Page 4 of Heartless

The whole thing probably took under a minute, and far less to shift back. But it felt like I’d been running uphill for hours and I lay on my side, naked and gasping as sweat pooled beneath me. Callum nudged me with a toe, then held out his phone, so I could see my transformation playing on the screen. “Insurance,” he told me. “In case you forget who’s now holding your leash, Little Freak.”

Chapter Three – Vail

Having made his point – and tucked his blackmail material back in his pocket - Callum left me shivering by the side of the pool. He was no doubt heading in search of Tilly and her tree-climbing abilities, but I was just glad to see the back of him. It let me peel myself off the damp floor in privacy, which was a slow and painful process. I knew other shifters moved seamlessly between forms, as was on vivid display during the Packball Cup. The whole brutal beauty of the game was in the endless shifts from four legs to two, so your opponents never knew if they were chasing down a ball tucked under an arm, or dodging a set of vicious claws. Wild. Exhilarating. Effortless.

While my first real shift left me feeling as invigorated as a wet towel.

Snagging Calum’s jacket from the ground with a grimace, I thrust my arms through the sleeves. Even with Reed’s sweatshirt underneath, I could feel the cold leather biting into my sensitive skin. For a moment, I stood on the edge of the pool, fighting back a shudder. I knew how warm and comforting that dark water was, but like everything in this school, it came at a price. Of letting down my guard, opening myself up. And then more than likely drowning in the backwash when reality slapped me in the face. It was skin-deep solace at best, and I turned away, shuffling back towards the door.

Nothing has changed. Callum’s blackmail stunt just made everything more urgent. I couldn’t wait around for someone to save me – or, as Sin predicted, for my supposed cousins to rain their wrath down on the academy for mistreating me. I needed to leave, to go find Darkness, and maybe get some answers from Driftwood. But this time, I was going to do it right. Like Driftwood was always telling me, the fastest way up a mountain is when someone helps carry the load. In this case, to get off campus, I was going to need my friends.

Sin’s words from the night of the Frost Moon were still echoing in my head. Even after everything I’d been through, I couldn’t shake her scowl when I’d told her I couldn’t leave campus until I’d warned the others: Jesus, little Marrow. They collar your wolf and bug your ass, and you’re still calling them your friends?

But they were my friends. Maybe few and far between in the Sawyer pack, but I had Marnie and Nadia and Jasmine… and as I approached the medical bay, the thought of them being hurt in the Denners’ raid hit me all at once.

I swayed a little and grabbed the wall. When the nurse looked up from her desk, my face must have been the color of old milk, because she was instantly on her feet and waving me towards the bed. But I shook my head and leaned against the doorframe. The medical bay was buried in the bowels of the building and scorned by most students, but I had good memories of this place. Not just the nurse’s gentle touch as she treated my bleach burns, but that Jasper found me here, and took me to the pool for his own version of healing.

Alpha voodoo. A shame their spit couldn’t just be bottled, even if the application process was something I still dreamed about at night.

“Are you alright?” The nurse asked me now, her kind eyes looking me over.

“Yes, I’m fine. I Just wanted to check if anyone was hurt in the Black Den attack? I was out of it yesterday, and I just woke up.”

“No, we were lucky. They were using tranquilizers, so the damage was contained to broken bones, mostly among the guards. And with the Clan Alpha healing everyone…” At my surprised look, she nodded slowly, her smile full of admiration. “He’s worked tirelessly to get the injured back on their feet. Not that I need to sing his praises to you.”

I frowned at that last bit, since she was probably just remembering the way Jasper had stormed in here and taken me off to the mineral pool. But what was that niggling feeling under my breastbone? Could it be jealousy at the thought of Jasper sharing his magic spit around? Or disappointment that in healing my leg while I was asleep, he’d just been doing his Clan Alpha duty?

“If you want to help him get back to full strength, the best thing you can do is stay close. Bonds like yours are healing in themselves.”

My head snapped up. “What?” I’d been digging the edge of my thumb into Callum’s claiming mark, and I held it up now. “I’m with Callum Sawyer, not the Clan Alpha.”

She gave me a sad look. “I heard they removed his mark at the lab. But you should know, bonds are more than just marks. Think of it as a wedding ring in the human world, if it helps. You take it off your finger, the connection with your loved one doesn’t break, does it?”

