Moon Kissed (Corvin Academy #1)

Chapter Two

A knock sounded at my door bright and early the following morning. I threw it open for Nia.

She took one look inside and her jaw dropped.

“But— But— How!?”

“How do you think?” Grinning, I swept my new and improved room.

The curtain and curtain rods were back. The boards were off the roaring fireplace, and said fireplace now had two plush, upholstered chairs set before them—perfect for a relaxing evening in. My bed I decked out with silk sheets, a fluffy duvet, and pillows the length of my body. Topping it all off were band posters and half-naked male models posted all over the walls.

I also stole a shower curtain—thank you very much.

“But didn’t you read your handbook?” Nia cried. “It said at the top in big, bold, underlined letters that you’re not allowed to phase.”

“Oh, please. You’re also not allowed to fuck around with people’s boyfriends and use your omega pup magic to get away with it, but you do that.”

“No I don’t!”

I laughed. “Chill out. What the headmistress doesn’t know won’t hurt her.” I advanced on her, losing my smile quick. “Isn’t that right?” I gritted.

Nia backed up so fast she almost tripped. “Right,” she said quickly. “Of course. I was told to help you, not spy on you. I’m no snitch.”

I just grunted something in her direction, then turned back to finish getting ready.

It was a full moon three nights before, so my wolf was at her strongest, but my powers were at their weakest. Still, that didn’t stop me from helping myself to the cutest blush-pink off-the-shoulder dress I found in one of my dormmates’ closets. After I went a couple doors down from her to five-finger-discount shop my bookbag.

“I did, however, ask Headmistress Dagem for permission to guide you around the alpha wing,” she said. “She’s allowing it just this once.”

“Couldn’t stomach breaking the rules, could ya.”

“Rules aren’t meant to be broken. They’re there to keep us safe.”

I gagged. “Ugh, Nia, no. If we’re going to be friends, you cannot go around saying goody-two-paws things like that.”

“We’re not going to be friends.” Chill bled into her voice. “I’m not friends with killers.”

“Of course you are,” I replied, trapping her gaze. “What else is a wolf, but a predator?”

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Not waiting for a response, I gave myself a quick once-over in my new, stolen antique mirror. I took it right off the wall in the grand hall. “I’m ready. Lead the way.”

Nia didn’t speak or move for a minute.

I bore down on her. “What’s wrong?” I whispered, lips stretching. “Are you wondering what I’ll do if your super-powered omega tricks aren’t quite super-powered enough?”

She visibly swallowed. “What will you do?”

“Now that—”

I punched her in the face, ripping a scream from her throat.

My fist phased right through her, not leaving a scratch on either one of us.

“—would be telling.”

Nia fell flat on her ass, clutching her heaving chest. She gaped at me with open fear, even though I didn’t technically touch her.

“So...” I drew out, towering over her. “Are you still choosing to be my enemy instead of my friend—?”

“Friend,” she blurted. Nia’s no-one-has-ever-hurt-me confidence vanished real fast. “Let’s be friends. I’d love to be friends, High Priestess. Thank you so much for giving me the honor.”

I beamed. “You are very welcome, but please, call me Daze.” I held my hand out to her. “All my friends do.”

Nia hesitated only a second before taking it.

Good. Even though I couldn’t blame the girl for having the basic sense of being wary of me, her ability to subdue wolves as strong as me was a weapon I wanted on my side. It was so much easier to kill a sleeping wolf.

It took Nia a full ten minutes to utter another word. By the time she spoke again, we were out of the priestess wing, through the great hall, and walking through the alpha wing.

Where my dorm had mermaids and sapphire, the alpha dorm had fiery red splashed all over the place, and violent, thrilling scenes of battle carved into their walls. Even with Nia standing next to me, my wolf stirred in my chest. My small incomplete bonds tugged her in five different directions, trying to lead her to the mates destined for her. I bypassed the many rooms, wondering which of these steel-lined doors concealed them from me.

We reached the end of the hall and the back staircase. Nia led me down and out. Throwing open the door, it was me who nearly tripped and fell flat on my ass. I couldn’t help it. My wolf roared to life so suddenly, my heart tried to jump out of my chest.

My fates had the same reaction.

Edric stumbled mid-run. Orion slid down the wall he was scaling and hit the ground with an audible thud. Nyx lost his invisible boxing match. Paxton spilled the drink he was holding.

