CHAPTER ONE
Interview with the Beta
Amelia was pacing the room frantically, her smartphone clutched in her hand. From time to time, she lit up the screen, either to check the time or to make sure it hadn’t rung without her noticing. That was stupid, of course. On the other hand, technology could misbehave, and she couldn’t afford this to happen right now, when she was waiting for such an important call. Miss Jones, Monique Delacroix’s secretary, rarely called when she needed a student to go down to the school principal’s office. She usually sent someone to find said student, and that was why Amelia hadn’t left her room today. She wanted to make sure she was easy to find.
She sighed and went into the bathroom to check herself in the tall mirror for the hundredth time in the past two hours. She straightened her shirt and made sure the last button was undone and showed a glimpse of her cleavage in a casual, unassuming way. She turned around and frowned at the sight of her round hips. The black, elegant trousers she had chosen that morning were really tight over her butt, which showed how generous it was in comparison to her delicate waist and medium-sized breasts.
“Ugh! I have such a big ass. Maybe I should have gone for a skirt.” She contemplated the possibility of changing. “No. No, no, no. What if Miss Jones sends for me just as I’m out of my pants and struggling to make the stupid skirt fit? Out of the question.”
The long, perfectly ironed trousers would have to do, even though, in combination with the white shirt and black pumps, they did give her a standoffish, businesslike air. She looked as if she was getting ready for a meeting. Her soft, medium-length brown hair fell on her shoulders in wide curls. It had taken her forever to curl it properly, the annoying strands too soft and shiny to comply with the new shape she wanted to give them. She had applied a thin layer of foundation to make sure her complexion was white and flawless, then used black eyeliner to make her warm, brown eyes stand out. Fiery red lipstick completed her make-up. Yes, she looked like she was about to give a sales pitch to a filthy rich, pretentious client.
“Well… isn’t that what we’re actually doing here?” she whispered while applying a new layer of red lipstick. She heard the door open and threw one last glance in the mirror before leaving the bathroom.
Amelia’s two roommates entered the bedroom, Claudia laughing wholeheartedly at something Delyse had just said. They both stopped in their tracks, eyes wide and mouths slightly open, when they saw Amelia.
“What do you think?” Amelia asked them, not before checking her phone again.
“Oh, wow! Aren’t you taking the project for the stock market seminar a bit too far?” asked Delyse.
“What project?” Amelia rolled her eyes. “Ha.Ha. So funny. Seriously, how do I look?”
“Very… professional?” offered Claudia.
“Why didn’t you tell us you have an interview today? We could have helped you get ready.” Delyse walked to her desk and powered up her laptop. She and Claudia had just come back from lunch and they had half an hour more to spare before the next class.
“I don’t have an interview,” said Amelia reluctantly. “At least… not yet.”
“What do you mean?” Claudia had already lain down on her bed, determined to waste away the little free time she had before the Greek Literature class.
“I’m waiting for Miss Jones to call me.”
“So… you do have an interview,” concluded Delyse.
“No, I don’t.” Amelia sat down on her bed angrily. This was so frustrating. The fox-shifter had been interviewing her Vulpes colleagues since early morning, and no one had sent for her yet. She had skipped classes and lunch to make sure she was ready when Miss Jones would tell her the fox-shifter who was visiting the Alma Venus Boarding School had requested her for an interview, but it was already 12:30 PM and nothing had happened. Had the guy gone over her page in the House Vulpes catalog and decided she wasn’t what he was looking for?
“I’m confused,” said Claudia, sitting up in bed. “You don’t have an interview, but you got ready for one anyway.”
Amelia stood up and resumed her anxious pacing. This couldn’t happen again. It simply couldn’t. She was 22 and had gotten her own page in the House Vulpes catalog four years ago. Since then, she had had more interviews than she could count, and she had done her best each and every time, even when she hadn’t been particularly fond of the fox-shifter who was trying to assess if she was a good mate for him or his Alpha. And after each interview, she had walked out of the office disappointed, already aware she had blown it. None of the shape-shifters who had interviewed her over the years had wanted to buy her. It was easy to understand why the bear-shifters and the eagle-shifters had dismissed her after just a couple of questions. She was too much of a fox-bride to appeal to them. But, for the life of her, she couldn’t understand why no fox-shifter seemed to want her either. In these circumstances, there was a fair chance she would reach 25 before anyone bought her. She shook her head, and her gesture made Delyse and Claudia exchange a worried glance. She couldn’t think about that. She had worked too hard to be thrown out of Alma Venus and forced to fend for herself or work in a shifter brothel.
“Are you okay?” asked Delyse carefully. Amelia wasn’t exactly her and Claudia’s friend, but they had shared the same room for years. Since Amelia helped Avelyn escape the night she was bought by Max Blackmane, Delyse had tried to get closer to her. She was difficult and bitchy, but Delyse was sure the girl’s attitude was more of a weird, twisted defense system.