Wolf Mated (Beta Wolf Academy Book 1)

by JJ King

  I threw myself onto the bed with a dramatic groan and thrust my hands into my hair, pulling at the roots with a sharp tug.

  “Men!” I huffed out a breath and looked up at the poster of a kitten hanging from a tree that Rose had given me as a joke present before I’d left Ireland. “Am I right?”

  The kitten told me to hang in there.

  “Useless feline,” I muttered then read the text again.

  This would drive me crazy if I let it, so I clicked the screen off and pushed the phone into my jeans pocket. I needed a distraction, something to occupy my time and energy. Dr. Bennett had told me to join a club. Maybe I could do that.

  I jumped up and rushed to the bathroom to brush my teeth and hair, slick on some lip gloss, and straighten my super casual outfit. I frowned at my jeans and navy-blue tank top then decided it was better to show my actual personality when trying to find new friends. I was normal or, at least, trying to be.

  The Arts building was almost directly in the center of campus and surrounded by spacious courtyards where profs sometimes brought their classes to open their minds. I smiled at a few familiar faces and tried my best to ignore the few whispers I heard about “that girl” and “the fight at the party.”

  Being the subject of campus gossip made my eye twitch. I didn’t enjoy it one bit, which was ironic, because I’d purposely dyed my white-blonde hair bright pink before coming here. If it wasn’t to stand out and draw a bit of attention, then I wasn’t sure why I’d done it. It was pretty, though, so I was going to keep it, even if it made me stand out like a red cape in a bullpen.

  Unlike the universities in the shows I’d watched or books I’d read, everything at Beta Wolf Academy stayed open during the weekends. It wasn’t as if we could go home each night, since wolf academies ran like boarding schools, so clubs and buildings stayed active full time.

  My one English class was held on the fourth floor where a lot of other English classes were taught, so I headed up the stairs, figuring the society might have a meeting room there. A headquarters? I wasn’t sure what to call it. A hang out?

  The halls were mostly empty, except for the random student set on their destination and looking completely at home. I wandered the halls, searching the walls for any sign of where the society could be located.

  I heard laughter just before I was about to turn around and slink back to my dorm room in defeat. I followed the sound to the end of the corridor and around a corner and found an open door with a sign that read “BWESS.”

  It stood for Beta Wolf English Student Society. I’d seen a sign in the cafeteria announcing a book sale or something during my first week of school.

  Suddenly, just steps away from the door, my feet refused to move. I wanted to back away and run but they refused to move in that direction, too, so I just stood there and hoped the people inside wouldn’t smell my fear.

  They hadn’t seen me yet; I could leave if I wanted and try another day. Like Rose had said about Alyssa, there was no shame in waiting to do something. I made up my mind and ordered my feet to carry me home.

  “Hey,” a guy said from directly behind me. “You going in?”

  He moved to the door and nodded towards the room.

  “We don’t bite. Well, insomuch as humans don’t bite. I can’t promise what any of us will do as our wolves.” He stuck out a hand bedecked with several gold banded rings. “I’m Cam. Short for Cameron. And you are?”

  He took my hand, pulling me into the small space, which was filled on every wall with couches and bookshelves, and even a mini fridge.

  I followed because I had no choice and managed to say my name without stuttering. “I’m Lexi.”

  “Is that short for Alexis?” Cam asked with a huge grin and wide eyes that were enhanced with black eyeliner. “I adore that name.”

  He tugged me towards a free spot on one of the couches.

  When we were seated, he gestured to the five people sitting on the other couch or cross-legged on the floor, all of whom were looking at me expectantly, making my stomach flutter like mad.

  “So, this is Daniel, Rachelle, Kiko, Greg, and Dina. Guys, this is Lexi.”

  A chorus of “Hey, Lexi,” greeted me. I couldn’t help but smile and relax as the conversation they’d been having picked back up as if I hadn’t interrupted.