And Badr roared—shooting up and getting ready to tear Paxton a new asshole for showering his lap in yellow drink. I guessed it was lemonade.

“What the fuck, man!”

“Yo, it wasn’t him,” Edric said, voice hard. “It was her. ”

Just like that, five pairs of eyes flew to me, and only me. The quick and wise Nia was already behind me, staying the hell out of the firing zone.

I flicked off my fates and looked around the small little courtyard we found ourselves in. The night before, I only moonwalked around the dorms—taking what I needed. I didn’t snoop anywhere else. I figured Dagem would be extra alert on my first night in the castle, and looking for any excuse to give me a demerit and begin the biased process of booting me from Corvin.

The courtyard was shaped like a pentagon. It was actually quite cute with the running track on the outskirts, the benches, the flowerbeds, and in the middle of it all, a fountain of a howling wolf.

It was the perfect place to kick back with the pack after classes, or enjoy a midnight kiss. For my fates, it looked like they skipped the midnight kisses so that they can wake up early and begin training.

“Oooh, such go-getters,” I crowed. “Up before dawn and training while everyone else is still dragging themselves out of bed. Training with your shirts off no less.” I flapped a hand at myself. “Were you trying to get me all hot and bothered first thing in the morning? Because it’s working.”

“Paxton, stay back,” Badr ordered in his alpha voice.

My brows shot up when Paxton crashed onto the bench, dropping down so hard. But then he disappeared behind a wall of glistening muscle and furious growls.

Badr, Edric, Nyx, and Orion surrounded us in seconds.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Badr snapped.

“Who?” I asked, tone nothing but curious. “Her or me?”

“Both,” Orion growled.

I tried to focus on their faces— I truly did. That is of course where the teeth that would be ripping out my throat were. But my wolf kept dragging my eyes down to their rock-hard pecs, myriad of tattoos, and bodies so hot steam literally billowed off them in the cool morning.

I loved my wolf, but having a horny fucking animal in my head who was nonstop trying to rut these five assholes’ dicks off, was a distraction I didn’t need right now.

“H-H-Headmistress Dagem gave me permission,” Nia spoke up. “She said I’m to show Daze around and tell her where her classes are.”

“Daze?” Nyx scoffed. “You two have been getting cozy. Already trading fucking nicknames.”

“Wha— No,” she cried. “It’s not like that. I was— I was just—”

Soft, caressing fingers stroked Nyx’s chest. Heat singed them as strong and impressing as his fluttering heart—tapping a message against my path. Being this close to him put my mind under a thick, heavy fog it didn’t want to come out of.

Nyx was like those long-haired, muscled hunks that graced old romance covers. Strong, chiseled, tanned, gorgeous, and a complete fantasy. The kind of man you fantasized about while enduring lackluster sex with the actual man you were stuck with. A guy like him wasn’t real—

—but there he was. Standing in front of me. Whole, handsome, and gaping at me like I slapped him.

Nyx jerked back, grabbing my wrist reflexively.

In a blink I snapped out of my haze and cursed, heat rushing to my face. What the fuck was that? I yelled at my wolf. Which was basically yelling at myself. You can’t go around groping them!

“Sorry,” I blurted before I could stop myself. “I didn’t mean— It was my wolf.”

Nyx looked at me brows blown and hand shaking like he couldn’t believe what I’d done. To be fair to him, I suspected his wolf was giving him no better time than I was. A harder time—actually. The drive for an alpha to be with his mate was twice as fierce as an epsilon’s.

Maybe that’s why he hasn’t let go.

Nyx held my wrist in a grip that shook. I didn’t need wolf hearing to sense his heartbeat picking up, or my own breath hitch.

I didn’t have control of my own body. If I did, my free fingers wouldn’t have continued their exploration—tracing the outline of the wolf tattoo stamped over his heart.

Nyx drew my fingers away, making my heart drop in protest. Eyes widening, I stopped breathing when he pressed them to his lips and kissed my fingertips.

Lips parting, his glazed eyes pierced mine as he swallowed my finger to the knuckle.

I almost came on the spot.

Something blurred out of the corner of my vision.

Badr seized Nyx’s throat, snapping him and me out of it. A low, dangerous hiss leaked through inhumanly sharp teeth. “Are you going to be a problem, Mud Boy?”

