“He doesn’t like me, and that doesn’t matter. Even if he did, he can’t save me from trouble if it’s coming. And you know Mom and Dad won’t.”
“Nope. They’ll make you face the consequences yourself.” North said exactly what I already knew. “Just like they’d make me. But that’s not a bad thing. We have good parents, remember?”
“I’m not interested in debating the successes or failures of our parents. Yes, they have the right ideals. Do they make their share of mistakes too? Yes. But that’s part of life.” There was beauty in the imperfect, as cliché as that sounded.
“Are you two done yammering about your parents?” Dameon sauntered over.
“Why are you late?” Lateness was one of those things I couldn’t stand. It was one thing when you were late for yourself, but to be late when you specifically asked someone to meet you was an entirely different thing.
“I had a few matters to deal with.” He stopped with that small and incomplete explanation.
“Matters, huh?” I didn’t bother to hide my annoyance. “And you couldn't call?”
“First, I don’t have your number. Second, did you really bring your phone?”
I rolled my eyes. My irritation toward him reached an all new level. Why was he always so damn smug? He was right, of course, but that didn’t mean I wanted to admit it.
“You done giving me a hard time about being a tad bit late?” he asked.
“It is more than a tad bit late. It’s thirty minutes.”
“That’s still less than an hour. That makes it a tad.” Dameon was so relaxed. So nonchalant. It was so the opposite of how I felt that it drove me nuts.
“You have a funny system of measuring time.” I was holding in my annoyance.
“It works for me.”
“Okay. Let’s stop wasting more of it.” North ran a hand through his hair. “I'm going with you guys.”
“Of course.” Dameon nodded. “I assumed as much. Why else would you be here?”
“See? He isn’t looking to hurt you.” North gave me a satisfied smile. “Like I told you.”
“Should we shift?” I asked, ignoring North.
“Yes.” Dameon pulled off his t-shirt. For the second time in two days, I saw him shirtless. I hated to admit it, but he didn’t look all that bad.
“Be right back.” I walked back behind a tree to change.
“Really?” Dameon laughed. “You’re afraid to undress in front of me?”
“I don’t want to undress in front of North either.” Ugh. That sounded awful.
Dameon lifted a brow. “But he’s your brother…”
“Exactly.” I don’t want to undress in front of him. Wolves or not.
“Has she always been like this?” Dameon asked North.
“I don’t exactly love getting naked in front of her either.” North had his shirt off, but I could tell he was waiting to take his pants off until I turned around.
“You both are odd.” Dameon took off his pants.
“Okay. I don’t really care.” I looked away as soon as I got an eyeful. I made sure the trees blocked me enough before I stripped down, stashed my clothes, and reached for my wolf. She immediately took over.
Dameon and North waited for me a little farther in. Without any warning, Dameon took off into the woods.
He ran fast, and unlike Ryan, he wasn’t slowing pace to stay close to me. North hung back and circled around me. He knew it annoyed me when he did it, but I also knew it was his way of making sure I didn’t get left behind.
I pushed myself harder. While I might not be able to catch up with Dameon, I could at least get close.
North ran circles around me, encouraging me forward. It instantly brought me back to childhood. The circling had been a frequent game we played when we were still getting used to our wolves. For a moment, I was nearly able to forget that we were hours from home and running who the heck knew where, breaking multiple rules in the process. Yet I was doing all of this by choice. As much as North complained about us being at the academy, our parents wouldn’t have ever forced us to go. It had always been our choice. But giving up the opportunity to train with the finest teachers wasn’t a real choice for me.
But, then Dameon disappeared. Or it looked like he did. We were nearing the spot where I’d lost them earlier. I felt the thick mist before I saw it. Despite every part of my body warring with me to turn around, I ran straight into the fog. It was so thick I could barely see, but I pushed on. My body tingled with alarm, and it was that alarm that kept me from stopping to examine the haze. There had to be magic at play here. There was no other possibility. It was thick, yet like no natural mist I’d ever witnessed before.
