Page 18 of Wolf Unseen

The little shifter’s attention slid from Dirk back to me, skating over my chest and then dropping lower. A burst of arousal hit me hard as my wolf preened.

He liked that this small—hybrid—shifter found us attractive.

I scrubbed my jaw, utterly baffled by my beast’s response. My wolf had never shown this much interest in another shifter. Mostly, like me, he ignored the attention we invariably received.

We preferred running alone, even during the full moon when other shifters like Tobias partied and fucked all night long.

Before my body could react, I spun on my heels and hauled my naked ass out of the canteen, ignoring all the simpering looks from the few wolves still hanging around.

11

Riley

Nobody dared look at me as I left the canteen, hot on the heels of the giant, tawny wolf shifter who’d saved my ass.

I still couldn’t figure out why he’d stepped in to help me when I highly doubted he gave a shit about a hybrid wolf like me. Assuming he even knew who I was. Which was unlikely.

Still, I looked forward to seeing Dirk and his friends have their asses handed to them on Monday night. Well, I would if I could find out where this fight was taking place.

My phone buzzed in my pants pocket as I jogged toward the building where my next class was being held. It was possible shifting was a part of the class, so I had my excuse all prepared.

Hybrids can’t shift. Good luck proving otherwise, assholes.

No way could I shift, even if my wolf cooperated, which she likely wouldn’t.

Although she had woken up when the alpha shifter exerted his dominance on the others in the canteen.

That was another thing that puzzled me. As a wolf shifter, well, a hybrid wolf shifter, the alpha’s command should have forced me to submit to him. That was how alpha commands worked, or so I’d read in the shifter FAQs Felix had sent me before I came here.

Only it didn’t.

Yes, I’d felt the pressure to submit, but it lasted barely a second or two at the most before fading. Not enough to make me hit the deck like all the other shifters. And from the surprise on the alpha wolf’s face, he didn’t understand why I was immune to his alpha command either.

Perhaps being half human made me immune? If so, it was a major advantage. I had no great desire to be coerced into something against my will by an asshole alpha wolf.

The buzzing in my pocket continued, so I pulled out my phone to check if Felix was trying to get hold of me. When I saw Mom’s name on the screen, shock caused me to stop dead in the middle of the path.

A feline shifter ran into my back and cursed loudly.

“Watch where you’re going, stupid hybrid scum,” he snarled before storming past in a huff.

“Charming!” What an asshole.

Why was Mom calling? She was supposed to be in rehab without access to a phone.

“Mom? Are you okay?”

“Riley! Oh my god, where are you?”

“Err, Mom, I thought you were in, um, rehab?”

“Honey, they said I could go home, so I persuaded a nice man to give me a lift. But I’m back now and there’s no sign of you! I was so worried!”

My heart sank into my shoes. Knowing my mother was safe was the only reason I’d felt comfortable coming here. If she had left already, she definitely wasn’t safe. And even worse, Frank had made it clear our trailer was no longer ours because Mom owed too much in back rent.

Fuck my life. Now my mother was in all kinds of trouble while I was thousands of miles away and unable to do a damn thing to protect her.

“Mom, you weren’t supposed to leave the rehab clinic! The doctor pulled a lot of strings to get you in there.” I did my best to sound caring and reasonable, even though I felt like screaming.