Nyx dropped my wrist. He was calm, even smiling, as he turned to Badr. “Get your fucking hand off me.”

“Good. Right sentence, now say it to the right person.”

Nyx punched Badr dead in the face without blink or pause. Badr snapped back—his jaw elongating and claws tearing from his fingertips. Orion and Edric shoved past me, holding them both back as growls and snaps lit the morning air.

“You’re weaker than Paxton!” Badr roared.

“Back the fuck off, man! When she touches you like that and you come so hard you rocket to the moon, then we’ll see who’s weak!”

I wouldn’t lie, that last comment made me blush. It was a heady feeling knowing what my touch did to them. I’ve always had status and power as the high priestess, but this was a different kind of power entirely. Dare I say, a better one.

I watched my fates go at it—trying their absolute best to tear each other apart.

Such was the risk of having so many alphas in one place. They were going to butt heads and fight. That was inevitable. You could only hope the building would be left standing when they were done.

I took in the scene, then grabbed Nia and walked away. “Ugh, men. Who has time for their petty squabbles?”

“I’m sorry,” Nia said. “I didn’t know your fates were out here. You’re supposed to stay away from them, and I led you right to them.”

I shook my head. “You know this isn’t on you. We’re in the same school and the same classes. Avoiding them is impossible.”

“Why do you still have such an effect on them?” she asked. “You’ve been apart for a year. The bonds should’ve degraded.”

“Where do these doors lead?” I asked pointedly, giving her a look.

She winced. “Oh, right. None of my business. Sorry.”

I let it go, though it was a good question. Every now and then, a wolf will reject their fated mate. The reasons were endless—massive age difference, previous hatreds, or even previous loves. Even though it was very, very, very frowned upon to reject the mate Luame has chosen for you, when someone did, they were forced to go as far from their fate as they could, for as long as they could, to give the bond time to degrade.

Eventually, the tug between mates would lessen to the strength of a string holding on to a tea bag instead of a limb-wrenching tractor pull.

A year away from my fates should’ve been enough time, but as the six of us found out the hard way, it very much wasn’t.

“Five walls, five doors,” Nia began. “Every wing is like this with a courtyard in the middle, and the grand hall connecting all the dorms and administration. That one goes to the dorms. That’s for the mess hall. Over there is the door to the lecture wing. On the other side of that one are the training rooms, fields, and gym. And that goes straight out to the forest. Whenever you need to run, you can—” She winced again. “Sorry, I forgot.”

Nia forgot that I wasn’t allowed to shift into my wolf form and run free under the moonlight. That would mean being out of my room/prison cell.

“Let’s keep going,” I said, gesturing for Nia to lead the way.

I cast a curious look back at my fates. Somehow the opponents got shifted around and Orion and Edric were snarling at each other while Nyx and Badr held them back. Paxton was still glued to his seat, shouting at them to stop.

Laughing, I left them to it—following Nia into the lecture wing. It was only after the door shut that I noticed I was rubbing the finger Nyx deflowered like a wanton virgin. Heat rose in my body just remembering.

Stop it, I said to my human and wolf brain. The ways in which it’s never going to happen can’t be quantified.

Tossing my head, I forced myself to focus on Nia. I had us both get up so ridiculously early for a reason. It gave her plenty of time to tell me where everyone and everything was. Knowing all the resources at my disposal, and all the possible escape routes, was vital if I hoped to live past a day after achieving my ultimate end goal.

But I was getting ahead of myself. The first step was gaining admittance to the academy. The next step was getting all my chess pieces properly placed on the board, and then sacrificing them one by one.

I didn’t bother smuggling a weapon onto campus. There was no way they wouldn’t search me, and if they found so much as too-sharp nail clippers, it’d be all the proof they needed that I was here for nefarious reasons.

No. Dagem didn’t trust me worth a damn. No reason to give her more ammo for her suspicions.

Let her and the rest of them keep looking in the wrong direction. Every predator knows to strike from behind.

“—this way to the mess hall,” Nia said, leading me back out the door.

We’d been in the lecture wing for a while, because my fates were gone, and everyone else had taken their place.

The courtyard was packed with students trading class schedules, hugging their friends, gushing about the new school year, and talking about all the things you miss when you’re gone for a year.

Half of those conversations ceased when I stepped into view.

“Hello, everyone.” I beamed, waving heartily. “You know, all this stop and staring when I arrive can give a girl a big head.”

