Finding a mate is definitely not on my to-do list. At least not with any of these wolves.
I take the bottle from Aurelia. “I think I should just leave at the end of the academy year in two weeks. Maybe join the demon-hunting trials in the Stormfire pack or something.” Throwing back a deep mouthful, I wipe my lips with the back of my hand. “Hell, maybe I could look for my father and actually fit in there.”
Aurelia gawks at me, then snatches the bottle. “Are you freaking crazy? You could also die in the trials. That’s it. No more booze for you.”
I glare at her jokingly. “Hey, I’m not even tipsy!”
“You’re speaking like my aunt on New Year’s Eve! Have you forgotten that you could get killed trying to capture those disgusting demons? They eat wolves for fun. Why would you even want that?” She shakes her head. “You’re safe here. You shouldn’t leave.”
“My brother left.”
With a sigh, she rests her head on my shoulder for a few seconds. “But he’s a male and strong. There are like three female demon hunters in the whole of the Stormfire pack, and each of them are totally badass.”
“So you’re saying I’m not a badass?” I question with a raised eyebrow.
She laughs. “If you were brought up in Stormfire, taught to fight from a kid instead of how to read a book and study like our pack taught, we might be having a different conversation. But your circumstances are totally different. You were brought up a Caeli, and we both don’t have a clue about fighting demons or capturing them. Come on, Lilith. You know this. Please tell me you weren’t being serious?”
I don’t answer her because I know she’s right. But the thought of studying wolf history and doing nothing more than studying for the rest of my life makes me feel sick. It’s like my pack is squeezing the life out of me with each passing day, and the only way to stop is to find an escape.
“We can talk about it later,” I say, shrugging my shoulder. “They are nearly here.”
Aurelia raises her head and straightens her tight, sparkling yellow dress that shows off her long legs. I cross my own covered legs, the movement straining my jeans and knocking mud off my heavy boots. Aurelia decided that we both needed to dress up and come to this party at one of her friend’s houses, something that I would never attend before now because honestly, parties are not my thing. I’d much rather be drinking this bottle of red wine on my own back in my room, but I can’t always be unsociable when my best friend is a big extrovert. I need to compromise sometimes, even if that means leaving my bedroom. C’est la vie, right?
The alpha sons stomp over from the dance floor that we can see at the end of the corridor we are sitting in. The blasting music vibrates through the room, shaking the floor almost from the noise of it, and pop song comes on that sings about humans shaking their asses. Another reason I tend to avoid these things. Why does the music always suck? I’d much rather they played some rock. Hell, if they put on some Guns N’ Roses, I might even bust some real moves. None of this swaying, grinding nonsense.
Beside me, a dancing Aurelia knocks my shoulder as she sings the song word for word. I can’t help but smile at her. I thought I could hide back here with her, but now the alpha’s twin sons’ shadows hang over us, I’m thinking my hiding skills need work.
This was a really bad idea.
They’re both looking at her like she’s the answer to their prayers, the very air to their lungs, while their mating scent invades my own lungs so much that I nearly gag. They never stop staring at Aurelia even as they finally come to a stop, and I know why. Everyone knows she’s going to be an alpha female at some point because her wolf is strong, a born leader, and her human incomparably beautiful.
All the things you need to be on the alpha’s sons’ radar.
As for me? Everyone knows I’m only ever going to be the outcast. It’s because I really, really don’t belong in this pack. Caeli is all about reputation and utmost control, of unrivalled intellect and centuries-old knowledge that are the very bones of our existence. Each pack in our world has its own unique purpose. Caeli’s is record-keeping and the continuous search for better, more proficient pack medicine; something that has been installed into me since I was a pup.
Learn for the Pack—the motto every wolf here lives by.
Every wolf except for me.
As my mum puts it, I’ve always been too wild, too uncontrollable, and in general too nosy for my own good. I’m sure that’s the sole reason most of the teachers at this academy absolutely hate me and most likely the reason that my adopted brother sometimes pretends I’m not really his sister. Being an embarrassment to the shifter world is weirdly something I can live with. But being an embarrassment to my own family is the only thing that’s kept me from running away.
Damn, I need more wine if I’m going to think about my family.
The alpha’s sons, Dumb and Dumber as I’ve nicknamed them, just gaze with wide eyes at Aurelia. Their expressions are almost panicked. Aurelia watches back and sighs. It always makes me laugh how the simple fact she stares down future alphas who will no doubt one day fight for the chance to be pack leader, and subsequently, choose her as the alpha female if she chooses them, too. But I don’t know if she will. Aurelia is picky about her guys, a lot like me. Not that many have been interested in the girl who doesn’t belong here. Beyond their curiosity, I’m usually too different for them to look at twice.
The alpha sons may be handsome and muscular, both of them built like dump trucks, but for as strong as they are, there’s not a lot going on upstairs under their thick, white-blond hair. My point is proven when they both stumble for a second on what to say to Aurelia. They scratch their heads, no doubt in search of a cheesy, overthought chat-up line, and then one of them says something that surprises even me a little.
“Would you like to come and dance to the song that is playing? I heard you say it was your favourite once.”
And for whatever reason in the world, Aurelia appears almost happy that one of them noticed she likes the song that’s playing.
She looks at me, and I nod. “Go. I’m going back to my room with the wine.”
“Okay, see you back there later,” she replies with a big smile.
The two of them quickly wander off down the corridor, and I hear her laugh a while later as I take another long drink of the bottle. A warm buzz floats down my body, the wine finally kicking in, but then I notice I’m left alone with the other alpha’s son who I can never remember the name of. Every girl at this academy, other than me and Aurelia, has got their names memorised and written down in their diaries with love hearts. I know she doesn’t do silly stuff like that just because we share a room and have done since we both came here when we were eight, like every young pack member. Their names come back to me now I gaze at them; Mathi and… Dammit, I can’t remember what the other one’s name is.
I stand and fake a big yawn before trying to walk away. But Mathi reaches out and grabs my arm, stopping me. I knew it was never going to be that easy. These alpha-holes rarely ever take a hint.
I narrow my eyes on his brown ones, a big contrast to my light grey. “Let. Go.”
A smirk slides over his lips. “No. Why should I?”