Soon enough, I was out of the haze. Now we were in a darker and lusher section of forest. I wanted to look behind me, but I didn’t want to risk losing the others. Thankfully, Dameon stopped. I looked back. I could see the barest hint of the haze—of the magic.
Dameon nipped at me.
I growled out of instinct. He nipped again, and I realized he was trying to get my attention. He bowed his head and nodded it in a westward direction.
I glanced that way but didn’t see much. I could sense something though. Other wolves. We were too far out for me to determine who they were, but my instincts told me there was a pack.
Dameon ran faster, and once again, North held back near me instead. He was so close to me this time I was tempted to growl at him to make sure he stayed out of my space.
But his eyes warned me from doing anything.
And a moment later, I understood. On the other side of a thick grouping of trees in a clearing there was a circle of wolves. It took me a moment to realize they weren’t why North was so close—the girl standing in their center was.
Jackie?
My heart rate accelerated as I zeroed in on her. Before I could comprehend my best friend was off with a group of strangers deep in the woods, hidden by magic, in the middle of the night, a guy I didn’t recognize spoke.
“Welcome back,” his deep voice began. He was tall and lanky, much thinner than most male wolves I’d come across. His stature was similar to mine instead. “Thank you for returning for another meeting. I am hoping we’re able to get through more tonight than our previous meeting as we have everyone here this time. He pointed to Jackie. “Don’t think that you won’t have to pay a price for missing the last meeting. You knew the terms of membership.”
“Yes, sir.” Jackie bowed her head before bowing.
I tried to swallow a gasp. Wolves did not bow before others. It wasn’t in our nature.
“I assure you I had a good reason,” Jackie said.
“And will you share this reason with the group?” His voice was angry, doing nothing to hide a snide edge.
“Yes.” Jackie looked down. “I had to terminate an enemy.”
Terminate? I repeated the word in my head. There was only one meaning of the word terminate I could think of, and it wasn’t a good thing. But there was no way she would have done something like that. Not Jackie. There had to be a different explanation. A different meaning.
“And the termination was successful?” The leader’s voice lilted with something akin to excitement. Who the hell was this guy? And why were they terminating anyone?
None of this made sense.
“It was, sir. A clean job. No one will suspect a thing when they find the body.”
No. I wasn’t wrong about her use of the word. My stomach churned, and I worried I might lose everything I’d eaten at breakfast.
“Good.” The man patted her head as if she were a dog or a small child. There was nothing so insulting to a wolf. “Good, girl.”
I looked at North. Was he seeing this? He shook his head. This was officially beyond weird.
“Again, I’m sorry for missing the meeting. I should have reported in earlier.” She was still avoiding eye contact with the man as if she were ashamed. “I know there may be punishment.”
“Yes, but the pu
nishment will be mitigated for doing what you had to do for our kind, even if it meant shedding human blood.”
Human blood? Every inch of me froze. I hurt. My stomach turned more, and I knew I would struggle to keep anything down. “Yes, sir.”
“You may return to your feet.” He raised his hand as if commanding her to stand.
“Thank you, sir.” Jackie lifted her head so she was now looking directly at him.
“Are there any other admissions that must be made?” the man asked.
There was only silence.
“Very well.” The man stepped into the middle of the circle. “We may turn our attention to our main business. Arnold, where are we on recruitment?”
“We have several good possibilities.” A bald man with a large scar across his right cheek spoke.
“How are we with Grayson?” the leader asked.
Grayson? Did they mean Ryan? None of his brothers were at the academy now, so they had to mean him, right?
“I have a new in with him now.” Jackie bowed slightly. “He has taken an interest in my roommate. I will offer my help to leverage some time with him.”
“And you believe he will trust you?” a girl with two long blond braids asked. “I thought the two of you weren’t close friends.”