“That’ll go nicely with your fat ass.”

The crowd parted, letting through the person who went with the voice. One look at her, and I saw where the confidence came from.

She was gorgeous. A curly crown of tawny loveliness framed a heart-shaped face, bee-stung lips, and lily-pad eyes. She stalked up to me, and a trail of women as gorgeous as her followed behind.

I didn’t have to ask to know they were epsilons. You walked with that kind of confidence when you knew you’d be giving the orders, because no one in the world could tell you what the fuck to do.

“Seriously, psycho, who dressed you?” She stopped so close to me, our noses bonked. “You look like a pig in a blanket.”

I smirked, eyes crossing as I looked down on her. From the outside, it looked like she had no concept of personal space, but then, outsiders weren’t wolves. What she was trying to do was make me uncomfortable. Make me step back. If I did, it was the first battle lost in the war for dominance.

Which means technically I lied. We wolves do go to war with each other—every day and all the time—and it’s only a fucking loser coward who gives in and submits.

In a blink, the crowd surrounded us. Of course they did. Made it easier to conceal the potential fight, and slow down anyone who tried to break it off.

I beamed. “It’s funny you say that because I borrowed this dress from your closet. I wanted to wear the one you do when you’re strolling mundane street corners at night, begging every perv and random to fuck you.” I dropped into a loud whisper. “I hear you pay them five bucks and they still say your ass isn’t worth the money.”

Nia barked a laugh. Eyes bugging, she clamped her hand over her mouth—catching herself.

The newcomer turned on her with a snarl that stood everyone’s hairs on end. She advanced on her, claws elongating, then jerked to a halt. Blinking, she stared at Nia like she couldn’t remember what she was angry about.

I was right, I thought, looking at Nia with new respect. Her power will come in handy.

“That’s very funny.” The stranger turned to me, recovering quickly. “No one told me you were a comedian as well as a psycho bitch.”

“Eh, you know. It’s good to have a hobby.”

She shook her head, chuckling mirthlessly. “Well, while you’re cracking stupid jokes and pretending all of this is a game, why don’t you tell us why you did it? The truth,” she dropped. “Not the bullshit you spun to Sunella to lie your way in here. Why did you kill Castor?”

I shrugged lightly. “I did it because he asked too many stupid questions.”

Her eyes hardened. All around us whispers broke out, and none of them were too kind to me.

“You don’t remember me, do you?”

“Um, of course I do,” I drew out exaggeratedly. “Everyone does. You’re the five-dollar whore.” I bowed. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Your Royal Sluttiness.”

More than just Nia snorted that time.

“You can keep that head bowed, psycho, because I am royalty. Or at least I will be when I become high priestess of Wolf Nation.”

I straightened, brows up to my hairline. “What? You do know that like actual royalty, you have to be born into the position.” I raked her up and down. “The only position you were born into was doggy style.”

“Argh!” Roaring, she charged me, fist swinging—

—and fell right through me, dumping flat on her ass.

I turned around, rolling my eyes at the cursing, flailing mess on the floor, and the bright purple thong her flipped-over skirt put on full display. “Seriously, Your Highness, I’m the fucking moon wolf. You had to know trying to hit me wouldn’t end well.”

“You bitch!”

Sighing, I flicked to my audience. “I’m sure one of you is keeping score, so put that down as psycho one , and Her Hineyness zero .”

Nia snorted at Her Hineyness . Her jaw was quivering trying to keep her laughter in.

“Let’s go.” I set off, parting the crowd effortlessly.

Nia hurried to keep up, leaving the shouting, irate random in the dirt where she belonged.

“That was amazing,” she burst out when the doors shut. “The most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. Today will go down as the best day of my life.”

I cut her a sideways look while we headed down the wide, opulent hall—making for the noises coming from around the corner. “I’m guessing you don’t like her.”

“You guess right. Her name is Ava. All of you alphas, betas, and epsilons treat us omegas like shit.” Nia had no problem lumping me in with them. “But Ava is worst of all. She acts like she’s already been named high priestess, so us omegas shouldn’t have a problem beginning the bootlicking now,” she spat. “She treats us all like her personal servant—making us run, fetch, and sit at her command.”

I frowned. “But she’s an epsilon, isn’t she? She doesn’t have an alpha’s command power.”

Nia gave me a hard look. “Since when did a bully ever need one?”

