Chapter 7
ORIENTATION
The next morning I woke up and had already forgotten where I was.
An instant of panic set in as I frantically looked around the room, only to have everything from the night before came rushing back to me.
I glanced at the bed, but aside from tousled sheets and loose fur, there was no wolf to be found.
Guess he’d gone back to his own dorm come sunrise.
I wasn’t sure how he’d gotten out, since the bedroom had only one window and it was boarded up, but then I noticed the small chewed out hole and rolled my eyes.
A thick black sheet laid out folded neatly on the floor which must have been what he’d used to cover up the hole to keep it pitch black in here.
Yet, he’d let me sleep with the light on and hadn’t turned it off when I’d gone to take a shower.
Maybe he was trying to show me that he could be trusted.
Whatever the wolf’s motivations, the image of his perfect body and even more perfect cock flashed through my mind.
I pinched myself as punishment. “No sex with wolves,” I reminded myself.
“No sex with anyone here.” The last thing I needed was to make myself vulnerable or build attachments with dangerous supernaturals I didn’t yet understand.
I didn’t even know if I was a virgin or not—one of the many downsides to having lost my memory of who I was before Cindy’s bar.
I needed to focus on myself before I did anything like that, even if my body disagreed with me.
I was used to feeling cold, but the thought of the wolf shifter’s plain advances made me shiver. Then I remembered I would get to see Dante again today and another shiver went through my body, sending unforgiving heat to my core.
Fuck, I needed to get laid.
An annoying cascade of laughter poorly muffled by the wall reminded me that I needed to “follow the herd” as Dante had said it.
I didn’t know where orientation was and I doubted he would come to guide me personally.
Everyone would be out on the streets by now and I wasn’t interested in drawing any more attention to myself than I already had.
Walking around with a hunter hadn’t done me any favors so far with the local students.
I got ready as fast as I could and found a uniform to wear that fit me, although a bit too snugly for my taste.
I was too tall for most things I tried to wear and I didn’t have a mirror to check myself out, but I felt like I was showing off a little too much thigh.
Whatever. I was sure the dress code around here would be flimsy at best given the show the wolf shifter had given me last night.
I found my demon conjuring artifact still snuggled under my pillow, so I plucked it out and put it in one of the skirt pockets.
If I had to wear a skirt... at least it had a practical side to it.
I combed out my hair with a brush I’d procured from the toiletry bin in the showers and even found some makeup, although I didn’t bother to put any on. Jess had always fussed at me that makeup existed to be used, but I hated the stuff.
My heart twisted thinking about Jess.
Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and inspected the gaggle of girls swarming like hornets around their queen. There was Melinda all dolled up with her gorgeous black hair unfurling in voluptuous waves over her shoulders. She cast me a venomous glare as if daring me to approach.
I mean, it was a one-way hall to the rest of the dormitory and there was only one exit that I knew of, so Melinda the Muse was just going to have to fucking deal.
Holding my chin high, I marched down the hall. The group grew quiet as I approached. By the time I reached them, I wasn’t sure what to do next. I knew I had to go down three flights of stairs, but my sense of direction was horrible to say the least.
“We’ll be keeping an eye on you,” Melinda said, her sneer flashing before she smiled sweetly and then stalked off, her entourage in tow.
I wondered what the other girls were who followed her out.
They all looked like a normal group of university students with tight-fitting uniforms that put my own modesty concerns to shame, hair up in ponytails or down loose around their shoulders, and each of them had a tiny notebook in hand.
I frowned. Dante never mentioned a notebook.
Keeping my distance, I followed the girls outside and took in the Academy in the broad light of day, or at least what passed for day in a place that was clearly not Earth.
A soft glow overtook the campus like a pseudo-sunrise, but I couldn’t spot a source.
It felt like the sky was a hazy orb, kind of like we were inside of my conjuring artifact, and it made me feel uneasy.
Shaking my head, I followed the girls down the street before I lost them. The last thing I wanted to do was wander around the Academy grounds with no idea where I was going. I probably could find Kaito’s office if I tried, maybe, I think.
