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Karelis
These uniforms were a trip.
Knee-length navy skirts with your choice of a long-sleeve or short-sleeve button-up white shirt with a plaid tie. A tie. Even for girls. Ms. Hollis had admonished June for asking about these uniforms, saying that this wasn’t a playdate or maybe she said daycare, but I sure as hell felt like a kindergartener with this outfit on. Hand me a pink lunchbox, and I’d be all set to color in the lines and call out the names of shapes all day long. Freshmen started a day after the other classes, I’d been informed, so this was my first day in uniform.
June had taken over my hair that morning, putting it all up in a messy bun, but pulled out some tendrils to give me a sexy mussed look, whatever that meant. As soon as we’d parted ways, going to our respective classes, I’d pushed those hairs behind my ears before they drove me to madness.
As I sat in my first class, I expected to see the dregs of humanity, or rather, shifter society. From the extensive rules in the welcome packet, I thought I would be surrounded by criminals and shifters who exploded into their beasts without warning, eating up all the teachers and others at will.
The headmistress from the Urban Academy had mentioned some things while she walked me down to the bus that afternoon. There were shifters here who couldn’t control their animals. There were those who could control their shifts but their beasts were bloodthirsty.
I let my eyes roam around the classroom while the professor took roll and, honestly, everything seemed like your ordinary school. I went to private school all my life, and these young people resembled the ones in my classes. No one wasspontaneously combusting into a rabid beast. There was no blood on the walls or bars on the windows.
This classroom was full of young people. Perhaps they had made mistakes that landed them here, but I didn’t feel in danger. Night would have warned me if I were.
“Karelis Sol,” the professor called out at the last even though the alphabet had been gone through. I suspected that would be the case since I was a last-second enrollment.
I raised my hand instead of answering, and she nodded. Some students turned to look at me but for the most part, we were all here trying to survive in our own hurricanes. I was one of many with secrets and hidden parts of myself. Comforting, somehow.
Everyone here was broken, just like me.
June and I had compared schedules, but I was surprised anyway when she plopped down in the seat next to me at the start of my third class. “When is lunch?”
I laughed. She didn’t eat a single bite for breakfast and used the coffee to warm her hands instead of actually drinking it. “After fourth period.”
“Two more hours. Damn it.”
The professor launched into a long lecture about the history of shifter politics. He began with the normal alphas and betas normal things but then got into some controversy about bloodlines and the times when an alpha, even though he or she wasn’t the heir, was unfit. Before long, I found myself leaning forward, scribbling notes on the provided notebook and truly listening. The last two classes, not so much.
When the class was over and we were dismissed, I was kind of bummed out but knew that studying might not be so bad after all.
And despite all the warnings about this school, it wasn’t the prison full of horrors at all. The schedules were strict, and inbetween classes, there were monitors in the hallways making sure everyone moved along and didn’t dawdle but, all in all, it was elevated high school but a bit more disciplined.
June and I didn’t share the next class, but once I entered the dining hall, I spotted her red hair immediately. After getting my food, I sat down next to her. She had already eaten half her lunch. “How’s it going?” I asked. At full tables around us, older students already had their groups and friends. If someone got too loud, they were admonished by one of the teachers, so the talk and laughter maintained a low hum. I hadn’t seen the two guys from the day before in the administrative office and while I was glad, since I was still embarrassed, I was also a little disappointed. I’d only been in their presence a few minutes, but my wolves had both responded. They never shared a reaction to anything. Either Sol flared to life or Night did, but never at the same time. They spoke to me but not to each other.
Not until them.
“I have so much studying to do already. Can you believe we have a test every Friday in shifter history?”
I pulled my schedule from my bag and looked. Yeah. I had that class as well. Last one of the day. “This is the same professor?” June looked over the paper and confirmed it was him. “We can study together.”
By the end of lunch, we had agreed to hit the books together, maybe in the library or in our rooms. The bell rang, and we split up for our classes. It seemed we had nearly all the same subjects, with the same professors, but at different times.
She left, taking my tray with her, as I put my bag on my shoulder. I stopped before sliding the chair back under the table. The hair on the back of my neck rose, and bumps filled my otherwise-smooth skin.
Both of my wolves came to attention, preening inside me. I’d never known Night to preen. Hell, I didn’t know she could doanything but growl and snarl, but now they were all of a sudden getting along. I turned around, sure that someone was behind me or looking at me, but in the flood of students making their way out of the large room, I saw nothing.
The feeling left almost as quickly as it came.
My wolves could do what they wanted, as long as they stayed hidden. I had to focus. We were here to learn and stay hidden from our enemies. Enemies who claimed they were full of goodness and light.
Chapter Ten
Casimir
As the first person in our pack to attend one of the academies, I took my classes seriously. It was bad enough that I’d been assigned to this loser school, but I’d be damned if I’d settle for anything but the highest grades.
Most of the students had much better educational backgrounds before they got here, putting me at a disadvantage I worked hard to overcome. They all had either gone to other schools or had tutoring of some kind that gave them the background necessary to step into the classes we studied. And that was great. I was glad for them but also making mental notes about how to better prepare our young people to step into the shifter world as more than just hired swords.
