Page 1 of Ravaged Wolf
1
IZZY, FIVE YEARS AGO
“That low rankeris staring at you again,” Brynn says the same way she’d say that she just stepped in a wad of chewed gum.
My heart lurches as I whisper, “Where?”
“Over by his truck.”
I dart a glance over to the far end of the parking lot where the low ranks park, but I’m not quick enough. Our gazes catch, and my stomach swoops like I’m going to throw up. It’s been like this since last week when I looked up at the salad bar in the dining hall, and he was on the other side of the lettuce, and I knew instantly. Trevor Floyd is my mate.
His eyes are stormy blue, almost gray, and his eyebrows are so thick that even when his rowdy friends get him to smile, he looks serious.
His friends are nowhere to be seen now, and he’s not smiling. He’s watching me expectantly, leaning against his fender like he’s got all the time in the world, his idle hands shoved in the pockets of his canvas work pants. Doesn’t he need to be at his work placement?
There’s a breeze whipping off the lake, and his curly hair tangles, the wheat blonde streaks catching in the noon sun.He wouldn’t be allowed to wear it past his ears if he was interning at the High Rise like me, but he’s apprenticing with facility maintenance, and they’re much more relaxed about regulations.
I hike my chin and turn my back so that Brynn, Teagan, and I form a tight circle.
“It’s so creepy,” I say and instantly my skin prickles with guilt. I’m such a phony coward. My friends noticed him hanging around at a distance a few days ago, and Brynn called him a perverted, rank-grubbing stalker. I was too embarrassed to know what to say, and then somehow, it was too late to say anything.
“Do you want me to get Cadoc to kick his ass?” Brynn asks.
“No. He’s only looking.” I roll my eyes like it’s nothing.
I’m not so sure that Cadoc would beat someone up just because Brynn asked, but he’d definitely take Trevor aside and have a word with him. Then Trevor would spill the beans, and since no one can keep a secret in this pack, and Cadoc is never alone, by the end of the day, everyone would know.
I’m not ready.
Dad is going to lose his ever-loving mind. Mom will try to calm him down while simultaneously freaking out herself, and she’ll end up making it a hundred times worse. Then they’ll call Uncle Howell and Aunt Catrin to come down, and I’ll have to sit on the sofa like a misbehaved pup while they melt down because my mate lives on a low floor of the Tower.
My whole life, my parents’ dream has been to move from the teens to the twenties. If I mate a male from all the way down on the fifth floor, Mom will go moon mad. Dad very well might disinherit me and send me to live in the bog with the scavengers. He’s threatened to do it for less.
I sneak a peek over my shoulder. Trevor is still there. The corners of his mouth curve tentatively as he tracks me under his smoky, sweeping lashes. My belly fizzles. It’s never fizzled before.
He’s really pretty, prettier than me. I have a plain face, brown hair, brown eyes—nothing remarkable. He looks like a Renaissance sculpture. He seems sweet, though, not arrogant like most of the hot guys around here. His body is cut, but he doesn’t hold himself like a high-ranking male, like he needs to take up as much space as possible. He has an air like he doesn’t care if people are looking at him or not.
I wrap my goose-bumped arms around my waist and pretend I don’t see him. I can’t deal with this right now. My internship with accounting begins today, and after the underwhelming debut I made during my rotation in Corporate Communications, Dad is expecting me to make an impression. I have no idea how to do that. I’m good at math—better than I am at communications, that’s for sure—but neither my wolf nor I are dominant or outgoing.
Honestly, my greatest ambition for today is to not screw up big enough that someone notices, and it doesn’t help that my body is going haywire. My stomach’s doing its weird fizzy thing, my boobs ache so much that I can hardly stand the sports bra I’m wearing, and I’m burning up.
Without thinking, I tug at my collar and huff the strands that’ve come loose from my professional updo away from my forehead. A bead of sweat trickles down my temple.
Brynn’s eyes narrow with sly suspicion. “Are you sick, Izzy? Your face is bright red.”
I shrug, and my cheeks blaze even hotter. “It’s warm.”
“Is it?” Brynn scans the clear sky and the Academy’s majestic oaks swaying in the gentle breeze. “I’d say the weather’s very mild today.”
She knows. I can hear it in her voice. My wolf leaves offher panting and lumbers to her feet as she becomes aware of the threat.
Even though Brynn’s a year younger than me, we don’t have a chance against her if she turns on us, and if I mate a male from the fifth floor, it won’t matter that we’re cousins. She won’t just drop me—she’ll dropkick me. I’ve watched her with the scavengers since we were pups. She’s not content to ignore females who rank lower than her. She gets off on making them show neck.
“I guess I’m just nervous about the new rotation,” I offer, praying she’ll show pity and let it go for now. I need to report to the High Rise, and she and Teagan need to get to third mod. We don’t have time for this.
“Really?” Brynn’s eyes light up. Oh, crap. “Hey, Seth!” she calls. “Come over here a minute.”
“Why?” He’s tossing his messenger bag into the back seat of his SUV. “I’ve got to pull around and pick up Cadoc.”
