Is this wolf trying to protect me?

So many fuzzy questions swirled through my brain, but I didn’t have the time to process any of them. The wolf stepped forward, crouching low, its hackles rising as it prepared for another attack. The shadows surged, and the wolf leapt, jaw fastening around what I hoped was a throat.

Sobriety was coming back, urged on by the adrenaline that was making me dizzy as I tried to collect myself. Should I run, or help…I didn’t know, but as the wolf let out a cry of pain, I had to do something. I scanned the area in the weak moonlight and saw a big stick. It was better than nothing. Snatching it up, I charged the creature.

But, in a rush of sound and light, it shot away, too fast to follow, and disappeared into the trees, leaving me alone in the woods with a panting wolf by my side. We locked eyes, but I was still half-frozen in sheer terror. And I was still holding up the stick like an idiot. Now that the shadow was gone was the wolf going to turn from protector to attacker?

Suddenly, the wolf snorted and shook itself, shifting before my eyes into…Ejiro?

“You can put the stick down,” he growled, something of the wolf still in his voice. Or he was just that annoyed. “I’m not here to play fetch.”

Aggravated with his tone, I threw it more aggressively than necessary. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Obviously, I’m saving your irresponsible, idiotic life,” he shot back. “What the hell are you doing wandering around outside the school borders?”

Embarrassed at this entire situation, a blush heated my face. “I didn’t mean to,” I said, and I could hear how defensive I sounded. “I just got…lost.” So much for saving face and coming up with an award-winning excuse that didn’t make me sound like a complete moron.

Rolling his eyes, he turned and started walking. “I better get you out of here before you try to get yourself killed again.”

I couldn’t argue because he kind of had a point. It was stupid to go off on my own and being drunk was no excuse. It was stupid to get drunk, and I made that decision first. I fell into step beside Ejiro, glad to not be alone in the woods anymore, but soon the silence was too much.

“What were those things that attacked us?” I asked.

“I have no idea. I’ve never seen something like that before.” Annoyance laced through the words and I resolved to shut up, but he kept talking. “I thought they might be some wards the school put up for security, but when I saw the cut on your arm, I realized it couldn’t be. They wouldn’t use wards that would hurt a student.”

Yeah, sure, sounded good, but if he saw me get cut then that meant he had been following me. Why? And for how long? I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, vacillating between grateful and irritated. He really didn’t need to do that—the massive creeper—but thank goodness he was there.

Frustration boiled in my core. I had way more questions than answers, and I was still freaking out about my second near-death experience. Weren’t those supposed to be rare? Yet here I was amassing a little collection of them. Hopefully, this was my last one.

Finally, the trees gave way to manicured lawns, light spilling forth from the hanging lamps around the quad. I breathed a sigh of relief, glancing over at Ejiro to see if he was as happy to see campus as I was, but my eyes snagged on a trail of red down his arm.

“You’re bleeding!” I reached out to place a hand over the wound, to see if I could stem the flow, but he didn’t seem all that concerned.

“So are you,” he replied, touching a cut above my eye. I hadn’t even realized I’d been cut there. It didn’t hurt.

He brushed back my hair to get a better look, and I shuddered a bit at the light touch. My eyes met his, and that intense stare was back. Now, I could finally put my finger on it. It was a wolfish stare.

“You didn’t have to come to my rescue,” I said, my voice coming out softer than I meant it to. “It was unnecessary, but brave of you. So I guess what I’m trying to say is…thank you?”

“You’re right. Super unnecessary,” he said with a shrug, letting his hand fall. “I still don’t trust you. There’s something about you I can’t explain, but it feels…off. That’s why I’m keeping an eye on you. Shane and the others are far too trusting.”

Way to kill that moment. This guy was total trouble, and apparently impossible to shake! First, he follows me, then risks his neck for me, and now he’s back to being arrogant and rude. It was infuriating!

We walked back to the dorm together in silence after that. I was up a few steps before I realized he wasn’t behind me.

“Aren’t you coming?” I asked.

“No,” he responded. “I’m not much of a sleeper.”

