"Son, don't even try to deny it." Dad chuckled and shook his head. "But you need to get your act together. We're around the elite. If you're wanting to replace me as pack alpha one day, you're going to have to grow up."
"Yeah, okay." Max sighed, and I could see the hurt in his eyes. "You're right."
He had always wanted to come here and was excited to live out his dream even vicariously. I hated that Dad was being so hard on him, but he was right. Wolf Moon wasn't the place to draw negative attention to yourself. I already regretted my decision to come, but all I had to do was stick it out a year. I bet that’s all the time I’d get here.
I rushed ahead of them, hurrying past the windows that lined the front of the building, and reached the glass door. I tugged to open it, but it refused to budge. "Uh..." I glanced around and noticed an intercom at eye level. I pressed the button, and soon the door buzzed as a voice spoke through the speakers, "Come on in."
Not wasting another second, I opened the door and waved them both in. As I stepped in behind them, I took in what had to be a student lobby area, only more elaborate and clean. There were several large, blood-red, leather couches placed throughout the open area with tables and televisions strategically located around the room.
In the center was a small desk where two girls, who couldn't be much older than me, sat. The blonde-haired one smiled at me and stood as I approached. "Hi, my name is Blaire. I'm one of the RA's in the dorm," she said in a faint Southern drawl and pointed at the girl next to her, "and this is Scarlett. She's the junior RA that's helping me."
Scarlett sat back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest. Her dark olive skin had a glow, and her golden eyes reminded me of one of Liam's buddies who had shown up that night at the party. She scowled at me.
This was going great. "Hi, I’m Mia Davis." I smiled and pointed to the men behind me. "My dad is Ethan and my brother is Max."
"Good to meet you." Dad smiled at the girl and ignored the one scowling in our direction.
"Figures this would be our financial aid girl." Scarlett tilted her head as she stared me up and down. "Rip off designer clothes and hair that's way too flat."
Blaire winced at the words but took a deep breath, not letting her smile fall. "So you're going to be on the top floor, room 1202."
"She's on the top floor." Scarlett's hands dropped to her sides, and a frown lined her face. "There has to be a mistake."
"Nope, no mistake." Blaire plucked a key and a badge with my name on it from the drawer and handed them to me. "Do you need any help, or do you have it?"
"We're good." I glanced around the room, wondering where the stairwell was.
"The elevator is right down this hall." Blaire pointed to her left.
My eyes followed her finger, and I nodded. "Thanks." I turned to Dad and Max before taking off in the direction she had indicated.
When I reached the elevators, I was surprised to find four in the hallway—two on each side. Well, okay. We shouldn't have a problem coming and going. I pressed the up button and turned to Dad and Max. "This is really nice."
"It reminds me of a high-quality hotel." Max glanced around and sighed. "And to think, the one elevator in my dorm doesn't work most of the time. You've got four."
"I doubt these will stop working, and if they do, it won't be for long." Dad shook his head as one of the elevators dinged and the doors opened. "Let's go check out this room of yours."
After we all entered, I hit the number twelve, and the doors shut quickly, taking off toward the top floor. "I wonder why that girl freaked out about me having a room on top?"
"No clue, but you won't have to worry about anyone being loud above you." Dad winked at me.
The doors opened, and we stepped out, entering a hallway that was spotless. There was no one loitering about the hallways like at KSU, and the top floor was quiet. The walls were painted the same shade of silver as one of the school's signature colors, and my room was the first one on the right.
"All right. Here we go." I entered the key into the lock and turned. The door opened without any issues.
"You're here." Bree's voice startled me, and she appeared right in front of me, wrapping her arms around me. "You took forever."
"Bree?" My voice must have cracked. I liked the girl. We had connected at the party before she was forced to rush off, but I wasn't thrilled that she was my roommate. That made avoiding Liam even harder.
"I know you're shocked, but I'm so excited that we're here together." She smiled and hugged me again.
"Uh... hello." My dad cleared his throat, and his brows furrowed. "You didn't tell me that you knew someone who attended here."
"Oh, that's because they only met once." Max pushed past me and entered the actual room. "It was at that party we went to before summer. She's my buddy Nate's girl."
"Come on." She tugged me inside.
My breath seemed to get lodged in my chest. We walked into a large living room area. There was a silver L-shaped leather couch in the center of the room against the wall with an enormous flat-screen right across from it. A recliner sat on the side closest to the door. A hallway led out of the room immediately on the left, and another one passed by the living area straight ahead. To the right side was a roomy kitchen that held modern appliances and a large, square table in the center that could seat up to six.
"Okay, I claimed the room down that hallway." She pointed to the hallway furthest from us. "So your room is down there." She motioned to the hallway closest to where we stood.
"I can't believe you have this much room in a dorm." Max glanced around with wide eyes. "This is bigger than some of my friends' apartments off-campus."
"Let's get this stuff into her room, son, so we can let her get settled." Dad walked past me.
Max and I followed him down the hall to the only door on the right. When I walked into the room, I found myself even more shocked.
The room was huge; almost the same size as Mom and Dad's master bedroom. There was a massive king-size bed sitting in the center, arranged with a dark cherry nightstand on each side and an oversized matching dresser on one wall. Toward the back of the room, on the right was a large bathroom, and to the left was a huge walk-in closet.
"You've got it made." Max shook his head and sighed. "I'm struggling really hard not to be jealous again."
Even though he wasn't trying to make me feel bad, I did. There wasn't a way to make this better.
"We're going to head home unless you need help." Dad placed the two large boxes on the floor and walked over to pull me into a hug.
"No, go on." I wrapped my arms around him in response and took a deep breath. His musky scent always brought me comfort and reminded me of home. "You guys have a two-hour drive."
"Yeah, and then I have to get back into the swing of things tomorrow at my own school." Max stole me away from Dad and hugged me really hard.
"Do you need me to walk you down?" Tears threatened to burn my eyes. I hadn't been prepared to feel like this.