by Bailey, G.
Tedore shifts into a much smaller brown wolf and the three guys behind him shift too, but Shade is already running at them. They clash in the middle of the forest, clawing and ripping at each other as they smack into trees, breaking them.
I jump out of the way of a fallen tree as Shade battles all four of the shifters on his own. One of them, who I'm pretty sure is Tedore, breaks away from the battle and stalks towards me. Blood drips from his mouth onto the fallen leaves and branches between us.
A cold feeling drifts over me and instead of fighting it, I let my wolf take over and shift me almost effortlessly into my wolf, landing on my four paws. Taking Shade's idea, I charge at the wolf and aim for his throat. He catches me with his mouth and throws me across the woods. I slam into a tree, shifting back without meaning to and freezing as the wolf slowly walks towards me. I can't see anything but the blood in his mouth, feel the pain in my shoulder from his bite as he opens his large mouth full of sharp teeth.
Suddenly Tedore's wolf is thrown away from me and Shade's wolf holds him down on the ground, his mouth around his neck. A scary growl comes from Shade's wolf and Tedore goes still under him.
I think he is submitting.
After a long pause, Shade's wolf lets him go, and he runs into the forest and out of sight. Shade shifts back and rushes to me, kneeling in front of me. He cups my cheek and lowers his hand to my shoulder.
"Close your eyes, boots," he softly suggests.
I nod and close my eyes, trusting him completely. He is my alpha wolf and I think he will always save me. A warm feeling fills my shoulder for a moment, and then it's gone. I open my eyes and look down at my shoulder. My shirt is torn and soaked with blood, but the bite mark is gone.
"How did you do that?" I ask Shade as he helps me stand. Shade might have blood on his clothes and a few bruises, but he doesn't look as hurt as he should be after fighting off four wolves. "In fact, how are you okay?"
"Alpha wolves can heal their pack. My wolf and I see you as ours," he softly tells me. "And my wolf will bow to no one. Especially not another wolf."
We smile at each other just as the skies open and heavy rainfalls down on us. I laugh, grabbing Shade's hand and we run through the forest towards the academy.
My alpha wolf saved me, and one day, I'm going to save him from the biggest danger I can see: Himself.
Chapter 20
"It's weird to be in nice, normal clothes," I admit to Hazel, who moves to stand at my side in front of the big mirror. I'm wearing high-waisted dark denim skinny jeans and a shimmery silver top tucked into them, a gift from Hazel. She said she bought them and they didn't fit her right and thought they would look amazing on me. I think she bought them for me, judging by the tags I found on them, but I don't want to point that out. I know she’s being a good friend and knows I don't have any nice clothes with me. "You look amazing, Hazel."
And she really does. Dressed in a tight red dress, her blonde curls pulled back into a braid I did for her, and silver high heels, she is stunning.
"I hope he likes it," she admits.
"Who?" I question and she shrugs, avoiding my eyes.
"No one you'd know," she tells me. "It's complicated."
"I get complicated," I reply, thinking of all the guys. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel something for each one of them. Shade is protective, Silas is secretive but makes me laugh, Hunter is mysterious but always there for me and Landon feels like he effortlessly takes my heart without trying too much.
The door is knocked twice, snapping me out of my thoughts. I rush to the door, pulling it open, and Hunter walks in first, followed by Shade. They both look strange to me in normal clothes, but oh so sexy. Hunter looks almost not real like I'm staring at a man in a magazine with deep red hair and pale skin. His flawless looks are only made stronger by his casual grey t-shirt and jeans. Shade has a leather jacket on over a black t-shirt and it is tucked into dark trousers. He looks like a bad boy dream and I have to clear my throat as I look away. Silas is at late training tonight but he plans to get to the party later and Landon can't come because he has detention for not attending class earlier this week as he didn't feel like going.
"Do you have the powder?" Hazel asks Shade. He nods, pulling out four tiny bags of yellow powder.
"What is that stuff?" I ask them, stepping closer.