  “It was like porn for Victorian ladies,” Kiko said with a laugh. “Christina Rossetti was badass.”

  Cam leaned in and whispered, “They’re talking about Goblin Market.”

  I winged my eyebrows up and nodded, as if I understood what that meant. Kiko reached into the backpack beside her and pulled out a tome of a book, then flipped to a page marked with a gum wrapper. She began reading, gracefully reciting the lines of the poem and adding significant insinuation and eyebrow wags as she went. I listened with ever widening eyes.

  With clasping arms and cautioning lips,

  With tingling cheeks and finger tips.

  'Lie close,' Laura said,

  Pricking up her golden head:

  'We must not look at goblin men,

  We must not buy their fruits:

  Who knows upon what soil they fed

  Their hungry thirsty roots?'

  'Come buy,' call the goblins

  Hobbling down the glen.

  'Oh,' cried Lizzie, 'Laura, Laura,

  You should not peep at goblin men.'

  I pressed a hand against my mouth to hold back the laughter that bubbled up as Kiko shimmied her shoulders and rose to her knees, then continued in a dramatic tone.

  She dropped a tear more rare than pearl,

  Then sucked their fruit globes fair or red:

  Sweeter than honey from the rock,

  Stronger than man-rejoicing wine,

  Clearer than water flowed that juice;

  She never tasted such before,

  How should it cloy with length of use?

  She sucked and sucked and sucked the more

  Fruits which that unknown orchard bore;

  She sucked until her lips were sore;

  Embarrassed giggles burst through my fingers no matter how hard I tried to hold them back. Eyes brimming with laughter glanced up at me in appreciation for my reaction.

  From there, the conversation moved to favorite authors, favorite movies, and favorite TV shows. I found myself championing Buffy the Vampire Slayer as the best show of all time against Dina’s choice of Six Feet Under and Rachelle’s defiant choice of Battlestar Galactica, while Cam refused to hear of anything other than Schitt’s Creek. By the time someone pulled out a bottle of vodka from the mini-fridge freezer and tore open a bag of plastic cups, I felt like one of them, completely at ease and filled with a simple joy that was hard to explain.

  We moved from the tiny society room to the cafeteria, desperate for food to help mitigate the copious amounts of vodka and, later, tequila, in our systems. I spent hours getting to know them, laughing, and eating, then going back to Cam’s dorm room to continue the impromptu party that had begun with a poetry recitation.

  As the sun sank low in the western sky, I hugged a sparkly throw pillow to my chest from my spot on Cam’s bed while Greg, Daniel, and Kiko sang a horrendous version of The Devil Went Down to Georgia on a karaoke machine Cam had pulled from his closet.

  I was happy. Completely and totally happy and more than a little drunk, which was why I had to glance down and blink away the unexpected tears that surfaced at the mere thought that the only way this day could be more perfect was if I had Chase, Lucian, and Dimitri by my side.

  Chapter 11

  The next five days were absolute torture.

  I caught glimpses of my three guys, because that was how I now thought of them, around campus all week long, but never actually spoke to any of them or got within touching distance. With each day that passed without a simple run-in or text, my suspicions grew that they were avoiding me.

  I’d typed and edited then erased a text to Chase so many times I’d lost count. Each
time, I would stare at the words I’d written, frown, then question my perspective. I wasn’t good at this; I didn’t know how to handle a romantic entanglement. My only experience with the situation came from books and TV shows, and it wasn’t as if most of those ever dealt with love squares, because I couldn’t call this a love triangle. There were four of us in this. Four people, four corners equaled a square.

  My dreams were filled with them, with their scents, with their eyes, with the touch of their hands on my skin. I woke every night, sometimes on a moan, sometimes in tears, but not a single night passed without them running through my mind.

  I’d almost broken down and confessed everything during my session with Dr. Bennett. I wanted answers, to figure out why there was this strange connection between the four of us and why it was affecting me so deeply that I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, couldn’t think straight anymore without them. But every time I opened my mouth to tell him, something slammed it shut. They were mine, and the intimacy of our situation felt like a precious secret that would evaporate if I didn’t hold it close.

