Rage cleared his throat, making me pause before rubbing the sides of his temples.
“You’ll need to push the professors to train you. You’re here a year early, and they’re setting you up for failure by making you read books. If you don’t pass the practical mid-year exam, then you can’t come back to finish the rest of the year. You’ve got two and a half months to prep, so step it up.”
My eyes bugged, and I stepped toward him, seething. “What! They can do that?”
I’d assumed each year had some kind of practical elemental exam, but I didn’t know they could kick me out halfway through the year.
He nodded, stepping closer and bringing the scent of sandalwood with him. My heart flipped and then thumped against my ribs as if it could lurch me forward and close the gap.
“Time to be an alpha, Nai.” He growled: “Demand what you want. You need practical lessons every day or you’ll never be ready for the test.”
I swallowed hard and nodded, again noticing how tired he looked. “You okay? You look exhausted.”
He was silent a moment before his gaze dipped to my lips, “I was up late.”
And then he left the room.
Just like that.
I wiped my mouth just to make sure I didn’t have pancake crumbs leftover from breakfast, or maybe drool. Nope. All good on that. I shook my head, certain I’d never figure that man out, but not gonna lie, watching his cute butt leave a room wasn’t half bad. I only hoped ‘up late’ wasn’t code for hooking up with a girl because, as much as I didn’t want to admit it, I’d care if he did.
At least the eye candypartiallymade up for his winning personality.
* * *
The cool nightair was perfect for exploring the forest. I stared up into the sky, smiling when the clouds scuttled away from the white sliver of the crescent moon hanging in the darkness. Another week down, and Saturday had arrived. Specifically, Saturday at 8 p.m. All the conditions were perfect, and still, my wolf refused to rise to the surface. She perceived Honor as a threat. Not that he would ever hurt me, but his presence with the intention to provoke my wolf made her uneasy, and she stayed put—the opposite of what she should do.
“Can you feel her here?” Honor asked, tapping his chest.
We stood behind my dorm, at the edge of the woods, for our first class of “Help Nai Shift 101.” So far, we’d had zero success, which was to say I was still human even after he’d waved a knife in my face.
At least, Honor wasn’t rubbing my failure in my face by shifting back and forth. Pushing away the painful memory of my one lesson with Nolan from years ago, I sucked in a deep, cleansing breath.
Pine and mulch. Loamy earth and verdant growth. Sandalwood and sage.
‘Mate.’
My eyes popped open, and I scanned the tree line. My skin prickled with anticipation, and my wolf surged forward. I took another breath, but then his scent was gone.
Just like that, my wolf retreated. She’d been like this ever since the attack. Hesitant.
“She’s there,” I said, patting my chest. “But also here,” and I patted my temple. “She doesn’t want to come out for you.”
Running through the woods? Sure, no problem. But my wolf was not a beck and call kinda girl. Not for me, my father, and apparently, not for Honor. The urge to ask if he knew who my mate was burned at the tip of my tongue, but if I disclosed I was half of the fated-mate pair, would I reveal a secret my mate kept from his brothers? Of all the green-eyed boys at this school … I was sure in my bones it was one of the Midnight brothers, most likely Justice or Rage.
Honor cocked his head. “What do you mean, ‘she?’”
His question pulled me back to the lesson, and I held my hand out to stop what would surely follow. “I know, I know. ‘She’ isme.”
My father said the same thing. In fact, every wolf-shifter I knew felt the same. The wolf was merely the embodiment of the animalistic instinct of their ‘human.’
But that’s not how I felt.
Honor limped closer. “Then why did you sayshe?”
How could I explain without sounding insane?
“I know we’re one and the same as far as beings, and most of the time, it feels that way.” Not completely true, but the best I could come up with. “However, whenever I’m in peril or under pressure—” I pursed my lips and shrugged “—she steps back, freezes up as if she thinks my human form is more powerful.”