"Travel powder made by witches and sirens. You pour it into a bottle of water and drink a tiny bit, thinking about where you want to go. It's nice and easy," Hazel explains to me.
"But I don't know where we are going," I point out.
"I will travel with her," Shade announces and Hazel rolls her eyes.
"No fucking way," Hunter grumbles.
"Why?" I ask, confused.
"Traveling together means you need to kiss after drinking the water. I'm all for it," Shade suggests with a cheeky grin. Hunter glares at him, and he turns to glare right back. If we aren't careful, this is going to turn into a fight in no time.
"Wanna do something about it, vampire prince?" Shade taunts.
"Oh for heaven's sake!" Hazel grumbles. I turn to her as she drinks glowing white water from a bottle and drops it on the floor. She walks to me and pulls me to her, kissing me once. The world spins and I gasp as I fall on my ass onto grass, staring at the garden we are in. Behind me is a giant pool full of teenagers and dozens of seats.
"You kissed me," I point out as Hazel pulls me to my feet.
"Shut them up, didn't it?" she shrugs. "Stops them from fighting in my room. It didn't mean anything."
"Okay," I say just as Shade appears, followed by Hunter. Both of them glare at Hazel like the enemy, and I chuckle as I walk around them. The party is being held in an abandoned house and I can't stop staring in awe at the building. It's falling apart, sure, but some kind of magic is holding parts of the roof and walls together, making see through rooms almost.
"Oh, no, you aren't welcome here," Amelia states, stopping right in front of me. Dressed in a near to nothing black dress, she looks amazing but I'm not going to tell her that. She crosses her arms, a sneer on her lips. "Leave."
"Honestly? Make me," I suggest, standing up to her.
"Woah," Hazel mutters and the guys all but laugh even as Hunter moves to my side.
Amelia's eyes widen as Hunter wraps his arm around my shoulders.
"Better yet, make me leave, sis," Hunter suggests. "I've warned you once when it comes to Millie. Don't make me say it twice."
"Why her?" Amelia all but shouts. "She is a hybrid and this will get you in trouble with dad."
"Really that has nothing to do with you," I say. "Hunter can choose his own friends."
"Yeah, you seem to like to collect friends you kiss, huh, Boots?" Amelia sneers and my cheeks redden. "No wonder all the guys like you. You seem easy if the rumours are true."
"That's it," Hunter growls and grabs his sister’s arm with impressive strength. We all watch as he drags her away and they both argue the entire time.
"I've never seen Hunter stand up to anyone," Shade comments, crossing his thick arms. "And what Amelia said is bullshit. She is just jealous."
"Totally," Hazel agrees. "Now let's go and dance, drink and be normal-ish teenagers for the night."
"Good plan," Shade agrees, taking my hand and making me walk fast with him into the house. The inside is crazy, all multiple levels of magic floors and a floating dance floor in the middle of the room. Heavy music makes it impossible to hear anything Shade says, but I get the gist when we get to the edge of the floating floor. He jumps on and pulls me up with him before wrapping his arms around me. We dance for ages, to many different songs, and soon the start of the night is completely forgotten as I enjoy this time with Shade. Eventually, we climb off the dance floor and make our way to a room at the back. Shade stops me in front of the door and points at the bar.
"I'm gonna get us a drink. Stay here," he all but shouts and I nod once. The crowd soon eats him up and I lose track of Shade at the bar. Turning aro
und, I open the door behind me and step into a quieter room. There isn't much in here, Just a few sofas positioned around the space. I nearly jump when I see Hunter sitting on one. He is drinking something red and thick from a tumbler and I know exactly what that is.
"Hey," I whisper, and he looks over at me, lowering his glass. Hunter runs his tongue over his lip and smiles.
"Hey," he replies. I walk over and sit next to him, slipping off my shoes and curling my legs underneath me. "Are you thirsty? I don't even know if you drink blood yet."
"Yet or ever," I remind him. "Vampire clan classes don't go well for me."
"Me neither," he shrugs. "Something is holding me back, but recently it comes out. Only when I'm protecting you though."
