Immortal Academy- The Complete Series

by S. L. Morgan

  “Don’t. No. Don’t. No. Don’t. No,” Ethan chanted, pacing back and forth.

  “What the hell?” I said to the two jerks as I approached behind Dom, calmer than I expected I would be. “Why would you do that?”

  “Because he’s as dumb as a brick. Just using the ball to knock some sense into him.”

  While I felt my wolf’s strong desire to shift and take care of the jerks, I looked to Dom, who went directly to where Ethan stood, gripping his head and chanting. Dom was focused on taking care of the right thing, unlike me. I wanted to rain hell down on the two assholes who’d singled out Ethan for their own enjoyment.

  “E,” Dom stopped his pacing by gripping his shoulders. “That was a cheap shot. I’ll handle those two,” he said, looking at Lusa’s fearful expression. “Ethan, don’t do it, or they’ll pull you out of here. Go with Jenna, and get some water, bud. You played awesomely.”

  “I am not dumb,” Ethan said to Dominic. “I have sense in me.”

  “Yes,” Dom said, nodding to his cousin. “They’re jerks, man. They have no idea how much sense you have, do they?”

  “That’s right, E,” Lusa ran her hand over a trembling Ethan’s back. “Everyone loves how tremendously you play. These guys are jerks who hate losing.”

  “I am not dumb,” he repeated. “I have sense in me.” He started sounding like a robot that had a glitch in its programming.

  Dom looked at Lusa. “Get him out of here,” he ordered. “I’ll handle these two.”

  “To where?” she snapped, obviously as upset as Dominic.

  “Away from these people. He needs to shift,” he said.

  “Hey, are we gonna play or what? You two going to pamper your idiot friend or play ball?”

  “Get him out now,” Dom growled and ducked under the net to where the two drug-enhanced, muscular humans were. “You like to pick on people you think are easy targets, eh?”

  Dom taunted them with simple words, but I could sense and feel he was upset to the point of kicking all their asses.

  “Oh, you gonna save the nerd? Big brother, huh?”

  “That nerd doesn’t need saving, but you two douche bags want to finish the game, right?”

  The jerks laughed Dom off, even though I knew they had to be intimidated by his lethal stare and muscular frame that their drugs couldn’t give them.

  “Alright, then. Let’s do this,” the dark-haired one said with some challenge in his voice.

  “Jen, step into the game,” Dom ordered.

  “If you assholes hit me with the ball like you did my friend, I will come through the net and kick your asses,” I snapped.

  “Knock it off, Jenna,” Dom ordered me, but it only pissed me off more.

  “Let’s go!” The other jerk clapped his hands together.

  The challenge was on, and thank goodness Dom was a total badass at this sport because I didn’t have to touch the ball even when it was hit to me. Dom returned every one of their hits with so much power, I was shocked it didn’t explode the poor ball.

  “Take it easy, man!” one of the jerks shouted when Dom delivered a ball right into his chest.

  “Hey,” Dom raised his hands like he was innocent, “I’m playing like you two play. Out for blood? Picking on the weaker player, right? Slam the ball into their chest if they suck?”

  “Hey, we were just having fun. That kid was a brainless dork.”

  “Serve the damn ball,” Dom said to the one who went after Ethan the most.

  The ball came hard over the net and right into my reflexes, where I tapped it, and it went up in the air. Out of nowhere, Dom jumped, and I have no idea how he worked it, but he nailed the hit and spiked the ball right into the jerk’s face.

  He dropped, blood gushing out of his nose, while Dom walked under the net, acting like he was there to be of support. I was again zeroed in on how badass my man was when Dom knelt down, gripped the jerk’s hair, and raised his face up to meet his own.

  “Listen, you cowardly son of a bitch,” he growled, and the human jerk’s eyes were as wide as saucers. “Picking on people you feel are beneath you is bullshit. I could have easily kicked your ass today for it, but you’re not worth my time or trouble.”

  “You broke my nose, asshole,” the human responded.

  “You tried to break my friend’s nose. Your nose is only broken because I was playing by your rules.”

