Ellamaria roars with laughter. “You sounded just like him! How did you get your voice so low?”
I shrug. “‘You can sit there. It’s not like it has my name on it,” I parrot in a perfect mimicry of her voice.
“You never told me you could do impersonations before!” She gapes at me. “Wait. Is that how I really sound? Do it again.” She taps on the shoulder of the girl next to her. “Listen to this.”
But before I can do the impersonation again, Professor Narcissa finally comes in, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
Predator instinct is something a lot of werewolves wrestle with. Yes, we have a wolf inside of us, but to unlike the killer instinct, to know when to unleash it, to know how to control it and wrestle back to sanity… It’s not easy for some. For others, it’s downright impossible.
And then there’s me. I mastered my predator instinct when I was three. A grizzly bear came at me when my dad and I had been out for a camping trip. I’m not sure where Dad was, but the grizzly came at me. I had no choice but to turn into my wolf. Of course, I was only a cub then, and grizzlies don’t need to be provoked to attack. The bear came at me, and I snarled back, swatting, ready to bite her, to claw her, to jump at her. Anything really. I wanted to fight, to survive. A bear wasn’t going to bring me down.
It's only now, as I sit here, hoping Professor Narcissa won't call on me, that I wonder if my dad guided the bear to me. He hadn't been surprised at all when I excitedly told him about the three claw marks I cut into the bear's snout.
Honestly, I’m not even sure why the grizzly turned away after I sliced her. She should’ve attacked me. One swipe from her massive paw would’ve sent me flying, but away she went.
Come to think of it, Dad’s nose had been a bit red. I thought maybe he was so proud of me that he was trying not to cry. When Mom cries, her face gets all red and blotchy. My face takes after hers, unfortunately, which is why no one ever sees me cry. I just don’t produce tears. Not anymore.
Tears are for the weak.
And I know that some claim to cry when they feel joy… Yeah. I don't think so. I've felt joy before, and it's never moved me to tears. I don't need to cry for any reason, good or bad.
I don’t even cry from pain.
And I’ve felt pain to the point that lesser men and women would’ve not only cried.
They would’ve died.
“Bellanore,” Professor Narcissa says suddenly.
“Yes?”
“Why don’t you explain to the class why it’s so important to allow predator instinct to take over?”
“Sometimes, when you’re fighting for your life, you need to use all of the knowledge of your wolf. All predators react to trouble, to conflicts, to fights in the same manner. They have survived because of their instincts. They know when to fight, how to fight.”
A murmur of agreement comes from the students around me.
“Robb Aline,” the professor says sharply. “You disagree?”
“I don’t.”
I stiffen. That’s the name of the werewolf with the haunting glowing eyes and the scar.
As much as I don’t want to admit it, he does intrigue me but only because he’s a puzzle. I’m curious despite myself.
“Then why did you make a face?” Professor Narcissa asks, her tone dry.
I glance over my shoulder at Robb. He gives me a cocky smile. Oh, boy. I can’t wait to hear this.
“I just think the lovely Bellanore forgot to mention one small detail.”
“And what is this detail?” The professor crosses her arms.
“Our inner wolves also know when not to fight.”
The professor beams. "Very good, Robb! Exactly so. Far too many think that predator instinct is only about violence and staying alive, but how can you survive if the fight is unwinnable? And not all fights are winnable. No, a great deal relies on cunning and strength, but even they can fall you if you are outnumbered or if the foe outweighs you by too large of an amount. Sometimes, the best fight is no fight at all."
“Are you saying we should use our mouths instead?” a werewolf calls out from the back.
“If by mouth you mean words, then yes,” the professor says, adopting her dry tone again. “Now, we haven’t yet had our first duel yet to demonstrate what you already know as far as predator instinct. For this, you must have your lives put in danger. And I mean real danger. Mortal danger. As such, I don’t suspect all of you will be willing to do that—”
I shoot my hand into the air.
“Yes, Bellanore?”
“I volunteer to go first.”
“Is that so?” Professor Narcissa eyes me critically, and I have the feeling she’s finding me lacking. Dad looks at me that way sometimes.
The most recent occasion had been with the walking on fire bit.
As if.
I suppress a shudder. “Yes, Professor.”
“See me after class,” she says sharply. “I think… Robb will go first.”
“Looking forward to it,” he calls from the back of the class.
I jut out my jaw, aggravated that he’s going first when I wanted to, annoyed beyond belief that the professor won’t give me this. Why? Prejudice? Because I’m half-demon? Mom assured me I wouldn’t face anything of the sort from the professors, but the students on the other paw…
Impatiently, I wait for the end of class. I stand, lingering by my desk, allowing the others to go on ahead. Soon, only Ellamaria, the professor, and I remain.
Professor Narcissa glowers at Ellamaria until my friend gives me an apologetic look and then leaves the room.
“Professor, I—”
“You don’t care about my course,” she says in a sharpness that brokers no disagreements.
“I care about predator instinct.”
“You believe you’ve mastered it already.”
“I don’t believe that.”