My heart beats hard in my chest. "Thank you for sticking up for me against your sister."
He meets my eyes. "If you haven't realized it by now, I'm fighting for your heart, Boots. I know I have competition and I've never been a fighter, but hell, I am going to be one now."
"Hunter," I whisper and he reaches up, tucking a little strand of my blonde hair behind my ear.
"Don't give me an answer, I'm not expecting one. I just want you to know," he explains to me. "I'm not here for friendship and I don't care who you kiss. I want us to be Endgame."
"Like the movie?" I ask and he laughs.
"You like those kinds of movies?" he asks, and I nod.
"Guardians of the Galaxy is my favourite Marvel movie," I admit. "What's yours?"
"Hmm, that's a hard decision, but I always loved Spiderman," he tells me. "Now what's your favourite food?"
"Peanut butter cups," I say, remembering how nice they were. "One of my foster parents, the only one I liked, Mollie, made me a peanut butter cupcake once for one of my birthdays. We didn't have much money, but it didn't matter to me. That was the best present."
"Noted for your next birthday," he replies with a grin.
"What's yours?"
"Pizza with lots of different meats," he answers.
"I still can't get over how vampires can eat food and the movies lied to us," I sigh, making him laugh.
"We also don't shine," he tells me, but I figured that detail out.
Shade comes tumbling into the room, a few drinks in his hands and followed by Silas. They both camp out on the sofa. Even though Landon isn't here, this is the perfect way to party.
Chapter 21
The days turn into weeks, and gradually I begin to settle into a routine. Get up with the breakfast bell, have breakfast with Hazel and the guys, go to class, eat lunch on the quad, go back to class, dinner, free time, bed.
There’s no news of Brody Patton; on the contrary, the staff seems reluctant to talk about him, as if saying his name will jinx it somehow. I can’t say I blame them--in spite of Shade’s reassurances, it makes me nervous to think about what might have happened to him. Even if he didn’t meet with foul play, the idea of wandering off somewhere and falling off a cliff--or into a ravine, or getting attacked by a bear--doesn’t sound much better. An air of unease seems to have settled over the school. The new restrictions placed by the board just serve as a reminder that something isn’t right, and I’m surprised by how stir-crazy I feel being restricted to the immediate school grounds. I catch myself stealing nervous glances out the window toward the stretching expanse of the forest, wondering what’s out there, and I’m not the only one--the other students seem equally nervous.
Silas, in particular, seems more bothered by all this than the others. I think I understand why, too. Even if the disappearance was an accident, his parents instilled a fear of humans into him from a young age, and being trapped on an island run by them probably isn’t doing much to assuage his fears. But I also have to remind myself that their paranoia was what got them killed, not some conspiracy by the humans themselves, and besides, even if the Academy board is run by humans, the school is staffed by shifters. They wouldn’t let anything happen to us if they could prevent it, I’m certain of that much.
The only thing that still bothers me is his comment about Hawthorne having lied about a lack of prior disappearances. Silas seems reluctant to elaborate, and when I ask Hazel, who seems to be in the know about everything important at the school, she has no idea. All I can do now is tell myself that’s just him being overly worried and throw myself into my classes.
I think Shade’s lesson was a bit of a game-changer for me as far as shifting. Not being able to access my reserves of power was what was holding me back, and now that I’ve learned to tap into them, the transformations are coming much more easily. I’m no longer just shifting when I’m scared, and when I do shift, it’s not into a hodge-podge of magical creatures anymore… unless that’s what I want.
Granted, I’m still nowhere near mastering it yet: even when I do manage to successfully get into a new form, the smallest distraction is enough to make me change back, and the specific abilities of each being are as elusive to me as ever. The witch spells are especially difficult, especially since I can only manage to change for a few minutes at a time, at most. That’s hardly enough time to learn how to cast spells, and I’m having similar difficulties with using the siren abilities. The one form that I still can’t get, no matter how hard I try, is the dragon. The best I’m ever able to do is breathe fire, which almost caused an accident during one of my classes. The form itself still escapes me, but I try to tell myself to be patient, that it will come to me eventually.
