His stomach gurgled as fear began to take hold of him. He hated being different. He’d been different his entire life.
“You’re here to teach,” Sam said softly. He glanced at Brooks again. “And maybe, if you’re open to the possibility, finding something you’ve always wanted.”
Toby sucked in air but couldn’t quite manage to breathe. He heard a snarl behind him and jumped. Sam hurried to open the door to the nap room, and Toby found himself facing the giant lion from earlier.
He looked annoyed.
And he was staring directly at Toby.
It pushed him over the edge into insanity. His chest seized and he couldn’t pull in a breath.
“Nick!” Brooks’s voice was frightened.
Toby wanted to cling to him, to use Brooks as a shelter as he’d done earlier, but the idea of it scared him further. Brooks was a stranger. They all were. And he was staring at a lion—no, wait. The lion was now a naked man.
Nick grabbed Toby by the back of the neck and shook him. “Toby! Breathe. Come on.”
He sucked in a breath. He had to do it because Nick said so. And that thought sent him spiraling again.
“Again,” Nick commanded.
And again, Toby obeyed.
“Good. Now listen to me. You’re going to be okay. I know this is a lot. Believe me, I know. I was standing where you are not too long ago. Imagine not even knowing you can turn into a lion. Crazy, right?”
It was crazy.
Insane, really.
Nick sucked in a long breath.
Toby did as well.
“Tell me about it,” Nick added, as if he’d heard Toby’s unspoken reply. “And then I met Jedrek, right? You saw him.”
“Sc-scary,” Toby managed to gasp.
Nick breathed again, in and out. Toby did as well.
“Well…” Nick smirked and squeezed Toby’s neck again. More gently this time, but it reassured him somehow. “I mean, I wasn’t exactly scared of him. I might have attacked him. It was a thing.”
“Y-you attacked him?”
“Yep. What can I say? I’ve got issues. And then I did other things to him.” From the leer on Nick’s face, Toby had no doubt what kinds of things those were.
“Nick, not helping,” Sam warned.
“What? He’s my mate. It’s what we do. Don’t act like you and Vaughn don’t get it on.”
Sam sighed.
Brooks touched Toby’s arm and drew his attention. “Okay?”
No, he really wasn’t. He shrugged instead of lying outright.
“You will be,” Nick said. It sounded like a promise. “Hey, about time you got here!”
Two men stood in the doorway. Each was holding the hand of a little boy. One, a very large man with dark brown hair, snorted at Nick’s statement. The other, a very elegant red-haired man in a suit, scowled.
“I told you we were taking the boys into town and meeting Eduard for a late lunch.”
Nick rolled his eyes.
“What was so urgent that it required sixteen vague text messages?” Redhead didn’t seem amused.
A scoff was Nick’s reply. “Rude much? Toby, the annoyed one is Victor. He’s a griffin. The one trying not to laugh is Victor’s mate. His name’s Orsen, but we all call him Riggs. It’s a thing.”
Victor’s scowl intensified.
Nick pointed to Toby. “Oh, and sixteen messages because it happened again.”
“Excuse me?”
Toby wondered if Victor was always in such a bad mood.
“Toby showed up. Said he had an interview with me. Well, he said headmaster, and I hereby officially proclaim that everyone has to call me headmaster forever.”
The leer was back. Toby had a feeling Nick used the expression a lot.
The redhead scoffed, then turned his attention to Toby. He tried not to squirm and found himself moving closer to Brooks as Victor inspected him.
“Come on, Victor. Gimme a break,” Nick said.
Victor snorted and shot a glare toward the alpha. “Puteri?”
“She said Toby felt like the Lady. And Toby walked past that stone thingy that Keziah built. The new ward tester? He shouldn’t have been able to do that, right? Not if he wasn’t supposed to be here?”
Victor pinched the bridge of his nose. “And this didn’t warrant a phone call? Or, and I can’t stress this enough, something other than sixteen texts that said ‘You back yet?’”
“He punched Draco in the face. When he was a dragon.”
Victor’s eyes widened, and he dropped his hand from his face. “He did what?”
“It was pretty badass. Also the funniest shit I’ve seen all year.”
Victor sighed and turned his attention to Sam. “What isn’t he telling me?”
Sam pointed to Brooks and then to Toby. “Mates.”
Victor’s hand returned to his nose. “Goddess help me. He’s human?”