Chapter 4
FOUR
September
“Hey, Magic!" I heard Ben’s deep voice echoing from downstairs. "Come down here and see how good I look!"
I sighed and looked in my dresser mirror one more time.
Mom had done her best with alterations, but my pleated khaki skirt was still borderline indecent on my long legs.
At least the white collared shirt and the maroon blazer fit my lean frame like a glove.
The Blackstone Academy crest stood out in black over the left breast pocket.
Per my usual, I had minimal makeup on—just dark brown eyeliner, mascara, and red lip tint.
I put understated gold studs in my earlobes, and tiny moon and star studs alternated up the four additional holes in the cartilage of my right ear.
I wore my hair in my power french braid and I slipped my chunky black high-top sneakers on over my knee-high white socks.
Like hell I would be walking around that sprawling campus all day in the required kitten heels.
I decided I’d take whatever demerit or bullshit discipline the school dished out for minor uniform infractions.
Ben was waiting for me in the kitchen, looking like a million bucks in his perfectly tailored uniform, the preppy bastard. He handed me a breakfast smoothie and my backpack.
"Let’s go. I want to have a little time to scope everything out before we have to get to class," he said, making his way to the back door that lead out to the garage.
"Lead the way, Captain."
We both kissed our parents on the cheek while they finished breakfast at the dining room table and wished us luck on our first day.
Ben drove the short few miles north of our neighborhood towards the old historic downtown area. The expansive campus of Blackstone Academy came into view, and we followed signs to the student parking area.
We parked in a large parking lot in the middle of campus. Straight ahead was the imposing main building—a four-story red brick building with ivy creeping up the sides. Administration offices were on the top floor, and most classes were held throughout the rest of the building.
To the left of the main building was the cafeteria.
It was only one story, but it had what looked like twenty-foot ceilings and large glass windows that revealed dozens of circular tables scattered throughout the space inside.
There were also picnic tables surrounding the building for outdoor dining.
To the right of the parking lot was the gym, and behind the main building was the library, completing the diamond configuration of the main four buildings.
The pictures on the school’s website of the library’s interior showed that it was massive, with two stories full of books that opened up like an atrium to an expansive middle space with long tables for students to use.
Harriet had confirmed the existence of a shifter-only resource section that was hidden through some kind of door or secret passage.
The rest of the campus was lush green space dotted with giant pine trees and pristine sidewalks that traversed the grounds between all of the buildings. There were also soccer fields and tennis courts further to the back of campus beyond the gym.
It was beautiful—light-years away from the little rural high school we’d attended back in Utah.
We parked off to the side of the student lot so we could get a good view of the rest of the students as they started trickling into the lot, exiting their cars, and congregating in their various cliques and friend groups while waiting for the first bell.
We leaned up against the car, sunglasses on, phones in hand, acting like the coolest cucumbers while we eyed our surroundings.
Students had started to notice us, giving us second and third glances as they loitered around the lot.
The Tesla got a few looks (not a lot of those in Shreveport), but there were plenty of other expensive cars in the lot since this was a private prep school.
Ben would give anyone he caught looking at us a saucy smile, while I kept a resting bitch face that tended to be my default.
I’d already spied what I was certain was the popular clique.
Up near the prime parking in the front of the lot, a group of hot jock types and their adoring fans had assembled around a row of fancy cars.
The dudes were all tall and stacked, which was a dead giveaway they were probably shifters.
The girls were all wearing heavy makeup that I could spot from all the way over here, and they were showing as much tits and ass as possible within the limitations of our uniforms.
One of the biggest of the hot jock boys turned to stare in our direction.
He was maybe an inch or so taller than Ben, and he was a bit bulkier.
He had white-blond hair that was short on the sides and styled into a short faux-hawk on top.
He had icy blue eyes that were narrow and scrutinizing, and right now they were aimed at me.
There was a lithe-looking brunette girl hanging off of his arm while she chatted with her friends, oblivious that his attention was elsewhere.
