My rumbling stomach pushed that thought from my mind. I’d go back and have lunch during our two-hour break. Maybe fit in a few chapters of International Shifter History. What was it she mentioned that were legends among shifters? Something about calming shifters and double-shifters. I could barely fathom the idea of shifting into one animal, not to mention two.
On the walk back, I reviewed the lessons from today. The first professor was a bore, but the logic behind shifter magic was fascinating. I never thought that there would be a system behind it. My fingers ran across my books, and I clutched them tightly to my chest like shields as I moved through the courtyard. Priscilla waved at me from her spot from a bench across the yard. She was seated with a few other students. Her friends, to my surprise, also offered a friendly wave. I smiled and nodded at them before continuing on my way. Should I stop? They seemed busy. The thought of having to socialize even more with powerful shifter students made my head spin.
Step by step, I reminded myself with a sigh. Maybe a chapter on Shifter culture would improve my survival chances here. As I was mulling this over, I nearly collided into a strong back.
“Well, hello there.” Enrique turned and crossed his arms with a wicked look. “You don’t have to throw yourself at me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Not a chance. I was just distracted.” We were only a few yards away from the manor. “Are you going back for lunch?”
He scratched the back of his neck. “Headed back from here, actually.” There was a bag tucked beneath his arm. Not a school bag, but a small travel bag. When he saw me looking at it, he positioned himself so that it was obscured. He winked. “Don’t be too curious here, Fiona. Enjoy your lunch.” With that, he blew me a kiss and walked right past me. I watched him go.
Why was he just standing here? A thought crawled up my shivering spine. Was he making sure that I was coming back for lunch? I frowned. It did seem as if the Core Council members had somewhere to be right now. I shook my head and headed to the manor with my room key in hand. Maybe I could just eat in my room and read, away from the watchful eyes of my fellow Council members.
And didn’t I need to be included on Council stuff? Why was I even put in this stupid group? I blew a stray strand of hair out of my face in a huff as I came into the dining room. A tray of sandwiches was sitting on the counter with a stack of plates beside them. I grabbed two for good measure and went to my room.
Cracking open International Shifter History was a mistake. It took nearly an hour to finish my sandwiches as I pored over the pages. I got through only four chapters during my lunch break, but I learned a lot: namely, that shifters had a rich and complicated history.
Every corner of the world seemed to have a different origin story. In ancient Asia, I read about the elusive fox spirits that were said to possess people and inhabit the first fox-shifters. I began keeping notes of various things that the book mentioned in my notebook.
Foxes are notorious for their thieving abilities and often painted in a mischievous light. I paused, pen hovering above my page. It was true. Jasper was secretive, but I didn’t see him as a thief.
Something that Theo said rang through my head again. That there were other ways inside a room without a key. My unlocked room and an open window. My skin erupted in goosebumps. I stole a sweater out of the dresser and slipped it on, wrapping it tightly around me.
Ren was the only one I could imagine breaking into my room, investigating me for some imagined slight. And yet, Jasper had told me that I threatened them by my mere presence. I didn’t feel powerful. I tapped my pen to my chin, staring at the trees outside. The same trees that I’d seen Ren sleeping in, looking like a frozen slumbering angel instead of a vicious-mouthed boy.
“And why the hell are they all beautiful?” I asked myself aloud. Was it evolutionary? I wrote down to investigate physical attractiveness among shifters and hoped that nobody would ever find my notebooks.
I had a few other notes thanks to my lunchtime reading.
Wolves are found in tight-knit packs. It is rare to come across an actual solitary wolf without his or her clan. If a wolf loses their pack, they will instinctively search for a new one eventually.
I stared at the page. Maybe I could ask Priscilla about the Council members. It seemed hard to imagine that Ren would belong to a pack. My phone buzzed with my alarm, signaling that it was time to run off to class again. I packed my things away and searched inside the dresser. To my surprise, I found a plain black backpack.
I left my dishes in the dining room with a thank you note. I don’t think I’d ever stop saying thank you to the servants. Somewhere, I hoped my mom was smiling proudly at me. By the time I’d made my way up the path back to the castle, most of the students had headed in for lunch. But I saw Priscilla lingering on a bench with a book.
“Priscilla!” I called. She looked up and smiled.
“Hi, Fiona. How were your classes?”
“Good. Professor Sihna is great.”
Priscilla nodded her head enthusiastically, sending her braids up into the air. “One of the best! What do you have next?” I showed her my schedule. “Ah, perfect. We have Interspecies Relations together next. Professor Greenwich is great too.”
“I liked our lecture today for history,” I said, silently plotting to lay out some conversational bait. “You must be one of the top students here.”
She snorted. “Almost! Ren or Dracus usually best me on the rankings no matter how hard I try.”
“But you’re still one of the top ones.” I grinned. “I guess you actually go to class, though.”
She smirked, a wicked expression on her tailored exterior. “Theo told you about Ren’s attendance? Ren barely makes it to class. I can’t believe they still let him stay in the Core Council.”
“He does seem like a bit of a lone wolf. Or so I’ve been told.” I tried to make my voice calm and coy. She stopped suddenly in the hall and tugged me towards her. My stomach turned to cement when I saw her serious frown.
“Fiona, did they tell you?” Her voice was low. A skittish student passed by us in a hurry, casting a curious glance at us. Two girls in a corner discussing class gossip. Nothing to see here.
“Tell me what?”
She leaned in close and dropped her voice to an absolute whisper. “Ren’s entire family and pack were killed when he was a boy. He was the only survivor.”
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