  Dr. Bennet had been so proud of me when I’d told him of the friends I’d made in the English Society. They were great, each of them in their own way. It was fun finding people who were so much like me yet so different, people who didn’t know my background and just thought of me as the cool new girl with pink hair who loved Buffy a little bit too much.

  They’d helped me through the week. I didn’t know how I would’ve gotten through it without them, or without Emily, who’d asked me out for coffee after class on Tuesday, then had stuck around for hours discussing anything and everything besides boys because she could tell that I didn’t want to talk about the opposite sex right now.

  So much had changed for me since my first week. I’d gone from being a ghost on campus, wandering around without a single friend or even acquaintance, to having a group of friends who were funny and accepting.

  I’d also gone from having no love interests to having three, so that was another thing that had changed.

  In my room after class, I stripped off my Academy uniform, hung it in my closet, and reached for a white eyelet dress and sandals. The Academy was hosting its first pack run tonight. It was starting in just half an hour, but I couldn’t seem to find the joy the promise of running as my wolf usually loosed.

  My new friends had all agreed to meet and run together, but as the moon rose high in the hot summer night sky, my heart longed to run with another pack—my pack. I swallowed the lump of emotion that filled my throat as I realized I wasn’t thinking of my sisters back in Ireland. I was thinking of my guys.

  Leaving everything behind but the clothes on my body and the sandals on my feet, I left my room and headed towards the back lawn.

  The wrought-iron fence that surrounded Beta Wolf Academy’s campus opened through four massive gates located to the north, south, east, and west of the Administration building. The northern gate was wide open now and students milled around on the grass, wearing little more than eager smiles. Scattered throughout were wolves, students who’d shifted already, urged on by the lure of the full moon. Nearby, a group of guys wrestled like small children, nipping at one another and throwing their weight around.

  The mood was joyful and light, the complete antithesis of how I felt. I scanned the crowd, looking for familiar blonde waves, familiar piercing eyes, or familiar radiant skin, but they weren’t there. I squeezed my eyes shut and breathed through the pain, wrapping my arms around my waist despite the heat in the air.

  I’d promised to wait for my friends, but my chest ached with pressure that just seemed to increase with every passing second. I couldn’t take it any longer. I kicked off my sandals and pulled the thin material of my dress over my head, then tossed it, carelessly, to the grass and stepped toward the open gate towards freedom and relief.

  The moon called to my blood, spoke to my wolf, so that when I reached out for her, she came instantly. Pain and magic flowed through my body, altering my bones, shifting my muscles and skin until I melted away and thick white fur sprouted from my changed skin. I glanced down at my fur, almost glowing under the moonlight, and felt the first trickle of joy seep into me. I’d honestly wondered if it would be pink now and was glad to see that it wasn’t.

  My muscles bunched beneath me before I could even really put the thought into words and I sprang forward, landing on my forelegs, feeling the give of the fertile earth beneath my paws. My mouth split open in a wolfish grin as I raced forward into the forest, completely alone, for the moment. I’d apologize to my friends later for not waiting.

  I ran with every bit of energy that had been pent up inside me for the last several weeks, with every bit of energy that had ever been pent up inside me when I’d been locked in that mountain for my entire life. I reached deeper inside me, pulling it out from the dark places where I’d stuffed it down for so long. With it came grief, and anger, need, and want—so many desperate emotions I couldn’t separate them. They blended together and took me over, pushing me further and faster. I don’t know why I needed it, but I did, so I heaved myself to a halt, threw back my head, and loosed a howl that ripped from my soul.

  Then I was off again, tearing through the trees, dipping below branches, and leaping over fallen logs as my heart raced and my chest heaved. I felt like I was in the center of the wild storm, a hurricane ripping around me, and completely unable to wrench myself free. I ran because I didn’t know what I would do to survive if I stopped.