She arches her eyebrows.
“I know that to be a fact.”
“Is that so?” Professor Narcissa shakes her head. “I don’t know if I feel comfortable putting your life in danger to the extent that would be required for your predator instinct to be fully unlocked.”
“Why not?” I demand.
“You are a capable fighter, no doubt, and you will be able to survive much and more with your own natural abilities, predator instinct aside, but—”
“My father,” I spit out. “If you think he’ll take it out on you because you push me to learn—”
“I am not afraid of your father, but I don’t know if we have the capability here to do what you need to unlock this instinct inside you.”
"So what you're saying is that you can't teach me anything. I'm not exactly in the wrong then if I were to not care about your course, as you say."
She flares her nostrils. “Consider embarking on the Grand Hunt.”
“I’ll consider it.”
“Do you even know what it entails?”
“I do. Just about the entire academy goes on a huge hunt to find something. It changes every year, and there’s a lot of backstabbing, and a prize for the grand hunt winner, and I think students have been maimed during it or even killed.”
“No. Students have never been maimed or killed during it! The professors keep a close eye on everything related to the Grand Hunt and—”
“Well, that sounds positively boring,” I deadpan.
She heaves a sigh. “Bellanore, if there is anything you want to talk to me about—”
“As far as what?”
“I know that you…”
“What?” I ask.
“Some students have been trying to cause… issues.”
"There haven't been any issues at all," I say, my mind returning to my dad's red nose and the comment he made about being so sure about my only being able to shapeshift into a wolf.
He was the grizzly bear.
He came at me.
A three-year-old.
I thought myself in danger, so I att
acked. I didn’t want to die, and I wanted to keep Dad safe if he came back. We surveyed the area before we settled there to camp. We declared it safe. I didn’t want him to wander back to me and not realize the danger he would be in.
Wow.
The professor just gives me a look, but I head on out of there and almost plow into Ellamaria, who lingers just outside the door.
“What did she want?” Ellamaria asks far too loudly.
I glare at her and hurry her away. Once we’re out of the professor’s earshot, I open my mouth to answer her question, but my best friend cuts me off.
“And what was that with you and the new guy?” she asks. “Robb.”
“There’s nothing between me and the new guy.”
“Really? I’m not so sure about that.”
“If anything, he was flirting with you.”
Ellamaria laughs. “He was teasing you.”
“How can you say that?” I scoff.
“Because he never looked away from you even when he was talking to me.”
“That’s not true,” I protest.
“How would you know? Were you staring at him?”
“No. I was barely even looking at the guy.”
“Classic. Playing hard to get.”
“Not at all.” I roll my eyes and shake my head. “I’m not one of those girls who feels incomplete without a guy in my life. I have far more important things to worry about.”
“Like what?”
“Like…”
What my dad is up to.
How I can get back in his good graces despite my not walking in fire.
Whatever my mom is up to.
“The Grand Hunt,” I finally mumble.
“Are you going to do it?” she asks.
“Why do you sound so surprised?”
“I don’t know. I just thought…”
“What? That because I have bullies and a target on my back that I should watch what I do?”
“No…”
“You think I can’t handle myself?”
She swallows hard. “Bellanore, I am not challenging you.”
I harrumph.
“In fact, I challenge you not to do the Grand Hunt.”
“Why?”
“Because.”
"Because, why?"
“You need to let down your long hair.”
“It is down.”
“Just go out with Robb. Just one date. See how it goes. See if you two can be together and be happy.”
“And what does that have to do with the Grand Hunt?”
“So you’ll do it?”
I snort and shake my head so hard my hair goes flying. “No. Never.”
“Why?” she asks, confused. “Why won’t you ever go out on a date? It’s not as if you’re ugly.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I say dryly.
“And other guys have asked you out, but you turn them all down. Why?”
“I just don’t want to.”
“No one’s caught your eye?”
“No one.”
Ellamaria falls silent until we enter the dining area. It’s in a huge courtyard of a castle with benches and picnic tables everywhere. Under a canopy is a smorgasbord of food with a ton of options.
Soon, we claim our normal table, my back resting against a tree, the perfect vantage point to ensure no unwanted persons head our way without my seeing their approach.
“It’s not that I think you have to date a guy to have worth,” Ellamaria suddenly says, breaking our silence. “You’ve been a little distant lately. You don’t seem happy. I just thought that since I’m failing you—”
“You aren’t failing me! Don’t be ridiculous.”
“You don’t seem happy,” she repeats.
I bite my lower lip.
“Is it because of your classes?”
“No.”
“Your parents?”
“Maybe.”
“I’m sorry,” she murmurs. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“No, but we can talk about a guy for you. How about Wyatt? Maybe you can get him off my back. Or maybe you should try for Robb.”
“No way. No girl is going to catch his eye when you’re around.”
I roll my eyes. “There’s Pablo.”
“Pablo Starfell? No.”
“Why not?”
“He… He doesn’t seem happy here either.”
I shrug and rattle off a bunch of names. Ellamaria shoots them all down for one reason or another until finally, she holds up her hands.
