Big Bad Academy

“I think that would be best,” Maxwell looks tired, but both my father and I know that he’s right. If we don’t go, we’re going to have a mutiny on our hands because the wolves are going to panic and they’re going to take off. They’re going to flee to different places and then the rumors will begin that the Greystone Pack can’t take care of its own.

Well, we can.

We can, and we will.

“All right,” I tell my dad. “At dusk, we run.”

LILY AGREES TO STAY with Heather while Gaston, Maxwell, my dad, and I take the shifters for a run. I leave one man behind to guard the girls. Lily knows, but I still haven’t admitted this to Heather. Would she feel uncomfortable if she knew I was having someone watching her? Would it make her feel bad?

I push the thought aside as we all leave the school. For runs like this, we change in the school locker rooms and shift into our wolf forms before coming outside. It’s easier this way since it means our clothes are safely left indoors. If we’re outside when it starts to rain, we don’t have to worry about clothing becoming damaged.

My father leads the way, and we start to run. We make it through the first mile smoothly and without incident. Being beneath the full moon feels wonderful. I love running in my wolf form because it makes me feel like everything is right with the world.

It makes me feel free.

The wind blows against my face and all I can focus on is how wonderful I feel running with my pack. We run through fields and over hills. We don’t always follow the same paths when we run, and tonight is no exception. My father leads us over a stream and then into the woods, but we never slow down. We just keep moving.

While we’re in the woods, we can still feel the moon shining down on us, offering us hope, offering us the reminder that no matter what happens with us in life, things are going to be okay. Things are going to be fine. Everything is going to be absolutely wonderful.

And then we leap over a fallen tree.

We splash through a tiny pond.

We jump over rocks and scurry through a tunnel.

We keep moving until we emerge on the other side of the woods.

Then Maxwell takes over. He leads us to a waterfall where there’s a swimming hole. The wolves don’t need to be pushed or prodded. Instead, they leap right into the water, ready to splash and play. It’s a wonderful feeling being free like this, and I’m suddenly filled with the urge to bring Heather here sometime.

My dreams have become stronger since we’ve been so close.

So have my headaches.

I won’t complain to her, but being this close and not mating her has been taking its toll on me. I’m not sleeping well because every dream is filled with visions of her. I dream of her touch. I dream of her skin. I dream of her scent. I dream of us coming together.

Before I met her, my mating dreams consisted of normal, ordinary dreams. Some of them were sexy, sure, but I could never see the woman in my dreams clearly. I couldn’t see her face, anyway. I never knew who the mystery girl was, but I know now.

Now every time I dream, I see her face, and I wonder what I can do to make the dreams stop.

My father looks over at me. He and Maxwell are sitting primly, watching the pack swim. I’m a short distance from them, but I’m also watching. I’m not participating in the reindeer games today because I’m much too preoccupied with everything that’s been going on in my life.

Wanting someone like Heather is a horrible idea.

Surely there must be a way to break the mating claim if she doesn’t want me.

Right?

I mean, besides, she’s a human, so it’s not like she’d want to spend her entire life mated to a pack. Unfortunately, being a wolf shifter isn’t quite like movies tend to represent. I can’t bite her and turn her into a wolf like me. Shifters are born, not made, and there’s nothing I can do to change that.

For any of us.

After a while, my father howls, letting the wolves know that it’s time to return to the school. We’ve been running for hours, and we’re tired, and it’s time to go back. Everyone has stuff to do tomorrow, so none of us should be out too late. Once everyone is present and accounted for, we run back through the woods.

This time, we take a more direct approach that goes by a fallen tree house and the abandoned fort. My father and Maxwell are up ahead, followed by several of the male high schoolers. I’m bringing up the rear near Erin, Megan, and a few of the other teenagers. There are plenty of adult shifters, too, though. It’s a big group tonight.

A tree brushes against me in the dark, and I get chills. Something about the forest just sees uncomfortable tonight. We move over little creeks and through the underbrush, and then we finally arrive back home. By the time we get there, I’m worn out and tired, but happily exhausted. My father turns to the group and starts counting, carefully making sure that everyone is present, but a look of frustration covers his face and I see him counting again.

That’s when I turn around and look at the group of wolves sitting carefully.