“Our families go way back. And I can tell his interest in my roommate is strong. I can take care of it.”
“Your roommate is Ms. Hazel,” the leader said as a statement. “We could use her too.”
Jackie laughed. “Nadia? Are you kidding? Do you know who her parents are?”
“Yes. But I also know who your parents are, and you have been nothing but helpful to our cause.”
“My parents are abominations. I have no allegiance to them. Nadia has allegiance to hers.”
“And her brother?” the leader asked. “Is he as loyal to their ways?”
“Even more so.”
What? Why would she think that? North had more of a strained relationship with my parents than I did. Jackie knew that. Was she purposely lying?
“Still, see what you can do. A set of twins would be helpful to our cause.” The leader rubbed his chin. “Perhaps Grayson will help. Is Ms. Hazel as interested in him as he is in her?”
“Oh, absolutely.” Jackie grinned wickedly. “I’ve never seen her this aroused by a guy before.”
Aroused? Seriously? Jackie really was a bitch. Not that talking about me this way was the worst thing she’d ever done. Terminating someone was way worse.
“Then find a way. If you can get Grayson and the twins, you will be handsomely rewarded.”
“I’ll deliver all three.”
She was out of her mind. I wasn’t entirely sure what their cause was, but if they killed humans, there was no way North and I were joining. Or Ryan. Somehow, I knew he wouldn’t be down for this either.
The Graysons were a powerful and public family, but their politics were in line with the mainstream. They believed wolves were superior, but I’d never heard them push for hurting humans.
“And what happens if she can’t?” the blond girl asked. “Because we’re putting too much in her hands. I’ll gladly help out as needed. Perhaps I can work on the boy twin.”
North huffed. I felt a laugh build inside my wolf. That girl had no idea what she was up against. North was as picky as they came when it came to girls.
“I can handle them all.” Jackie nodded her head. “I have relationships with them already in place. I grew up with the twins. They trust me. If anyone can convince them to join, it’s me.”
“Even North?” the girl asked. “That is his name?”
“Yes. Even North. He’s had a crush on me for years.”
North made a coughing sound. Dameon chomped at him.
“Did you hear that?” Arnold glanced around.
Dameon nipped at me. I knew that was his way of telling me we needed to go. I wanted to listen more to what they were discussing, but my gut told me to leave. Getting caught wouldn’t help at all.
Ryan
I was getting impatient. They’d been gone too long. I needed to find them. Well, I needed to find Nadia. Sure, I was interested in what the hell was going on, but I was also interested in her. Far too interested in her.
A rustling noise found its way to my ears, and then came her scent. Fuck, I loved the way she smelled. Why was her scent so impossible to resist? It had me wanting her. Needing her.
Before I could get too bent out of shape, I smelled the others. Trying to get with Nadia wouldn’t earn me any favors with North.
I waited a few minutes, hoping they’d find me so we could get back to the dorms. Technically, we could be out at night, but I really didn’t feel like getting questioned by Professor Blair again.
“Ryan, hey.” Nadia ran over. She tugged down on her tank top—a sign she’d just shifted back. How did I know that already? How did I know so much about this girl?
“You okay?” I looked her over. Other than a tank strap partially slipping off her shoulder in a ridiculously enticing way, she looked like she always did.
“Yes, I’m fine.” She turned to Dameon and North, who were a few feet behind her. “What the hell was that?”
That was a good question. One I wanted to know the answer to. Fast.
“Those were the Elites. Well, and some new blood.” Dameon rubbed his hands together.
“You mean Jackie?” Nadia’s eyes fell. “That’s the new blood?”
“Some of it.” Dameon pulled on a t-shirt. “There’s some other new blood there too.”
“I’m sorry you had to see that, Nadia.” North patted her back. “And hear it.”
Wait what? “Okay. Someone needs to fill me in. Now.”
