by S. L. Morgan
When he gave me a glance at his wolf, I had no idea what power it really had. He and his beast kept that under wraps. It was obviously a bad idea to underestimate the shifter because he obviously used that to his advantage. In fact, that’s exactly how he was beating Ian, allowing Ian to believe he’d jab or counter a certain way, yet Dom hit him with an entirely different attack. I couldn’t even calculate Dom’s next move. He was an enigmatic fighter, and nothing was predictable about him.
I couldn’t help but wonder about him. Who was this shifter? Why did he pick me to fulfill whatever agenda he had planned? Did he have something to do with what happened at the dance? The outfits, Ethan missing, Jessica—all of it. It had to be connected, and as I studied Dominic while he received his congrats from his master friends and pulled his black shirt back on over sweaty muscles, I knew he must’ve had something to do with it. If Dom thought he was going to pull me into what he and his cousin had done to the fox shifter, he was sorely mistaken.
I couldn’t talk to Lusa about any of this because she was gone doing some vamp quest, but I was determined to get answers one way or another, if not tonight, then tomorrow when lover boy stepped out of nowhere and our fake dating day began together. Something was up, sadly, my inner wolf didn't agree with my judgment.
I made sure I was gone after quick goodnights to my friends, in my dorm room, and going to bed. Five minutes before the final announcement of lights out, heavy footsteps brought sharp knocks to my door.
Dominic.
Yeah, not dealing with him while crowds were greeting him and praising him outside my door. I wasn’t getting locked up and put under a Dom kiss spell. I was going to get answers. I didn’t know exactly how with my wolf pretty much snarling at me for ignoring him at my door, but I’d figure out how to get past her controlling me like this. Somehow, it felt like my life depended on it.
Chapter Eighteen
The next morning consisted of me trying to put myself in a different mindset about everything. I had no idea what today would bring, but the impatient knocks on my door, while I was trying to get my combat boots on, was pretty much telling me my fake boyfriend was here to take me to the first challenge of the day.
I stomped my laced-up boot into the floor of the room and swung the door open.
“Tan?” I questioned in confusion. “What the heck are you doing here?”
His smile reminded me of the old Tanner—the non-fairy charmed Tanner—and it was nice to see while dealing with this menacing school of horrors.
“I’m here to pick up the girl who’s going to kick some major butt today.” He gave me that crooked Tan-Man smile.
“Yeah, we’ll see about that. Who knows who those idiots set me up to fight against.”
Tanner rolled his eyes, “Come on. I’m excited to see how this all goes down. Finally, Jenna gets to show these other shifters what she’s worth.”
“Mm-hm,” I said, stepping out of the room with him. A wave of nervous energy washed over me, making my stomach nauseated, and I wanted to barf right then and there. “Oh, God,” I said gasping for air that just didn’t fill my lungs quite right. “I’m gonna barf.”
“You serious?” Tan said, looking at me when I broke away from him. “Are you actually nervous about this?”
“I’ll meet you out there,” I said, running back to my dorm.
I threw myself over the toilet and heaved. This wasn’t good. I needed breakfast, I needed carbs for energy, and that was part of the challenge. Seeing who could beat their opponent without the fuel of food to keep our stamina throughout a grueling match. I was screwed.
I was going down if I couldn’t find a way to get past everything against me at this point. This wouldn’t necessarily be a battle of strength and endurance for me. It was going to have to be a battle of mental power instead. If I couldn’t get my mind to overcome this psychological defeat I was suffering from right now, I was going down as the weakest shifter at this school.
I glanced at the clock, fifteen minutes until I had to report. I was up early—obviously because I never entirely fell asleep—and I’d spent the last hour trying to clear my mind. I couldn’t have Dean Edgewater in my head. I couldn’t have anyone at this school in my head at all. I had to become just as mysterious as Dominic Rossi was.
I sucked in air, feeling my nerves rumble at the thought of my fake boyfriend. God only knew what was going to go down with him today. He was now head master of all the shifters, and I was apparently his girl.
I walked out onto our balcony, desperately craving fresh air before I walked back through the halls where I had ditched Tan. Our view was surprisingly peaceful. It overlooked the woods that we trained in and the woods where all of the obstacles were.