Having the others around has been a big help, too, and not just because they can give me pointers on shifting correctly; I feel a sense of camaraderie with these guys, and I think they probably feel the same. We’re a group that never would have existed if we hadn’t been in detention together, and for that I’m grateful, especially since Hazel’s social life doesn’t revolve around me, and there are times when she’s too busy to hang out. The guys, though… They always seem to be there. I’ve never had a group of friends like this before, and I find myself basking in it. This is what it’s like to be a normal student.
I’m just getting out of my last class before lunch, ready to stuff my face in the cafeteria, when I almost bump right into Silas. He’s standing outside my classroom door, worry etched onto his face, his hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched. “Hey,” he says as soon as he sees me.
“Hey, Silas,” I say, grinning. “Did you get out early or something?”
He shakes his head. “I was actually…” He glances at the floor, fidgeting for a moment, before saying, “I was actually wondering if I could talk to you. Alone.”
I blink. “Okay,” I say, chuckling at the mysteriousness of it all. “All right. Where?”
“There’s a corridor in the West Wing,” he replies. “No one ever goes there. Follow me--this won’t take long, I promise.”
Curious, I allow him to lead me down the hall and away from the other students, who all seem too distracted by the idea of lunch to care what we’re up to. I can’t help but admire him as we walk. His grizzled, masculine features, his perpetually tousled hair, the way he carries himself… but then I catch myself, start to blush, and tell myself to snap out of it. Eventually we come to a stop in an empty hallway. There’s a couple darkened faculty offices at the far end, but otherwise, it might as well be abandoned. I turn to Silas. “So what’s up?”
“I’ve been thinking,” he replies. “About… Well, everything. The lockdown, most of all. Remember how I said Hawthorne was lying when he said no one had disappeared from the Academy before?”
“Yeah,” I reply. “You didn’t seem too keen on talking about it then, though.”
He nods. “That’s because I…” Suddenly he looks hesitant. “Listen, Boots… I don’t want you to think I’m crazy or something, okay? I know after I told you that stuff about my parents, you probably think--”
“Hey,” I say, looking earnestly up into his dark eyes. “It’s okay. I would never think that, Silas. You must know that by now.”
Silas swallows, the hin
t of a smile appearing on his face. “Thanks, Boots. I mean it. You’re…” For a moment I wonder what he’s about to say, but then he finishes with, “a good friend. Anyway,” he continues, lowering his voice and leaning closer to me, “I did some digging into the Academy’s history. This was back before I met you. It wasn’t because I was really that interested in it--it was for a project for Human Shifter Relations. You’re not in that one, are you?” I shake my head, and he continues. “Apparently, around twenty years ago, there were five students who went missing, all around the same period of time.”
“Really?” I frown. “Well, that’s…” What do I want to say? Absurd? Conspiratorial? But something in the dragon shifter’s eyes gives me pause, enough to make me instead ask, “Why hasn’t anyone talked about it, then? Do more people know about this?”
“Why do you think?” he asks. “Because they don’t want anyone knowing about it. Hell, I didn’t even know about it until I went to the library that weekend. I had to parse through about three books on the school’s history before I dug it up. Just a footnote in the section about the dangers of keeping this many shifters all in one place.”
“So what happened to them--the students who disappeared?” I ask. “Did they say?”
Silas shakes his head. “No. It wasn’t even written whether they found them or not.”
I swallow, afraid to ask the question even as I can feel it coming up. “So why are you telling me this, Silas?”
“Call me a lunatic,” Silas replies slowly, “but I’m wondering if maybe those disappearances are somehow… I don’t know, connected to the disappearance of this Brody guy.”
I blink, staring up at him. “You really think so? Couldn’t it just be a coincidence?”
“Sure, I guess so,” Silas replies, “but I don’t know, Boots. I just have a weird feeling. About this whole thing. I mean, why the curfew? Why all these new rules? Have you seen the way the teachers are looking at us lately? It’s like they’re watching us.”
