Rebels and Runaways: Eden Academy Book One

by Grace McGinty

  And while Flint was gone, I curled up into a ball and cried.

  Cried for the man who had nothing.

  Cried because he looked at me like I was his savior.

  But I was no one’s savior, so I let the tears fall down my cheeks until they soaked my pillows.

  28

  Monster

  I watched her flee. I didn’t blame her. Her pack mate stood at the fence, his gun pointed at my face, and I wished he’d pull the trigger. End this.

  He didn’t chase after her, and when I slid my eyes back to him, he hadn’t moved, hadn’t lowered the gun even an inch.

  His eyes ran over my body, and I knew how I looked. Vagrant. Animal. Like the monster that they’d named me after. He shifted his head partially to the side.

  He’s human, we should kill him and eat his heart, Hew muttered.

  Excellent suggestion. Let’s eat the lover of our fated mate. I’m sure that will make her love us, Wati shot back. No wonder you’re fucking dead.

  The voices in my head bickered back and forth, and I dragged a rough hand down my face. When I’d allowed evil spirits to possess me, so that I could become a Wendigo and avenge my sister, I kind of thought they’d be scary evil. Not annoying evil. Guess the definition of evil changed with the times too. After a century, I’d learned to tune them out, mostly.

  The guy dropped his gun, which was foolish, but it made something thump in the empty cavity of my chest. “Is it true, what you said? Are you her fated mate?”

  I swallowed, but my face remained impassive. “Yes.” I mean, I’d always suspected. But that night, the night of the fight when she’d stolen the Djinn, she’d attacked me and gotten me on my back. I’d been so fucking shocked that I’d almost gotten my throat slit. She’d looked down at me, her face fierce even though I could hear the pounding of her heart. She’d fought me for the Ifrit. Me.

  She was so damn young. She was right to flee. I shouldn’t even be here.

  Yeah, except we’ll be trapped together for eternity, Wati grumbled and Hew cackled evilly.

  The kid through the fence nodded. “I’ll talk to her. But ultimately, I won’t let her be guilted into shit. But if what I know about fated mates applies to Wendigo, she’ll be drawn to you anyway?”

  I shrugged. It wasn’t the Wendigo that was fated. It was the wolf shifter I’d been before I’d been transformed into a monster. I’d had a name once. I’d forgotten what it was.

  No you haven’t, Hew taunted. You’re just too guilt-ridden to remember.

  The kid nodded, and walked away, showing bravery or stupidity by showing me his back. He probably thought this electrified wall protected him. It didn’t. The spirits that inhabited my body were of this land, threaded through the very energies of the earth. Wards and electricity meant nothing to them or their vessel. They were one with the earth, even if they were troublesome spirits.

  I slunk back into the woods before the Lycanthropes came back. The confrontation this morning had been rough, filled with teeth and claws, and punctuated with threats. I could respect that, they had a lot of young to care for. But the spirits had wanted to rend and tear, to snap their necks and then reach in and devour their heart’s blood.

  You can’t blame that all on us, Wati baited. Some of it is your own bloodthirsty nature. It's why we are all saddled together in the first place.

  I ignored her and strode through the forest like I was the greatest predator in the night. Once upon a time, it might have been true. But now these woods were inhabited by shapeshifters and vampires, Lycans and creatures that had no name. The things that went bump in the night were more plentiful in this little section of the world than any other I’d been in for the last one hundred years.

  My bike was in the shadows just off the main road, all my worldly possessions in the saddlebags. Which was basically nothing. I kept everything with any value on my body unless I was fighting. During a fight, I wasn’t worried about people stealing my shit. Watching me eat a man’s heart was a real good deterrent.

  I straddled my bike, kicking it over and feeling the thrum of the motor that ran through my body and drowned out the voices. The open road was the only time I was ever free of Hew and Wati. They had really long traditional names, but I’d long forgotten them.

  I rode back through the small town of Dark River, knowing better than to stop. I knew the predators that lived there, and they scared the fuck out of me. I was pretty invincible really, but I’d heard of some of the vampires living in that town. There were a handful of ways for a Wendigo to die, and I bet they knew every single one.