Inclining my head, I accepted that for the truth it was. I more than anyone should know an epsilon didn’t need power to fuck shit up. “But what was all that bullshit she was spouting about becoming high priestess? Last I checked, I was the one who woke up from the nine-month womb party missing my belly button.”

My new forced friend cringed. “Well... uh... It’s not official yet, but ever since you...” She flapped a hand at me. “You know. Ever since you left, we haven’t had a high priestess. There’s been talk about appointing people for the role from now on. There will still be a high priestess who is chosen by Luame,” she added quickly. “But now they’ll share the position with the pack-appointed high priestess. And the one the pack chooses will have the real power. The Luame-chosen will only have ceremonial power.”

“As in none at all,” I clarified. “Well, I can give you good news, Nia. Ava will never have that much power over you, because there will never be a pack-appointed high priestess. Not while I have claws.”

“Oh, uh, great.” Nia edged away from me.

“Don’t try to run, friend,” I barked, making her jump. “You’re my accomplice now.”

The look on her face made me burst out laughing. “Relax.” I shook her shoulder, tugging her in for a hug. She squeaked in my hold. “You’ve got nothing to worry about. We won’t get caught.”

“Please stop making those jokes.” Rounding the corner, she clutched her stomach like she was ill. “They’re not as funny as you think.”

She was saved from my reply. I dropped all interest in banter at the first look of the mess hall.

Every hall, room, nook, and cranny I’d seen was gorgeous, expensive, and decorated—and the mess hall was no different.

Chandeliers covered the mahogany floors in dancing rainbows. Instead of the long, sticky, cheap tables I was used to, the mess hall boasted small, round tables with proper upholstered, high-backed chairs. Three carved stone walls surrounded me, but the opposite wall was nothing but windows—letting in the natural light and beauty of the forest.

I looked around for a buffet table and didn’t see anything.

“Where’s the food?”

“The staff brings it out to you.” Nia went over to a table. She picked up a small placard I hadn’t noticed before. “These are the breakfast options. Choose the one you want, and they cook it hot on the spot.”

I whistled. “No wonder Daddy always said Corvin Academy was the best years of his life. They pampered the old wolf good and proper.”

“Where is your dad?” Nia asked. “Did you know he disappeared right after you did? Leaving the Volana Clan without its alpha or its high priestess. Everyone thought he knew what you were going to do, and you went on the run together. Was that true?”

“You’re not very subtle, Ni-Ni.” I sidestepped her, helping myself to a perusal of the menu. “I figured Dagem told you to get my guard down and then prod me for info, but just because you put my wolf to sleep, it doesn’t mean you loosen her lips. You should learn the difference.” I trapped her gaze, and she lurched back.

I always won the battle for dominance.

“Back off.”

“Okay,” she rushed, not even denying it. “I’m sorry, I—I won’t ask any more questions.”

My smile returned quick. “This is good. Friendships last much longer and stronger when there are healthy boundaries in place. Don’t you agree?” I took a seat at the table.

Nia followed at a slower pace. “If you mean that, and really want to be friends, you’ll respect my boundaries too.”

“Name them,” I replied without looking up from the menu.

“Stop hugging me.”

“Done.”

I saw her brows crown from the corner of my eyes. She wasn’t expecting me to agree that easily.

“Okay,” she drew out. Nia slowly claimed the seat across from mine. “Don’t call me your accomplice. Not even as a joke.”

“You got it.”

“Don’t call me Ni-Ni.”

I chuckled. “I’m with you there. Felt weird even as I said it.”

“And, most importantly... don’t ask me to do something I don’t want to do.”

My gaze drifted over top of the menu. “I’m sure you had more than enough of that for a lifetime,” I murmured.

She ducked her head, muscle ticcing in her jaw.

“I agree, Nia, but what about this?” I leaned in, grin stretching my lips. “Can I ask you to do something I know you want to do?”

“I...” Nia trailed off, eyes wide.

I let her chew over the question while I obsessed over the breakfast options. I couldn’t believe I’d get to eat like this every day. When I was hiding out in the mundane world with no money, no job, and no idea how to get my face off their Most Wanted list—crème brulee pancakes with raspberry syrup wasn’t on the menu.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched the breakfast room fill up.

Ava blew in with her friends, gave me a filthy look, then continued on to the breakfast table in the back. It sat on a dais placed beside the windows. I didn’t need to ask Nia to know they were the best seats in the house.

