Page 39 of Five to Love Him
The room behind the door was spacious. It had nice big windows, and we spotted a gift basket on a cabinet in the back. We also spotted teenagers in sportswear sitting in front of the desk and looking guilty. They were shifters, and when one glanced up at us and flinched, we recognized them.
“You nearly ran into Leo.”
The vampire’s smile stretched. “Oh yes. Yes, they did, didn’t you, my darlings?”
Leo cleared his throat. “That’s inappropriate.”
Farrow rocked back and forth on his feet. “Is it? Why, Leopold, you are so strict. Do you see, students? My new secretary is strict. There is nothing I could get past him, and you two thought fit to run him over before he could even take office.”
“But we didn’t!” one of the wolves said. “We didn’t mean to,” they added in a much quieter voice, then, “We’re sorry.”
“Yes. We’re really sorry.”
They both hung their heads. We rounded the desk and put Leo’s cake there, ours too, while we took several orders. The Dazzle was filling up quickly today, and although our shift hadn’t started that long ago, we were already looking forward to it being over, to when we could go back to Leo’s house and maybe get him to talk about his grandmother’s business and what could be done with that.
“Right, uhm.”
Leo looked at the principal, clearly uncertain about how to proceed while the two wolves showed they were repentant with their eyes downcast, their shoulders curled in.
The principal crossed his arms. “There must be disciplinary action, obviously. Everyone knows there is no running in the corridors unless it’s an emergency. There is room for that sort of thing outside or in the gymnasium, all so incidents like this—or worse—can be avoided. Isn’t that right, Secretary Hill?”
“Yeah, right.”
The principal nodded. “Yes. These two pups must be punished.”
One or both of them whined. It was a small sound. We felt a bit sorry for these little wolves. Then again, they could have hurt our gleaming one, and badly. If we hadn’t been there, Leo might have fallen, or he might have accidentally collided with their fangs or claws.
“And by punishing, you mean…?” Leo asked, still looking at the principal.
“You press me, Secretary Hill, but very well. It upset your hive, this incident, and any werewolf would understand the tragedy of an upset mate, don’t you, little wolves?”
“Yes,” one of them mumbled while the other nodded.
“Yes.” The principal stepped close and put a hand on each of their shoulders. “You two will be assisting the Secretary for the next month. You will do whatever he asks of you—run errands, make coffee, polish his shoes against your belly fur—anything.”
“No belly fur,” Leo said. We grinned.
The principal waved his hand. “As you say, Secretary Hill. We have more regular shoe-shining equipment, so they may use that. Feel free to have them shine your shoes too, hive.”
“We just might. We have several pairs that could do with a cleaning.”
The principal exhaled. “Well, that’s the punishment taken care of. Alan, Joyce, you are to report for duty as soon as study hall ends for you, no afternoon activities for the duration.” He put his hand on his chest as if it were hurting. “As much as this pains me, but your punishment must come first. Isn’t that right, Secretary Hill?”
“Uhm, well.”
“Exactly so, Secretary Hill, exactly so. Now then, you two, leave us.”
At the principal’s words, the two werewolves hurried out of the room, barely meeting our eyes, though one of them looked at Leo as if they didn’t really know who he was. They closed the door on their way out.
We looked out the window, which faced a courtyard where we could see students lounging in the darkness, some shifters, some not the kind that could easily pass outside. St. Auguste was safe, we told ourselves, and if Leo wanted to work here, he too would be safe. That human wouldn’t be able to get to him.
“I’m not sure I can put a bunch of werewolf kids to work,” Leo said, drawing our attention to him.
The principal dropped into one of the chairs the two wolves had occupied.
“Well, they must learn their lesson. It’s essential for shifters to know their strength, especially if they wish to live among humans unnoticed. Imagine they had done this on, say, a jogging path. Though I personally do not understand jogging. It is as if people were training for when someone chased them, but let me tell you, once you go off the pilgrim’s path, you cannot outrun whatever might be there to chase you. Jogging, in that sense, is a useless way to spend your time.” He waved. “I got you a welcome gift basket. It has the socks and corresponding sock warmers to ward off those cold feet that have been bothering you.”
“Cold feet?” we asked, and Leo looked back and forth between us because we had spoken with two.