  The next town over was slightly bigger, big enough that they didn’t look askance at strangers. Well, most of the time. I always drew stares. The night was still, no moon to shed light in the darkness. It was just an unending abyss of blackness outside of the single headlight of my bike.

  When I rolled in, I drove to the twenty-four hour gym. It was still early enough that there would be some eager office worker there, working off that extra bagel rather than be at home with their wife. I pulled my bike around the back, hefting my saddlebag onto my shoulder.

  When a man walked out, red-faced and puffing, I didn’t even feel satisfied at being correct. I just caught the door before it fully closed and let myself in.

  There was another guy pumping iron in the corner, and he stared at me from the corner of his eye like I didn’t belong. He wasn’t wrong, I didn’t belong. I strolled into the changerooms. It was steamy and smelled a little like piss and sweat, but it had a shower and that was all I needed.

  I got the stall right at the end, closest to a window, and hung my saddlebag over the partition wall. Switching on the shower, I undressed and tried not to look at myself in the mirror on one of the walls of the stall. Fucking gyms. Everyone wanted to look at themselves in the mirror all the time, even when they were getting undressed to hit the showers.

  I purposefully didn’t look at the melted skin of my side; it was no longer red and raised, but had the look of melted wax. It ran from just below my armpit, across half of my chest, and down to my thigh. Missed my dick, which was a small mercy I was thankful for every single day.

  Not that we get to use it much, you antisocial fuck. What is the point of being evil if you’re going to live like a blushing virgin? Hew grumbled.

  Hew and Wati were spirits, and therefore didn’t have genders, but I had the vague idea that Hew had been a man in his past life. He was just lecherous, though it didn’t matter if the object of his lechery was male or female. Hmm, maybe women more. He was more likely to suggest fighting and then eating a man.

  Wati, however, I had no idea. Man or woman, I just called her she because she bitched about Hew like she was his wife of twenty years.

  I stepped into the steaming water and sighed. I hadn’t gotten paid for my last fight, mostly because Carmen had caused a riot saving the Djinn kid and then I’d murdered a whole bunch of guys and eaten their corpses. I was in glut, and consuming two dead men should keep me satiated for a month.

  But that was the thing about being a Wendigo; you were never satiated. Always yearning for more, always with that burn of hunger in my stomach. Really. What was I thinking? I couldn’t be Carmen’s Packmate, tie my soul to hers. She was not going to be okay with me eating people.

  I thumped my fist against the tiles of the wall, making one of the cheap subway tiles crack. She was my fated mate. My one chance to die properly, without becoming an evil spirit like Wati and Hew to haunt some other poor fuck.

  If she accepted me, mated with me, our souls would become one and when she died, her pure soul would drag my sludgy one to the afterlife. Ending my curse. Hell, ending Wati and Hew’s curses too.

  I rested my forehead against the tiles as my mind warred with itself. She’d said no. I would just continue to wander until I accidentally, or more likely on purpose, died. And then I’d wander the earth as a malevolent, annoying spirit until some other poor sucker with too much rage and not enough brai
n cells did dumb shit and I ended up haunting his brain.

  So much love. If I had emotions, I’d be offended, Wati grumbled.

  I blocked them out and finished my shower. I’d washed and brushed out my hair, and it fell in short, messy waves. I trimmed my beard, not bothering to shave. It would be back in days anyway.

  I packed everything up, and cursed a little seeing that the guy lifting weights was still here, his eyes burning into my skin as I walked toward the door.

  “Hey, you. This is the YMCA, fuckhead. Keep your vagrant ass out.”

  I ignored him and pushed through the front door. Too many cameras in this new age.

  Once upon a time we’d be on his throat in a second, Hew whined. He was right.

  But when the door opened and closed behind me, I let my lips twitch. I walked into the alley, and the guy stomped behind me.

  Five.

  Four.

  Three.

  Two.

  He reached my arm and grabbed it, spinning me around. “Hey, you hobo fuck. I’m talking to you. Dirty fucking trash. Keep your bug-infested ass—” He stuttered to a stop, probably due to the creepy ass smile on my face.

