Shadow Mate - Jen L. Grey Page 0,13

pendant lying within took my breath away. She explained that it had been a cufflink before and that she had it made into a pendant for me. As she talked, I couldn't take my eyes off it. It had five raised paw prints: four silver paw prints and then a slightly larger red paw print that sat on top of them. I'd wanted to put it on that day, but she told me it was too important to wear and that she only gave it to me to remind me that I wasn't alone. I'd always found it odd that she gave me a necklace she didn't want me to wear. However, when tears trailed down her cheeks as she made me promise, I knew right then and there it was very important to her. We never brought it up again, and when I told Dad thanks later that night, he'd looked at me strangely.

"What are you looking at?" Bree closed the distance between us.

Before she could see, I snapped the box shut. For whatever reason, it seemed too personal to share. "Oh, nothing. Sorry, I'm out of it. Honestly, I never thought I'd be here." That wasn't a lie.

"Well, what else do you have left to unpack?" Her eyes landed on my two suitcases. "Where are all your other bags?"

"That's all of them." I had always known this was a prestigious school, but it wasn't until now that I was beginning to understand the magnitude.

"It's not a big deal." She picked up both bags and headed to the closet. "We'll be wearing school uniforms anyway."

"Say what?" I didn't know anything about school uniforms. Even though our family never went without, we weren't rolling in money either. "Where do I go get them?"

"Chill." She opened the doors to my large walk-in closet and pointed to an already halfway filled closet of clothes. "They're all here."

I rushed over and couldn't believe my eyes. There were red and silver skirts, dresses, sweaters, and pants galore. It didn't make any sense. I pulled a skirt off the hanger and glanced at the tag. It was a size six. "How the hell did they know my size?"

"You're only a couple of inches taller than me, and you have a more slender waist." She shrugged her shoulders as she opened my bag and began hanging my personal clothes. "I knew we had to be the same size."

"Well, you were right." After one night, she had already noticed all that stuff about me. I wasn't sure how comfortable I was about that though.

"It's all in the training." She rolled her eyes as she pulled out one of my favorite tops. It was a simple black shirt that clung to my body in the most flattering ways. It had bunched sleeves and a V-neck. "This is freaking adorable."

"You can always borrow it." Maybe this would be similar to having a sister if we roomed together and shared clothes. "And what kind of training are you talking about?"

"Don't worry. You'll find all that out soon enough." She huffed and finished putting up the last of the first suitcase. "Should I do your other one?" She arched an eyebrow.

"Shit, sorry." Here I was standing and looking like a dummy as she unpacked for me. "I can do it."

"No, it's no big deal." She grabbed a dress from my last bag. "It's kind of nice, helping for a change. Usually, people are stepping all over themselves to help me. It's a little refreshing."

"Didn't you have to unpack your room?"

"Nope, Dad had people set up both Liam's and my room." She shrugged. "So it's nice to help you. And let's be real. This didn't take long at all since you didn't bring a lot with you."

"I'm kind of simple." Mom and Dad had taught Max and me that it wasn't the stuff we surrounded ourselves with but the people we do that mattered the most. "And I didn't want to drag a ton of stuff back and forth."

"Now that I get."

Within minutes, we were done hanging everything up, and I spotted a large silver comforter in the corner. I picked it up and headed back out to the bedroom.

"Want to go grab something to eat?" She glanced at my clock and smiled. "I'm starving."

"That actually sounds like an excellent idea." I quickly put the comforter on my bed and sighed. I was all unpacked now. "I don't have a car, so is there something nearby?"

"Oh, yeah. Our cafeteria is in the