Page 7 of Cleo

“Okay, well, how about we give you our numbers so that you can call us if you need anything,” Jude offered.

“Or if you get lost or need someone to study with,” Miles added.

“I really appreciate it but I don’t have a phone. Never have, actually. Um…” I scrambled for another idea to have some kind of future connection with them. This was a huge school, and I didn’t want to not see them again.

“Here.” Pax walked over to the stack of paperwork and pulled a pen from his backpack. “Our dorm numbers.”

A man of few words.

“Thank you. I have three sisters and now three friends,” I said, bouncing on my heels. They probably thought I was nutty, but I was so excited to be on my own and here and finally at a place, both physically and mentally, where I could make my own decisions.

My life was finally my own.

Miles nodded. “Come find us if you need anything,” he reiterated. “Maybe we’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I hope so.”

They left, and I flopped onto my bed. I didn’t even have sheets but I didn’t care.

I took a long, hot shower, donned a skirt and a long-sleeve shirt, and sat on the floor, simply enjoying the silence.

Everyone I encountered here so far was a wolf. Sure there were some half shifters and one dragon shifter I scented, but they were all part wolf and not much else. I wondered what that meant for me and my shifting. Werewolf Academy only fit onepart of me, but it would have to do. I would only show them my wolf…for now.

Chapter Seven

I realized shortly before going to sleep that I had no way of making sure I woke up on time. Sure, I had a watch, but it didn’t have an alarm. Lying there in the darkness, truly alone for the first time in my life, I recognized the gaping hole in my heart from leaving Angie behind. She had run toward a future of her own, but I missed her as though I had a limb amputated.

Good thing the others at Werewolf Academy weren’t quiet and I had shifter hearing. The bustle and voices woke me up just in time to take another shower and get ready for the day. I put on jeans and a light long-sleeve shirt along with my boots, aware I needed to get more clothing but having no money to do so. Suddenly money was a thing in my life.

But all of this was worth it, I hoped.

I didn’t even have notebooks. The only pen I had was the one Pax left on my desk.

Maybe my sisters could help me find a place off campus to get some things that I needed. If I could figure out how to do that with no money. How did people get money anyway?

I paused before opening the door to this new experience. Fear flopped in my stomach and spread out in my veins. I was autonomous now, but everything was so new. People. Places. Experiences. There were so many things normal and everyday to others that I’d never had or taken part in. I’d never been on a date or bowling or to a movie in a cinema, all things the people did on TV. Was there a beach nearby? I wasn’t even sure where I was in relation to where I had been.

And my supernatural side wasn’t one-dimensional as I believed the other students’ were. It was called the Werewolf Academy, after all. Would I be accepted as I was, or would I have to hide my true nature while I was here? Angie had explainedthat most shifters had just one animal… That must be very limiting.

My father would’ve scoffed at such an idea even popping into my head. My true nature was identical to his and as he always said, something to be proud of. Also, as he never said but practiced, something to hold himself above others. That part I would never do.

The moment I steeled myself to go out there and get this new life going, a knock made me jump nearly out of my skin. “Who is it?” I asked with a shaky voice. I hoped it was one of the guys from the day before, but hope made us fools. At least, that’s what Father had drilled into me.

He was on his annual excursion, but I wondered if he had checked in. If he already knew I was gone.

If he was already on the hunt for me.

“It’s Minx and Ava and Kiki,” Minx called out from the other side.

“Oh.” I pulled open the door, and their eyes widened as they scanned the place behind me.

Ava stepped forward. “Cleo, have you not unpacked?”

“I didn’t come with much.” I tried to shrug it off. I was so ignorant and naive. But in showing up, I was enough of a burden without adding my lack of material items.

“Girls,” Minx said. “All of us have extra stuff, right? Until we can take a girls’ day and go shopping.”

“I don’t have any money.” It was enough that I was here!

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