  He smelled of chemicals, probably steroids, which had obviously made him stupid. He went to backpedal toward the gym, but it was too late for him. I reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him back toward me and my rapidly growing head. I knew what he was seeing right now—a buck’s head, but the more I morphed, the more the flesh peeled from it, until I was left with a bleached deer skull. Plus I had huge pink antlers with viscous strands of flesh and muscle spread between the barbs. I continued to grow, my body curving in on itself, until I was a nightmare with gnarled clawed hands wrapped around his over-pumped forearms.

  The dude screamed, but only for a moment. Like the beep of a car alarm when you unlocked it.

  It was kind of the same, but instead of opening a car, I was opening a chest cavity.

  29

  Carmen

  I must have been giving off some seriously stressed out vibes, because Enit was practically curled in my lap trying to soothe me, and Christopher was growling at anyone who even looked at me.

  The only people they let past were my guys, and I rested with my back against Bobby’s chest even as I ran my hands through Enit’s smooth, white hair. I didn’t know how to tell Bobby that I had another fated mate. Especially one that had probably murdered more people than he’d eaten hot dinners. Also, he was almost a decade older than me. Hell, maybe he was a century older than me. How did Wendigo age anyway?

  Bobby might have been cool with me having other lovers, because he was secure in the fact that we belonged together. But what if I belonged to another man too?

  I whined low in my throat, and Enit whined with me. I swallowed down my turmoil, willing myself to be calm.

  “What’s wrong?” Bobby murmured into my hair. I gave him a tight smile.

  “Nothing. Exam stress. And the whole Rook thing, you know?”

  It was plausible. I was still stressed as fuck about Flint’s former owner.

  I didn’t think Monster was lying about being my fated mate either. I wished I did. That restlessness I had under my skin, it was worse since Monster had come to visit. The urge to fight, fuck or flee rode me hard, making me anxious. That was what they were all picking up on now. Plus, I hadn’t had a fight in a month and the darkness was demanding a tribute.

  I hadn’t seen Sammie in a couple of nights, but I wonder if I could arrange a couple more combat lessons with him and Flint. We’d either fight or fuck, and I was down for both of those options.

  Speaking of Flint, he looked even shittier than I did. He wasn’t sleeping, unless he was in bed with me, which was most nights now. But last night, he’d tossed and turned, even with my body wrapped around his.

  Fun fact about Flint? He liked to be the little spoon. And I was here for it. I didn’t have to worry about what my hair was doing, or whether my head was making his arm dead. It was just skin on skin comfort and I low-key loved it.

  Right now, he picked at his food, and I untangled my fingers from my sister’s hair to reach over and grab his hand. “Are you okay?”

  He gave me a forced smile. “I’m fine.”

  Oh, so that's what my lie had looked like. Neither of us was fine, but we were both happy to fake it. Uh uh. Not today. I sighed, looking between my siblings.

  “I’m skipping today’s classes. Can you tell them I got the runs or something?”

  Christopher eyed me. Normally he’d be on my ass about what was wrong, but he had his own problems at the moment. That problem was flirting with Kingston the unicorn shifter right now, and I could basically hear Christopher’s teeth grinding.

  I shifted Enit off my lap gently, and she pouted a little. I hadn’t seen as much of her lately, and I knew she was missing the connection. Though, the way the lion Alpha was eyeing her like a juicy steak told me it wouldn’t be a problem for long. If that was what Enit wanted. If it wasn’t, I was itching to shed some blood, and a pretty blonde Alpha was calling to me to break his face.

  “Stop growling at Bohdie,” Enit chastised, and I was a little embarrassed that I had been. It was a testament to my emotional unease. But I wouldn’t admit it out loud.

  Bravado it was. “I don’t like how he eyes you,” I grumbled, which was true.

  She gave me a soft smile. “I like him.”

  Of course she fucking did. She liked nearly everyone. “Enough to make him your boyfriend? Because anything less than fully committed, and Christopher is going to make him into a rug.”