“Holy crap! That’s it!” I said to myself. I need Dom to get me on that quest with him and the masters, and I would plan my escape from there. I could ditch the masters on their run through on their quest, and get the hell out of here. My mind hit another gear that I was sure I wouldn’t be able to stop now. There was so much to plan. I had to find my way around the human world once I breached the barriers of this place. I had to find someone high up in our supernatural world—whom I could trust—and blow the whistle on the Immortal Academy.
I rubbed my forehead. One thing at a time. I had to slow my brain down. I studied the forest of my new escape plan. This time, I was going to be the one using Dominic freaking Rossi, not the other way around. Good thing he was playing the fake boyfriend-girlfriend game, and our ship was the most talked about thing by every person at this school.
Good call, Dom. I’m going to use you, this fake ship of a relationship you created, and blow the whistle on you, your vamp sister, and your cousin they’re using to kill immortals.
I’m going to barf again. Breathe—Jenna—Breeeeaaaaathhhhhhe. Okay, let’s stay away from the one thing that hurt me the most: Ethan being the one who took out Jess. I wanted to say he was under the same spell my friends were all under, but he wasn’t. Owls could not fall under any spell or hypnosis. Their minds were so sharp that nothing could alter them. Ethan made a choice to work for the dark school—it was the only reason he would do this for them.
Stop it right now, Jenna. Stop thinking about him, it, all of it. Dammit, I worked hard to get this crap all cleared out of my head. I could hear the bustling out in the halls to confirm that everyone was thrilled to see who would win these matches.
Seven shifters total would go on the very first challenge quest of this school year, but that’s not the one I wanted on. I mean, I needed to win just in case my fake boyfriend wouldn’t squeeze me in with him and the others when they went on the trial run of our big quest, that would be my backup escape plan.
With my luck, the dumb dean would be watching us through the winged shifter’s eyes. I wouldn’t put it past him to be able to possess a shifter and be able to look through its eyes. It wouldn’t be the first unexplainable thing to happen at this school.
I hadn’t seen but one other chick at this school who was a winged shifter—the rumors were out there that there was a girl who sat amongst the Dom groupies who was a hawk shifter.
I didn’t have time for this nonsense to keep rushing through my thoughts. It was time to win the match, then beg my new boyfriend to take me on the masters’ trial run. I had to get on the team with the masters. I had to convince them to do something new. Take a newbie who could kick some butt on a master’s only quest.
Jenna’s new loverman was going to make this happen. I was determined. My weak body ramped up with the strength of what my mind knew we needed to do.
Oddly enough, my wolf was not speaking with me, and if I had to paint a picture and show everyone how my stubborn wolf-side was behaving, it would be her sitting arrogantly with her back facing me. She has an ear flicked back, listening in on my thoughts and plans, but she was not in agreement with them. I wanted to trust the wolf in me and her not wanting to be a part of my new plans, but for all I knew, she was just pissed off because we woul
d be betraying and using her big black dream wolf, and so she wasn’t playing along. Period.
She’d come around once I got my way and got in the game. She had to understand we were doing this to get help for all the kids at this school who could be killed. If my stubborn wolf could get her brains past falling head over heels for the dominant wolf Dom shifted into, she would be jumping at the idea to help people.
“Immortals don’t die, freaking stubborn wolf!” I tried to remind my inner wolf. “Though, we might be next on the hit list, so get your stubborn butt in the game. We have to help these kids.”
Nothing. As expected. Maybe she’d perk up once I got our first hug of the morning from the fake loverman of mine. She loved Dom, so seeing him again was what I needed to get my inner wolf moving and grooving with me.
I needed this win. I needed on that Master Shifter quest, and I was about to play the Dom N’ Jenna game to get on that mission. Hopefully, Dominic Rossi was ready to receive his cheery girlfriend with open arms because it was officially game on for me now.
Chapter Nineteen
I rubbed shoulders with practically everyone on the floor of our dorm room. Everyone was ready to get their extra credit, watching us newbie shifters find our ranks and new masters after today’s fight challenge.