“I surrender!” She giggles. “I won’t ask you about Robb anymore. How about we talk about compass sense. I had to do this one task for class and…”
She excitedly shares the story, and I’m so proud of how great she’s doing. She’s thriving here.
And why wouldn’t she be? She has her family behind her. Her entire pack wants her to succeed.
As for me, I feel utterly alone. My pack doesn’t want me because I opted to be my dad’s daughter, and even he is keeping things from me. He wants me to do something I can’t possibly do. Walking through flames…
I shudder and touch the inside of my left elbow. Ellamaria has gone to get us more drink refills, so she won’t notice the small burn mark there. No one knows I have it.
When I was five, I saw my dad walk through flames. I was mesmerized by the sight, amazed at his awesome power, awestruck by his might. All I have to do is close my eyes, and I can smell the fire. Dad didn’t burn. There wasn’t the sickening scent of burning flesh or hair.
To be like him in a small way, I took a candle to the kitchen table and lit it. My hand hovered above the flames, but I was too scared to touch the fire. When I heard footsteps, I panicked and tried to blow out the candle. Somehow, I got my arm in the pass of the flames, and I was burned.
For over two years, I suffered nightmares every night about flames devouring me to the point that even my bones and teeth turned to ashes.
No, I’m not going to walk through fire. That tiny flame burned me, and the pain still lingers to this very day.
As for the question as to why I won’t date Robb or any other werewolf, it’s simple really.
I won’t date anyone because of my dad. He’s made too many threats about any guy I might bring home, and that’s one thing about my dad.
He doesn’t make threats lightly.
Chapter 11
Robb
I can’t help it. I’m intrigued to no end about the so-called princess of darkness. She’s a spitfire to have stood up to that crowd, and to injure Wyatt? That took guts.
But her not looking at me, her not wanting to talk to me… That stings in a way that it shouldn’t. She can do whatever she wants, and I’m fairly certain she’s not playing me, that it’s not a game. She’s not being hard to get. She doesn’t want to be gotten.
Bellanore. What’s her last name? What pack is she in? Who does she run with?
At dinner, I think about trying to find her, but then I spy Roald and Wyatt talking, just the two of them. None of their groupies are around, and since they seem to be ignoring Bellanore and everyone else for that matter, I leave them be.
Before I can locate Bellanore, a hand clamps on my shoulder.
I stiffen. “Nia.”
She strolls around from behind me to give me a smirk. “It’s far too easy to sneak up on you.”
“Do I look like I’m frightened?”
“No, but I would watch your back if I were you.”
“My back is just fine.”
“As fine as that scar on your face?” She smirks.
“Go talk to someone who cares about what you have to say.”
“Oh, ho. Turning nasty on me, are you? I don’t buy your whole act,” she says, waving her hand. “You said you kept me from killing that vampire because you had to save a werewolf. Which one again?”
“Look, Nia—”
“You don’t want war with the vampires. Why is that? You the runt of
a litter or what?”
I stiffen. “You better watch it.”
“Watch what? My tongue?” She sticks it out and curls it. “My tongue is just fine. I’m also watching your back.”
“To figure out the perfect spot for you to knife me?” I ask.
“You’re worried about me? Good. You should be.”
“Nia, you don’t scare me.”
Her eyes narrow, and she slowly nods her head. “You don’t. I can tell, but here’s the thing, Aline. You will.”
I don’t like the idea of her walking away from me, but she eyes the two would-be alphas, waves them away as if they aren’t worth her time, grabs a plate and some food, cutting in line to do so, and then she leaves the courtyard entirely.
“She’s too much of a loose cannon if you ask me,” a werewolf with brown hair and eyes says.
I nod and suppress a shudder. “I don’t really think it’s a good idea for her to be here.”
“Why’s that?”
“She’s liable to hurt or kill someone if she knows how to use her powers fully.”
He slowly nods. “You’re probably right. Forgive me. I don’t think we formally met before. I’m Bermon Von Hagen.”
“Robb. Robb Aline.”
We shake hands.
“Are you friends with her?” Bermon asks.
“Didn’t I just say that I think she should get kicked out?” I point out.
“True. I just thought I saw you two hanging out.”
“Her friends seem to have taken it upon themselves to, ah, adopt me. I don’t care for the lot of them.”
“Then ignore them.”
“Do you know Roald?”
Bermon nods. “He’s not… We don’t exactly share philosophies.”
I burst out laughing. “Roald doesn’t have any philosophies to share.”
Bermon's smile is weak, tiny. "He likes power, craves it, but he's weak. I think that's why he wants power so much. Deep down, he knows his own limitations, but he thinks that if he acts tough, he'll become tough without realizing just how damaging he actually is."
“You have him pegged well.”
“I try to be an optimist,” Bermon says slowly. “If you can understand a person’s point of view, it’s easier to understand why they do this or that. You can predict almost how they’ll react to a given situation.”
“Interesting.”
Moonstone Academy: Year One: A Mayhem of Magic World Story Page 7
