Page 199 of A University of Betrayal

The mere thought made me nauseous.

We belonged here, out in the wilderness, far away from humans and witches, far away from the...

The mere thought of that bastard made me snort, and I let out a silent curse.

Why couldn’t there be just us? I didn’t know any pack that didn’t have to deal with these wretched creatures of darkness. They existed to destroy us.

The devil’s offspring,Father always called them.

“You took her in just in time.”

I wheeled around.

Behind me stood the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.Tania Rolanow. Her full lips formed into a beautiful smile, and I couldn’t help but stare at her many little freckles or those blonde curls. There was so much joy in her icy blue eyes, a certain charm that I usually only knew from the Copeland men.

“I’m sorry if I caught you off guard, but unfortunately we haven’t had the pleasure of getting to know each other properly yet.”

Her smile widened, revealing bright white teeth. Two small dimples emerged from their hiding place.

I wondered what she looked like as a wolf. Soon I would find out.

“Yeah, uhm, no. It’s all good...” I began, forcing myself to focus on the conversation.

“Can we go for a walk, or did I just interrupt you?”

“Oh, no, you didn’t. I’ve got time.”

Although I still had a mountain of legal texts waiting for me, I would be working a night shift tonight either way.

I smiled sheepishly, and she put her hand on my arm, which immediately put me at ease.

Of course, she couldn’t manipulate emotions. It was just her charm and warm manner that made me feel grounded.

Soft Water Stream and Birds

Nature Dreamscapes

We walked along a path by the small stream that ran past our house. A place teeming with butterflies with shiny black wings. I was used to the lively spectacle of colors when they and the blue butterflies began to dance together. Tania, on the other hand, seemed very fascinated by the extraordinary butterflies.

“Already back then, I wondered how so many of these pretty creatures could live here...” She took her eyes off the animals and looked at the trees around us. “You truly have the most beautiful forest here. Not even our forests come close.”

Her Russian accent was cute.

“You’ve been here before?” I asked with interest, and she looked straight at me and nodded.

I remembered how familiar her exchange of glances with Alarik had seemed.

“But that was a long time ago.”

I wondered what occasion she had been here for as I remembered father’s words. “You were here with your brother when he wanted to get married, am I right?”

“Iwas supposed to get married back then.”

This sentence jolted me out of my confidence so violently that I was afraid the mood would change, but Tania just smiled gently, and before I could apologize, she started talking.

“Let’s not make a secret of it. You must have wondered why my brother was so upset.”

I just nodded, too ashamed that I had brought the subject up.

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