“They will, but before they do, we need to get Emma back on her feet again. Is there anything magical that can replace Emma’s medicine?” I asked.
Kiara shook her head, and my heart fell. “Certainly not within the realms of faerie magic. Fae can’t heal.”
“What about the other magical races?” I asked in desperation.
“The elementals are in a civil war at the moment. They won’t be willing, or able, to help, and even if they could, it’d be a temporary solution,” Kiara said. “Emma would have to keep going back to them to get healed, over and over. It’s not a one-time fix.”
“Vampires? Angels? Witches, even?” I asked desperately. “One of them has to havesomething.”
“A lot of their magic doesn’t work on us, Ethan. They don’t share our blood,” Kiara said sadly.
“Godsdammit!” I punched the wall, and my fist caused a chunk of concrete to break off the stone and fall to the floor. Kiara winced.
“We need a miracle,” I muttered.
“I agree, but we can’t lose our heads,” Kiara said firmly. “Emma was there for you when you were possessed last semester, so you need to pull yourself together, because it’s her turn to fall apart.”
“You’re right.” I straightened my spine. “I’ll see you after class, Kiara.”
She bustled off with the potions. I did my best to buck up, and made my way to Senior Pack Theory.
A collection of wolven boys was mingling around the classroom when I got there, cracking dirty jokes or putting each other in headlocks. Eyes looked up as I entered, but nobody pestered me with questions about being the Phantom today. Word had made it around school that Emma was very sick, and so, everyone gave me a wide berth— either because they respected the pain they knew I had to be going through, watching my mate suffer, or because they were afraid if they bothered me, I’d tear their faces to shreds.
Finlay was in this class. His gaze roamed me when I entered, as if he was trying to figure something out, before he went back to chatting with a friend.
He didn’t quite bother me, other than the fact that he was obnoxious, and therefore, pretty damn annoying. I had gotten over that he and Emma had dated, as Finlay was clearly stricken with love for his current girlfriend, though I didn’t think I’d ever forgive him for kissing my mate. I was aware they could’ve gone farther, and the thought made me want to rip Finlay in two, so I didn’t permit my mind to wander that way.
Professor Conri entered the room, his face a taunt, nervous mess. Professor Lucien was supposed to teach this class, and his presence was sorely missed. Professor Conri was young and new, and didn’t know what he was doing. He was hardly a few years older than me, which I couldn’t discount him for— it wasn’t his youth that made me doubt him, but his inexperience. He’d been interning under Professor Lucien for the past year, and wasn’t supposed to begin teaching his own classes for some time. With Lucien’s sudden death right before the semester’s beginning, the school had struggled to replace him, and went for the first wolven teacher they could find.
“We’ll be working on assessing our surroundings today,” Conri stuttered as he came to the front of the room. “Follow me out to the grounds.”
Conri led the way to the university gardens. He turned to us once we got to the treeline and said, “You’ll be working in pairs. Your objective for the day is to survey the land surrounding the university, though your partner will be going in the opposite direction. This is a test of your telepathic abilities, and how far they may roam. If you run into any monsters, reach out with a howl to the rest of the group at large, and we will come in for assistance.”
Conri went with making partners. I was hoping he’d choose someone easy for me to work with, but before I could add any input, he said, “Ethan, you’re with Finlay.”
I frowned. Conri either didn’t know about the history between Finlay and I, or he didn’t care. Wolvens were all about running in packs and working together, but even so, being paired up with Finlay for the day soured my already poor mood.
Finlay came up to my side and playfully punched me in the shoulder. “Looks like you’re with me.”
His Scottish accent grated on my nerves. “I suppose.”
He changed into a wolven and shook his head.“Better get on it, don’t you think?”
I was more than happy to get away from him, so I changed and began running into the woods, to the north. Finlay took to the south. Scents invaded my nose, and the sound of paws hitting the ground rose to my ears as wolvens took off in all different directions. I kept my eyes forward as I charged through the forest, keeping my senses peeled for any monsters that might be creeping about.
Wolven shifters could travel over fifty miles a day, and could run a single mile in two minutes or less. Within fifteen minutes, Finlay and I were a sizable distance away, and far off from the university.
“Can you hear me?” I called out to Finlay. I didn’t know if our magic would reach so far.
“Yes. Our connection is strong,” Finlay replied.
I agreed. Finlay and I were ten miles off, and I could still hear him clear as day. Our connection began to dwindle along the twelfth mile, but even as we pushed our boundaries, I could still hear him, although faintly.
Around the fifteenth mile, I lost him. I journeyed back, and found that fourteen miles was the extension of our limits.
By this point, our class time was nearing to a close, so we began making our way back to the university. I was panting by the time I reached the university grounds, and so was Finlay. Running thirty miles in one day on an empty stomach was exhausting. Although it was hardly past two, I wanted to go to the cafeteria, down a steak, then go back to my dorm and sleep.
“How far did you go?” Conri asked the group at large when we all arrived back in the gardens. There were mumbles. Most wolvens had gotten eight or so miles before they lost the connection, some ten.
