40. Riley
Riley
Goddess, save me. My wolf was the most delusional wolf in the entire realm.
Tate’s eyes turned from warm brown to pure gold as he watched me. Then he shook his head and allowed the female to slide her arm possessively around his waist. I observed through slitted eyes as she stood on her tiptoes to whisper something in his ear.
The wolf shifter forced a smile and stepped up to the counter, but to my annoyance, he didn’t push the female away. Oh no. She remained glued to his side like a barnacle. A slutty barnacle dressed to thrill in a tiny denim skirt and skin-tight crop top that barely covered her tits.
Anger burned bright and hot, searing my gut with acid. How dare she lay her hands on hi…
I gripped the edge of the table, my knuckles white as I fought against the demands of my wolf. She wanted to tear free and rip the female apart, which would have been a giant clusterfuck.
Do not ruin this for us, I warned her as she tried her best to force a shift. Stars, she’d gotten so much stronger since we arrived at Moonfall. Way stronger than she used to be. And a lot more opinionated.
Raquel prodded me. “Hey, are you okay? You seem like you’re struggling with your animal.”
Fuck, was it that obvious?
“Um, yeah. Sh…he wants to shift. No clue why.” I forced out a laugh. “I’m going to use the bathroom. Be right back.” Needing some space, I scrambled out of my seat and into the nearby customer bathroom. Luckily for me, it was a single unisex bathroom with a sturdy lock on the door.
Once inside, I sank to the blue-tiled floor and rested my head on my knees. If Tate stuck around, I wasn’t sure I could keep my wolf contained.
Not with her so determined to assert her claim on the alpha wolf.
Time passed. Minutes, or possibly even hours.
It wasn’t until someone started hammering on the door that I realized I’d zoned out for way too long, lost in a murderous fantasy whereby I shredded the female wolf’s face with my claws.
The banging grew louder, accompanied by a plea to open the door.
I unlocked it to find Bree standing there with her arms folded across her chest.
“Start talking, wolfie,” she demanded.
Squaring my shoulders, I drew on every ounce of courage I possessed. The feline females were my friends, I reminded myself as I followed Bree back into the coffee shop. To my relief, Tate and his companion had gone.
I exhaled, some of the tension releasing as my shameless hussy of a wolf settled back down. At least now I could focus on what I wanted to say. Small mercies.
“So,” I began. “I’m sort of here under false pretenses.”
Kasia nodded, confused. “Yeah, you said your friend hacked the admissions system.”
“It’s way worse than that.” I closed my eyes briefly, praying these amazing shifters didn’t skin me alive for what I was about to tell them. Or worse, tell the authorities.
“I’m not male,” I whispered, not wanting anyone in the vicinity to overhear my confession. Thankfully, there were no other sharp-eared shifters left now that Tate and his ho had gone.
All four of the felines scrunched their noses in confusion.
“But you’re…” Kasia waved a hand at my male features. “You look like a guy. Not super masculine, but not female.”
“A pretty guy,” Raquel chirped.
“It’s a glamour,” I huffed out. “I needed to be a male to get into Moonfall Academy, so I could find the guy my sister met before she disappeared.”
The felines exchanged looks that ranged from baffled to skeptical. It was obvious they thought this was a wind-up, and honestly, I’d have thought the same if one of my friends came up with such a crazy story.
“Look, I can prove it,” I said, reaching into my pocket for the pendant. It felt warm against my fingers, giving me a measure of relief that the magic hadn’t faded.
“Go on then,” Kasia said. Orange fur sprouted along her arm, a sign her tiger wasn’t happy. Brilliant. Being mauled by an angry tigress would be the cherry on top of my shit sundae.
I left my seat for the second time and dashed back into the small bathroom. My reflection stared back at me from the cracked mirror, vaguely masculine with a squarer jaw. But once I looped the pendant over my head, I morphed back to myself, my features instantly softening.
It took a minute to remove the chest binder and loosen my shirt so it was more comfortable around my breasts, and then I was ready to face my friends. I ran my fingers through my hair and forced a smile.
Riley Wallis was back.
For now anyway.
The smells of cinnamon and coffee made my mouth water when I headed back into the coffee shop, adding some sway to my hips for fun—mostly because I missed acting like a female. The felines turned as one and gaped at me.
“I really thought you were fucking with us,” Haley gasped as I slid back onto the bench.
“Oh my goddess, Riley has tits! Like, cute little tits!” Bree stared at my boobs, giggling.
Feeling self-conscious, I tried not to blush and failed.
“Holy smoke, Riley, you’re freaking gorgeous! I can’t believe you’ve been hiding your sweet little ass all this time.” Haley choked on a laugh.
Kasia remained silent, however, and I huffed out a sigh.
“I’m sorry for lying to you all. I didn’t know if I could trust you at first, and if anyone finds out…” My voice trailed off.
“But you trust us now?” the tigress asked, giving nothing away.
“Yeah, I do. You’re all amazing.” And it was true. I’d never really had female friends before. Only Felix. The human females I’d met growing up never trusted me. Never let me join their friendship cliques.
We all fell silent while I scrambled for something to say that might make Kasia hate me less. After a minute of spiraling into a low-key existential crisis while the felines sipped their drinks waiting for Kasia to exact judgment on my duplicitous ass, her expression softened.
“I forgive you,” she said with a sigh and an eye roll. “But no more lies or half-truths!”
“No more lies,” I agreed, my body sagging with relief.
“So,” Bree said with a smirk. “Now that we know your secret, we can have fun at the Halloween costume ball!”
“The what now?”
The felines all rolled their eyes. “Do you not pay attention to the social calendar?” Bree asked.
“Um, no?” I scratched my head. Simon had said nothing about a social calendar. But then again, he didn’t socialize beyond gaming nights with his buddies. He had invited me to these, but gaming bored me. I preferred to read in my room and stalk Tobias on social media.
“Okay, so Moonfall Academy and our school, Moonrise Academy, have linked social events at various points in the year. The next biggie is the ball at Halloween, which will be at our school this year.” Bree bounced on her seat, grinning with excitement. “It’s a costume ball!”
“That sounds like fun.” It really didn’t. I wasn’t a fan of school dances. Not after the time my ninth-grade bullies threw red paint at me and ruined the thrift store dress I’d spent ages altering so that it fitted.
“It’ll be loads of fun! There’s food, booze, and plenty of dark corners where we can get laid!”
“Really? There’s no supervision?”
“There is,” Kasia said. “But the teachers turn a blind eye because some of them are creepy enough to be fucking students on the down-low.”
Given the opportunity, I’d happily bang my lion shifter PT instructor, but I thought better of saying so.
The felines most likely knew of or had met Leone the lion, and I really didn’t need them teasing me about my little crush on Simba.
Worse, they probably had their own crushes on the handsome lion.
And that would trigger my wolf’s psychosis, seeing as how she believed he was ours.
Stupid wolf.
My wolf huffed and sniffed, unhappy about being called stupid.
But you are stupid, I reminded her. You nearly got me in trouble with Tate Montes!
“Anyway, moving on,” Raquel said. “It’s a costume ball, obviously, so you can dress up as yourself!”
“With our help!” Haley seemed way too enthusiastic about this for my liking.
“But my fellow students might recognize me,” I pointed out. “And that would ruin everything.”
Bree shook her head dismissively. “You look different as a girl, and besides, you’ll be in fancy dress!”
Haley grinned. “What could possibly go wrong?”
Everything was the answer.