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Adan smirked at me over his shoulder and reached up into a light sconce above the door. He withdrew a large old-fashioned key that he inserted in the lock and twisted. To my surprise it turned smoothly, and the door opened without a creak or squeak. How often did they use this exit?
We emerged behind a line of shrubs and stayed behind them, following the wall of the building until we reached the far end before making a run for it over the open space between us and the woods. I had seen the forest out here, but from another angle, and the moment we were past the tree line, I stripped and prepared to shift. I closed my eyes and whispered a prayer to whatever goddess was handling my unusual situation before letting the process take over. Whatever happened, whoever my other part was, I would accept her with gratitude and love and hope my mates felt the same.
And their wolves. Please. Please. Please.
The shift was not as easy as usual but not horribly painful. Just different, and I could hope that was only this first time because it crossed the line past discomfort enough, I would think twice before doing it again if it were every shift. But when it was over, and I stood on four legs, there were gasps from behind me. I turned to face my mates.
Was I hideous? Terrifying?
We are magnificent.
This is both of you? I think…but it really was a merging? My new wolf and original one?
The wolfen laughter rippled through me. It’s a reuniting. We were torn asunder, but now I am one again. As it should be.
I didn’t know.
“Mate.” Blaze stroked me from head to tail. “You’re astonishing.” He pulled a camera from his pants pocket and snapped a picture. “Your first shift in your new form.”
What did that mean? All three petted me, caressing and stroking and telling me that I was completely unique. We were tense until Adan said, “The most beautiful wolf I’ve ever seen.”
At that point, elated, we darted away through the trees, racing along the path with a speed I’d never before experienced in this form. And was the ground farther away from my nose? My legs longer? I glanced down and stumbled, tumbled head over heels at what met my eyes. One black leg and one pure white with only the hint of gold at the tips of the fur?
But before I could consider further, the thudding of paws behind me had me up and running again, ready to show these boys that we could not be caught.
Chapter Twenty
Adan
We did catch Karelis’ wolf. But it was no easy thing. Before, we’d had no trouble keeping up with her, even passing and circling back. Not that she wasn’t strong or fast, just that we were larger. But this new wolf, this half-black and half-white-gold version, was considerably bigger than only one or the other. In a way, that made sense—and in a way, it didn’t. The Light Kingdom’s denizens had more powers than just shifting, things I didn’t understand. But if that was so, why did the king take issue with her having two wolves?
Did he think it made her powerful? Because if so, he would be more displeased now because power rolled off her in waves. I raced at her heels, absorbing the beauty that was our mate in the fullness of her wolf form. She leapt over logs and skirted trees with ease, splashed through the stream, sending sparkling droplets flying through the air. Her joy was contagious, and, despite the fact we’d be in trouble for being truant an entire day, I found it hard to care. Our mate was whole, both sides of her wolf rejoined, and surely that deserved a celebration.
But even four happy wolves have their limits, and finally we ended up lounging on the stream bank after a long, cool drink. In this form, there was no idle chitchat. So far, I was not hearing what my mate thought, but that would either come with time or not. It wasn’t guaranteed. Still, things were good. None of our other problems were solved, but now that we’d mated with her, what couldn’t we solve?
Then, without warning, Karelis’ wolf was on her feet again and bounding back the way we’d come. Of course, we followed. When we reached the place we’d left our clothing, we all shifted back, dressed, and faced one another. “Did you mean it?” she asked. “Is my new wolf…or I guess she’s my old wolf… Is she really beautiful?”
Blaze reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Look and see.” He swiped the screen and handed the device to me. “Give us your opinion.”
Karelis
“A picture of my wolf. I mean, I saw you take it but I never thought…isn’t there some rule against taking a photo of our wolves?”
“Probably here at the Rejects Academy,” he scoffed. “But not anywhere else. What do you think?”
I drew in a deep breath and chewed on my lip. “I saw my paws, but I’m a little afraid to look.”
“Well, if you don’t want to…” Blaze reached for his phone, but I jerked it out of reach.
“I didn’t say that.” I turned away, for some reason feeling shy about seeing a picture of my wolf. “Oh my goodness.” Beautiful? She was stunning. I didn’t have an outside view of my former wolves to compare, but I’d been around enough to know she was extraordinary. Almost as big as my mates, although I’d already figured that part out on my own, but what made her unique was the fact that it wasn’t just the paws that were different colors. My wolf was half black and half white with those gold tips. The color changed in a line down our back. I’d never seen anything like her, but I liked it.
It was me. For the first time in a long time. I handed the phone back. “Thank you.” And we started back toward the school buildings.
“Mate, how do you feel?” Casimir asked, striding along at my side as we approached the tree line. “You weren’t doing too well this morning.”
I stopped, flexed my arms and legs, patted the spot on my head, and burst into laughter. “It’s all fixed. Even the stuff that seemed to just be inside me. I thought shifting would only heal physical things. But I am whole, in no pain. I feel better than I can remember feeling since I was a little girl.” I paused. “I mean, last night for a few hours excepted.”
Before any of them could answer, lights flashed in front of us and there he was. It took everything in me not to bow down and call him “Your Majesty.” But I didn’t. Instead, I spat on the ground at his feet. “New trick? I’d like to call it impressive, but it’s not. Did you kill that student yourself? Almost kill Daniel?”
