Page 6 of Renegade

Human college was never like this.

I wasn’t sure if I would even be admitted, when I was dropped off at the gates of the Rejects Academy in the early hours of the morning. Technically, the entrance to the complex was locked all the time, and I would have to buzz for someone to unlock it, but there was not always someone available to do that after about ten o’clock. Also, coming so late would probably get me some kind of flack that even reminding them it was a delayed flight would not resolve.

I’d never been sure what the local humans thought of the school, if they had any idea who went there, but most probably just thought it was a prep school or something. At least that was what the administrators tried to put out there. A very expensive academy on the outskirts that none of them would be able to afford, so why even think about it. We did leave campus from time to time for shopping or such things, but we didn’t do it in uniform, so we just blended in to the passersby in the smallish city.

The rideshare was not permitted inside the gates, however, so I had to make the trek down the drive on foot. Only private cars owned by the families of students or the weird bus the school maintained could penetrate the hallowed campus. There had always been rumors of wolves in the nearby countryside, but if anyone saw the number who might be on the grounds, it would draw unnecessary attention from the local authorities or even the state fish and wildlife people.

Trudging along, I tugged the collar of my coat closer to my throat, shivering and cursing the rules that governed my life. There should have been no reason I couldn’t go to college,except that my education had no record nor would it have met official requirements for admission. The level of homeschooling provided to those in our pack was minimal, and few could do more than a human sixth-grade education, but gaming was popular, and having access to the internet, I’d set out to gain a real degree of knowledge.

And that’s where my journey to this severe place began.

Nearing the steps to the front door, I veered off and headed left to a section of wall I’d climbed before. It was hidden behind some shrubbery at the base and led to an open courtyard beyond from which I could enter the dorms and go to my room without checking in. It would drive someone crazy, but since they were on limited tech, it would be my word against whoever was on duty late tonight. It was a volunteer job always taken on by kiss-asses, so I had no qualms about letting them get in trouble for not checking me in.

At the top of the wall, I dropped my bag to the ground and hopped down after it. Then stayed in the shadows as I made my way to the dorms. Most of the time, there would be monitors making sure nobody broke curfew, but with everyone returning from winter holidays, rules would be lax until tomorrow. Not that I let the monitors stop me from doing things like this, but it did make it a little easier.

I could hear their voices before I opened the door to our suite. My roommates, Casimir and Blaze. Of the three of us, I was the only one who deserved to be here. Blaze never spoke of how he got moved from the Urban Academy, but he was every bit the good guy his brother was, so how bad could it be? And Casimir? His only guilt was being born into a warrior clan. He spent every day trying to prove he belonged in a better place.

Me?

I’d used my self-taught computer skills to hack into the computer system of a major human university and carved outan all-expenses-paid ride for myself there. I actually could have gone to the Urban Academy, but they didn’t offer the engineering degree I wanted. So…I left a note and headed off to the ivy-covered walls where I spent a full year before being found out by the administration.

That still wouldn’t have mattered because I could have come home and tried something else, if not for a newspaper article someone somewhere spotted and reported to the elders… If I wanted to go to school, I had to go to this one. And if I didn’t want to…I had to anyway. I’d been blasted for chancing revealing us to the human world. We weren’t nearly as hidden anymore as they might wish, and while I’d never told anyone at college that I was a wolf shifter, I heard enough talk there to know they were less than mythological. But try to tell that to the elders who insisted only secrecy kept us safe.

“Well, are you going to stand in the hallway all night, or are you coming in?” While I was woolgathering, Blaze had yanked the door open, and the two of them stood grinning at me. “It’s so late, we figured you wouldn’t be back until morning.”

“Nah. I had a delayed flight, or it would have been earlier.”

“Who checked you in?” Casimir asked.

“Nobody. I took the wall.”

“You’re a bad ’un.” Blaze imitated one of our professors. “No wonder you’re here in the Reject Academy.”

“Right?” I tossed my bag on the common room sofa and sank down next to it. “What are we drinking?” Unlike the freshmen, we had our own rooms around this shared space. Not big or luxurious, but privacy was welcome.

“Do you really think we should?” Casimir held up a bottle, finger to his lips lest I forgot the walls had ears. Not that there were electronic listening devices or cameras, but ears to doors? Yeah, that happened.

“Of course not. Just kidding.” I accepted the glass of whiskeyhe passed me. “Do we have any milk?”

“Not yet.” Blaze tore open a bag of chips. “Kitchen wasn’t open when we got here. You’ll have to make due.”

I tossed back a shot and swallowed. “Doing the best I can.”

“Oh, check your messages. Dean of discipline has summoned Blaze.”

I didn’t have to see that particular guy, but I did find a message ordering me to admin. “What do they want this time? I had my whole schedule all laid out when I left for the holidays.” One thing about the Rejects Academy. We were always in trouble for something or other. Even if it was paperwork trouble.

Chapter Seven

Karelis

Over coffee the next morning, June and I took in the sights and people who were rejects. There were groups already formed. People who knew each other and some stragglers like us.

“Why is it you get to go to the administration office while I have to look at Hollis sourpuss for a rousing hour of announcements?”

“Probably going over the rules. Again,” I said before taking the last sip of my coffee. It was more than coffee. This place had a caramel cappuccino that put every other coffee place to shame.

June sighed and, while she held her cup, she hadn’t taken the first drink of it. I wondered a lot of things about my new friend and roommate. Like how she fit that many clothes into her bags then magically got it all hung up and organized into our tiny closet. How one person needed all those shoes. And how despite not putting on any makeup, she looked like she stepped out of a runway show.

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