Page 7 of Wings of Ashes
She ignored him and maintained a safe following distance from the large man in front of her. Gods, his build was massive. He was the type of shifter who could walk through a brick wall like it was bubbles and foam.
She entered the classroom in the single file line and grabbed a piece of paper at the front desk like everyone else did.
She turned to look for a seat and was met with heated gazes from…a classroom of almost entirely men. There was one woman. One. Out of maybe fifteen students.
Meanwhile, the males in the classroom all stared at Nix with narrowed eyes that ranged from spewing hatred and annoyance to spewing unbridled lust.Ew.
“What—the—fuck,” a masculine voice grumbled from a desk in the middle of her brand-new class.
“Excuse me,” the sunglasses-wearing jerk from the hall breezed around Nix as she stood, frozen at the front of the classroom, all eyes on her.
The sunglasses-wearing dark prince strode over to sit near the back row of the classroom, where most seats were empty except for the hulking form of a man hunched over his desk, staring at the paper he had picked up at the front.
Seeing only the top of the bulky man’s head, she could only make out that his hair was a dark, reddish bronze color, under the shadow of his hoodie. He was the friend of Mr. Sunglasses—the friend who watched Nix fall and walked right around her without offering help.
So, he is Asshole number two, then.
“Are you lost, little swan shifter?” a random male voice asked Nix from a desk in the second row of the classroom. “Cooking class is on the third floor.” A few of the men close to him snickered.
Right. Because cygnus shifters typically studied homemaking and how to bring comfort to their alpha mates. The males were allowed to learn to be big and strong and knowledgeable about the paranormal world. Meanwhile, the prey shifters were kept ignorant.
“Professor Bowen, are you seeing this?” another male student asked.
A few footsteps sounded from behind Nix, and she spun around to see the professor of the potions class running his critical gaze over her.
The wrinkled, older professor coughed into his fist and asked her, “Areyou lost?”
Was itbe-a-jerkday? “No, sir, I transferred into this class this morning.”
“The morning of the start of the second semester,” he said in a doubtful tone. Did he think she was lying?
“Yes, sir.”
“Sir. So submissive; what a good little swan,” someone in the classroom mocked her, but she kept her gaze on the professor.
“Rather late to make such a change.” The professor tilted his head and paused, looking deeply into her eyes. She stared right back, unblinking. He nodded, as if appeased by something he saw in her. “Be sure your assignments do not follow the same ‘last-minute’ trend.”
Nix cracked a smile and exhaled in relief. “Yes, sir.”
“Professor Bowen!” Another loud male voice sounded. “You can’t actually allow this.”
Nix turned to face the classroom of males—and one female, who looked bored.
“And why not, Mr. Graeves?” Professor Bowen asked.
The blond male student sputtered, and Nix wondered if this “Mr. Graeves” had ever known any hardships in life.He couldn’t have undergone an hour of the torture I’ve been through.
Looking around the classroom, Nix thought to herself,This crew reeks of privilege.
“Because she is not here for an education,” the student exasperated. “She is here for our dicks.”
Nix’s jaw dropped.Okay, privilege and sexism. He thought she was here for… Her stomach turned.
Yes, Nix knew there was an unsaid rule that female cygni did not take the same classes as the alpha males and the other strong shifters. Yes, she knew that there was a rather correct stereotype that the prey shifter females wanted to “trap” the alphas into marriage at graduation. But Nix was there tolearn.
Graeves continued, “Let’s all be honest, cygnus shifters are at the academy to find husbands. If you allow her to join this class, this will be the start ofallof them flocking to our classes. She doesn’t actually want to learn potions. She’ll just be a distraction.”
Nix was there to learn everything she could to avoid her future torture and murder. A mouthy boy would not take this chance from her.
