Wolf Born: Lunar Academy, Year One Read online

  “Why do you keep saying my name? I’m the only one here.”

  “I like your name. When I like something, I take it in any way I can.”

  “That’s not normal.”

  “Sure it is.” He rolled onto his side. “At least it is for me.”

  “And that ups your creepy factor.” This guy was something else.

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  And time to change the subject. “What happened out there tonight?”

  “Wow. Straight to the chase.”

  “That’s why I’m here.”

  “Are you sure that’s why?”

  “What other reason could I possibly have?”

  “Well, I don’t know.” He ran his hand over the comforter beside him. “Maybe the unbelievable chemistry between us.”

  I laughed. “Right.” The only one I had unbelievable chemistry with was Ryan, and I wasn’t even sure what to do about that.

  “I invited you tonight. Really it was your company I wanted, but I thought including North would make you more comfortable.” He moved onto his back again. “My mistake.”

  “Yet, you took North anyway.” Maybe saying no had been a mistake. If I’d gone, I wouldn’t be asking questions now and I wouldn’t have seen Ryan naked. It would have solved two of my problems at the same time.

  “I did.”

  “That’s it. That’s your answer? You did?” Frustration welled up inside me. My wolf howled.

  “Would you prefer a different answer?”

  “Come on.” I took a few deep breaths to calm myself. It was bad enough I was in a boy’s room after curfew, adding shifting to that would only compound make my rule breaking.

  “Join me over here, and I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

  I picked up a book and sent it directly toward his head. He caught it easily. “Wow. Easy there, tiger. I wouldn’t want either of us getting hurt. Imagine having to explain to the administration why you were in my room this late.”

  I groaned. “Tell me what you were doing out there.”

  “First, tell me something.” He crossed his legs at the ankles. That made me look at his legs. His muscular bare legs. Why did he insist on wearing only his underwear? This whole thing was utterly ridiculous.

  “What?” I wasn’t telling him anything, but I’d humor him if it served my goals.

  “What do you know of Ryan Grayson?”

  “What don’t I know of him? He’s a household name where I come from.”

  “He’s a household name everywhere. Or rather his family is.” Dameon sat up and took a small case off his bed stand. He pulled out a cigar. A freaking cigar. Who the hell was this kid?

  “Then why are you asking me questions about him?”

  “Because you know more than what people say.” He chewed on the cigar.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “You’re in the same circles, and you do your research.”

  “If I did my research well enough, I’d know what you’re up to. If I knew that, I wouldn’t be in this room now.”

  “Sure you would. We went over this. Chemistry.”

  “Yeah. Keep telling yourself that.”

  “I will. Maybe eventually you’ll accept it.”

  “I’m surprised you aren’t trying this on Lauren or Aliana.” Those would be the usual suspects.

  “And why would I do that when you are an option?”

  “I’m not an option.” I wasn’t sharing the rest of my answer—that everyone went for Lauren and Aliana. It wasn’t just their looks, even though they definitely had that. It was also their attitudes, their personalities, and their willingness to be completely adventurous. “What were you doing out there?” It was time to bring things back to the real issue.

  “I can tell you.” He rolled the cigar around in his mouth. “But it will cost you.”

  “Cost me?”

  “Yes, cost you.”

  “Cost me what exactly?”

  “I haven’t fully decided yet, but it won’t be anything you don’t want to give.”

  “I can assure you, I don’t want to give you anything but a slug in the face or a nut shot.”

  He laughed. “You really are a delight, Nadia.”

  “What were you doing out there?” I’d ask the question a million times if I had to.

  “Are you ready to agree to my price?”

  “How could I agree to anything if I don’t know what it is?”

  “Your choice, Nadia.”

  “Stop saying my name.” I’m not sure why the name thing bothered me so much, but it did.

  “No. I won’t stop saying your name. You can’t stop me.” His smirk grew. That damn smirk. He knew he was getting to me which meant he wasn’t going to stop.

  “There is only one way to stop you.” I wanted answers, but I was getting nowhere. “I’m leaving.”