  Christopher just grunted. “Might do it anyway.”

  Enit cocked her head. “I think so. He makes me feel… Omega things.”

  I had no idea what that meant, and I had enough problems of my own without borrowing Enit’s. But if he made her happy… “In that case, you have my blessing. I’ll beat the stupid machismo out of Christopher so you can have your happiness.”

  Christopher gave me a droll expression. “Good luck with that.”

  I stood up, and Bobby kissed my head. “I’m going to skip with you, if you like?”

  He didn’t presume. Didn’t assume my answer would be yes just because he was my Alpha. I eyed Christopher. “See this? You’d have more success with Cara if you pulled the stick out of your ass.”

  He scowled back. “Bobby is whipped. No offense, man.” Bobby just snorted. “Besides, I don’t want anything to do with that annoying, shrill, troublemaking human.”

  Now it was my turn to snort, and I gave him a condescending pat on the head. “Keep telling yourself that, brother.” I grabbed Bobby’s hand. “I’d be glad to spend the day with you, if you aren’t going to get in trouble for missing classes.”

  Bobby just shrugged, and pointed to Flint. “You too, Zombie. You look like a reanimated corpse. You need a nap.”

  “Is that code for listening to you two bang like horny goats again?”

  Enit’s eyes went wide, and Christopher’s jaw dropped. “You fucked my sister?” he growled.

  Oh, for fuck’s sake.

  I stepped into his space. “You better watch your tone, Christopher Baxter, or I am going to superglue your testicles to the toilet seat again. What I do, and with whom, is not any of your business. Plus, he’s my freaking fated mate and this isn’t the eighteenth century. I will fucking stab you with a damn fork.”

  I flounced away, grabbing Flint’s hand as he grinned. I shook my head at him. “You’re trouble, you know that?”

  We pushed through the doors of the cafeteria, Bobby a step behind us. Flint darted out in front of me, stopping me in my tracks and making me back up into the body of my fated mate. Then he kissed me. Pressed between them, the plundering tongue of Flint in my mouth and the steadying hands of Bobby on my hips, was a heady experience. One I would happily get used to.

  How many times did I have to have sex before I could graduate to orgies? Enquiring minds wished to know.

  Bobby
clipped Flint upside the head, making him pull back with a grin. “Come on, Romeo. We’re making a spectacle and the Academy has a clear ‘no foreplay in the hallways’ rule. Besides, we are going to nap. Not get naked.”

  Flint sighed. “I don’t think they need to be mutually exclusive.”

  Me either, Flint. Me either.

  Apparently we all napped better in a puppy pile, because by the time there was a knock on my door, the sun was beginning to set. Bobby stretched, and Flint remained completely oblivious to the world, his face smooth and innocent in sleep.

  Bobby kissed my temple. “I’ll get it.”

  He stood and stretched, his t-shirt riding up to show the hard lines of his abs. I may have drooled a bit into the pillow.

  He pulled the door open, revealing Sammie, who was holding three pizza boxes. I smiled at him and waved him in. Bobby picked up his backpack and wandered back over to me. “I better get home before my mom freaks out, or worse, Miss Pea kicks my ass for being here after hours.” He leaned down and kissed me hard. “Love you, Mouse.”

  He didn’t wait for me to say it back, thank god, because the guilt over hiding Monster’s claim over me was eating at me. He leaned over and ruffled Flint’s hair softly, and my heart melted. This was why he was going to be such an amazing Alpha. He slapped Sammie on the shoulder. “You guys should come to Nîso on the weekend. Come to the family barbeque. You’ll be safe from Rook within the wards, and you should really meet the family now there are no explosive secrets between us.”

  Sammie’s eyes shot to mine, and I shook my head minutely. He smiled at Bobby. “I’d like that. Can I bring the kids?”

  “And Cara,” I added. “Christopher will be there too, and what’s a cookout without some fireworks, right?”

  Bobby laughed and shook his head. “The more the merrier. I’ll pass it by Ghost and the Enforcers. We’ll make it a Pack thing.” He blew me another kiss and left.