Because of my new status as the head master’s girl, I had mostly judgy and questioning eyes examining me as I tried to stay focused on what lay ahead. I had to stop thinking about the spectacle that Dom had raised by snatching me up as his lady and focus on using that to my advantage. First up? Kick the butt of whoever Scott’s best shifter was.
I ditched the muttering crowd of witches, vamps, and fairies when I made it to the pathway that cut along the side of House Braeclaw’s main building. It was our private pathway that we took every morning to report to our vast training fields.
Walking out onto the dewy, freshly-cut grass, I noticed that nothing had changed since they set this whole arena up the previous night. All the different groups were sectioned off and doing their usual warm-ups and stretches, prepping for the day. As soon as I arrived at my group, I started with some ballistic stretching to get my wound up nerves and muscles to loosen up.
While I swung my arms across my chest and bounced a little on my feet, I saw all the masters across the way, discussing something. Their eyes were on the groups and clipboards in hand, most likely choosing different match opponents. Even though he was head master of all the shifters now, Dominic seemed to stay humble as our master for the time being. He didn’t appear to hold himself higher than the others, he just intently studied each shifter warming up.
I brought my attention back to my crew as they warmed up, and I had to ignore Jessica’s absence. She had been my warm-up buddy, and I was not doing well, trying to get her out of my head. The freaking dean was going to be here any second, and I had to have the thoughts of a murdered immortal out of my head.
“Who’s ready for Jenna to kick some serious butt today?” Freddie, the coyote shifter, asked. His yellow eyes met mine with a knowing grin. “You know Master Dominic wouldn’t have picked you if he didn’t think you could take on Scott’s strongest shifter.”
I shrugged, “We’ll see. I have no idea who I’m going up against. After watching the masters fight last night, I learned a couple of things I’ve been doing wrong.”
“Like what?” Julia, the lioness shifter, asked. She had her thick blonde hair braided tightly and out of her way. “Jenna, you’re awesome. I have no doubt—”
“Shhh,” I smiled and stretched my arm across my chest, pulling my tight muscles. “Don’t jinx me,” I said with a laugh. “I really am hoping to win this.”
“Well, if you win, you don’t have to challenge anyone else. You stay under Master Dominic. The loser will have to fight other shifters and work their way back into his group—that’s if they go undefeated in each match.”
I let out a breath. I did not want to have to battle all day long to stay in Dominic’s group to convince him to take me on the master’s mission. All of it was a far reach for me. Winning the toughest match of the day, suggesting Dom take me with the masters if I win…that was something I was sure had never been done before. He owed me, though, for going along with his cover-up.
I reached my hands behind my straight legs and gripped the back of my ankles. This stretch was my favorite, and after I saw Dean Edgewater approaching with the professors of each house, I had to drop my thoughts about everything again and immediately.
“Alright,” Dom’s voice broke through the chatters of our group. “Silvers!” he said in Master Dominic fashion.
I rose up and met his commanding gaze with the best flirty smile I could muster up. Bad idea, Dom was in combat mode. I dropped the fake smile and jogged up to him.
“You’re up against Seth Waters,” he said, writing something on his clipboard. He lifted his dark sunglasses to the top of his head, brown eyes boring through mine. “Have you witnessed him fight while you were in Scott’s group?”
“He’s a fox shifter,” I said. “He’s got some tricks, but nothing I can’t handle.”
“So you’re going to take him down? No excuses now.”
“And if he manages to get the drop on me?”
Dominic’s eyes took on a completely different and highly severe look before his gaze left mine, and he looked at the group. “Everyone, huddle in,” he said with an exasperated sigh. “Come on,” he demanded in his jerk voice.
“Listen, I’ll take the shifter.”
“Quiet,” he barked. “I want all of you to understand one thing, and I’m only going to say this once because I shouldn’t be wasting my voice on it at all.” He glanced at me and then back to the group giving him full attention. “I thought I trained all of you to have a positive mental outlook on everything. Even if the challenge was frightening, too much, or you felt defeated when we did our practice combats with each other, you were to always believe you’d win, no matter how large, quick, or smart the other opponent is. That’s how you win. That’s how you defeat your enemy. Going into today’s match with an iffy frame of mind is not an option. Period.” He glared over at me, “I’m sorry that our leading fighter feels she might lose the first fight of the day because she’s not confident enough in herself to give me a straight answer.”
