Page 30 of Mortal Shift
In the time it took to blink, Ryker crouched low and sprung, intercepting the pale wolf mid-air, locking his jaws around his throat and slamming him to the ground so hard I felt the tremors where I sat.
Ryker snarled again, jaws stretched wide over the other wolf’s throat. I watched, heart in my throat, waiting for the student to fight back. And then he let out a low whine, and averted his eyes.
Ryker released him and stepped back, then his outlineshimmeredand he was human again. As effortless and painless as pulling on a shirt. He made the others look like… well, like they had no idea what they were doing. Even Cole. I guess he was the instructor for a reason. And he looked pissed off as all hell.
He drew his foot back and slammed it into the prone form of the wolf. Something cracked, and I was pretty sure it wasn’t Ryker’s foot. The whimper that slipped from the wolf’s throat confirmed it.
“Shift back,” Ryker snarled, chest heaving. “Now.”
The student obeyed, making the transition look far harder and more painful that Ryker had. He rose to his feet, one hand clutched around his ribs.
“Did I say you could stand?” Ryker demanded, and the student quickly shook his head and backed up a pace, but he was too slow. The back of Ryker’s hand slammed into his face, throwing him back to the floor. He landed hard with a grunt, and I saw the pain rippling along his jaw as he battled to keep what I was sure would have been a scream inside.
“I don’t give a fuck who you are on the outside world,” Ryker snarled, sweeping his gaze from the prone student to the rest of the gathered shifters, all still in their wolf forms and all standing completely still. “At Darkveil, I am your alpha, and you will damn well obey me. Is that clear?”
He sent one last withering glare at the prone student, who nodded quickly, and then stalked round the clearing, staring at each wolf in turn, and in turn, each wolf averted its eyes from his in a clear show of submission.
“Good,” Ryker said eventually, and then returned to the student in human form. He prodded him with one foot, and the guy’s jaw clenched again. A gleam of cold satisfaction shone in Ryker’s eyes. Sadist. “You’re Aaron Barton, yes? Your father is alpha to the White River?”
The student nodded, keeping his eyes low.
“You have a voice,” Ryker snapped. “Use it.”
“Yes, sir,” Aaron replied, his voice catching in pain.
“Yes, alpha,” Ryker corrected him, the same cruel satisfaction coloring his tone.
“Yes, alpha,” Aaron said, and his shoulders slumped.
“Well, Barton, your idiocy made me shred me clothes. So I’m taking yours.” He sniffed, then stooped to collect one of the piles of discarded clothing. “You can walk back to your dorm naked.”
Aaron colored, but, wisely, said nothing. Ryker was broader across the chest than him, but tugged on his pants.
“And you’ll sit out the rest of this lesson. Go wait with the human.”
Aaron opened his mouth like he was going to complain—apparently, the indignity of having to sit with me far surpassed walking round the academy naked—but Ryker’s glare silenced him, and he sullenly picked himself from the ground and stalked over to me, one hand still pressed to his ribs, and pain etched into his face as he walked.
He sucked in a sharp breath as he sat, taking care to keep some space between us. Whatever. I had absolutely zero interest in sitting next to a naked shifter with an attitude problem. I pointedly turned my eyes back to the other shifters, and kept them there.
Stupid damn shifters.
Chapter Eleven
When the lesson finally finished, the students traipsed back through the woods to the academy, all of them shunning Aaron until we were far out of Ryker’s sight. Most of them continued to shun him after that, too.
As much as I wanted to ditch Cole, I found myself trailing behind him as we stepped back inside. He, of course, acted like I was nothing more than an annoying shadow, which was just fine by me. I far preferred not having his attention. A few more of his sycophants fell in beside him as we walked, and I let myself fall a little behind so I didn’t have to hear their derogatory comments or catch their meaningful glances. Besides, it wasn’t like I needed to be close to him to find the way to the canteen. In fact, I didn’t need to be with him at all. I could just ask someone else for directions.
…Because they’d all been so helpful so far.
I exhaled my annoyance and trailed behind Cole, just about keeping him and his little pack in sight. Several of the other students nodded or bowed their heads to him as he passed them, and he ignored them all—I guess he thought too much of himself to acknowledge his simpering fans. Not that I felt all that bad for them when those same simpering fans raked disparaging looks over me, and one blonde girl cast a scathing look in my direction.
“I don’t see what’s so special abouther,” she said loudly, tossing her flawlessly shimmering locks over one shoulder.
You and me both,I mentally retorted as I stalked past, determined not to lose sight of Cole and my best chance of getting some lunch. Skipping dinner last night, and, apparently, breakfast this morning, had definitely been a bad plan. I was famished, and not even the dull throbbing in my hand or the fact that I was surrounded by freaking monsters and werewolves was enough to put me off.
Finally, Cole pushed his way through a large set of double doors, and the scent of food hit me. Allowing myself a small smile of satisfaction, I cut away from him and made my way to a vast buffet that had been laid out on one side of the hall. For a moment I just stared at the food—there was so much here, and such a huge range, that I had no clue how to even begin choosing. Everything from sandwiches—hot and cold—to pastries, fruit, burgers, even steaks. Quite a lot of steaks, actually, and I couldn’t help but notice that was where the gray clad figures descended. Guess werewolves needed their meat. The green uniformed students—the fae—seemed drawn more towards the selections of fruit, but some of them were opting for the hot options, too.
In the end, I grabbed a sandwich and a bottle of water, and ducked back out of the hall. There were way too many people in there for my liking. I’d much rather find myself some quiet corner to eat in, where I didn’t have to worry about who might be sneaking up behind me, or have to try to plug my ears to the discussions about my many inadequacies.