  The world fell away, and it was just me, the moon, and the earth beneath my feet. I didn’t know how much time had passed since I’d slipped away and taken my head start, but I had to assume that my peaceful existence would be shattered soon by the presence of other wolves. The thought pushed me further and I wondered how far I would go to stay free.

  They told us during orientation that the outer grounds of Beta Wolf Academy were spread over a massive expanse of land. I didn’t remember how many acres, just that it had relaxed something inside me. I would have access to land, even if the main campus was enclosed within a fence. Just the thought of being deprived of space, wilderness, and fresh air ever again made my stomach churn.

  I pushed the thought away, trying to focus on the here and now. I heard the sound of racing wolves somewhere behind me. I didn’t look, didn’t so much as sniff the air to see who they were, to see if they were friend or foe; I just pushed harder. I didn’t care who they were. I wanted to be alone.

  I skirted around the edge of a small pond, edged by thick bushes, burdened by berries that sweetened the air. Maybe those behind me would stop and taste the offerings, but the sound of footfall only grew closer no matter how hard I pushed.

  When they were right on my heels, I threw myself into a turn, lowered my shoulders, and growled fiercely at the intruders. I staggered, barely keeping myself upright, and a soft whine slipped from my lips.

  Standing together, side-by-side, mere feet in front of me, stood Lucian, Chase, and Dimitri in wolf form.

  They watched me, their eyes bright with adrenaline from the run and the chase. Their chests heaved with enough exertion that I felt a thrill of pride they’d had to push so hard to catch me. Pride was replaced with confusion and the heavy pit of regret and dread that had lived inside my stomach all week, like slow acting poison.

  I shifted from foot to foot, uncertain of how to act around them. They’d walked away from me, not forever, although the week had felt like an eternity.

  Part of me wanted to shift back so I could ask them all the questions that had been brewing inside me, but that part was mitigated by my wolf, who still itched with the need to run under the brilliant moonlight and release the wildness within.

  I closed my eyes and tried to slow my racing thoughts enough to think it through, to understand what my swirling emotions needed most. I’d felt so lost without them and now they were here, all three of them, waiting for me with no pressure, only quiet assurance that whatever I decided, they wou
ld accept.

  It was impossible to decipher the push and pull of my emotions amidst my growing awareness of their effect on me. Just moments ago, I’d felt caught up in a maelstrom, buffeted from all sides, and now—

  Now, I felt whole.

  I opened my eyes and looked at them, really looked at them, standing shoulder to shoulder, best friends once more. I could sense no animosity between them, no jealousy, nothing that would tear them apart. Yet, they were each there for me and, apparently, accepting of the fact that I wanted not one, but all three of them.

  My body shivered at the enormity of it as an errant thought raced through my mind. This wasn’t normal. I wasn’t normal.

  I shoved the thought away with as much force as I could muster. Nothing about our circumstance might be normal, but they were our circumstances, not anyone else’s. Normal or not, the three of them made me feel whole. Each, on their own, made me feel safe, and seen, and desired, but, together, the feeling was indescribable.

  I stepped forward and let them encircle me, then sighed as each of them pressed their bodies against mine.

  Sweet joy flowed through my veins, so perfect that I dared not question it. I bumped against them, nudging my nose to each one in turn, then darted through a slim hole in their circle and raced away, glancing back over my shoulder to make sure they understood the game.

  They nipped at my hind legs playfully and raced around me, disappearing into the thick trees and reappearing to leap over an obstacle or nuzzle my flank.

  We played, like children, grinning under the full moonlight until the undeniable sound of encroaching wolves broke through our personal paradise. As others approached, the niggling doubt I had tried so hard to push away, that this was wrong, that others would judge us, reared its ugly head and pressed hard against my sternum. I tried to ignore it, to dismiss it as if it were nothing, but that voice inside my head whispered too often that I was damaged, that I was unnatural, that somehow, the way I’d been made was influencing my guys.