“Animal blood, not people blood. Gross.”
“I don’t require much blood for survival, but I do need food. Where is my bread?”
Snarly took a huge bite of his sandwich and, with his mouth obnoxiously full, asked, “How should I know?”
Fury boiled in Sinclair’s veins, but aside from a scowl, he kept it contained. This wolf wasn’t worth his time.
“I don’t touch your food. You shouldn’t touch mine.”
“Whatever. Take your mustard and go. I can’t stand the sight of you.”
Sinclair bit back the sharp reply waiting on his tongue, spun on his heel, and made for his room. He slowed as he overheard a gathering of his housemates discussing the upcoming vote from the common room.
Curiosity flared. He stopped to listen.
“—ludicrous! Humans have killed other humans for millennia. They can’t even get along with each other. Of course they’ll kill us too.” A female voice, steady and direct. “How can vampires be so blind?”
“They’ll try, Eleanor, but humans are a weak species,” a voice Sinclair didn’t recognize said. “We could hunt them to extinction. Then what would vampires eat?”
“That’s not the point, and you don’t actually know that,” the she-wolf, Eleanor, countered. “There arebillionsof humans. Why taunt them? Why wish them any harm? They shouldn’t know about us. Period.”
“Agreed. There’s no need to change the status quo.” That was Nathan, the shaggy-haired wolf in charge. “This comes down to greed. Vampires can never have enough money. They always want more. Without the Edict of Secrecy, they’d amass the world’s wealth in one, maybe two human generations. That alone would prompt a war. We can’t let them do it.”
The little hairs on the back of Sinclair’s neck bristled. Maybe this wasn’t the best time to be the only vampire in the dorm. Especially if he was caught eavesdropping.
On silent feet, he hurried past them and shot up the stairs to his glorified closet of a room. The day had been long already, and it was only lunch.
CHAPTERFIVE
Sinclair
Life at werewolfcentral wasn’t getting any better. He’d gone down to the kitchen, only to discover the rest of his food missing.
He kicked open the back porch door and stomped off for another walk, this time in the direction of the forested lands to the east of campus. He needed to clear his mind.
Sinclair didn’t have the sort of preternatural speed his undead cohorts possessed, but he could outrun a human or keep up with a werewolf. He took off at a trot into the woods, hoping for some peace.
His footfalls thudded loudly in his ears, and beneath them, the rustling of the insects he disturbed along the forest floor. Sensitive ears picked out the call of birds, foraging animals in the distance, and wind through the browning leaves as he wandered.
His nose picked up the intriguing scent from the dorm’s little office and guided him through the trees, past a broad clearing with a grassy meadow, and along a well-worn path by a trickling stream. He followed the water and came upon a quaint cabin in the distance, alone in the middle of the woods with no roads or driveway leading to it. Moss grew on the ragged roof shingles.
The scent that had led him there was faint, but the closer he got, the stronger it became.
Sinclair approached slowly, wary of encroaching on private property. He didn’t want to piss off a reclusive werewolf who’d be all too happy to harass a trespassing vampire, but something about the place and the smell was irresistible.
Try as he might, he detected no other presence, but the cabin wasn’t abandoned. A thriving vegetable garden grew next to the porch. A pair of muck boots stood by the door. He risked going closer.
What an enchanting place to live.
The quiet surrounding him was all the encouragement he needed to creep up for a peek. The scent was strongest here. An alpha wolf? He couldn’t be sure, but he’d bet money on it.
He took a deep breath through his nose and wondered about the probably alpha wolf who called this charming cabin his home. The man hadn’t shown up at the dorm yet, but surely, he would come to check on his pack. Right?
What would happen then?
Would the alpha make things easier for Sinclair?
Worse?