  “Then we can continue this next weekend.”

  “I’m not coming back here.” I stood up.

  His eyes flashed. “I never said here.”

  “Then where?” I really hoped he wouldn’t suggest somewhere worse. Although, I didn’t know what could be worse than his room with him lying in his underwear on his bed.

  “Edge of the woods. Saturday night. 9 o’clock.”

  “You think I’ll risk getting into trouble again?” I was lucky I hadn’t been caught the first time.

  “You want to know what’s really going on?”

  “Not enough to fall for your tricks.” I walked toward the door.

  “Hey, Nadia.”

  I turned back. “What?”

  “Be careful with Ryan. You don’t know him as well as you think you do.”

  “Well, I know I don’t know you at all.”

  “We can change that.” He leaned up on an elbow. “Just let me know.”

  “No thanks.”

  He didn’t say a word, but his smirk grew. I opened the door to leave, but Ryan, North, and Finn were all blocking my exit.

  “Hey.” I gave a small wave as I waited for them to move so I could get out of the room.

  “Hey?” North sputtered out. “Is that all you have to say? What were you guys doing in there?”

  “Nothing. I got nothing.” I pushed him aside. “I’m going to my room.”

  “You okay?” Ryan was beside me in an instant. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

  “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

  “Nadia.” Ryan followed me out to the common area in the middle of the floor. “You’d tell me the truth, right?”

  “Sure. Why wouldn’t I?” Admittedly, I didn’t know Ryan that well, but I would have no reason to hide any of this from him.

  “I can come up with a lot of reasons.” There was a lot he wasn’t saying, but his tone pretty much said it all.

  “North would know,” I noted. “Right? Since we are twins.”

  Ryan grinned. “I thought none of that stuff was true.”

  “Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t. Impossible to know, isn’t it?” I smiled. “Goodnight, Ryan.”

  “Goodnight, Nadia.”

  I walked into the girls’ hall and made my way down to my room. It was quiet as I unlocked my door. It was dark inside the room, but a light flicked on immediately.

  “Hey, where have you been?” Jackie jumped up from her bed.

  “Hey! You came.” Relief and excitement in equal parts washed over me. I had been getting nervous that Jackie wasn’t coming, considering she’d missed the picture and dinner. After the evening I had, I really needed her.

  “Of course I did. You didn’t think I would skip out on Lunar Academy, did you?” She ran over and pulled me into a hug.

  “No.” I hugged her back. I wasn’t much of a hugger, but I made an exception with Jackie. “I didn’t. But why are you so late?”

  “No, the question is, why are you so late?” She brushed some of her shoulder-length hair off her shoulder, and I noticed something. Was that a tiny tatto
o?

  “What’s that?”

  “Nothing.” She brushed her hair back, covering it. “So what were you doing?”

  I shrugged. “I was taking care of some business.”

  “Business?” Jackie laughed. “You’ve been here, what, seven hours and you have business to attend to?”

  “I’ll tell you in the morning. I’m exhausted.”

  “Exhausted, huh?” Her eyes gleamed. “Tell me more, tell me more. Is that why Lauren came in here fit to kill you?”

  “What?” I hadn’t expected that.

  “She wanted to know why you were going after her man.”

  “Her man?” I laughed.

  “Ryan.” Jackie sat on the edge of her bed. “I mean why in the world would she think you’d like a Grayson? And Ryan? Really?”

  “I know. So it’s not even worth talking about, is it?”

  “Maybe, maybe not.” Jackie raised an eyebrow. “You’ve always been a really bad liar, Nadia. And it seems some things never change.”

  “Tell me about your summer.” I needed to change the subject.

  “Oh, no, you don’t. You just gave it all away. If there was nothing to talk about, you wouldn’t be trying to change the subject.”

  “I wouldn’t be? Huh?” I felt heat rise to my cheeks. Jackie could get anything out of me.

  “No, you wouldn’t.”

  “Fine. I’ve been hanging out with him.”