“This is mealtime for the alphas and epsilons,” Nia explained. “After they’re done, the betas eat. Then after the betas, we can eat.”

“Is there not enough room for all of us at the same time?”

“There’s room,” she clipped.

“Ah.” Once again, no more explanation was required.

Just because alphas and betas felt called to protect omegas, it didn’t mean they respected them. Strength and ferocity were upheld above all among Wolf Nation, and omegas were not that.

“This place is like every other school,” I said. “The cool kids rule. Everyone else keeps their head down and hustles till graduation.”

Speaking of cool kids made me glance at Ava. She caught my glance and was in the middle of flipping me off when a now-familiar tug yanked on my chest. I turned as my fates entered the mess.

Everyone turned as my fates entered the mess.

They were all fully dressed in loose, but expensive tees and jeans. Somehow, covering their chests made them more irresistible. Made me want to tear those shirts off and explore their bodies all the more—discovering what else they would suck on if I did.

Together they strode in with Paxton bringing up the rear. All but Paxton were covered in bruises from their morning brawl. I didn’t know who the winner was, but clearly they decided to kiss and make up.

Ava and half the epsilon girls shot out of their seats and plastered against my fates. A girl for every arm. All of them except for Paxton. Paxton broke off and came our way, leaving Ava to drag Badr and my fates up to the dais.

Not a single one of them glanced my way.

Paxton passed by me heading for a table by himself. Brushing by, I got the first proper smell of him away from the other guys. “You’re an omega,” I blurted.

He halted, blinking at me. “Ugh, yeah. Didn’t you know that?”

I just shook my head.

Paxton made to say something, then his eyes flicked up. I followed his gaze to a glaring Edric, Orion, Nyx, and Badr. When I turned back, Paxton was already halfway across the room.

Watching him go, I changed my opinion of him. Paxton wasn’t a weak alpha. He was a strong omega. It was no wonder he kept leaping when I crooked my finger, but the fact that he allowed himself to be held back was nothing short of impressive.

Fates were known to kill people who dared to get between them and their mates. A true weakling with no self-control over their wolf would’ve tried to bite Badr’s, Edric’s, Orion’s, and Nyx’s faces off a dozen times by now.

“Why is he eating alone?” I asked, fixed on Paxton.

“Even though he’s in the alpha track, he’s still an omega. He’s not allowed to sit with them, and Ava made that very clear to him last night at dinner.”

“Why is he in the alpha track in the first place?”

“Why are you?” she shot back.

I laughed. “Touché.” I dropped the conversation. There was no such thing as a whisper in a room full of wolves. I didn’t need my fates thinking I was overly interested in any one of them. “So what’s good here?”

Nia shrugged. “Everything they served us yesterday was pretty yummy, but it’s my first year too.”

“It is? So why did Dagem hand me off to you?”

“We’re in the same clan.” Nia was conversing with me so easily, one could almost believe she was becoming comfortable with me. But that would mean one missed that her chair and feet were pointed away from the table—in case she needed to make a quick getaway. “She already knew you couldn’t hurt me.”

“But I thought omegas were allowed to enter the academy at sixteen?”

“We can and most do,” she replied, “but my folks were killed by vampires when I was seven. I had to look after my younger brothers, so I couldn’t join until Jason was sixteen and we could all enter together.”

I nodded. “Sorry about your folks. That’s rough.”

She gave me a look I didn’t understand. “Are you really sorry? Or are you just parroting the appropriate response?”

“Wow. Someone read a book on psychopaths last night.”

“So what if I did?” Her eyes were hard. “I don’t like pity, but I hate fake pity even more. If you don’t mean it, don’t bother.”

My expression didn’t change. “My mother was killed by vampires, Nia. I don’t have to fake it. I know exactly what it’s like when a soul-sucking leech takes away one of the few people who ever loved you for you. It’s not an emotion that can be faked, so you don’t have to ask me if I’m being real. You already know.”

Nia looked at me for a long time. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t disagree with me either.

A wave of noise shattered the awkward tension. I peered over my shoulder as another wave of students strolled into the mess hall. One of them looked right at us.

“Nia! Oh my gosh, I’m so glad you’re here!” A tall, gangly girl with thick dreads and a rainbow top came running.

