I tramp down the hall, duffel bag slung over my shoulder. The door to my room is closed. I knock. No one answers, and I guess that makes sense, since it’s afternoon and everyone will be at the team-building exercise.
I’m not sorry to have missed that. Kate may be the one vocalizing her objections, but she speaks for both of us. As pack animals, we’re all about team dynamics, yet we know better than anyone that you can’t build “team spirit” with total strangers in an hour. Trust and respect are things you earn.
My room is pitch dark, not surprising with the complete lack of windows in this ridiculous building. Again, my sister might be the one complaining, but she’s doing it for both of us. This main floor feels like a creepy old basement. It even smells like one, musty and unnatural despite the new construction.
My night vision helps, and I can make out two twin beds inside. I open the door just enough to spot a light switch. I flick it and—
“What the fuck?” a voice snarls.
A guy jumps up from the bed across the room. He’s over six feet tall, with broad shoulders. Pale skin. Wavy black hair. And a scowl that would beat any of Kate’s.
He’s not wearing a team shirt. That’s the first thing I look for—some hint of his supernatural race. It’s impossible to tell otherwise, and from the way
this guy is scowling at me, I’d like to be forewarned before I get hit with a sorcerer’s knock-back spell or an ice half-demon’s touch.
He rips earbuds from his ears. “Did you hear me, asshole? What are you doing in my room?” He squints at me. “Who the hell are you, anyway?”
“Logan,” I say, extending a hand. “Logan Dan—Logan Michaels,” I amend, as I remember we’re going incognito. Not that it’ll help much. My mother is Elena Michaels. Still, Danvers is the better known werewolf name, the family having been around since the dawn of the American Pack.
My roommate, thankfully, doesn't figure it out. He just keeps scowling at
me.
“Get the hell out of my room, Logan Michaels,” he says.
“If your name is Mason, it’s our room. I’m your roommate.” “The hell you are. I was promised a room to myself.”
I toss my bag onto the empty bed. “If they want to move me, I’ll go, but I
get the impression my sister and I took the last available spots.” “No, you took an unavailable spot. Get the hell out of my room.”
As my temper sparks, I remind myself this isn’t a true territorial dispute. It’s just a misunderstanding, and if they find me a new room, I will indeed move.
“This is my assigned bed,” I repeat, as calmly as I can. “I’m here until I’m told otherwise.”
I begin to unpack my bag, which isn’t really necessary at this moment, but yes, my hackles are up. I’m asserting my claim to this particular patch of territory, discreetly but significantly.
“Put your shit back,” Mason says. “You aren’t staying.”
“If I’m not, then I’ll repack. Until then . . .” I drop onto the bed. “I was up at five. I’m going to take a nap.”
He moves so fast I only see a blur, and my brain blurts, Teleporting half- demon. I roll off the bed and onto my feet, and I’m behind him before he realizes I’ve moved.
He swings around and snorts, and I have this image of a bull pawing the ground. I might laugh. Well, it’s more of a snicker, which is smaller than a laugh but potentially more insulting.
Mason pulls himself to his full height and advances until he’s close enough for me to see the vein pulsing in his neck. I look up into his face.
“Yes?” I say.
He hesitates at that, obviously accustomed to guys backing down from him. I meet his gaze and wait.
He steps even closer, heat rolling off him.
“If you’re trying to intimidate me, don’t bother,” I say. “It won’t go as well as you hope.”
“Is that a threat?”
“A threat is what you’re doing, encroaching on my physical space. A warning is what I issued, suggesting that threatening me is a very bad idea.”
“Let me guess . . . you know karate,” he says with a sneer. “No, I’m not very good at martial arts.”
“So what is your sport?” He looks me up and down and sneers. “Beach volleyball?”
“Yes. Now, I’m going to suggest you back off—”
The guy attacks. Again, it happens so fast I see only a blur. This time, he’s too close for me to dodge. Close enough for me to hit, though. And . . . well . . . catching me off guard means I react on instinct, without holding back. He sails into the opposite wall.