  “I get here a few hours late and suddenly you and Grayson are friends now?” She didn’t hide her shock and possible disgust. Jackie wasn’t exactly Ryan’s biggest fan.

  “I never said we were friends.”

  “Then what were you doing when you were hanging out?” She leaned back on her elbows. “If you weren’t hanging out as friends.”

  “That’s what I’ll tell you about in the morning.” I was way too tired and overwhelmed to discuss it before getting a few hours of sleep. If I was able to get some sleep. My mind raced with the events of the night.

  “About what top secret stuff you guys were doing when you hung out?”

  “Yup. Pretty much.”

  “You really are a weird bird, Nadia.”

  “And you’ve just discovered that now?” Her words didn’t offend me in the slightest. I was fully willing to own up to my strangeness.

  “No. I’ve known that for years, but that doesn’t change that it’s the truth.”

  “You aren’t so normal yourself,” I pointed out.

  “I’m not normal at all, but at least I don’t hang out with Ryan Grayson.”

  “True. That’s technically true.” I dug out my toiletries, pajamas, and a towel. “But I'm sure you’ve been doing other weird stuff.” I thought of that small tattoo. It had been a tattoo, right?

  When had she gotten that?

  “Plenty of it. But you aren’t getting a hint until you spill your beans.”

  “Tomorrow.” I opened the door. “Tomorrow is another day.” I walked out of my room and down to the communal bath. I walked into a stall and turned on the hot water. It felt amazing, but my thoughts went immediately to Ryan. That really couldn’t be a good thing.

  Ryan

  I was up before the sunrise. That wasn’t like me. Not at all. I was a night owl, not an early bird. But I wanted to talk to Nadia. I had tossed and turned all night, wondering what had been discussed. Sure, I could have called her, but I didn’t know her number. That was pretty sad. I’d known the girl since we were kids, yet I’d never thought to call her. I’d have to fix that. But I’d need to see her first.

  As soon as the first rays of sun showed themselves, I got up and moving. I was in the center lounge, and I wasn’t going anywhere until I saw her.

  “Good morning, Ryan.” Lauren walked out arm in arm with Aliana.

  “Hey.” I feigned interest in being polite. It wasn’t worth making an enemy out of her.

  “How are you?”

  “I’m fine.” I was incredibly worried, but I didn’t need to tell her that.

  Finn walked out and yawned.

  “It looks like you haven’t slept all night.”

  “Geez. Thanks.” I pretended to care what she thought.

  “You know exactly what I mean, Ryan.” She put a hand on my arm. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing.” I wasn’t in the mood for her pretend interest. She wanted to know because she refused to be left out of anything. She couldn’t care less how I actually was.

  The door to the girls’ hall opened again, and Nadia and her friend, Jackie, walked out together. Like everyone else, she was dressed in the Lunar Academy standard uniform of white shirt, slacks or a skirt, and a tie to match the house color—in our case blue. Unlike the others, Nadia looked super cute in hers.

  “Nadia, hey.” I walked right over. “Hey, Jackie. Glad you made it.”

  Lauren gasped. “Wait. What?”

  I ignored her. “Hey, I wanted to call, but I didn’t have your number.”

  “Oh.” Nadia looked around uncomfortably.

  “Can I see your phone?”

  “Sure.” She handed over her phone. It was in a black case with silver moons. I smiled. I liked the slight nod to what she was.

  I put in my number and called it. “Okay, we’re all set.”

  I added her as a contact in mine. At least now I’d be able to call her when I wanted.

  “You okay?” Nadia headed toward the stairs.

  “Sure. Are you?” She’d seemed fine the night before, but she’d been in that room with Dameon for a while. It made me nervous. Very nervous.

  “Shouldn’t I be?” She ran her hand over the mahogany railing on her way down.

  “Okay. What did they put in the food last night?” Jackie looked between us.

  “Nothing that I know of.” Finn moved ahead and stopped on the landing. “Why?”

  “What do you think of this?” Jackie asked Finn.