  He tried to wiggle out of Dom’s grip to the top of his hair. “Let me go!” he screamed like a spoiled child.

  Dom jerked the guy’s head back when he stood up. “Next time you single someone out, you might want to think about who they really are. That kid could have messed you up pretty bad, but he’s a better person than I am.”

  “Get out of here,” the other guy said, holding his friend like Dom damaged him for life. “You’re the damn douche bag.”

  Dom folded his arms and nodded at them dismissively. “Get your boyfriend out of here. You two weak-ass bullies can go cry in the bathroom together.”

  Dom never once moved as the two stormed toward where Scott and Ian stood, watching how Dom was going to handle the two assholes and waiting to step in.

  “I’m shocked you didn’t kick both their asses,” I said to a furious Dominic as we turned and walked up toward the resort. “You should have,” I seethed, my anger still feeding off of his.

  “You need to focus, Jenna. If I hurt the humans, I’m out of here. Your response to me going after them is the reason the school is keeping supernaturals locked in for another year.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” I growled at his jerk, Master Dominic response.

  “What do you think it means?” he stopped and faced me with the same angered expression he held for the two humans who were on a mission to hurt Ethan.

  “Well, it seems like you’re taking their bullshit out on me,” I retorted.

  “You think so, huh?” he pressed his lips into a fine line. “Whether or not the humans are assholes, we don’t step in and use our power to hurt them. I may have crossed my own damn line, but I’m not one for bullying behavior, and those assholes put thoughts into my cousin’s head that should never have been there.”

  “Well, you beat them at their own game. I’m proud of you.” God, what the hell was I saying?

  “Your brain’s all over the place, isn’t it?”

  “What are you talking about?” I tried to defend my senseless words.

  “I’m lucky I wasn’t yanked out of here since I went after those two while I was pissed off. We can’t screw with the humans, virtual or real. Does that make sense, or is that wolf of yours screwing with your thought process and you can’t think past all of the stuff we’re personally dealing with?”

  I inwardly felt my wolf that Dom had picked up on already. She was still pissed that Dom didn’t handle it her way. In fact, it was a solid argument, and I was sort of agreeing with her.

  “That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” Dom said. “You’d better get the wolf under control.”

  My head started pounding in response to him. A headache from out of nowhere had me gripping the sides of my head in agony. “Shit!” I seethed.

  I felt Dom’s hands on my arms. “Jen, what’s going on? I can’t sense your wolf.”

  “I have a splitting headache. Gah, this is…” A few breaths later, and it had vanished. I looked at Dom in confusion. “The wolf,” I said in disbelief. “She was following your rage, disagreeing with you, and then I got this headache.”

  Dom’s eyebrows knit together. “You have to focus on putting her in her place. I’m sorry I let it escalate. I had no idea your wolf would jump in like this.”

  “I wasn’t expecting that either. I have to get this under control.”

  “How are you feeling now?”

  “Like it never happened.”

  “It’s the wolf,” he confirmed. “I sense her anger. You have to mentally shut her down right now.”

  I tried to focus, but nothing
was helping. Dom being here wasn’t helping either. My emotions were starting to surface from out of nowhere in attraction toward my shifter.

  “Yeah, I know. I’ll be okay.”

  “Listen, I sense the struggle, but you’ve got this,” he said softly. “Right now, I have to take off. Ethan’s not in good shape after that. That was pretty extreme for him, and I’m worried my cousin is going to suffer because someone spouted off BS that E will take as facts.”

  “How will you help him?” I asked, in control again and centered in my mind.

  “I don’t know. I have to talk to him, but I’m pretty sure that whole thing triggered my cousin to hide behind his beast, which is not good at all.”

  “Like he’ll never shift back?” I asked. “Damn it.”

  “Don’t get worked up again. He’ll shift back, but he’ll be uncertain of himself, his surroundings, and most likely shut off to all of us. This is my fault. I should have stopped those idiots sooner.”

  “You can’t blame yourself.”

  “I’ll be back later tonight, then I’m taking E across the island for a week. It’ll be me, you, Lus, Scott, and Ian,” he said. “I know he’ll need minimal human interaction. Come with us, and we’ll have some downtime together over there.”

