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A hoot sounds from inside the room and a beat later Diana lands on Layla’s shoulder, her eyes flashing with determination.
I smile. “Good.”
Looks like the Variants are going to be more badass than I anticipated, and I’m here for that. One hundred percent.
four
FORD
Apparently,older students are prioritized for single rooms. As one of the oldest undergrads, I’m given an unexpectedly swanky private room in the east turret.
The space is circular, furnished with a plush yellow couch, an overstuffed chair, a desk, and a full bed. I make the bed with sheets and a comforter Natalie kindly had sent over from her office—along with school supplies, a few extra pairs of jeans, and swim shorts I wouldn’t have thought to purchase even if I had spare cash, since we always swam nude back home—and move to stare out the window at the quad.
I’m not sure if I’m grateful for the privacy or resent it.
It’s going to be harder to form connections isolated like a princess in a tower, and I suspect some of the other students might resent the fact that a complete newbie scored such a sweet piece of real estate.
It’s a suspicion that’s confirmed when I start down the hall and a blond guy with a shit-eating grin shouts, “Hey there, Grandpa! Heard the old fart with the sweet room was moving in today. Welcome to Lupine!”
His tone is good-natured, however, so I smile and play into the nickname, “Glad to be here, son. Now get the hell off my lawn.”
The kid laughs and lifts a hand for a high five on his way by. “Trevor,” he says. “Freshman class.”
“Ford,” I reply, stopping to chat. “Also a freshman, just an old as fuck one.” I drop a little of the planned backstory about my lumber career and Trevor high fives me again.
“Sweet, man,” he says. “I wanted to take a gap year and make some money or backpack through South America, but there was way too much drama in my old pack, so my mom made me come here.” He shrugs. “But it’s cool so far. And this dorm is sweet as hell. Have you been to the movie room in the basement?” I indicate that I haven’t, and Trevor adds, “Dude, you have to check it out. It’s like a whole theater. With reclining seats and a popcorn machine and everything. The wolves who graduate from Lost Moon give back like woah.” He leans in, adding a softer voice, “Makes me glad I wasn’t born a jaguar or whatever. I mean, the girls in the big cat dorm are hot as hell, but we can always invite them over to our place, right?”
“Right,” I say, adding with a wink, “Especially if you’re lucky enough to have a single.”
Trevor laughs and rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, rub it in, asshole. See you around? A bunch of us are going running in the woods tonight after the luau mixer thing. It’s a new tradition, a club they’re starting just for wolves. They call it a brotherhood, but girls are welcome, too. And old guys.” He grins, making it clear he’s never going to get tired of this joke. “You should come. We’re meeting out back by the dumpsters after lights out.”
“Sure, yeah, I’ll think about it. Thanks for the invite,” I say, visions of the bodies I tossed into a dumpster not long ago flashing through my head as we part ways.
No matter what kind of “drama” Trevor’s fleeing back home, I doubt he’s ever tossed a corpse into the trash. He seemed like a pretty decent, easy-going kid.
He also didn’t seem to be holding a grudge against the other houses. Gratitude for being born a wolf and the associated benefits isn’t the same as prejudice. And he’s clearly been checking out the girls in the big cat dorm.
It gives me hope that maybe Alexander and Catherine were exaggerating. Maybe this isn’t a case of wolves against the world. Maybe it’s only a few bad apples souring the cider. And maybe those bad apples can be taught to mind their manners if we decent wolves work together to present a united front.
Somewhere deep inside, I realize I’m being stupidly optimistic, but for some reason I feel at ease here. Maybe it’s the luxury and comfort of the dorm or the relaxed vibe of the student body so far.
Or maybe it’s the fact that I came my brains out this morning and the orgasm-stunned synapses have yet to fully regenerate.
Don’t think about that. You’ll regret it.
I absolutely will. If I think about Juliet’s mouth on mine and her hand fisted on my cock, I will start giving off an energy—and a scent—I don’t want to spread around on my first day in a new place.
I’m already the grandpa. I don’t want to be the horny grandpa. That’s not a good look on anyone, especially someone who hopes to lead this dorm to a kinder, more inclusive mindset.
No one wants a pervert for a leader.
Pushing thoughts of Juliet to the back of my mind, I head down to the common room and library Natalie showed me on her grand tour. There were a number of people gathered there earlier and it seems like a good place to start taking the temperature of the other residents of Lupine.
And then there’s that run tonight.
My initial instinct is to skip out on anything that keeps me up too late or involves running around in the woods with teenagers, but that’s my inner grandpa talking, the part that would rather stay in and sneak Juliet upstairs for an extended tour of my new single room. But violating the “no overnight guests” policy on my first day probably isn’t a good look, either.
“There he is,” someone hisses as I step into the common room, where the two-story, floor-to-ceiling windows on one side cast the posh seating areas in bright morning light.
