Page 10 of Defiant Princess

The air smells of fresh coffee and cinnamon rolls mixed with old books and body spray. Shifters, in general, tend to avoid perfume—it’s too intense for our sensitive senses of smell—but apparently the men around here do things a little differently.

But notthatdifferently, a fact proven by the four large guys swaggering toward me from the other side of the room. Their energy is very Old School Alpha. They are predatory, intense, and clearly intend to take my measure and put me in my place. Which means I may be on my way outside for a full-on brawl mere minutes after settling in.

If they want my “place” to be anywhere but at the top of this particular hierarchy, I’ll have to fight them. If they’re the kind of wolves who play fair, they’ll face me one at a time, giving me a few minutes to catch my breath in between. If not, they’ll gang up on me in an attempt to eliminate another Alpha they see as a threat to the established order.

Neither option sounds like a good time.

“Hey there, friend,” the tallest guy says, baring his teeth in a fierce imitation of a smile. “We were wondering if you’d show before orientation started tomorrow. You’re the last man in and I confess, I had my eye on your room.” He thrusts his hand out. “Beck. Senior transfer.”

“Ford.” I grip his hand, increasing my pressure to match his until we’re squeezing the shit out of each other, but I seem to have a slight edge. “Old as fuck freshman.”

“Freshman?” The shorter, but thicker, man behind Beck with his brown hair pulled into a bun, snorts. “Dude, did you fail every grade or something?”

“Nah,” I say, still clenching Beck’s hand nearly hard enough to crush the bones. “Had a career first, but decided I was ready to switch things up. Get a fresh start. This seemed like a good place for that. The last members of my pack died when I was in middle school, so there’s nothing holding me back home.”

Beck’s grip loosens a bit. “Same for my dad, man. His pack got wiped out in a forest fire when he was just a kid. Bleak as shit. Took twenty years to rebuild everything, even with a ton of money and support from my grandmother’s pack.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I say, loosening my grip in kind. “Nothing can replace family, but it’s good to be back among wolves again.”

It’s pretty soft as dog whistles go.

I half expect it to go unnoticed, but the hidden message is clearly received.

“Hell yes, it is.” Beck lowers his voice as he steps closer, his grip starting to feel more like an offer of friendship than a challenge. “We wolves have to stick together. If we don’t, they’re coming for us. For our women, our territory, our resources. Everything.”

“Our whole way of life,” Man Bun says, summoning grunts of agreement from the other two men.

Or boys. Upon closer inspection, they’re obviously much younger than Beck and Man Bun, just kids really. Kids who are eager to follow these two down the path to vilifying the rest of the shifters on campus…

I make a non-committal sound, not wanting to agree with him, but also not wanting to alienate these men. I want them to feel comfortable speaking freely, for now, and I need time to find my real allies. If I’m jumped by four or more shifters—who knows how many followers Beck has—I would benefit from backup. I’m strong and skilled, but at the end of the day I’m also just one man.

“I was under the impression wolves were the largest population on campus,” I say, adding with a wry smile, “Isn’t that why we have the biggest dorm?”

“We’re the biggest single population,” Beck confirms. “But lumped together, the big cats and the fucking special-needs Variants outnumber us.”

Well, that was ugly. There’s nothing “special needs” about Juliet. She’s smarter than all four of them put together, and in a gun fight, I’m pretty sure she could put a bullet through the lot before they had chance to take aim.

“Which is bullshit,” Man Bun adds. “That doesn’t reflect the reality of the outside world.” He jabs an arm toward the windows. “Out there, wolves outnumber all other shifters at least ten to one. It should be the same in here. Letting more of their kind in than ours isn’t fair.”

I grunt, knowing my argument that more of “them” are probably accepted because more of them are in danger on the outside—often from packs of wolves who like to terrorize other shifters—wouldn’t be well-received.

Instead, I force a laugh and say, “Yeah, I hear you. But as long as we’re the toughest, I’m not too worried. We are the toughest, right?” I glance down at mine and Beck’s joined hands. “So far, you guys seem in good shape. I used to train cage fighters up in Alaska. Looks to me like any one of you could hold your own in the ring.”

It’s an addition to my backstory I didn’t discuss with Natalie or Juliet, but it feels harmless enough. And it’s a good way to shift the conversation.

“For real?” One of the young guys perks up. “Dude, you must have some stories.”

“I do,” I reply. “And some training tricks. We could hit the gym this week if you want. I’ll share my secrets for maintaining flexibility while you bulk up. It’s flexibility that keeps you from getting hurt, not strength.”

The young guy looks to Beck, who’s studying me closely. For a second, I think he’s going to put me on his shit list and doom me to a first day spent kicking ass and licking my wounds, but then he nods. “Yeah, that would be cool.” He releases my hand and claps it on my shoulder. “Let’s make a training plan tomorrow, as soon as we know the schedule for the first week of orientation.”

“Sound good,” I agree, nodding toward the refreshment area at the back of the room. “Any of you up for a cinnamon bun? I thought I’d grab one before heading out to look around.”

“We already ate, but get one, and we’ll catch up with you later,” Beck says. “They’re fucking incredible. From this little bakery in Quebec City. Oh, and this is Jason, Drake, and Bunny.” He reaches out, ruffling Man Bun’s hair. “Cause he’s so cute with his hair tied up.”

“My name’s Ferris, man,” Man Bun says, swatting Beck’s hand away. “You’re just jealous because my hair is luxurious as fuck.”

“Nice to meet you guys.” I smile and lift a hand as I move away. “Thanks for the welcome.”

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