  “I think it might be best for me to stay here with Vannah and work on myself, you know? You said it already, my wolf needs to be put in her place.”

  “It’s critical you stop feeding that wolf, Jen. I told you that when we first met.”

  “I know. Being this close to you isn’t helping, though.”

  “We already talked about how dangerous it would be to split the wolves and us up,” he said with a sigh. “I don’t like this idea.”

  “How far away will you be?” Vannah asked, approaching us from behind.

  “Half an hour into the trees over there. I need Ethan isolated before I bring him back.”

  “How long do you think?” I asked, knowing Dom was right, these wolves couldn’t separate for long, or we’d be as screwed as Dom thought Ethan was at the moment.

  “If you want to stay here, we’ll be back within a few days. If you start feeling weird or anything, you let Vannah know immediately. You got me?” he rubbed my shoulder. “I’d really rather you came with me, though.”

  “You won’t be gone long or far. Vannah and I have got this. Please let me try to work on putting my wolf in her place. You know I need to. After her feeding off your aggression like she did, I’d rather try this alone first.”

  He nodded. “Swear to me, even the slightest upset from that unpredictable wolf of yours, and you both will let me know.” He looked at Vannah, “You can instantly find our location if something happens, right?”

  “Jenna’s strong attachment to you will make it easy,” Vannah answered.

  “Alright.” Dom looked at me, “I’ll be back in a few days, then.”

  “Dom!” Lusa shouted with a trembling voice. “He needs you.”

  “Shit!” Dom said. “Anything unusual, you swear to me.”

  “I’ve got this, Dom. Go help Ethan.”

  A kiss to my forehead and Dom was racing up through the trees, away from Vannah and me. I already sensed my wolf was fired up and pissed off I wouldn’t go with him, and this is where I had to shut her down. I couldn’t have my wolf thinking she shared equal control.

  It was a dangerous game to give my inner wolf power like this. I just hoped I could whip her into shape and fast. If this wolf had plans to fight me back, it could possibly backfire on me, but I had Vannah, and we’d get Dom’s alpha wolf involved if I ran into trouble.

  I hoped that Dom was wrong about Ethan, but it seemed like he knew more than he was saying, and this stupid bullying event was more than the poor owl shifter could naturally process.

  Ethan was too pure, sensitive, and kind to lash out. Instead, he dangerously must have pulled all of the hatred in, and from what Dom was alluding to, hurting himself internally now. This was yet another reason I hated most fairies. They couldn’t even create a human environment without purposely making a few of them problematic. I wouldn’t have minded those humans messing with anyone else, but Ethan? Not cool. Ever.

  Chapter Eight

  During the time Dom, Lusa, Scott, and Ian were gone, I tried to use my time outside of being so close to Dominic wisely. I spent my first evening under the stars, trying to block the sudden absence I felt without my intended mate.

  I needed to get back control of myself from the wolf and what she seemed to want more than anything else. I had to be in control for her and me both so we could be one healthy, shifter supernatural. Right now, she was suddenly driving all of this, and I wasn’t going to be a shifter who was stuck with her wolf running the show.

  “Jenna,” Vannah’s voice cut through my intense thoughts as I stared out at the ocean. “You’re not eating like you normally do.”

  I looked over at my witch friend and smiled. “I’m fighting this stubborn wolf of mine. I can’t believe how bad this whole thing really had gotten.”

  “You’ve hardly talked this last week since Dom’s been gone. You’re distant and not acting like yourself. Let me help.”

  “Exactly how are you supposed to help, Vannah?” I snapped—freaking wolf temper. “Are you going to work some magic spell outside of school rules and get transported back to the academy like Tanner did when he shifted to get some human chick to think he was cool?”

  “Do I look that stupid to you?” she gave me that witchy, authoritative Vannah look. “We were going to work together on this. You don’t meditate, you don’t talk, nothing. So, this is a problem. I need to step in and get through to the wolf, maybe calm her.

  “Then, what? How are you supposed to fix this?”