“You know what?”
“I’m not finished speaking, Silvers,” he snapped. “Listen up, if Silvers loses the first match, fine. Let this be your lesson learned from our underconfident shifter: Don’t second guess yourself, and know that this day will be your victory. Know that all of you will remain under me, not just as your first master, but the head master of all units.”
What a freaking douche bag.
Dominic making an example of me acting like a chicken shifter only fueled my rage. I instantly transferred that rage into my balled up fists and contained it there. Then, because I was obviously pissed, I took a wordy shot back at the arrogant SOB.
“You know, Jess was a lot like that. She should have been your top choice, but I guess—”
“Jess left the school,” he retorted with a glare. “Leave the ones who can’t hang at Immortal Academy out of this.”
“So you know why she left?” I planted stiff hands on my hips.
“Doesn’t matter. Get your head in the game. I swear if a wolf shifter loses to a fox, you’ll be the running joke for a while at this school. Don’t let that happen, for your sake and for mine.”
The for mine part wasn’t worded as in our relationship, he didn’t want me to make him look bad in the end. I saw Dean Edgewater intently watching us…thought change ASAP. If I didn’t have plans for Dominic Rossi later, I would’ve planned to lose just to make him look weak and dumb now.
Dean Edgewater’s thin lips pulled up on one side. The dean was in my mind, I could feel it. Looks like Jenna is going to make some magic happen today.
“Silvers,” Dominic shouted. “For the third time, get in the ring, we’re ready to sta
rt this.”
The look of utter disgust on his face was so freaking annoying. What—was he pissed I didn’t praise his holiness last night? Was this our first relationship fight? Give me a damn break.
“Jenna,” Freddie pulled on my arm, “You’ve got this. I have no idea why Master Dominic is acting like this with you, but we all know how he is. He pushes us hard to have confidence.”
I shook the coyote shifter off. “I’ve got it. I answered one of his stupid questions wrong. I’m over it. I just need to beat Seth, and then I’ll sit the day out on the sidelines.” I smiled at Freddie, “Listen, we’re all going to kick some major butt today. As much as I’d rather be in Master Finley’s group because I like her fighting style, I want us all to stay together and be the best shifters at this school.”
“Besides the quest will be so much fun.”
“Silvers,” Dominic’s voice was now grating on my nerves. I never hated my last name so much until right now. “Over here.”
I walked next to Dominic and clamped my mouth shut. The words I had for him wouldn’t help me later when I made my request of him for the quest. “You need to lock it up mentally and right now. Fluffy talk about BFFs staying under me as their master and cheerfully going on a grueling quest like we’re going sightseeing isn’t what I want to hear from any of you.”
“Got it,” I said.
“Good,” he answered. “Now, get to it and get it done. Make that shifter work so you can appreciate a good victory.”
“Yes, sir,” I said in a subservient student tone, but the truth was, I was mocking the jerk and the only people who really knew that were any of the idiots intruding on my mind right now.
“First up will be the highest scoring and ranked shifter from Master Scott’s unit, Seth Waters. He will be challenging Head Master Dominic’s choice for his top shifter, Jenna Silvers,” the announcer started as I walked into the arena and sized up the red-haired shifter. The kid was scrawny but agile, sneaky, and quick. Foxes were like that. They weren’t built big, but damn they could move and take you down with a cheap shot you never saw coming. I watched Seth’s green eyes, and the usual friendly shifter had a fierce expression—like a ready to rip my freaking throat out expression—on his face. “This is the one and only challenge that the winner will not have to challenge any other shifters. The loser will be forced to challenge Master Finley and Master Ian’s top-ranked shifters.” The crowd booed because it was stupid. Why would the winner challenge another top shifter? It made zero sense. Scott didn’t even win last night. The two top shifters were Ian and Dominic. Shouldn’t their top shifters fight and that could determine a single winner? Or more than that, shouldn’t each master’s top shifter fight each other for the top position? Dumb.
