"Focus on your soon-to-be master," Coal scolds, but I remain silent. He pulls my attention back to him by snapping his fingers in my face as if I’m some kind of animal. The irony seems to be lost on him. “You’ll need to write a similar paper for Quil, so hurry up.”
I barely manage to restrain myself from biting his fucking hand, but man do I want to. Other Wolves really know how to get on my nerves, but Coal? Coal makes me homicidal. I want to snap those fingers off his hand and shove them down his throat. The sound of Quil snickering beside him sets my nerves on edge.
I take a deep breath and stare down at the desk.I imagine myself standing before them, both Wolves on their knees as they look up at me. Begging me to give them a shred of my attention. Making them crawl to me, kissing their way up my thighs, begging me to let them taste me…
Thankfully,Coal gets distracted by one of the Wolves asking him something and doesn’t notice how turned on I’ve become.
I shake my head and think of the other Wolf who stormed out of here. He was striking with his amber eyes and black hair. His tanned-olive skin looked soft and inviting. Which sounds so stupid, considering I'd only spent thirty seconds looking at him, and he’s a Wolf. His eyes were so familiar though; I know I’ve seen them before… I'm sure of it.
Quil
The scent of her keeps drifting over here, driving me mad. Honeysuckle and sweetness. I want to pin her under me and taste every inch of her.
She’s reckless and wild. It’s intoxicating just being in her presence. She doesn’t let her fear control her, and instead controls her fear. Wields it like a fucking sword and shield. Like some kind of warrior. She’s terrified of Coal, and yet, so defiant. No Human should ever be so strong-willed, and yet here she sits, ready to fight with every word Coal speaks.
She seems to think the real threat to her safety is the Wolf beside her. She doesn’t know anything. Not about Coal, and not about me. She thinks we’re monsters. That we’re no good.
Like father, like son, I guess.
Coal shifts, mixing his cinnamon scent with Delilah’s,and my head spins. I dig my claws into the palms of my hands to steady myself. I want to drift away on the cloud of their desire and hatred. It’s so wrong. Dangerous.
Blood pools in my hands, the pain grounding me, but it also reminds me of the reason I need pain in the first place. I choke on the memory of my father teaching me one of his many lessons.
“Insolent, rebellious, fucking pathetic!” My father screams as he slams the crowbar into my back for the third time. “You will not embarrass me again, Quil!” His voice is shrill, reminding me of a screaming rat, only rats are kind creatures. My father is another form of evil personified.
He’s mad because I refused to submit to him in front of Coal. I knew what my punishment would be. But I can’t be bothered to care anymore.
“Ugh,” I grunt as he lands another blow, this one making me bleed. Coal and I started disobeying our fathers long ago. Every chance we got, actually. The more they beat us for trivial shit, the less time they spent worrying about whom we spent our time around.
Of course, that didn’t mean we could suddenly start being nice to anyone. In fact, that would have been a huge red flag, so instead, we drew the attention away from her and fully onto us.
“Fuck,” I grumble, and Coal turns to look at me. I ignore him, but I can feel the worry coming off of him in waves. Things just haven’t been the same since the day Delilah caught us in the woods. The first, and last, time I touched Coal. If our fathers knew… That's a beating I don’t think either of us would survive.
I’ve known since I was six that I was in love. But that was ruined with the swinging of a fist. The only person on this shitty fucking planet thatunderstands is Coal.
Our pain is the same.
He’s my Alpha, my best friend. My world.
Delilah
It takes me about ten minutes to do both Quil and Coal’s assignments, so with the Introductory course starting soon, I decide to pull out my schedule. Three of my seven classes are for serving the pack. A bunch of nothing like Cleaning and Human Manners. Shit that all Humans here have been taught and have been doing since childhood. Another of those is Cooking, which I enjoy. Midday is blocked for lunch and electives, but most of the Wolves use the block as a free study hour. Honestly, it’s just an excuse for Wolves to bullshit while they have their Avowed, or any available Human, do their homework for them.
The other two classes are more interesting than all the others combined, Combat, and my other chosen elective, Art. Sure, Art isn’t useful, but at least it’s a distraction from the mundane. I have a feeling Combat might be a lot of exercise for Humans, and not so much actual training, though. They can’t have us trained to rebel.
As soon as the teacher walks in, I let out a sigh of relief. Coal won't be too much of a dick with Mr. Parsons in the room. At least not before he has claimed me as his Avowed. If nothing else, today should be mildly tolerable, as long as I keep my head down and do what I’m told.
You might be wondering why a person would be claimed as an Avowed servant, or why I hate the thought so much. The simplest answer is, to keep Humans in their place, and because I don’t handle being controlled well.
Claiming us is just a tool to remind us that we are at the very bottom of the food chain here. We are servants and nothing more. Humans who end up serving the pack don't have much freedom, but the alternative is trying to escape only to end up serving a more ruthless pack. Or worse.
Just to be clear, I mean death. Although some days I wonder if death really would be worse than my already pathetic life. There are also Human compounds, but I know from my mama that those are not places you want to be. Weaker Humans get sold, even among their own people. We left the Human compound for a reason. I just wish I knew the whole story.
Coal reaches under the desk, trailing his fingers across the exposed skin of my thigh and derailing my thoughts entirely. My skin reacts to his touch immediately, and I shiver. The gentleness of the touch throws me off, and I bite my lip, trying hard to ignore how good it is.
This stupid Academy has the girls' uniform consisting of a short plaid skirt and white shirt. While the men get to wear pants and a fucking jacket. I also have to wear an undershirt, so you can’t see my bra. I should have probably worn shorts under this skirt too, but I honestly didn't think I'd be having this particular issue. Coal gets handsy but usually stops at abuse, never venturing into the realm of groping. Usually…
A chill runs down my spine, and I grip his wrist, stilling his movements as best I can. He squeezes my leg tightly in warning and leans in closely, whispering in my ear in a way that makes my thighs clench from the closeness.
