Wolfish: Moonborne: A Fated Mates Paranormal Romance Read online

  His lips pressed into a thin line. “I hate people like that—bullies. Probably because I was raised by one.” His eyes widened a fraction before he sat back in his chair and cracked his knuckles. As if he hadn’t meant to say it aloud.

  “I’m sorry.” I wasn’t sure what one said to a statement like that.

  He waved a nonchalant hand. “Don’t be. My father’s not worth it, and I remind myself of that daily.”

  Another pregnant silence. I fiddled with my fingers in my lap, picking at the red nail polish Cass had insisted upon. “It’s my birthday,” I blurted.

  “Oh, well then, happy birthday.” He shot me a broad smile, showcasing a row of perfect teeth. “I’m doubly glad I found you in the courtyard then. Spending the night alone out there would’ve been no way to celebrate.”

  “Not like this is much better.”

  “Ouch. I’m insulted.”

  He pried the laughter from my lips despite my gloomy mood. “You’re right. You’re much better company than those witches and warlock jerks.”

  His golden gaze raked over me, spreading warmth in its wake, and I couldn’t keep from squirming. “Aren’t you a witch?”

  “Half-blood,” I muttered. “And magic-less.”

  He nodded slowly. “But you’re a first year, right? So maybe it’s only a matter of time.”

  “That’s why I’m here, I guess. I don’t think anyone graduates from Arcane without it.”

  Dragon Boy scooted his chair closer, the squeak sharp against our hushed voices. “Magic is overrated anyway. You’ll see once your powers kick in.”

  I hoped he was right. Ever since my mom had come clean about being part witch, I’d dreamed of the moment my magical abilities would bloom. Mom had assured me it took longer with witches of mixed origins, but I couldn’t help the tiny part of me that feared they’d never come.

  “And if they don’t,” he added, “being human isn’t the worst thing in the world.” His fingers closed over my knee and squeezed. Tiny pops of electricity prickled my flesh, and my eyes darted to his.

  A golden flame flickered across the amber abyss before going dark once again. He jerked his hand off my leg as if the fire reflected in his irises had coated my skin. Shooting to his feet, he pointed over his shoulder. “I’m going to grab a coffee. You want something?”

  An icy chill settled over me, and I wrapped my arms around my middle. “Nope, I’m good.”

  “Okay, I’ll be back.”

  My chest tightened, all the air surging from my lungs. For a horrible second, I was sure he wouldn’t return. A gaping hole bored into my heart as a profound emptiness wracked my insides.

  Get a grip, Sierra. Did this guy cast a spell on me or what? He was a stranger who happened to be at the right place at the wrong time, he meant nothing to me. I didn’t even know his flippin’ name. Why was I freaking out? And why hadn’t I asked his name?

  A few minutes later the door creaked open, and my heart deflated at the little man who poked his head in. “The healer will be in shortly to examine your ankle. With the start of the school year, it’s been a busy night.”

  “Okay, no problem.”

  With a quick nod, he dipped back behind the door and disappeared. I shifted, and the rip of fabric forced a curse to tumble out. Dammit, I should’ve asked the guy for a hospital gown or something to change into. Only I would get tripped by some mean girl and rip my dress at the biggest event of the year. I rolled my eyes at myself.

  Leaning my head against the pillow, my newly dyed purple hair fanned around me. Dying the dark tips had been my mom’s idea. She’d said it made me look magical. Ha! As I thought about my mom and pleasant memories of home, my lids slid closed. It had been an exhausting day, and a part of me just wanted it all to be over.

  The shuffle of approaching footsteps snapped my eyes open and as tired as I’d been a second ago, every nerve in my body stood at attention. The door opened, and that gilded snout appeared through the crack. I released the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding since my masked savior had left.

  He squeezed through the doorway, a paper cup in each hand. “I got you a coffee anyway, in case you change your mind.”

  “Thanks,” I said, stifling a yawn. “Maybe I will take you up on that.” Truth was I wasn’t a big coffee drinker. I hated the bitter taste and only drank it when it came doused in whipped cream, sugar or vanilla syrup. I figured the school infirmary variety wouldn’t be quite so lavish.

