Page 111 of House of Lilith

No, I won’t, I think as I watch him turn on his heel and stroll away. Iwon’tbecauseI’mthe fucking… I grind my teeth, my hands balling into fists.

I guess this won’t be such a nice day after all, I think as I start walking out of the Common Room.

Mother did remember my birthday this year, but only as an excuse to get me in the same room with Max, people are once again spreading rumors about me, and Howe’s throwing a party I don’t even know about.

And, sure, I get it. After all, I’m the one who insists on keeping the conversation to a minimum and not having anything to do with each other outside of our little arrangement.

But it still stings to be singled out like this.

It makes me even grumpier, when I remember I’ve never even received the form. Because, besides not getting the fucking e-vite, being Student Leader, I now have to go see why they haven’t filed the official paperwork, for a fucking party I wasn’t even invited to.

On my fucking birthday.

*

Gripping a copy of the form as I fight to stay calm, I march down the slope to the camp. I don’t want to be that person, but it’s proving to be hard, raising above the urge to rehearse saying, with a fake smile, “No, sorry, but it’s just too late for you to get the approval.”

So it’s only once I’m on the plateau, looking around, that I realize how deserted the camp is.

“Need help?” a shifter girl asks, smiling, as she sticks her head out of one of the tents.

“Yeah,” I blurt out, clearing my throat and frowning a little. “I’m looking for Howe.”

She tilts her head at me, then walks out of the tent with a light scarf in her hand, making me frown when I see how beautiful she is. “He may be indisposed right now,” she says.

“Still have to see him,” I tell her, a little too harshly.

“Gotcha.” She throws me a wide smile, making me feel like a real bitch for reacting to her the way I did. And she throws the scarf on and says, “I was just about to go down there myself. Follow me.”

I force myself to throw her a smile and I do as she says. As we walk, my eyes get drawn to her bright nail polish and the colorful highlights in her rich, dark hair.

“Sorry for being a little slow, it’s less than ten minutes ago that I woke up,” the girl tells me as she keeps leading me in the direction of the Grimm Tower, behind which looms the woods bordering the castle wall. She throws me another smile as she says, “Dahrian sure likes to start trainings early.”

I notice a familiarity in the way she says his name, but it’s at that exact moment that I hear some kind of chatter, I turn away from her and I spot them all. A bunch of students standing and sitting around in a wide circle, watching the fight between a dozen shifters in their animal forms.

One of which is the largest, most dangerous-looking fox I’ve ever laid eyes on. It’s stalking left right, calmly but with its focus on the wolf shifters circling it, who all seem to be engrossed in waiting for a chance to attack.

“I’ll go tell him you’re looking for him,” the girl says, snapping me out of it and making me realize we’ve come to a stop just a little outside the circle of people mesmerized by the fight.

It’s only when she starts marching into the ‘ring’ that I realize what she’s doing.

She’s planning on interrupting the session? I open my mouth to yell no after her, but it’s too late.

The fox has already spotted her.

It stops stalking.

The next second, my eye gets drawn to one of the wolves surrounding it, taking the little distraction as an opportunity to attack. I see the fox lazily swing its front paw, sending the wolf flying back and hitting the ground with a low thud.

My breath held, I watch the girl keep walking, zero hesitation in her step. The fox stalks a little closer and she looks up to say something.

And the next moment, my heart is pounding because the giant fox is looking straight at me.

But before I can even process what’s going on, I see it kick itself off the ground and dart into a little grove to the right of the ‘ring’.

I don’t tear my eyes away from the spot, not even as the rest of the shifters resume their training.

And the next thing I know, he’s marching straight towards me, his pants already on, but his shirt still in his hand.

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