I looked right back at him, although he wouldn’t be able to pinpoint where my gaze was behind my sunglasses. Whatever was happening was making my wolf antsy. I had a strong suspicion Ice Man was one of the Elites, which meant I didn’t really want his attention, no matter how hot he was.
I was distracted from my assessment of Ice Man when Harriet pulled in next to us in her little white Miata.
The top was down even though it was one thousand degrees outside, but I suspected Harriet was a top-down driver most of the time since she had a windproof hairstyle.
She hopped out and jumped into Ben’s arms, clinging to him like a barnacle.
"Easy, killer," he laughed as he set her down. "You’re gonna give the girls the wrong idea about their chances with moi."
She laughed and switched to an intense side-hug with me. She was about five inches shorter than me normally, but she was much closer to eye level at the moment with her giant black Mary Jane heels. She squeezed me, then joined us in our casual leaning on the car while we observed the natives.
"Alright you two, we’ve got like ten minutes to compare class schedules and for me to give you the lowdown on who’s who around here," Harriet said excitedly.
"Those are obviously the Elites," I said, gesturing to the jock convention at the front of the lot.
"Correct," she replied. "The true pack ‘Elites’ are the three boys you see standing by the silver G-Wagon.
" She indicated Ice Man, another tall, burly shifter boy with long brown hair that was tied into a trendy man bun and a short, neat beard, and then a tall but leaner-looking shifter boy with wavy, dirty-blond hair and fashionable dark-framed glasses on his face.
All three of them exuded sex appeal and power.
"The big blond one is Knox Monroe, son of the Alpha."
Of course he was.
She continued. "The brunet with long hair is Mason Hayes. His mom, Lissa, is one of the Pack’s top betas.
And the shaggy blond with the sexy nerd glasses is Thad James.
His dad is Christoper James, who is also a high-ranking beta.
Those three are best friends and top dogs around here. Or top wolves, rather."
"Hmm," I heard Ben murmur. I snuck a peek at him and caught him eyeing Thad with the gaze of the predator I knew he could be.
Ugh, he better lock that shit up right now because that is the opposite of what we need to be doing.
"Ok so, Ice Man is Knox, Man Bun is Mason, and Nerd Porn is Thad," I listed out. "Then everyone else in that little huddle is a sycophant or Alphawhore?"
"Pretty much," Harriet replied. "There are other wolves in that group, both male and female, who are from well-known Pack families. There’s also a smattering of humans in the group who are fellow jocks or cheerleader types. There’s plenty of intermixing here with the humans—it’d be pretty boring to only associate with other shifters all the time. "
I nodded. I’d planned to stick mostly to humans as well.
Harriet indicated a few of the girls, including the model-looking brunette that was still clinging to Knox.
"Those are the Alphawhores. The brunette stick figure with Knox is Nikka Parker. Her father is also a top Pack beta, and rumor has it she’s close to getting Knox to agree to take her as his chosen mate. "
Ben whistled. "She’s powerful enough to be in the running for Alpha-mate? She’s pretty skinny for a wolf, but I suppose that doesn’t mean much as far as the power potential."
"I’m not sure," Harriet replied, "but I do know she’s likely the most powerful of the female wolves in the group. I’ve seen her lord it over Madison and Dani enough times to know at least that.
Those are the core of the Alphawhores, although I include Claudia over there, too, even though she’s a human. They are a little nightmare foursome."
My gaze tracked the Alphawhores as they flitted around the group.
Nikka was the porcelain-skinned, model-thin brunette; Madison was also pale and had lighter brown hair cut into a stylish blunt bob and massive tits; Dani was a fit, petite red-head, and Claudia was curvy with brown skin and long, wavy black hair.
It was clear that the Elites were the center of the orbit, while the Alphawhores had their own mini-orbit of other students who either wanted to be them or fuck them. Satisfied that I had the general lay of the land, I was ready to give my attention to something else.
"Alright, on to our schedules. Whatcha got?" I asked Harriet as I pulled mine up on my phone. Everything about the school, including maps, class schedules, and school resources were available on the Academy’s portal that we accessed on our phones or school-issued tablets.
I showed her my timetable.