  Dragon Boy handed me the coffee, and my fingers grazed his as they closed around the cup. Our skin touched and again the pops of electricity. He winced and jerked his hand back.

  What the what?

  He’d carried me across campus just thirty minutes ago and now touching me made him that uncomfortable? I gulped down a big sip of the muddy coffee and regretted it instantly. Bleh.

  My lips must have twisted because a grin played on the tiny sliver of his mouth that peeked through the mask. “Not a fan?”

  “Not really, but I’m sleepy. I need a little pick me up.”

  “Do you want me to go? So you can rest?”

  “No!” The word burst out before I could stop it. “I mean, you can of course, if you have to. I don’t want to keep you.” I pressed my lips together. “But I like the company.” Except when you cringe when I touch you.

  He settled back into the chair, crossing his long leg over the other. Leaning his head against the wall, a smile melted across his mouth.

  “What?”

  “I’m starting to like the mask thing. The anonymity is oddly freeing.”

  “Is that why you haven’t told me your name?”

  His head dipped to his chest. “It’s more fun this way, right?”

  I grunted, the unladylike sound slipping out. I couldn’t really blame him. He probably didn’t want anyone to know he’d associated with me, the new lowly half-blood.

  I scratched at the fabric resting on my cheek and glanced at the clock. Less than an hour to go. “Everyone saw me fall tonight. No anonymity for me. I’ll forever be known as the new girl who mooned the entire student population at the masquerade ball.”

  “Maybe they won’t recognize you.”

  I shot him a good eyeroll. “Unlikely. I’m the only half-blood in my class.” Hell, I could’ve been the only one in the school for all I knew. “You’re not a first year, I take it?”

  He shook his head. “No, I’m not.”

  “Are there others like me at the academy?”

  He readjusted his position, planting both feet on the ground and casting his gaze toward dark, polished boots. “I don’t really pay attention to things like that,” he finally muttered.

  Did that mean he wasn’t a supe racist like the rest of them?

  When the silence lingered to an uncomfortable length, I blurted, “I’m Sierra by the way.”

  He leaned forward and extended his hand. “Nice to officially meet you, Sierra.” Our fingers touched, then our palms and that flicker of static electricity zapped my skin. The moment stretched out for an eternity, our eyes fixed. My heartrate skyrocketed, and my lungs struggled to keep up with its sudden manic pace. His lips pressed together, and I was certain beneath that mask his jaw was clenched. At least he didn’t flinch this time.

  When he released his hold, an endless minute later, air returned to my lungs and I could finally breathe again. Okay so I didn’t have much experience with guys, but this? This was insane. Magical pheromones, maybe?

  He loosed a breath as he sat back and for an instant, I could’ve sworn he’d felt it too. The tense set of his shoulders, the tight line of his lips, the flash of something unreadable across his golden irises.

  A sharp knock on the door tore my attention from his masked face to the long nose poking through the crack. A woman whirled in, her long silver hair tied up in a messy bun atop her head. She pushed her glasses up her aquiline nose and produced a tablet from beneath her gauzy white robe. “I’m sorry, but it’s been quite a hec
tic night. Nothing like the masquerade ball to increase asinine behavior.”

  The healer eyed my leg, then gingerly prodded at my ankle. “Hmm.”

  “Is it broken?” he asked.

  “I don’t think so,” she muttered before tapping something out on her tablet and directing the lens at my foot. After a quick snap, she spun back toward the door. “I’ll be back with the results as soon as I have them. It doesn’t look broken, but you never know.”

  “Thanks,” I called out, but the door had already closed behind her.

  “Geez,” Dragon Boy muttered from his perch on the chair. “She didn’t waste a minute.”

  “Yeah, I guess they’re really busy.” I slid under the covers, and another yawn slipped out. My lids were so heavy it took everything I had to keep them open, but I wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

  Dragon Boy rose and grabbed a pillow from the end of the bed, placing it under my foot. “You should keep it elevated.”

  “Oh, right.”

