Page 84 of Dead Wolf Rising (Bad Moon Academy 3)

Lifting an eyebrow, I wait her out. Her fingers fidget with her hair, and she searches my face. Unlike most alphas, I don’t get pissed when a wolf with less dominance meets my gaze. Her mouth twitches, and she licks her lips, her nerves bubbling out of her all too easily.

“Fuck.” She looks at me like I might get mad at her for swearing, but I don’t react.

Skylar is sixteen, only a few years younger than me, but man do those two years make a hell of a difference.

“I hate this,” she finally confesses, sniffing and averting her eyes. “I hate this place. I hate this fakeeverything is finebullshit routine we have. I hate.” She pauses, grinds her jaw, and swings her rage filled gaze back to me. “I hateyou.”

Taking a very slow breath, I tell myself she’s not as mad at me as she seems. Her entire life was turned upside down two weeks ago, and she’s not the first shifter to lash out.

“I know.”

Her head rears back. “You know?”

I nod. “Yeah. I hated this place too, but for different reasons.” I don’t try to guilt her by telling her all about the demon. “I didn’t ask to become a shifter, but I am now and no matter how angry I get, that won’t change.”

Copper fills the air, and I look down at her hands. Her fingers are curled in, knuckles white from how hard she’s squeezing her fists. She’s drawn blood and probably doesn’t even notice.

“You know what I hated most of all though?”

She shakes her head and gives me a wary look, like she doesn’t trust the calm I’m exuding. “No.”

“I hated how much I didn’t miss my old life.”

“But Lou,” she says, not exactly a question but a confused statement.

“I missed her, for sure. Don’t get me wrong. I wanted to leave, but becoming a shifter saved me in a lot of ways.”

She scoffs, but the fight in her eyes fades a little. “How?”

“Well, my wolf is hilarious for starters. She helps me even when I don’t realize I need help.”

Aw. So sweet,Joan croons.

“My wolf and I argue a lot.”

“When was the last time you let her out?”

Skylar frowns. “Not since the first shift.”

“You have to give her freedom too. Right now, she’s stuck inside your head, not able to run. Everett mentioned you’ve been struggling to control her?”

Struggling is too kind of a word. Apparently in her last class with him, her wolf almost succeeded in forcing a full shift. Skylar was basically a human with a wolf head for a few minutes. Only her total denial of her wolf is keeping the creature at bay.

She doesn’t respond.

“Listen, I didn’t want it when I was first changed either. But the more you fight her, the less stable you’ll be. If you can at least learn to work with her, even if you still shut the rest of us out, things will get better. Joan’s my best friend.”

Oh, stop.

Don’t get a big head.

Too late.Joan prances around in my mind, flipping her head back and forth like she’s in a parade.B.F.Fs forever!

You know that’s redundant, right?

Don’t kill my mood.

Whatever,I say, focusing on Skylar again.

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