Wolf Girl (Wolf Girl #1) - Leia Stone Page 0,3

way they sniffed the air and searched the cafeteria with yellow eyes.

Oh fuck.

What did I do? I shrank in my seat, trying to disappear, when one of them looked directly at me. A quick scan told me none of them were Sawyer.

Maybe he went back and asked the alpha about a girl named Demi who was cast out of the pack, and they said I shouldn’t be allowed to go to school here, or maybe—

“Demi Calloway?”

I held my breath as terror rushed through me. “Yes?” I squeaked.

The dude hovering over me was jacked, a huge wolf, who I now recognized as one of the guys waiting by the car this morning in the school parking lot. There was a gun at his hip, likely filled with silver bullets, and a vampire stake in a holster at his thigh. This dude wasn’t fucking around.

He handed me a letter with a golden wax seal. Legit it had a wax seal like this was 1601.

I gulped, taking the letter. “Thanks.” I attempted to shove it in my bag and prayed he’d go away.

“Open it,” the wolf growled.

Crap.

The whole cafeteria was watching me now. Even the lunch lady looked nervous for me.

Tearing the seal, bits of gold wax falling into my lap, I rolled the letter open and scanned it. Typed in an italic font was a letter addressed to me.

Demi Calloway,

You are hereby cordially invited to attend Sterling Hill Collegiate Academy of Werewolf Sciences. Werewolf Law 301.6 states that all unmated females ages 18-22 must be present the year the future alpha chooses his mate.

Sincerely,

Werewolf City alpha in residence, Curt Hudson

What the what! My heart hammered in my chest as I noticed messy handwriting scrawled a personal note at the bottom.

P.S. This was the only way I could legally get you out of there.

Sawyer Hudson.

My stomach dropped, my mouth going dry.

Sawyer Hudson.

Sawyer.

Hudson.

Curt Hudson was alpha of Werewolf City, which meant … Sawyer was the fucking alpha’s son. I’d met the alpha’s son and now I was being invited back to Werewolf City because he was choosing a mate? What in the actual hell was happening?

I stared at the sheet of paper in my hand and then looked up at the dude. “Uhh, cool, thanks. I’ll … think about it.”

He shook his head. “I was told by the alpha to tell you the offer expires in sixty seconds. He does not hold your parents’ transgressions upon you. But he wants to deal with this matter quickly.”

Whoa. Sixty seconds? He didn’t hold my parents’ transgressions against me? What did that mean? That despite their banishment, I was being given a place back into werewolf society? I had to chew the inside of my lip to bite back the tears. I stared at the cuffs on my wrist, letting my mind process his words.

“Those will come off. You’ll be a regular member of society with proper living accommodations and a clean slate.” The guard seemed to be reading off of a second paper that he held. “You have thirty seconds.”

Raven flew into my arms, pulling me into a hug, and the entire cafeteria went silent as they watched me decide. “Go,” Raven whispered in my ear. “I’ll tell your parents. They would want this for you.”

My parents. I couldn’t just leave them. Could I?

She pulled away from me and I looked up at the dude. “Can I pick up my stuff? See my parents?”

He shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’ll be given new things. Your parents are not permitted to know about this until after you arrive in Werewolf City.”

A sob formed in my throat, but I pushed it down. I couldn’t let these fuckers see my weakness.

Go to Sterling Hill? Live among werewolves again? It’s all I’d wanted since I was a little girl. I had no idea why my parents were banished from Werewolf City; they never spoke about it. Said it wasn’t for children’s ears, and then when I became a teenager my father told me it was too painful. I figured it didn’t really matter anyway. What was done was done, lifelong banishment to the reject pile of the city, destined to live among magical trash and humans for the rest of my life. Delphi Corner was a small five-square-mile area in Spokane, Washington, which was spelled to repel humans, we could be ourselves here, but if we stepped outside the area, we needed to be on our best behavior and appear human … assuming that was possible.

I