  He replaced the covers and tucked them underneath my legs, then moved toward my head. Repeating the procedure around my torso, he enveloped me in a warm cocoon. “Get some rest, Sierra. I’ll see you—” his words trailed off.

  Panic wrapped my chest in steel bands. He couldn’t leave, not yet. “Before you go, can you tell me a little about the academy?” I interjected. “Please tell me it’s not as bad as it seems.”

  A small smile curved his lips, and he scooted the chair closer to the bed, folding into it. “Of course…”

  Chapter Three

  Present Time

  “Have you given any more thought to what you’re going to do when you get back to the human world?” Cass eyed me in the mirror as she twirled my purple locks around the curling iron. I’d agreed to let her pick my outfit, do my hair and makeup for our epic evening out. Using me as a real-life Barbie was one of her greatest joys in life.

  “Nope.” I popped the P for extra emphasis. Going to a magical academy didn’t exactly prepare you for a normal human job, but at least it counted as a high school degree. “I’ll probably take some college classes online or something until I decide what I want to do.” Moving back in with my mom wasn’t exactly my dream but so far nothing in my life had turned out the way I’d planned. “How about you? Are you going to take the healer position with that wolf pack in Marlwoods?”

  My best friend shrugged, a mascara wand clenched between her teeth. She pulled it out and began to apply it on my lashes. Cass might not have been as magically talented as the other students, but she could whip up a mean healing potion. Most witches remained in Maginaria, but with Cass’s low-standing coven, she’d searched for jobs outside the magical territory.

  Azar, the supernatural realm, was divided into eight houses: the Fae Court, the Brotherhood of the Dragons, the Coven Council, the Sons of Heaven, the Shifter Pack, the Ocean Realm, the Royal Vampires and the most recent addition, the Underworld. Each house had its own land and governing body, but all the realms answered to the Etrian Assembly. Each supernatural race had a representative on the assembly and from what I heard, tensions between the races always ran high.

  As part witch, I was part of the Coven Council here in Maginaria along with my bestie, Cass. The alpha of the wolf pack that had offered her a job would take her to the shifter realm, Marlwoods. That territory was further subdivided into animal species, with the wolves making up the majority of the population. It seemed like just yesterday I’d learned about the people and politics of Azar. When I’d first arrived, it had been a whole new world.

  “It seems like it could be cool, right?” I pressed when she continued to ignore my question. “Maybe you’d finally get to see that hot beta wolf, Aristaeus.”

  My friend’s eyes widened, and a smile parted her lips. “I can’t believe you still remember him from our initiation.”

  I didn’t think I’d ever forget anything about initiation day. It was my first day at the school, my second day in Azar and I’d been thrown to the lions. The leaders of each of the houses of Azar sat on the stage scrutinizing us. The gorgeous Aristaeus was the son of the alpha of the Shifter Pack, Tyrien. He was the supreme alpha of all shifters in the entire realm. There had been something about the dark haired, green-eyed male that had my stomach in knots. I’d never experienced anything like that attraction. Until I met Dragon Boy later that night.

  “He was super hot,” she mused, her eyes glazing over. “But that name…” She giggled. “Imagine yelling that out in a heated moment.”

  A laugh burst from my lips. “You are so wicked.”

  “Anyway, as I recall, you were the one ogling him the entire ceremony.” She stepped back to admire her work, and I couldn’t wait to check out my new look in the mirror. “Too bad he never showed up at the masquerade ball that night. Then maybe you wouldn’t have spent four years pining over some masked mystery guy.”

  “Whatever,” I grumbled, all the excitement from a second ago draining away.

  “What guy shows up once a year at a dance, refuses to tell you anything about himself and disappears again?” Her brows furrowed, and anger laced her tone. My best friend had always been protective over me, and as a result, Dragon Boy as I still liked to call him, was not one of her favorite people. Because of how broken he left me, every time he vanished. “And that note he left you at the infirmary with only his initial as a signature—who does that?”

  I threw my hand up, cutting her off. “I don’t want to talk about him tonight, okay? I just want to have fun. And like you said, I’ll probably never see him again so what’s the point of even thinking about him?”