  “For starters, cram some food down your throat. You and I both know that shifters need a million calories a day to function and not wither away. You’re hardly eating.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic. A million calories a day? Get real, Vannah.” I felt it. I was moody, distant, and I wished I could snap myself out of this.

  “You know what I’m talking about. Your metabolisms are on hyperdrive. You need to eat. I’m going to send for Dominic. You’re not doing well.”

  I shot up from my relaxed position on the lounge chair. “I don’t need him up my ass. I’ve got this.”

  “No, you don’t,” she said in a low voice. “Have you looked in the mirror lately? You look like death.”

  “This is insane,” I said, feeling weak from sitting up. “Fine, I’ll eat. Just leave Dom alone. I seriously don’t need him telling me what to do.”

  “He can help you, and you know it.”

  “Really? By giving me his wolf’s power? Can’t happen or we wake up the evil lurking at our stupid school. Remember that little snag that is stopping Dom and me from getting together and letting fate have its way with us?”

  “If you want to act like this, then fine. I can sense Dom getting closer anyway. If you don’t eat and recover like shifters do, then I’ll tell him you’re out of control.”

  “As my best friend, I need you to have my back on this.”

  “If it’s going to cost us our friendship to tell Dom everything, then I don’t give a crap. This isn’t the Jenna I know. It’s scaring me.”

  I waved down a waitress and ordered food from the menu. I ate enough to replenish my health. I’d tried doing this before when I’d noticed my inner wolf was fighting me from putting her in her place, but every time, I’d end up throwing it all up when Vannah wasn’t around. This time, the wolf conceded, and I kept all the food I ate down. Thanks to shifter healing speed, I was looking and feeling stronger by the time Dom showed up with everyone.

  My inner wolf became silent as if she were hiding the fact that she had been starving me out because she was trying to have it her way. The worst part was that this crap was scaring me too. I was starting to feel like I was oddly losing to my inner wolf, and she was about to take over. This was the mo
st dangerous situation a shifter could ever be in, and it was precisely what Dom was worried about with me giving her equal mental power. If she took over, there was no coming back, ever. That’s what got shifters locked up…because their inner beast was in control of their mind.

  “You look great, but Vannah told me you’ve had a rough week.”

  I eyed Vannah dangerously as I hugged Dominic. “I’m fine, but yeah, beating my wolf into submission hasn’t been easy.”

  He stepped back and lifted my chin to study my face. “I said to send for me if you were having any trouble. I’m glad you got through it, but I can sense a struggle even though it feels like you and the wolf are closed off to me. Why is that?”

  “Don’t interrogate me like I’m one of your students, Master Dominic!” I countered, but I really didn’t know where my response came from.

  Dom’s eyes grew severe. “If you act like one of my oblivious students who are in danger, then I might,” he said in a low voice. “Listen, it’s been a long week with E, but we finally have him communicating with us again.”

  My mood shifted from wanting to fight back with Dom to my concern over Ethan. “Oh my God, how is he?”

  Dom looked out to the tropical forest behind us. “He’s coming around, but he’s regressed. I’m glad we have at least another week here to work with him.” Dom rubbed his forehead, and I could sense the burden he carried, worrying over the owl shifter. “I can’t lose you in the process of being distracted with E. I won’t lose you, period.”

  I went to speak the words and fill Dom in on everything about my battle with the wolf inside me, but it was as if she’d silenced me herself and was speaking her words through me. Shit! “You focus on E. I’ll be here working on this bond thing.”

  “Is it still difficult for you?” he ran a thumb along my jawbone. “Babe, you’ve got to tell me. Damn it, I hate that Ethan’s in this state and you’re battling this stuff.” He rubbed his forehead, “No more going without eating. If you want to work on the bond stuff, I’m around, and your wolf will pick up on mine while I work with E. That’s when you need your mental strength to put her in her place. Just like you control shifting and not shifting into the wolf. It’s the same process. You control everything. Control her trying to reach my wolf when it’s not allowed. She’ll find her place, but you have to eat to keep up your strength. Miss one meal,” he smirked and kissed my lips for the first time since coming directly to me when he got back, “and you’re going to have me up your butt, Silvers…and I won’t be nice about it either.”