  “Of what?”

  “Of the fact that you are even speaking to me.”

  “Why wouldn’t I speak to you?” Finn’s brow furrowed.

  “Really, Finn?” Jackie wore a textbook incredulous face. “Really?”

  “What?”

  Jackie smacked the side of her face with her hand. “I know you’re not that oblivious. It’s impossible.”

  “You mean because we weren’t friends before. Well, it’s a new place. Why shouldn't things be different?” Finn asked. “Except for your brother, Nadia. I’m still not sure about him.”

  Nadia shrugged. “I’m not so sure about him either, so it’s okay.”

  I laughed. “Have you always had a sense of humor?”

  “What sense of humor?” She bit back a smile.

  “So… college. Huh?” Jackie stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “So much excitement.”

  We made our way through the lobby and outside. I assumed we were heading toward the dining hall. I knew I wanted breakfast. Some of the kids I didn’t know slipped past. I wondered when we’d start to mix. My brothers never really did. They came into Lunar Academy with friends, and those are the ones they left with.

  I followed Nadia over to the buffet line. She filled her plate with fruit and a couple of fruit and nut pancakes. I noticed she skipped over the sausage and bacon.

  “Don’t tell me you’re a vegetarian,” I said.

  “Would it matter if I was?” She filled a mug with black coffee and set it on her tray.

  “No. I’m just pointing it out.”

  “I’m not strictly a vegetarian, but I tend to go for the non-meat options.” Nadia took a seat at the same table she’d sat at the night before. Was she one of those people? The kind that always sat in the same spot?

  I sat down beside her. Jackie immediately sat on her other side. “Who’s the loner?” She pointed her fork at where Dameon sat by himself.

  “Don’t ask.” Nadia took a bite of her pancakes.

  “Which means it’s super important that I ask.” Jackie took a strawberry f
rom Nadia’s plate.

  If Nadia cared, she didn’t show it. “His name is Dameon. He is annoying. Not sure what else there is to tell you.”

  “How about he’s up to something.” I figured Nadia didn’t plan to keep the secret from her best friend and roommate.

  North walked in, glared at us, and sat next to Dameon.

  “Wait. North isn’t sitting with us?” Jackie snagged another strawberry from Nadia. “Wow, times really have changed.”

  “That’s what happens when you’re late.” Nadia took the strawberry back from Jackie right before she bit into it. “You miss everything.”

  “Who misses everything?” Finn looked up from his plate. He’d probably eaten ten strips of bacon already.

  “Is this seat taken?” A girl I vaguely remembered from the night before walked over and put her hands on the back of Nadia’s seat.

  “Nope. Please join us.” Nadia nodded toward an empty seat across from her.

  She slipped into the spot next to Finn. “Great. I feel like the only one here who doesn’t know anyone.”

  “Not the only one.” Jackie pointed to Dameon in an obvious way. “I’m Jackie, and this fun bunch is Nadia, Ryan, and Finn.”

  “Hey, I’m Justine.” The girl gave a small wave. “Nice to meet you all. Thanks for letting me sit with you.”

  “I saw you at the picture yesterday. Sorry, I was so distracted and didn’t say anything.” Nadia put her hands on the table in front of her. “That was rude.”

  “That’s fine.” Justine cut up her sausage link. “I’m just glad I don’t have to look like a loner.” She shot a look at Dameon and North. “Like them. Should we invite them over?”

  “No,” Nadia and I said at once.

  “Uh, take it you aren’t a fan?” Justine looked between us.

  “No. Not in the slightest.” Nadia returned to her pancakes. “I’m not about to pretend.”

  “It’s a long story.” I tried to soften her response. “We aren’t that cold or anything.”

  “So you guys all know each other?” Justine set her fork down.

  “Yes.” Although I was beginning to realize how little I’d known Nadia. Had I been crazy?

  “You went to high school together?” Justine picked up her fork again and pushed her food around on the plate.

  “No. Just ran in the same circles,” Nadia explained. “Kind of.”