I forced a smile, but kept my thoughts to myself as I left the medical bay, since she only meant well. But jewelry was definitely a sensitive topic for me. I was still wearing Reed’s omega ring, even though the little ruby had lost its sparkle now he’d admitted to giving Pearl the Wolf Fire. And the only jewelry Jasper had ever given me was the choker he’d locked around my neck. The one that had suppressed my wolf, back when I thought it was a wolf inside me.

But I wasn’t going to dwell on that now. It was all… water under the bridge. As soon as I was away from the academy, any connections I’d made here would be meaningless. On the Horn, slapping a ring on someone was just a gesture. It was the grit underneath – the sticking together and sharing the load – that really mattered.

The Dud Dorm was a dark corner of the accommodation block, and a symbol of the way things worked in this place; powerful wolves ruled, and duds did as they were told. Which included putting up with the worst beds in the school – and I had the divots in my spine from the broken springs to prove it. But as I stuck my head in the breakroom door and watched a bunch of sleepy girls slop milk on their cereal, I felt a strange homesickness. Getting labeled a dud had stung, but things hadn’t been all bad when I lived here. Not that they exactly threw their arms around me when they saw me hovering in the doorway.

Linda, who’d been my bunkmate when I first arrived, frowned as she grabbed the box of Cheerios. “What are you doing here, Omega?”

I tried to keep the wince off my face at her flat hostility. “I’m looking for Marnie.”

“She moved yesterday.” When I just stared at her, she crunched her cereal and shook her head like I was hopeless. “She shifted, didn’t she? So why would she still be hanging here? Try the alpha dorm in the Marshall wing.”

Of course. After her spectacular reveal at the Packball Cup, Marnie was now one of the extremely rare and powerful female alphas. I nodded, but before I could thank her, Linda tapped her spoon hard on the side of her bowl and asked, “Did you really throw Reed Marshall over for Callum Sawyer? I get that he’s sexy and all, but that’s like swapping your life savings for a lottery ticket. That wolf is a bad gamble.”

The entire room was watching us now, and I could tell by their smirks they all thought I was out of my head. And I didn’t blame them. Callum wasn’t just a bad gamble – he was the kind of guy whose games broke people into pieces. Which was why I didn’t plan on being around long enough to see what game he had in mind for me.

So I just shrugged and left, not that I was in any hurry to head to the Marshall wing. I wasn’t sure what Reed had told his pack about my sudden move from his room to Callum’s, but I knew there’d be a lot more smirks and catty remarks waiting for me. It wasn’t the first time I’d be a target for the kids in this school, but the anger building under my skin wasn’t something I wanted to dump on Marnie’s new doorstep, either. I hadn’t even congratulated her yet for her shift. If there was any person in the school who deserved it, it was her. She was one of the elite now, and she didn’t need me and my shitty mood taking the shine off her victory.

There weren’t many places in the school where I could sit and stew, so maybe it wasn’t surprising I ended up at Mr. Wentworth’s door. Since the math teacher had returned to Ireland, I figured the teachers’ lounge he’d turned into his private sanctuary was up for grabs. I half expected the door to be locked, or some other teacher to be camped inside, but as I pushed it open, I was greeted only by the lingering scent of mint and tobacco.

It was a small room dominated by a large sofa under a picture window. A bookshelf was pushed against a wall, next to a basic kitchenette. I wasn’t surprised to find Mr. Wentworth’s books missing, but as I crossed the room, I saw his tea tray was still sitting neatly atop the microwave. I frowned as I picked up a teacup. It was a pretty set, with a teapot and matching sugar bowl. When I’d commented on it, he’d told me he would compromise on a lot of things, but never tea. And yet he’d left this behind.

I thought the lingering scent of peppermint was coming from the teacup in my hand, until I sensed someone at my back. I spun around, clutching the delicate cup to my chest as Mr. Wentworth stepped inside and quietly shut the door.

He still looked more like an English professor than a Math teacher, with his three-piece suit and dreamy face. But his black-framed glasses now magnified the deep shadows under his soulful, gray eyes. His suit, I noticed, hung loose on his tall frame, and his high cheekbones looked more pronounced. Was he sick? Was that why he’d gone home so suddenly?

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