It was hard not to get distracted. Students were everywhere and none of them were shy about their supernatural powers.
A pack of wolves startled me as they ran by, giving chase to a single panther.
Eyes wide, I watched the group rampage down the streets.
No one was screaming for their lives or even gave the predators much of a second glance.
When the panther tried to double-back and dive through a group of what I guessed to be witches based on their black uniforms, the girls sneered at the rowdy shifters that were barreling straight for them.
One witch whispered and magic glowed across her hand, sending a forcefield around her and her friends to deflect the creatures who pinged off of the shield in continued pursuit of their lost prey.
“So we meet again,” a male voice caressed me from behind, hot breath on my neck.
I whirled to find the wolf shifter from the night before in front of me again. Of course, he was still naked.
I glanced over his body involuntarily, taking in his prominent thighs and muscular chest. I knew I should probably be offended, or at least embarrassed that a naked man was standing in front of me, but I couldn’t help but admire him and the ease with which he carried himself.
“Like what you see?” he asked, lowering his voice and taking a step closer to me.
I snapped my gaze up to his gorgeous face, taking in the hard line of his jaw that looked.
.. kissable. I shook myself. Focus, Lils.
“I’m heading to orientation,” I blurted, then my stomach dropped when I realized I’d forgotten to keep an eye on Melinda.
I shoved the shifter aside, painfully aware of his hard bicep under my fingers, as I searched for my own prey.
“Damn!” I hissed. “You made me lose her. Now I don’t know where to go. ”
“I can show you the way,” he said cheerfully.
Turning to face him again, I glowered. “Aren’t you too busy chasing pussy cats?” I regretted it the moment I said it.
His grin turned absolutely sinful. “What if I’m chasing pussy right now?”
I rolled my eyes. “Then you’re in for a disappointment,” I promised, even though heat was already throbbing in some very private places. I didn’t understand why this shifter was getting under my skin. I wasn’t one to drool over a guy.
He shrugged. “Can’t be disappointed when I just like being around you.” He winked. “I’m Logan, by the way.”
I crossed my arms. “Is that why you refused to leave my bedroom all night?”
He smirked. “I was there before you were. Called dibs.”
“You can’t call dibs on a girl’s bedroom!” I shrieked, but my protest fell on deaf ears.
Logan transformed back into his wolf in record time. I wondered if it hurt as much as it seemed it did. The idiot shouldn’t shift just so he could talk to me. He’d pushed his voice into my mind the first time I’d met him, so I knew he could still communicate. He was just being stubborn.
I made a mental note to yell at him about being a dumbass later.
Or... maybe he just wanted to show off his dick again. Yeah, that sounded like a good enough reason to go through an agonizing shift that broke every bone in his body to a guy like Logan.
With a sigh, I followed the wolf that was now whining at me.
He was quite cute in his wolf form and it wasn’t hard to spot him winding through the sea of legs.
I hoped that he was guiding me to the right place, but I didn’t have much choice in the matter.
If he led me out of the crowds then I would stop following him, but for now I felt safe enough surrounded by other students that Logan wouldn’t try anything.
I quirked a smile at the thought that a crowd of supernaturals actually made me feel safe. Maybe this place wouldn’t be so bad after all.
It took me a while to realize that the campus was laid out in a large series of overlapping circles.
The path Logan was taking me on cut straight down the middle of an endless row of buildings.
The various colored torches shone as brightly in the day as they had at night indicating a type for each building and I was looking forward to getting to learn my way around this place.
I couldn’t rely on a wolf guide to get me to my next class every time.
The epicenter of Fortune Academy took my breath away with a massive spire that looked like it could have been a part of Maleficent’s Castle.
It was gorgeous, as if the entire building had been carved in a single night by a jeweler out of onyx.
I spotted Melinda and her crew at the entrance.
She gave me a healthy glare before gliding inside.
It felt good to piss her off and I smiled, feeling almost giddy, and looked around for Logan to say thanks. Various students in crisp uniforms wandered through the heavy traffic center and I couldn’t spot him. If he’d stuck around, then it would be easy for a silver wolf to get lost in the crowd.