Page 7 of Renegade

I thought I’d done magic by remembering to hang my jeans and shirt out while I showered the night before. Every piece of clothing in my backpack was rumpled, and some of it was a few worn times past the washing expiration date.

There should be laundry facilities here somewhere. I just needed to find them.

June checked her watch and called out the time. We weren’t late, but considering we only had a paper map and no clue how to navigate this campus, we should’ve left earlier.

I would’ve left earlier, but I had stayed up most of the night trying to meld those rules into my head. There were simply too many of them. The schedule was rigid, but I would get used to it, but the stipulations about library use and restricted hallwaysseemed arbitrary. Unless they were hiding something around here. I knew a thing or two about that.

There were also rules about mating and not sneaking into other dorm rooms. I bet that one went over well with shifters in their prime. From what I knew about my kind, we were exuberant about sex. Though I’d never had the pleasure, we all craved touch. From friends. Family members. Lovers.

With my predicament, mates were out of the question, but that didn’t stop my inner beasts from craving them.

They didn’t understand the problem with being me.

I didn’t really understand it myself, but others hadn’t restrained themselves from reminding me constantly.

“See you later?” I asked June as we reached the grassy common area where our paths would branch apart.

“Yeah. Hopefully I’m out for lunch. Have fun with administration.”

I followed the map until I arrived back where Ms. Hollis had brought us the day before. I smoothed down my black tank top and jeans with the palms of my hands. My ragged checkerboard sneakers had seen better days, but when you were living out of a backpack, choices were made.

“Ms. Sol, please take a seat. The headmistress will be with you shortly. In the meantime, could you fill these out please?” The young man from the day before handed me a clipboard with four or five forms and a pen that probably was worth more than my entire wardrobe. He leaned over the counter and whispered, “Whatever you can’t reveal, don’t worry about it, okay, sugar?” A wink followed his murmurings, and he waved me away to the rows of seats outside what I assumed was the headmistress’ office. Another door adjacent had a gold placard with fancy font that read Disciplinary Office.

Such a nice design for something so harsh. Or maybe they were trying to put students at ease.

Either way, I didn’t plan on finding out what was on the other side of that door.

While I filled out the forms, leaving more blanks empty than not, my darker wolf, Night, as I called her, let out a low growl. Not menacing. Rather, she was trying to get me to pay attention to my surroundings. Ms. Hollis warned us about the other students, that some of them had ill intentions, but I knew Night would always protect me in this way. She stayed alert and, unlike my other wolf, she never saw the best in people.

I’d learned over time to heed her promptings.

I turned the page and scanned the room quickly. Night wasn’t exactly a conversationalist, so I had to figure things out on my own once she warned me. There were students waiting in chairs. None of them were on their phones, which was a surprise. Even in the Light Kingdom, everyone’s attention had been stolen by devices of all sorts. I’d never been allowed one, so the addiction never bloomed.

Maybe phones weren’t allowed here?

Someone to my left cleared their throat and, when I looked to see who it was, my chest constricted. There wasn’t only one but two gorgeous men, sitting side by side. One had dark hair and brown eyes with an olive complexion. He was tall, even while sitting down. My fingers ached as I took in his broad shoulders. Damn, they would be nice to hold on to.

The other one had black hair, darker and shinier than the first guy. He wasn’t as burly or built, but that took nothing away from his attractiveness. I crossed my legs as tingling crept up them. Maybe crossing them would halt the goose bumps.

They were talking to each other in hushed tones but, at once, turned.

The first one moved in his seat and caught my gaze.

I tried to look away. I swear I did.

A shudder passed through me and, while my darker wolf hadgrowled at first, now Sol, my light wolf howled so loudly that I clapped my hands over my ears and dropped both the clipboard and the expensive pen in the process. They clattered to the floor, loud in the quiet room.

“You okay there, Ms. Sol?” the young man behind the desk asked.

“Yeah. Um. Yeah.” I gathered up the clipboard and handed it to him. The papers were bent and torn in one corner but he took them anyway. “Thanks. Where do I go now?”

“To the auditorium. You can catch the last of the announcements.”

I turned on my heel, determined to retain a sliver of my dignity in front of the two demi-gods. I made it out of there, but once I was out of range of sight or hearing, I heaved breaths in and out. My heart stammered. Both of my wolves were restless.

Damn, I had to avoid those two at all costs. There was no telling what I would do in their presence.

Chapter Eight

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