Page 70 of Just One Bite
There are too many things going on in my brain.
I’m staring at a diagram of a fully transformed werewolf in my textbook. I’ve seen pictures before, but this book is so detailed I can’t tear my eyes away. Standing on its hind legs, its yellow eyes stare through the paper. With coal-colored fur, giant claws, and large teeth peeking through the snarl on its lips. I imagine Parker’s Were form, and the images of my dream flutter through my mind. The book is filled with things I’ve not learned. It explains the different effects of various moon phases, and there’s the mention of heterochromia over the years. I flip through the pages, skimming ahead while the professor lays out our next assignment.
Mates.The word catches my attention, and I stop.
It’s only three pages and mostly about history and reproduction.
Linked Mates: a bond since birth.
My skin flushes as I read on:Linked mate pairs have been observed throughoutthe centuries and appear in clusters as the result of a catalyst. One mated pair will spawn many others in this rare phenomenon.
The bell tolls, snapping my gaze from my textbook. It hums through the walls and echoes into the stone ceiling. Gathering my materials, I fight the heaviness that’s weaved its way between my ribs. Darien’s words flicker in my mind like the lit flames of the oil lamps on the walls. Tugging at the collar of my uniform, I pull out my phone.
Parker’s the first message at the top:
Parker:Hi, pretty.
I’m stopping by right after practice.
Let’s do something fun tonight.
A few minutes later.
Parker:You’re either ignoring me or paying too much attention in class.
I like it when hot girls ignore me.
But you won’t be doing that tonight ;)
About thirty minutes later he sent another.
Parker:Zant’s asking me to ask you if Octavia ever mentions him.
Emma’s is after that.
Em:I hate it here. Someone in the culinary club took my panna cotta out of the fridge and left it on the counter all night.
The conversation I’d had with my sisters is still in the front of my mind, though disaster is at my door. Literally—someone wroteLiarover my locker in the dance studio. It doesn’t bother me much, or at least it bothers me the least between my sisters, so I try not to complain. There’s nothing that can be done about it, so it’s useless to worry about. They don’t understand that we just need to wait it out, and mentioning anything related to that gets me an eyeroll.
The night after the post was the worst. I sat across from Emma who clutched her legs to her chest while she shivered on my bed. The hearth in my room had a rolling fire going all night long.
“I want to go home,”Emma had said.
“Who cares what these people think?”
“I do!”
Emma turned to Eva, who had barely spoken a word since the post went live.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? I thought you’d be the first to want to leave.”
Eva shook her head.“I don’t want to go back to Groveshire. I just don’tunderstand why we’re being targeted. Everyone in my hall has turned on me. They think I’m either the cheat or the thief. I don’t think they even know why. Doesn’t matter. This blog is all they listen to.”
“The blog is meaningless. We can’t go home. We can’t let them win,”I’d said, but it took all night to convince Emma to stay. She had to return the notebook, which she said she’d only taken as a dare to get back at Dacre—the council asshat who deserves to stub his toe every morning; her words, not mine.
Emma leaned in and looped our pinkies.“I promise, though, I just wanted to see the legacy recipes. Yes, I was peer pressured to steal, but for me, it came from a good place.”
I don’t think I was the one she was trying to convince.
