plus column, and he keeps me interested enough so I can shove Jonah into the back of my mind for now.
When the class nears completion, Mr. Lyme lowers a large projection screen on the wall. Turning to face us, I recognize a change in his face—his features have fallen. “It’s a mandatory requirement for this class that I show you this video. It’s my least favorite thing to do. I add it to the beginning of the course so we can get it over with. I am sure none of you will end up in this predicament, but since we have already covered an overview of the pack system, this video discusses the often unspoken wild wolf community known as Ferals.”
He retreats to the rear of the room, and after a few moments, a video starts to play. A slice of fear shivers down my spine. My wolf also perks to attention, ears straight up. Not a lot of human life grabs her interest, but she knows what this means.
In true documentary-like fashion, the filmmakers go out in the wild and record different scenes and interviews. We’re shown huts in the woods, frail, primitive humans feasting on woodland creatures. Slide after slide portrays a subset of wolves that is so unlike our own pack system. Living alone. Hungry. Some of them caged. Some of them living in filth. Brutal fights over food, housing, and territory. It’s like watching a documentary on parts of the United States ravaged by war or a fantasy world set in the apocalypse.
They definitely never showed us anything like this in Lunar. Our Feral imaginations were the horror stories, but this movie is far worse than any story I’ve ever heard.
During one particular scene where a shifter in her human form is eating some sort of dead animal, Nadia leans in. “Have you noticed there are no children?”
I blink at the screen. I hadn’t noticed. I was too stuck on the fact that Feral is a real possibility for myself and my new friends, but now that she mentions it, I haven’t spotted a single child in human or wolf form. There are no families either. Just lone wolves.
I feel sick.
I was always the outsider but never like this. I still had my parents. I still had a house, no matter if it was the worst in the village. There was a spot for me to always lay my head down and bathe and eat—and there were people who loved me.
While I watch, I don’t notice that I’ve partially shifted. My fingers have turned into claws digging into the top of the desk. Nadia elbows me, and pointedly glares at my hands. I stare wide-eyed, then close my eyes. It’s okay. I console my wolf as she freaks the fuck out. That won’t be us.
Slowly, she starts to retract until my claws return to fingers—the same needle-like sensation coursing through me as I change. When I’m fully human, I lean against the back of the chair and place my hands on my lap in case something like that happens again. When the class ends, I hightail it out of there, leaving Nadia behind calling my name.
My wolf is begging to be set free. I need to get the hell out of Greystone Academy and give in. I practically race through the halls, exiting out the main doors and rounding the side of the building where the huts are in view. Someone calls my name from behind me, but I don’t register that they’re talking to me until a hand yanks back on my arm. I spin, growling—the sound more wolf than human. My heart batters my chest, singing a song of agony and fear.
Jonah stands in front of me. He takes a step back and raises his hands in surrender. A black polo shirt pulls taut over his broad chest. His biceps burst from the sleeves barely containing his muscles. Glistening, brown hair styled to the side shines in the sun beating down on both of us.
“What are you doing here?” I bark. I can’t tell if I’m mad that he’s here, that he’s so gorgeous, or that he’s interrupted me from running. Probably a mixture of all three. The last thing I want is to be attracted to someone who doesn’t think I’m worthy.
“Ms. Ebon and I have a meeting to schedule your class with me, but I saw you running out of the building.” He studies me, and for once, he doesn’t do it