  She nodded quickly, her lips pressed into a tight line. “I love you, girl, and I just hate that you wasted so much time on him.”

  “I know.” But it didn’t feel wasted to me. Those few hours once a year, always on my birthday, were the best ones of my life.

  She held out her hand and pulled me off the chair. “Check it out. How do you like the new and nearly graduated Sierra?”

  I stared at my reflection, and my lips curved into a grateful smile. “It’s perfect.” My long, dark hair cascaded over my shoulders in soft, beachy waves, skimming the edge of the cute black top she’d lent me. Paired with my dark skinny jeans and booties, I was ready for our big night out. Screw Academy of the Arcane. I was so done with you.

  “Good. Because Rafe should be here any minute to portal us to Rain. He did some research and assured me it’s the hottest club in all of Maginaria right now.”

  “Let’s do it then.”

  Twenty minutes later, we stood outside the academy grounds, the full blood moon peering over us. Rafe and two of his warlock buddies eyed the creepy celestial spectacle.

  “If it wasn’t graduation, I wouldn’t be caught dead out tonight,” said Rafe. “Weird shit always happens on the Lunar Sanguine.”

  One of his friends, Tristan, who I’d dated for like a second, elbowed him, a teasing grin on his face. “Is the great Rafe scared of the goddess Luna? All she does is make werewolves. How powerful could she be?”

  “You’re both idiots,” said Cass. “Luna is the most powerful huntress, and they say on nights like this, she bestows champions with special abilities. You better watch out or she’ll smite you down.”

  The guys chuckled, but Rafe’s eyes remained glued to the crimson glow. My gaze trailed his, the eerie hue mesmerizing.

  “Enough of this nonsense, let’s get going,” said Tristan.

  The magical wards surrounding the school made portalling from campus impossible, which was what brought us to the edge of the forest. I tore my gaze away from the moon and eyed the pair standing beside Cass’s flavor of the month. My best friend had set me up with Tristan before, but after one date, I’d decided I had zero interest in the arrogant male. But the other one—he was dressed in a long-sleeve Henley and jeans, a relaxed smile on his face. His dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes seemed familiar but from where?

  Rafe must have noticed my in
terest because he ticked his head at his friend and said, “That’s Vander.”

  Cass elbowed me in the side and winked. “He’s cute, right?” she whisper-hissed.

  Vander gave me a warm smile before Tristan whispered something in his ear. The two warlocks continued muttering to each other, sly smiles curving their lips and I spun back to my friend. Ugh. I hoped these guys were not part of the epic night plan.

  I opened my mouth to say just that when the three warlocks joined hands and began uttering the words of a spell I definitely recognized. Only warlocks could open portals, or at least that was what everyone had always thought. Then less than a year ago, the first female warlock appeared blowing everyone’s mind. I’d attempted a portal opening spell or two, but as usual nothing ever happened with my nonexistent magic.

  The brilliant light appeared a moment later and swirling winds whipped strands of dark purple hair across my face. Rafe took a step forward and extended his hand. “Ladies first.”

  Cass weaved her arm through mine and tugged me toward the churning vortex. “Last one in buys the first drink!”

  I laughed and jumped into the vibrant light, allowing the whipping winds to swallow me whole. I waded in the thick, gelatinous substance for a few seconds before the portal spat us out on a busy street corner. My hands shot out as my heeled boots landed on the cobblestone and by the grace of the gods, I remained standing.

  The thumping base vibrated the air, spilling through the brick façade of the building. A queue of supernaturals from all eight houses of Azar curved around the block, the velvet rope barely keeping the masses in line.

  “Wow, Rafe wasn’t kidding about this being the new it place, huh?” Cass stared up at the neon sign with a huge grin.

  I glanced around at the crowd, searching for the warlock and his friends. Cass must have noticed my sigh of relief when they were nowhere to be found because she smacked me on the back and led me toward the entrance. “Don’t worry, it’s just us tonight. I sent Rafe and the guys to a bar a few blocks away. I’ll summon him when he’s needed.” She winked, and I couldn’t help but laugh.