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We started to walk again and were nearing the buildings, and I hadn’t managed to get any information from her at all. She’d cleverly turned the tables on me, getting me to talk about myself. “We’re just about out of time, but I still want to know more about you.”
She offered a shy smile. “I am much more interested in you. Nothing interesting about me.” Her eyes gleamed, not silver but another color that came and went so fast I couldn’t get a good look at them even to describe. Almost as if there was another wolf inside her. “Now let’s get inside, okay? Before we’re missed.”
“Karelis, please?”
“I’d love to tell you more, but I can’t. If things change, you’ll be the first one I talk to, okay?”
“All right.” It wasn’t, but I couldn’t keep pushing her like this. We had time.
Chapter Three
Karelis
While I was enjoying the learning environment of the Urban Rejects Academy—what the others called it—I didn’t like the social environment. The sneers directed at me were unwarranted and unnecessary. I had been here less than a month, and already they had decided I was an outcast.
They’d fucking have a conniption if they found out that I was a real pariah in the world of shifters. Two wolves inside me? Hell, they might burn me at the stake if they found that out.
Up ahead, a group of people curled around someone, but it wasn’t until I saw the cute Mary Jane shoes that I knew who was the butt of their jeering.
June.
“Hey!” I yelled and dropped my bag. Barging into the group, I reached for June and pushed her behind me. The fear in her eyes was something I never wanted to see again. I knew how it felt to be bullied and mistreated, and the last thing I wanted was to have it inflicted on someone who had been nothing but kind to me.
Honestly, I didn’t want to see harm inflicted on anyone.
“Leave her alone. Don’t you have anything else to do?” I asked. My chest heaved with angry breaths while Night snarled under my skin, so close to the surface. She wanted to rip these girls’ heads off, and there wouldn’t be a damned thing they could do about it.
“Now we have someone else to play with.” A girl with a severe bun stepped up to me and bumped her chest with mine. Boob-on-boob violence. Not cool.
“You don’t want to mess with me,” Night pushed through, and I felt the phasing of my eyes from mine to hers. She sawcolors more brilliantly than I did. Shit. I had to calm down. I didn’t want Night to come out, and these bullies didn’t, either, if they valued their next breath. She had zero tolerance for assholes. A warning snarl trilled through my chest and while their eyes widened, they stood their ground.
“Or what?” the one in front of me ground out. Her voice was rough. Somewhere along the way she had swallowed glass. Maybe that’s what she was so mad about.
Fuck. The last thing I wanted was a fight.
Until a fist landed on my chin. I acted without thinking. Her fist hadn’t retracted fully when I threw a jab right into her throat. A punch like that would’ve put a human down.
The girl—I still didn’t know her name—grabbed at her throat and gasped for air. She stumbled backward, and her friends moved to help her. I took the opportunity to drag June out of there.
We were done with high school and yet, some hadn’t moved on.
Once we were a good distance away, I pulled my friend into a stairwell. “Are you okay?” I asked, surveying her.
“It’s just a fat lip. Nothing I haven’t gotten before.”
That wasn’t true. I could see a black eye blooming, along with some swelling on her cheek. “Where’s the nurse?” I asked. “Is there a nurse or a doctor here? A healer?”
June moved her jaw around, testing it. She must’ve gotten popped there as well. They were lucky I didn’t let Night loose. It would’ve been the last breath they took. “A nurse. Healers work in the packs.”
I nodded. “Lead the way.”
June shook her head. “It’s okay. I don’t have to go.”
“Bullshit,” I growled back. “We’re going. If nothing else, so you don’t have to go to class until you can shift and get some of this healed.”
She blew out a breath. “Fine. Yeah. Okay.”
We waited until the halls were clear. I might get in trouble for skipping class, but this was for a good reason.
