It didn't come to any surprise to me that Sally was a no-show. Mr. Ledger didn’t take the news too well and blamed me for it. To add insult to injury, he pointed out more flaws of my appearance and told me if I didn’t get my crap together, that I wasn’t worthy of his son. To be honest, I never imagined I’d end up entangled with a prince, if that’s what I should call it. I was having my doubts as Elijah acted distant since he’d returned. It wasn’t until Mr. Ledger left the academy that Elijah came back to my room. “Hi.” “Hey.” I pushed open the door further. “Want to come in?” He stepped inside, keeping his eyes on the floor. “I’m sorry.” I closed the door before turning to glance at him. “About what?” “My dad…” he shook his head, sighing. “He’s full of shit, if anything. There’s nothing wrong with your hair, your face, or your clothing.” I snorted an uncomfortable laugh, not sure how to admit I did feel hurt by his dad’s statements. Instead, I replied with something I did mean,

“Good afternoon class. Today we’re talking about ancient tomes and the lore evolving them,” our history teacher, Mr. Barnes, announced, followed by low, dismissal groans from students. “Now, now, why the long faces? Learning about our ancestry is by far the most exciting thing! We get to learn about where our bloodline originated, and all the other events evolving it. It’s all about those tomes!” More groans followed. I sighed, flipping open my notebook and picking up my pen. It was drawing close to exams, so I took every opportunity to take notes on everything so I wouldn’t miss anything. It was a strenuous task and so unlike me, but I had to give my everything if I didn’t want to fail. Things weren’t looking too good already. I was having a hard time keeping up in class. “We’re starting with the tome of life,” Mr. Barnes pressed on, dragging the overhead projector trolley closer to the whiteboard and positioned it to point forward. When he clicked it on, an image splashed across

I made my way toward the library with my book bag thrown over my shoulder like a bat straight out of hell—wings on fire. I almost rammed into a few people along the way. I was late, courtesy of the one student in physical who turned wolf and lost control of herself. At first she tried to pull her own fur out, then turned her own frustration on the rest of the class and our teacher. It was chaos. By the time the period was over and we tried to leave, we had to clear up the mess she left behind after getting escorted out by a flurry of guards. After that display, I was growing apprehensive over the idea of transforming into my wolf for the first time. What if that happens to me? My heart was loud in my ears as I made a beeline for the library, almost ramming right into Dibella. “I'm so, so sorry I’m late. There was an incident in physical—” Dibella tutted with a smile and waved me off. “Not to worry, love. I'll reheat the kettle. Why don’t you get settled by my desk and start worki

Luca's POV. I sat back on a chair in the far corner of the cafeteria, chomping down on a cold, stiff fry; my gaze zeroed in on Elijah, definitely up-to-something Ledger. There were guards stationed at every exit of the cafeteria and one between the boys' and girls' toilets on the other side of the room, but they seemed…distracted. More accurately, two of the three guards were eyeing the ceiling, their eyes following something I couldn't see, and the third one, by the main exit, seemed like he had a serious case of fleas. He'd been more focused on scratching various parts of his body, his attention everywhere but on Elijah. And the man in question? Well, he'd been watching the guards with a questionable smirk on his face like he was in on a joke only he was privy to. I bet all the cold fries on my plate that he had something to do with it. But, I was most interested in why he was so intent to get them off his case? I'd have bet he wouldn't mind a chance for some alone time with his

Hailey’s POV. “Stupid, freaking insufferable, top class, cow!” Nate hissed over his shoulder at Valerie as she offered us a saccharine sweet smile from her table in the center of the cafeteria. “One day, I swear—” “Nate, it’s okay. Just leave it, please.” I pressed four fingers to my temple and sighed. “Karma will get to her…Eventually.” “And when will that be?” he retorted as Celeste grabbed him by the arm, steering him toward the cafeteria exit with Ariah and me on their trail. “When she’s old and shriveled up like a prune?” “Honestly, that would be karma in itself. Her being all vain and that,” Celeste snorted a laugh. “I mean, it’s just juice,” I persisted. That, and my dignity along with it. When Nate paused dead in his tracks to shoot me one of those looks only Nate could pull off that said, ‘Oh yeah?’ with an attitude, I knew he wasn’t going to drop it. “Okay, fine. Then what do you suggest I do about it?” “Hmmm. Let me see.” Nate tore his arm from Celeste’s hold, eyeing