dean Edgewater bought my story and your wolf managed to send off vibes to everyone to back it up and then some.”
“So it’s just me then,” I answered, more confused.
“Not a bad thing. You kicked butt and looked sharp out there today. You should see it all as a blessing.” He hit me with that irresistible smile again.
“You’re going to love me having to kiss your butt over all of this, aren’t you?”
“Until the day we leave this school, Silvers.”
That’s if we all get out of here alive. Something told me Dom knew what I knew, he just wasn’t saying anything. This was a dangerous place, and I knew Dominic knew it too. So, he could blow me off all he wanted when I questioned what he thought about this place, I knew how he really felt…thanks to this crazy little submissive bonding connection we had last night.
All I knew for sure now, was that I was going to give Dom some credit here. I needed this new stealth and power to get the heck out of here while on that quest. I was grateful for that at least, and I was willing to put up with all the broken hearts at school today. It was going to be annoying, because seriously, Dom was a catch, but good grief, these girls treated him like he was a god or something. Whatever. That was their problem. I had four days, and then it was escape time for me to get help for everyone here. I needed to focus on that and be grateful for my newfound strength.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The day was turning out quite well, whatever connection Dom and I had forged actually helped in my classes too. It’s like I’d gained the ability to settle down and focus on my studies instead of focusing on the horrors of this school.
I got to my shifter class and sat in my usual seat, forgetting that our seating assignments had changed at some point. Confused, I looked around and strained my mind to remember when our professor mandated newly-assigned seating.
“Whenever you’re ready, Miss Silvers,” Professor Samson grumbled.
The class laughed under their breath as I made my way down to an open seat right smack in the middle of the room. I had a shifter snob to my right—Tamara, the lioness from Scott’s unit, lover of all things Dominic Rossi—so that was awesome, and an over-zealous sprite with lime green hair sat to my left. At least this chick, Ella, was nice.
“Anything, Silvers?” Professor Samson asked.
“Repeat the question. I’m having a braindead kind of day, I guess.”
“Braindead, huh?” he leaned on the podium. “Without embarrassing you, I can’t imagine why you would be struggling. An attachment like yours should be enhancing your mind, not killing it.” He smirked.
“Excuse me?” I shot back, absolutely mortified that my professor, of all people in this room, would bring up my personal life.
He stepped around the podium and addressed the class. “You all know that it really does take full maturity to form even the slightest connection as a shifter. What Dominic and Jenna have accomplished is something that only happens—well, it never happens. This is a first for Immortal Academy and something that just might be celebrated by the dean. Two shifters finding their bond so young tells us all something.” He raised his hand up and turned on the large holographic screen, “Only great family houses—like House Braeclaw—have these abilities. Jenna, you must have descended from a great family.”
My heart was racing and not in the way of excitement.
I spoke up while he clicked through pictures of shifters from decades ago, “That’s all I’ve ever wanted to know, actually. It would be nice if someone could tell me anything about my family…my parents.”
He turned around to me. “No one has that answer, Miss Silvers. All the administration knows is that a leprechaun from House Fae enrolled you into the supernatural school systems. It would be nice to try and uncover why none of us know your ancestry, though.”
At that moment, my wolf’s ears lay flat back, and she bared her teeth at his response. What the heck? I wanted to ask my inner wolf why she thought this was going in a direction she didn’t like, but then, I got it.
I was a mystery to even him, and now I was being told that my family line just piqued interest with House Braeclaw’s professor? This wasn’t a good thing, and my wolf knew it.
As much as I wanted the professor to dig, I backed off and quickly changed the subject. The last thing I wanted was to be under a microscope, yet here I was, front and center...the star of the freaking show.
“Meh,” I threw my hands up, smiled, but quickly cringed at evil, yellow eyes sitting to my right and looked back at the professor, “As unusual as it all
is, I’ve heard of shifters forming these bonds before they reach maturity. It usually doesn’t work out well for either one of them in the end.”
Professor Samson killed the holographic image and did a casual side lean on his podium. “Really?” he questioned my lie. “Can you give the class an example of this wealth of knowledge you have that I’m not privy to?”
Crap! Lies upon lies. “Sure, one of my former classmates. It was their uncle’s best friend's cousin who was a, um, I think he was some bear shifter. The bear bonded early, kind of like Master Dominic and me, and from what we all were told since it was outside of the usual laws of bonding for shifters, it worked against them. They broke it off right after they graduated from their academy.”
I swallowed hard while Professor Samson eyed me, clicking his fingers one-by-one. “Do you remember this uncle’s best friend’s cousin bear shifter’s name? Because I’m sure Immortal Academy would have had them in their attendance.”
“Not sure and not really sure they were full blood immortals either. Just remember the story.”
Oh my God, Jenna, you are digging yourself into a grave right now.
“Interesting.”
“Is there something else we can talk about besides this? I’m bored,” some guy shouted from the seats above and behind me.
“This is a unique situation. All of Immortal Academy is celebrating this coming from the school. First of its kind to happen.”
I needed this class to be over. My stomach was uneasy and mine and Dominic’s plan to save all three of our butts last night had backfired on us entirely. Instead of ducking the audience of this school, we gained a celebrity couple status.
As if this class couldn’t be more complicated, Dominic walked in with the other three master shifters. I heard the lioness sigh next to me, and I got it. I just stole her guy off the market. How many shifter chicks were seriously this infatuated with him? Why of all the guys I would end up in some stupid spotlight relationship with did it have to be the dude every shifter chick wanted? Why couldn’t it just be some regular, fun dude that no one cared about but me?