“It was awful.” Nadia looked up at me. “Awful, Ryan. Jackie—she’s. It’s horrible.”
“I told you something was up with her.” North shifted his weight from foot to foot.
“Wait. You knew, didn’t you?” Nadia’s eyes widened on her brother. “That’s why you were so close to me.”
North’s face softened when he met Nadia’s gaze. “I heard them talk about her last time… but you know. Seeing and hearing is entirely different.”
“Well, now we know why she was late the first night.” Nadia sighed.
“You may know, but I sure as hell don’t.” Heat burned through my core. “Someone want to fill me in?”
“We will.” Dameon tied his boots. “Soon.”
“Considering they mentioned him by name.” North gave me a sidelong glance. “I suppose we have no choice.”
“What? Who mentioned me?” The heat in my core spread. I wasn’t used to being kept in the dark about anything.
“Well, they said Grayson… technically, it could have been one of his brothers, but he’s the only one here.” Nadia looked away, as if trying to avoid my eyes.
That annoyed me more than it probably should have. “Okay. Someone needs to talk. Now.” It was bad enough that I didn’t know what was going on, but now I’d come to find out someone was talking about me?
“Did Jackie ever tell you why she was late, Nadia?” North asked, ignoring me completely.
Nadia shook her head. “No. Which is strange, but I guess it’s not strange now. Although, she seems to think she can pull all three of us into this. Which is absolutely ridiculous.”
“Hello? Can we focus here, guys? What is going on? You can’t tell me people are talking about me and not give me more to go on.”
“Not here.” Dameon took a seat on the back of a metal bench. “But I appreciate how persistent you are. Are you this way about everything?”
“And we can talk more about Jackie too,” North added. “I’m sure it all ties in.”
“What is your fixation on Jackie?” Nadia crossed her arms. “Was she right? Do you like her?”
“Of course not!” North’s face turned bright red. “How can you even say that?”
“We can deal with all of this later.” Dameon stood up. “But w
e need to go.”
We started back for the dorms. I felt like I had to say something to Dameon before he changed his mind and made this harder than it needed to be. “Thanks for not fighting about telling me.”
“I always planned to involve you, but I knew I needed to show the twins first. Things have to be done in a certain order or they don't work.”
I had no idea what he was talking about, but I’d resist making some snide remark. “Okay.”
“You do have will power.” Dameon grinned.
Nadia glanced over. “What do you mean?”
“He wants to say something to me, but he won’t. He gets that it isn’t in his interest. This one isn’t as dumb as he looks.” He laughed. He was trying to bait me. I wouldn’t take it.
We reached the dorms. “Should we use the soundproof room again?” I asked.
“Soundproof room?” North raised an eyebrow.
Nadia gave me a look.
I shrugged. “Oh, sorry.” I’d assumed that we were all working together now, so it didn’t hurt to tell them. Maybe I’d assumed wrong.
“Don’t be.” Her expression softened. “I was about to suggest it anyway. I’m just giving you a hard time.”
This seemed to be the night of people giving me a hard time. Yet it was oddly not an issue when it was Nadia. I kind of liked it.
I’d officially lost it.
“So you’ve seen the soundproof room, huh?” Dameon led us back behind the stairs. He ran his hand over the wall and found the secret door—like Nadia had.
“I guess you aren’t the only one who does research.” I gently nudged Nadia’s shoulder with my own.
“No. I always do my research. It’s something you should probably start doing too.” Dameon frowned.
“You’re probably right.” Maybe I wouldn’t be relying on other people to fill me in if I did.
Dameon grinned. “I still find it interesting Nadia took Ryan down here.” He started down the stairs. The rest of us followed. “Very Interesting. Was it to be alone?”
“No, it was to talk.” Nadia grunted. “Finn was with us.”
“Like bringing him along makes it any better?” North grumbled. “What the hell has gotten into you, Nadia?”
Wolf Born: Lunar Academy, Year One Page 6
