Page 2 of Plug and Tame

Of course. Where else would a terrified mouse go?

He hesitated at the large oak doors, however. His Kira was no mouse. She was a wolf and not so easily frightened. And she was only half wolf. Vampire blood ran in her veins, and she was just as capable of being as calculating as the best of them.

He backtracked and reassessed.

The hall leading to the cafeteria was also here, as were the stairs leading down to the dorms. Surely, Kira hadn’t gone to her room? There was only one way leading in and out, and down there, she would be a sitting duck.

Except that there was another exit. Not the portal that led to the beach cove—no, the cliffs there were too steep even for a wolf, and the tiny tropical island was the only landmass for miles around. If Kira had gone there, she would be easy to find.

But there was another exit, one that was hidden in plain sight. Had she figured it out?

As he debated, a voice broke through his thoughts.

“She went that way,” a wolf with black pigtails said, pointing to the cafeteria door.

“Thank you, Chelsea,” Nathaniel said, giving her a small smile and a stare that could have frozen ice, “for eliminating that option.”

Chelsea went white.

The wolf had lied to protect Kira, but she had lied badly. Feeling confident, he took the door to the dorms and pursued Kira downstairs.

Nathaniel couldn’t see her on the curved stairwell, but he could hear her hurried footsteps echoing from far below, and he could sense her fear.

His heart squeezed tightly at the thought that Kira was running from him.

He didn’t have a chance of keeping up, but he pursued her nonetheless. She could not run forever. And he had a vampire’s careful patience. Sooner or later, he would capture her.

The door to his bedroom was wide open. There was no one inside, but the window was broken, the glass pain smashed from the inside. Nathaniel peered through the window. Grey clouds overcast the country lane, and the trees were unnaturally still except for the persistent rain rustling their leaves. Broken glass shards lay in the muddy ground before him, where sure enough, there were several wolf paw prints.

Kira had figured out that it was a portal.

Clever girl.

He delayed only to collect a few items before climbing through the window into the lane beyond.

There were two sets of paw prints. One for each of Kira’s wolf selves. She was one person, but when she morphed, there were two wolves. He assumed they each had their own personality, and he longed to meet them. He hoped he would still have that privilege one day.

He walked at a steady pace, his polished shoes crushing the mud and shrubs. There was no point running, not when Kira had morphed. He could be as fast as any wolf after drinking blood, but in his current state, he didn’t have a hope of keeping up with her.

It didn’t matter. He was not in a hurry.

He pursued her with the steady endurance of a wolf, his footsteps slow and relentless through the woods. The black collar and leash swung by his side, echoing the sickening roll of his stomach.

He was hungry, and he kept his eyes peeled for food to abate his hunger pangs—plants, fungi, small animals. Kira had offered to let him feed from her last night, an offer that he’d barely been able to resist. An offer that made him ache for her now.

He had a feeling she’d rescinded the invitation.

Chapter 2

On the Run

Kira

Fear spurred Kira’s feet faster as she rushed towards the front doors of Volmasque Academy, her heart thumping in her chest. She was nearly at the exit when, out of nowhere, the image of the country lane she’d seen outside Nathaniel’s window appeared in her mind. She’d assumed it was an illusion, her gut feeling told her otherwise. It was literally a window to another place.

A portal.

And it didn’t lead just anywhere. Subconsciously, she’d recognised the lane with the row of birch trees, but its significance had only just clicked into place amidst her terror. The lane was not far from where she’d grown up in the cottage with her foster parents. Her mind jarred to a stop. The old wise wolves were exactly who she needed to be with right now. She was barely holding it together, her insides churning with turmoil, and she needed their counsel more than ever.