Nia popped off the seat and jumped into her hug—the both of them squealing and giggling like the super summer slumber party had officially started.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” Nia said. “I didn’t see you at orientation yesterday.”

“Got in late,” the newcomer replied. “Went straight to my dorm and crashed.”

“But what’s this?” Nia looked around. “Why are the omega and beta classes here?”

“A notice was posted in the dorm hall. Didn’t you see it?”

Nia shook her head.

“New rules,” Newcomer said. “Classes are still split, but everything else—mealtimes, events, and sports—are mixed from now on. Something about a security risk and us needing to be together and in groups as much as possible.”

I heaved a sigh. What did Dagem think I was going to do? Hunt down a limping straggler who stayed too late in the library? I wasn’t a fricking serial killer. I mean, well—not yet.

“What were you doing in here if you didn’t know that?” Newcomer continued. “And who’s that you’re sitting with?”

“Tracy,” Nia hissed. “Shh.”

“What? What’s wrong? Is she your new girlfriend or something? Because I told you, we’re good. I’m over you ripping out my sister’s heart and eating it whole.”

“It wasn’t like that!” Nia sputtered while I smothered a laugh.

Nia the heartbreaker. Who knew? Maybe no one can hurt her, but that’s not stopping her from devouring hearts.

“We just didn’t work out and— Wait, no, she’s not my girlfriend!”

I took that as my cue. Spinning around to give her the full look at me, I grinned widely. “Hello. Nia is my new best friend. She’s not my girlfriend and not”—I winked exaggeratedly—“my accomplice. Did I say it right, Nia?”

Nia looked like she wanted to jump across and punch me in the face. Beside her, Tracy paled.

“But— You!” she cried, leveling a finger on me. “I thought everyone was lying. What are you doing here? You can’t be here!”

“Tracy, stop,” Nia hissed. She dragged her friend away to the far side of the room. Seven other guys and girls peeled off and followed them. Her actual friends I assumed.

I didn’t have to wonder if they were talking about me, because I heard them clear as day.

“Dagem’s making me follow her around. It’s completely unfair,” Nia said. “Why am I being punished on my first day?”

“Is she as crazy as people say?”

“Crazier. There’s nothing but a monkey playing the flugelhorn in that skull of hers.”

I snorted, smothering a laugh. That was pretty funny. If Nia was my actual friend instead of my pawn and unwitting accomplice, I might actually like her.

A shadow fell over my table. I glanced up at a short, freckled woman with curly shorn hair and a hairnet.

“What can I get you?”

“I’ll have the crème brulee pancakes, please.” I handed her the little menu. “It says there’s a choice of syrup?”

She nodded.

“If it’s not too much trouble, can I have maple instead, please? Thank you so much.”

“Not too much trouble? Please? Thank you?” She chuckled. “You’re very polite for an epsilon.”

She didn’t seem to know who she was talking to, but naturally, she knew what she was talking to. A shifter wolf’s nose was better than her ears.

I laughed. “No one pays me to be rude, so why waste the energy?”

“Now that’s a good saying. I’m stealing it.” She looked around. “Hey, it’s not on the menu for the students, but we’ve got a nice, hot pot of Tanzanian coffee brewing in the back. Would you like a cup?”

“I’d love some. Thank you...?”

“Holly,” she added, then flashed me a wink and took off for the kitchen.

The mess hall started filling up with students loading up for their first official day of classes. Loud and clear above the chatter, Ava and her friends complained about the mixing.

“—ridiculous,” Ava spat. “Dagem’s making the alphas and epsilons pay because a homicidal fugitive forced her way into our school? Sunella said she had a breakdown and flipped out, but why does that mean she gets away with killing Castor?”

“Sunella lied,” Edric dropped. “I listened to the entire interrogation—if you can even call it that. She spent hours questioning her while the psycho demanded a cheeseburger. Volana didn’t give up a single thing about where she’s been for the last year, or why she killed Castor. The whole thing was a joke.”

“What the hell?” one of their crew cried. “Why did Sunella lie? Why did she let that bitch go to our school?!”

“Because she’s blackmailing Dagem and the council.”

I didn’t expect Edric to keep the secret... and he didn’t.

“A murderer is running free through our school, and no one is going to do anything about it. They can’t piss her off, and they damn sure aren’t going to kill the mother wolf,” Edric continued. “Are you seeing where I’m going with this, or do you need me to keep spelling it out?”