Azure Dragons (Supernatural Shifter Academy #2) - G. Bailey Page 0,1

casting away the outside world. It’s not an easy thing to do, especially for someone like me, who would rather overthink everything than let instincts do what they’re supposed to. Everyone says that’s the key to mastering your shifter form: to learn to let go. The only problem is that it’s easier said than done, and I’ve only really ever gotten the hang of it in life or death situations. But that’s a story for another time, I think.

I suck in a long breath, focusing on the feeling of the cool autumn air on my skin and the sounds of the leaves rustling in the trees overhead. It’s a Sunday, and there are no classes today, which means the students of the Academy have free reign to roam about the campus, study, and practice their forms. It’s a simple life, but I’m not complaining, especially now that I’ve seen what it’s like to have the Academy on lockdown. It’s been a bit more than a month since that student, Brody Patton, disappeared, and the faculty has only just eased up on the curfews and restrictions. How many of them know the real reason behind Brody’s disappearance, I can’t say.

I feel my breathing start to slow down, that cool, familiar feeling that I’ve come to know as my magic making itself known in the pit of my stomach. I resist the urge to reach for it, to try to grab onto it; Shade was the one who told me how counterproductive that is. The key is to let go and let it come to you. So I do… or at least, I try to.

The truth is that I’m finding it incredibly hard to focus with Shade in such close proximity to me. He’s close enough that I can feel his breath stirring the chestnut flyaways on my forehead, and can smell him—earthy and musky, with a layer of danger that sets my heart pounding whenever I catch it. Not for the first time, I catch myself wondering if he’s picked up on my feelings yet. What do I even call it, anyway? A crush? A friendship? An attachment? Somehow, none of those feel quite right, and that’s the problem.

That’s the problem with all the guys.

“Take your time, take your time,” Shade says dryly. “It’s not like it’s almost dinnertime or something.”

I open my eyes and give him a playful shove, sending him stumbling back. “You’re making it hard to concentrate.”

Shade gives me a devilish grin that sends a swarm of butterflies moving through my stomach. “That’s the point.”

My eyes go wide, and I open my mouth to ask what he means by that, but think better of it at the last second. That’s opening a door I’m not sure I want to open.

Aside from Hazel, the siren shifter who I met on my first day at the Academy, most of my friends here have been guys. It’s not like that’s a problem, or anything—I don’t discriminate—but when I arrived here, I wasn’t used to being close to people. After a life of bouncing from place to place, never able to settle down and form real connections, I had almost forgotten what it was like to care about someone—let alone multiple someones. The fact that each of the guys is compassionate, handsome, and intelligent? That’s the issue, and it’s complicated even further by the fact that they, in a sense, made me.

I straighten up and redouble my efforts, forcing all thoughts of the guys, my past, and the Academy from my mind as I bring the image of a timber wolf to mind. Focusing on every detail, I back away from the pool of magic, allowing it to branch out and envelop my body. Within moments, I can feel the telltale prickling of fur emerging from my skin, my posture changing and my muscles shifting. It’s a bit like meditating, in a sense; the second you think about it too much, you lose the thread, and then you’re a human again. So instead I open my eyes as I become a wolf, focusing on something else instead—namely, the tall student who stands watching me with a crooked smile. Not for the first time, I find myself lost in his gray eyes, my wolf’s vision allowing me to see flecks of color and tiny details that I can’t as a human.

He’s so handsome, I think, and nearly kick myself. But I can’t help it, especially now; I can feel the heat rolling off