Page 28 of Wolf Unseen

“Yeah. I saw what Bernard did to you yesterday. It sucked.”

My well-developed self-preservation instincts told me the guy was genuine, so I let him follow me outside. His cool, earthy scent suggested he was a reptile shifter, but I wasn’t sure what type. Reptile shifters were nowhere near as common as wolves, bears, and felines.

“What are you?” I blurted when we reached a quiet spot on the lawn outside. There were a few tables out here, but it was a cold day, so they were mostly empty.

I dropped onto a wooden bench and sipped my coffee. This school sucked ass, but the coffee was to die for. Ten out of ten, would recommend.

“A snake shifter. My name’s Simon,” the guy replied, taking a seat opposite me. His eyes swiveled from side to side, and every few seconds, a long tongue flicked out. Was that a snake thing? If so, it gave me the ick. But I pushed that thought down because, given how unpopular I was, I couldn’t afford to be choosy about who I interacted with.

“Hi, Simon, I’m Riley.” I forced a smile. The wind picked up as I sipped my coffee, sending fallen leaves swirling around the trees. “It can’t be much fun for a reptile shifter in this weather,” I commented as Simon shivered. If snake shifters were anything like actual snakes, they’d hate the cold.

“Yeah. Cold weather sucks.” He scowled. “Bernard once made me tackle the assault course in subzero temperatures and then laughed when my body got too sluggish on the climbing bars and I fell into an icy pool. I nearly drowned.”

I sucked in a horrified breath. “That’s awful!”

“Yeah. He’s a sadist.” Something we could both agree on.

“Do you know what happened to him?” I asked before taking a large bite of my roll. I had less than twenty minutes to eat this and get to my next class.

Simon shook his head. “Not really. The gossip says he went for a run in his wolf form last night and some animal attacked him. He made it back, and the healers teleported him to a mage medical facility. I doubt he’ll be teaching again this semester.”

“How tragic.”

Simon smirked. “Yeah.”

“Why are you talking to me?” I asked bluntly once I’d finished my roll. I regretted not picking up a second one; my appetite was out of control at the moment, much like my libido.

“You’re an outsider, like me, so I figured we should stick together.”

“But I’m a hybrid. Everyone hates me. If you associate with me, they’ll hate you too.” I appreciated his overture of friendship, but he seemed like a nice guy, and I would feel bad if he got a ton of shit from hanging out with me. Dirk and his buddies might target him, which would suck.

“The more powerful shifters all hate me too.” He shrugged. “They view us reptiles as lesser magicals. Apart from the more venomous snake shifters, which I’m not.”

“What type of snake are you, then?”

“A carpet python.”

“So you can hug someone to death but not kill with one bite?”

Simon chuckled. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“If you don’t mind being targeted by the meatheads, then I’d be delighted to have you as my one and only friend,” I told him.

We grinned at each other, and for the first time since arriving at Moonfall, I thought maybe this elite-as-fuck school wasn’t so bad after all.

Then a pesky wolf shifter with abs and dimples to die for rocked up behind me. Simon froze in panic before muttering a quick goodbye and running off so fast he stumbled over his own feet. Hmm. It appeared my new friend wasn’t much of a brave little soldier, but that was okay. I didn’t mind. He could offer support in other ways, such as putting faces to names for me.

Tobias dropped his peachy ass onto the bench beside me. A thickly muscled thigh pressed into mine, and I fought back a whimper as my wolf panted with lust.

“Hey, little dude, how’s the shoulder this morning?”

“It’s fine.” Without waiting for a reply, I ran off to my next class before I climbed the wolf like a tree.

He was too damn sexy, and I…I had no self-control.

17

Riley