“I will be.” He reached forward, his fingers tentatively curling under my jaw and tilting my head to the side. I tried to jerk back from his touch but I couldn’t. His eyes still fell on my cheek. “You need to clean that up.”
“Afraid it’ll scar?” I snapped. I didn’t even know why I said it. It wasn’t like he was concerned with my face. He had no reason to be attracted to me or to care one way or the other. But once the words were out of my mouth, I couldn’t swallow them back up. I couldn’t stop myself from saying more. “I didn’t realize you had claim over facial scars. What, humans can’t mark up their skin?”
Instead of being offended, the corners of his lips flickered up. “There’s so much fire in you,” he murmured. “Why are you so angry?”
I lashed out. I couldn’t help it. If he didn’t know why I had all of this anger inside of me, then he really was an idiot.
“I don’t know,” I said, yanking my head away from his fingers. “Maybe because my mother was killed by some monster. I have no other family. I was sent to some werewolf school where I don’t know anyone. And my captain seems to hate me.”
Byron frowned. “I don’t hate you.”
I scoffed. “Could have fooled me,” I muttered.
There was a heavy silence surrounding us. The wind blew through the trees, causing twigs to snap if not break
“You should go inside,” he said again. “It’s not safe for you outside during a full moon.”
“Like you care.”
Byron took a step forward, his entire face contorting into an aggressive scowl. “What is your problem?” he demanded to know. “Every kind thing I’ve said –”
“Kind? Do you happen to know the definition of the word, or –”
“-you’ve had some sort of smartass comment in response,” he continued. “You’re angry, sure. I get that.”
“Do you?” I said. “Because you asked why I’d be –”
“Look.” He held up his hand. I clenched my teeth together even though I didn’t want to obey the command. I did. “We’re stuck with each other, whether we like it or not. We need…we need to figure out a way to get along. Or, at least, be civil.” I opened my mouth, ready to tell him that I wasn’t the one going out of my way to antagonize him. He seemed to have a problem with me. And I had a problem with him because he had a problem with me. “Both of us. But now is not the time. I’m not going to tell you again. We’ll discuss this matter more tomorrow. You need to go back inside.”
“Why?” I tilted my head to the side, and even though there was force behind the word, I found myself genuinely curious about this process. “What happens? Why is it dangerous?”
Byron clenched his teeth together, probably because I wasn’t listening to him. He took a step forward, tilting his head down so his face was a few inches from mine.
“The full moon lessens our resolve,” he said. “Should a human be about, there’s a good chance an unattached wolf might claim her or him as their own. It would be traumatic for both the wolf and the human because neither of them would be able to stop it, and once the claim is complete, the only thing that would break the claim is finding their mate. But that isn’t always guaranteed.” He took another step closer and lowered his voice even further. “So, unless you want your body violated in the worst of ways, unless you want to belong to a wolf, I would retreat.”
I clenched my teeth together, hoping, praying, he couldn’t smell my fear.
I said nothing still, but I turned and did what he asked me to do. I managed to keep myself from collapsing somehow. The second I was tucked into the building, I pressed my back against the wall and heaved out a breath. Tears threatened to spill down my face, but I managed to contain them. The last thing I wanted was to cry. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had the ability to smell the salt from my tears anyway, even from where he was, even with a thick door between us.
I shook my head, choosing instead to focus on eating. The second I stepped inside where it was much warmer and I didn’t have to deal with Byron, my stomach rumbled, remembering that it wanted to be satiated.
I squared my shoulders and headed down the long hallway, trying to make sure I knew where to go without needing to ask someone. I wanted to be able to move around without assistance.
I followed the long hallway and then made a right, spilling into the Dining Hall. I almost yelped with triumph. The victory was small, but it was a victory nonetheless. I was surprised to see how few people they were. These must be the humans that were left behind during the full moon ceremony, or whatever the shifters called this ritual each month.
I ignored the disappointment weighing heavily on my chest and made my way over to the buffet table across the room. I glanced over at the professor’s table, trying to see if there was anyone I recognized still present. I supposed I was simply curious about who, on the faculty, wasn’t a wolf.
There weren’t that many faculty either. In fact, I could only make out two of them, and since I didn’t see anyone sitting adjacent to them, I assumed they were strictly captains or lieutenants. Probably captains, only because I wasn’t sure the Headmaster would leave an academy of humans alone in an academy, even if it was only an evening.
The two sat on complete opposing sides of the table. I couldn’t tell if that was done on purpose in order to best supervise the Hall, or if they were assigned there anyway. The first man was adorned in yellow, which, if my memory served, related to the element air. He must be the captain of that pack. He was reading a large book, a strand of hair falling in his face. He had midnight blue eyes, a clean-shaved face, and a lean body underneath the captain’s robes he wore. There was an air of seriousness about him. I couldn’t help but wonder what subject he taught.
I shifted my attention to the other professor. He was speaking to a girl wearing red – as was he – who constantly twisted her black hair around her finger. It was obvious from the sparkles in her eyes that she thought he was cute, and I could understand why. The man wasn’t as tall as the other, nor did he appear as muscled, but he was lean and, judging by the easy smile on his face, he seemed to know what he looked like as well. His dark hair was pulled back from his face in a curt ponytail at the base of his neck, only emphasizing high cheekbones and a sharp jaw, but I couldn’t tell what color eyes he had because he wore sunglasses inside. Which was kind of lame.
I shook my head and started to pile food on my plate. When I sat down, I couldn’t seem to conjure hunger, which frustrated me, because I was starving as I ran across the field over and over again.
But I couldn’t get Byron’s voice out of my head. About what could happen to me if I went out there during a full moon. About what a wolf could do to me.
I didn’t want to think about it, but I couldn’t help it. Was that what killed my mom?
But no.
It wasn’t a full moon.
A wolf doesn’t need a full moon to shift.
My mouth went dry at the thought.
Could it have been a wolf? There was still blood, and from the little I knew about the Vrykolakas, they fed on blood like it was water. Could one resist it? But that would mean the intent was to kill my mother, which meant they could think and reason and resist temptation. Was that even possible?