He doesn’t crumple to the floor. I’ll give him credit for that. He stays on his feet, though he is propped against the wall, doubled over and gasping for breath. I didn’t hit him in the stomach. I know better. It was a hard blow, though.
He lifts his head. “What the fuck are—?”
The words are a distraction, and halfway through, he charges. I can tell now that he isn’t teleporting. He’s just really fast, especially for a guy his
size. I swing out of the way. He twists and lunges at me, and I can’t back up
—I’m against the wall. So I knock him to the floor and pin him there.
He’s not a half-demon.
I don’t know what he is, but something in his eyes sends a chill through me. He’s spitting mad, his face contorting, and in that face, I see a fellow predator. Not a werewolf, though. His scent would give that away.
I pin Mason as he thrashes. After a moment, he stops and stares up at me. “You’re a werewolf,” he says, almost breathing the words. He struggles
up as I back off. “They put me in a room with a fucking werewolf?”
I manage a laugh. “Of course not. I’m a Ferratus half-demon.” As the name implies, a Ferratus has skin like iron. They aren’t necessarily stronger than humans, but if one hits you, you know it, and that seems like a reasonable explanation.
“Didn’t you say you’re here with your sister? Daddy Demon must have really liked your mom, knocking her up twice.”
“We’re twins.”
“A multiple birth, just like wolves.”
“Actually no, multiple births aren’t any more common among werewolves than humans because only the father is typically a werewolf.”
“Typically?” His eyes narrow as he looks at me. “Oh, no. Fuck no. Don’t tell me you’re—”
“I’m a Ferratus.”
“Twin teenage werewolves. Multiple birth because double the werewolf blood. You’re Clayton Danvers’s kid.” Mason throws up his hands. “It wasn’t enough to lock me in a room with a fucking werewolf. I have to get the psycho’s kid. This is someone’s idea of a joke, isn’t it? Lock up the freaks together.”
“Freak?” I frown. “What are you?”
“Out of here, that’s what I am. Not sticking around to get my throat ripped out in the night.”
“I’m a Pack wolf. The Alpha’s son. I don’t kill people.” His eyes narrow. “So you admit it? You’re his kid?”
“Her kid. My mom’s Alpha. Dad’s her Beta, which isn’t actually a traditional Pack position, but that’s what he calls himself because it sounds much less scary than ‘Pack enforcer.’”
“Your dad could call himself Tinkerbell, and he wouldn’t sound any less scary. You think I haven’t heard the stories about him?” Mason grabs a duffel from under his bed and starts filling it. “I think you cracked my rib. Not exactly the way to convince someone you aren’t dangerous.”
“You came at me. After I warned you. I was quite reasonable about the whole thing.”
He shakes his head, and I catch a glimmer of something almost like a smile, but it’s clearly an optical illusion because when he looks up again, he’s scowling.
“You don’t need to leave,” I say. “I’ll talk to the counselors—”
“The counselors hate my guts already. This is probably their idea of punishment. They think I need an attitude adjustment.”
“I can’t imagine why,” I murmur.
He finishes packing his stuff and strides out. When he’s gone, I exhale.
So, apparently, I lasted five minutes before giving away not only what I am but who. Off to a grand start.
I thump back on the bed and sigh again. When someone taps at the door, I spring up.
“Kate?” I call, hopefully.
The door’s half open, and I can see no one’s there. I exhale again, this time in disappointment.
Then I stop.
If I want to talk to Kate, I should go find her. It isn’t her responsibility to reach out. It’s just that she always has. Kate has been the alpha in our twin pack. Which doesn’t mean I can’t take the initiative and let her know I’d like
to hang out together.
I head into the empty hall. Tricia said Kate was in room twelve at the far end of the hall. I pass the main entrance and then a partly open door with girls’ voices wafting out. They don’t notice me.
I continue on to the end, where I find Kate’s door cracked open an inch. I tap on it. No one answers, but I hear a voice inside.
I rap harder, and the door opens at my knock. Something flashes in the darkness, and a ball of flame flies straight at me.