And before I could say anything to that, Ejiro disappeared. I watched as the night shadows seemed to coalesce around him before he shifted into the great, black wolf I had seen earlier. Now I could make out his bright, blue eyes as being distinctly Ejiro, penetrating, and even more intimidating in his wolf form. He turned and sprinted away across the moonlit grounds. I went my own way back to the dorm, hearing the dull echo of his howls.

I opened the door to the common room as quietly as possible. The first thing I saw was Darius passed out haphazardly on the sofa. I came farther in and saw that Shane had obviously tried to do the same but failed since he was sprawled mostly on the floor. Alexei was nowhere to be seen, but judging by the light, feminine giggling coming from one of the rooms, I had a feeling he was occupied.

I tiptoed to my room and had just reached the short hallway when a voice scared the hell out of me.

“Where have you been?” It was Zel’s deep, serious voice.

I took a step back, muttering something about getting lost. He couldn’t have looked more foreboding, stepping into the light. His tall, lithe form took up most of the short corridor. I gulped at the mistrustful stare in his green eyes. I almost believed I could hear a jaguar’s growl in his voice.

“You’re bleeding,” he remarked, the growl dropping from his tone for just an instant.

“Yeah,” I said, thinking fast. “I tripped in the forest before I realized I was going the wrong way.”

I didn’t want to mention the strange shadow attack or Ejiro. I didn’t know yet if it was linked to what happened to my parents, but volunteering that information seemed dumb. And if Ejiro wanted them to know what happened, he’d have come up and told them himself.

“Wait here.” Zel strode across the common room, disappearing into one of rooms for a bit before emerging with a small first aid kit. He gestured back toward my room and I led the way.

I expected him to just hand it off and tell me I better return it, but he followed me inside and nodded to the chaise. I was so surprised by his offer to patch me up I didn’t even argue.

Zel dragged over the heavy chair like it weighed nothing and sat on the edge, opening the kit on the table. He studiously ignored me as he sorted through the supplies, picking out what he needed with long, dextrous fingers. A sheet of inky dark hair fell over his shoulder, and I was taken aback at how long it was. All day it had been pulled back, so I hadn’t noticed. I guessed the fight over the hairbrush made a little more sense now.

“Let me see your arm,” he murmured, his voice surprisingly soft.

He held out a hand and I placed mine in it, letting him turn it this way and that to get a good look before he started. With him focused on the arm, I took the opportunity to study him up close. Darius might be the one going on and on about elite Shifter families, but Zel looked like royalty. The high, sharp cheekbones and deep-set eyes, the regal nose and arched brows… Yes he was hot, they all were, but in this lighting, with his dark curtain of hair framing his face, Zel was beautiful.

When he was done, he looked back at me, at the cut above my brow, making some assessment before reaching for my face. With the gentlest of touches, he tilted my face up and to one side so he could see better. It felt like an eternity with his face so close to mine, his warm breath on my skin. I kept my eyes down, but I could feel his on me, like the lightest pressure, until I was practically vibrating with my awareness of him.

Finally, he leaned back, eyes roving over me one more time before nodding once. I couldn’t tell if I was disappointed or relieved as he started to pack up.

After sitting in such intense silence, though, I had to ask the question that had been burning in my mind.

“Why…” I hesitated. I didn’t want to annoy him any more than my existence seemed to after he’d been so surprisingly nice. But he quirked an eyebrow, inviting me to ask. “Why did you want to help? I didn’t think you liked me very much.”

He exhaled, not quite a snort, and his lips twitched, not quite a smile, but it was something. He turned away, packing up the kit. I guessed he wouldn’t answer. Serves me right for expecting him to, he never had more than a few words to string together. I stared down at the carpet, suddenly feeling foolish. He was just being a decent person, and now I was checking him out like a creep.

“You’re interesting.”

My eyes snapped up to his, and for a second, the piercing gaze stripped me bare. I was convinced, for a fleeting moment, that he could see me. Not Makiko Suzuki, the sheltered, elite and mysterious shifter, but me. The scared girl just trying to survive in a new and confusing world. Like he could see how scared and lonely I was deep down inside.

Then he blinked and the moment was gone. I rose with him and he headed for the door, but just before he left, he turned around, his green eyes blazing in the dark.

“I like interesting.”