Page 30 of Plug and Claim

The Forbidden Corridor

Kira

Susie was right—the male wolves could not get enough of her scent, and it made moving between classes increasingly difficult as the day wore on. Lunchtime was the worst. Her presence generated a thick crowd of admirers vying for her attention, preventing her and Susie from reaching the cafeteria window.

When Kira commented that she only wanted lunch, a dozen wolves immediately volunteered to fetch her some, and a fight broke out between two betas from the same pack to decide who would receive that honour.

“They’re mad,” Kira said as she and Susie were forced to flee the cafeteria without food. “Absolutely crazy.”

“That’s primal instinct for you,” Susie said. “But this is worse than orientation week! At least we had multiple females for them to chase. Now, it’s just you.”

“Fantastic,” Kira muttered, glancing over her shoulder at the fifty or so men following behind. The desire on their faces was unnerving, and some had lost all self-control and shifted into wolf form.

Susie tried to give her a tour of the academy grounds, but the open space was worse, with males approaching them from all directions.

“Perhaps, we can go someplace private?” an alpha asked her.

“Perhaps another time,” Kira replied. She couldn’t focus on the tour, and she was treading a fine line between politely rebuffing the advances and snapping at them to keep their hands to themselves.

“You’re rocking those white socks, sweetie,” Victoria called when Susie and Kira passed by the water fountains. She was sitting on the edge of the stone basin, intertwined with another vampiress.

“Err, thanks,” Kira said, trying to appear as if she wasn’t unnerved by the fact that the group of men behind her were all sporting rigid boners—wolves included.

She and Susie retreated inside.

“This is the teachers’ wing,” Susie said when they reached the second floor, trying to make herself heard over the squabbling students.

The only benefit Kira perceived of the male wolves’ presence was that it kept the vampires away. Even so, she was growing tired of the commotion of barking and snarling that followed in her wake.

They were on the second-floor corridor when Susie took a sharp turn and pulled her into a narrow passage. It was a dark corridor with no windows, and only a single door at the end. For a moment, Kira worried they had trapped themselves in a dead end, but to her surprise, no one followed them.

“Why did they stop?” she asked as Susie peered back out into the hallway.

“This area is forbidden to students,” Susie explained. “Strictly out of bounds.”

“Then why did you bring us here?”

“Because I knew they’d be too scared to follow us here.”

“Aren’t you scared?”

“A little.” Susie let out a sigh of relief and slumped against the wall. “But I couldn’t hear myself think, could you? Let’s give it a few minutes. The bell will ring soon. Hopefully they’ll go away.”

Kira approached the plain door. It was painted dark grey with a simple brass knob. “Susie, where does this door lead?”

“Nowhere,” Susie said quickly.

Kira was certain that she was lying. “Susie…” she pressed.

“Really, don’t worry about it. It’s just a cleaning closet.”

Kira didn’t believe her. “Then why is it out of bounds to students? If it’s merely a cleaning closet, you won’t mind if I have a look…”

She’d not taken two steps before Susie pulled her back.

“Okay, I lied. But please, don’t go in there.”

Kira’s curiosity sparked. “Why not?” she asked, trying to step past. “What’s in there?”