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I blew out a breath and checked my phone. They wanted me to meet them at the back of the dining hall. Cas would be waiting for me there.
“What if they aren’t my mates? What if this is just some fling? Am I about to ruin or risk everything for this?” I asked myself more than her.
“Karelis, you wouldn’t care about them risking themselves or getting hurt if this wasn’t the real thing. You deserve mates. And mates can’t be kept apart, even in a place like this.”
Chapter Fourteen
Blaze
I had one job, and now I’d messed it up. I was waiting by the back gate, and there was no janitor and no car. He truly had owed me a favor, and he’d seemed happy enough to loan me his car as long as I got it back by the time his shift ended at two. And I’d confirmed with him the night before, but something must have happened.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and looked around. There was nothing for it but to take a chance and hope security didn’t catch me texting. I chuckled. Of course, that would be the least of the problems if I was caught out here after curfew. I sent a message and waited for a reply. My friends and my mate would be waiting for me, and if the car wasn’t here in a few minutes, I’d have to tell them it was off. Letting down our mate on our first date was anything but what I wanted to do.
One night, shortly before the holiday break, while I was prowling the halls on my way to the kitchens to replenish our snack cabinet in the suite, I’d come across one of the janitors with his head in the refrigerator. A bag sat on the counter, already half filled with sliced meats and cheeses as well as other goodies. He turned around, a whole roast chicken in his hands, which he fumbled and almost dropped at the sight of me.
“I’m just getting…it’s for…”
I waited.
“One of the teachers asked me to get them something to eat.”
“Really?” I leaned an elbow on the counter, prepared to hear this lie out. “So…which teacher?”
“Professor, I don’t know their name but they are tall.”
“Winston? Gray hair, blue eyes?” I suggested as he set the chicken down next to the bag.
“Yeah, I think, that is definitely who it is. They were very hungry. I think they had some other friends there, too.”
“I see.” I waited for him to go on, to continue the lie. And curious about why he was telling it.
Finally, cheeks blazing, he fixed his gaze on the floor and mumbled, “There is no Professor Winston, is there?”
“No. At least not so far as I know.” I pulled out a chair at the table where the cooks could sit down and do some of their work. “Plant yourself and tell me what’s going on.”
“Don’t you want to call security and have me fired?”
“Are you funding a business out of here? Stealing large amounts of school property and running a restaurant or a food truck or something?”
Halfway to sitting, he jerked upright. “No. I’d never!”
I rested a hand on his shoulder and guided him back into the seat. “Then if you don’t want me to call security, I suggest you let me know what is going on.”
“I am only taking a little here and there to help out my pack. A few of our members are struggling with food insecurity due to our alpha’s unfair treatment of them.” He went on to explain the whole thing. Many packs slipped through the cracks, the Shifter Council not paying attention to them if they got no complaints. And many of those who suffered in these circumstances were so used to being put down, they didn’t even consider rebelling.
My family was essentially royalty, we had more money than my parents knew what to do with, but they never treated those under them like this. And while I was still stuck in this poor excuse for a reform school due to their law-abiding tendencies, my folks had no tolerance for cruelty in any form.
I asked Fernando, the janitor who was pilfering roast chicken, for details about his pack, and he was panicked enough at the thought of getting caught to tell me enough that I could help. Swearing I’d make sure nobody learned it was from him, Ihelped him carry out the food he needed, gave him money from my spending stash, and went up the hill to call the folks. We were allowed to call home, as long as we let someone know, but this was not one of those cases.
Since then, I had learned that the Shifter Council came down on Fernando’s pack and their alpha was banned from holding any position of trust again. After a not-fatal challenge between two betas, they had a new alpha and things were looking much better. No more needing to steal food…and Fernando’s gratitude was immense.
So, when the car was not here, I knew it wasn’t because he flaked. He was always trying to find a way to repay me, and I’d always refused until now. No reply to the text… Then, just as I was about to give up and go apologize to my friends and mate, I heard the rattle of a poorly tuned car coming. Stepping behind a tree, I waited, and, sure enough, it was Fernando. All begging forgiveness that his supervisor had been all over him, and he hadn’t been able to sneak away.
The paint was flaking off the hood and one of the windows wouldn’t go up. But it was transportation, and I had no complaints about that.
Chapter Fifteen
Karelis
