Page 296 of A University of Betrayal

“Everyone in the pack knows that you are strong, and I know you better than you think.”

Anger rose in my chest. “You don’t know me at all.”

And besides, I didn’t have the Alpha gene because none of my parents had it.

Dad looked at me as if he wanted to say something else, but he didn’t. Instead, he turned away from me three seconds later and walked on.

My anger subsided a little and I looked after him helplessly.

He behaved strangely today. But he didn’t smell of alcohol.

He had been thrown out of the house, his family had been split, and yet he managed not to reach for the bottle again.

In that moment, I was ashamed of my behavior. Much more than that, I felt like a child. And this despite the fact that I had wanted to take responsibility for Mia.

She stomped past me without even giving me a glance.

I was sure she would hate me for a while now.

She had just been talking to Bayla, but Bay had now fallen behind.

“Damn it, get lost!” I heard Bayla call behind me and turned around just to see four black ravens following her.

I suppressed a grin and waited until she had caught up, not without throwing leaves at the animals, which shot up into the air or hopped into the forest.

Bayla swore a little, but when Mia was out of earshot, she started talking.

“I don’t know how it is with you and the pack, but Mia is sixteen. In my opinion, that’s old enough to decide for herself what she shares with her big brother.”

“Great.She’s dragged you into it, too.”

Another girl thing I didn’t understand.

Bayla started walking and I followed her. “I’m just saying.”

“Besides, she justturnedsixteen,” I added, because that was an important fact.

Bayla rolled her eyes. “If I had an annoying brother like you, I would have fled long ago.”

I skillfully ignored the comment and started to be honest. “I can’t stop her forever, even if I would like to keep her far away from the pack. She is a female Senseque, which means that she has an even stronger urge to be part of the pack andto prove herself.”

Female Senseque were often stronger than males, although I didn’t know why.

“Then you can saygoodbyeto the idea that she will listen to you for the next two years. She’s young, trying things out, needs feedback from her peers and from people who will encourage and challenge her.”

Bayla sounded so mature.

Thoughtfully, I kicked a rock away. “Sometimes she’s like Ems.”

Bayla didn’t say anything. She stopped moving, so I did the same and looked down at her. Bayla looked at me and once again I felt unable to interpret her gaze. It felt so significant. Like she wanted to tell me something.

Then she looked away.

I must have stared at her for too long.

Finally, she started moving again, not without grilling me. “How did the date go? You haven’t said a word.”

That was true. It had been weeks since the break-in at Alarik’s office, and we had both been so busy with our studies that I had hardly seen her. Besides, I hadn’t driven her to university anymore because Bay had insisted that I no longer burden myself with that.

---