Shadow Mate - Jen L. Grey Page 0,16

of them swaggered to the booth across the room.

I hated the fact that I stared at Liam's fine ass the whole time until he sat down, only to destroy my eye candy focus.

"Uh... Earth to Mia." Bree snorted.

"What?" I turned my head back and locked eyes with her.

"Were you really just checking out my brother?" Bree leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest.

"What?" Holy shit, she’d caught me. I had been so obvious. "No." I shook my head so hard that it cracked. "Ow."

She laughed hard enough for a tear to run down her face. "You sure are something. And it's fine. Most people do check him out."

"But I hate him." Oh, wait. That's her brother. "No, what I mean is...”

"Stop, it's fine." She waved me off. "He usually has one of two extreme reactions from people. Usually, it's that they think he's amazing and could do no wrong. Then there are a few," she said as she pointed at me, "who think he's an asshole. I can honestly say he's a combo, but the older he gets, the worse he is instead of better. When we were young, we were close." She bit her lower lip as she ran her finger along the table. "I miss that."

I could only imagine. Max and I were so close; to lose him would be like losing a piece of my heart. "I'm sorry. But you have me now." I tried to seem enthusiastic to be here.

She mashed her lips together, trying to prevent a smile from creeping up. "Nice try, but that was totally fake. Don't ever do it again."

"Thank you." I breathed out and winked at her. "I'm not good at the faking it till you make it thing."

"And that's why I like you." She leaned back as a waiter brought out our burgers. "And now we feast."

"Eating our feelings is always the way to go." I couldn't help but glance back in the direction of her brother’s booth.

"You do need to be careful around them though." She nodded her head in the direction of the four.

"So, I take it that they are all heirs to the council?" It was crazy that it took until now for me to figure that out.

"Yes, the darkest one with the golden eyes, his name is Micah. He and his father represent the south. Simon is the one with slightly lighter skin than Micah’s and a big mouth. He and his father are over the west. The pale scary one is Evan, and his family is over the east."

"So that leaves your family over the north." At least, part of it made some sense. "I kind of feel stupid now. I thought they were only tight friends."

"Oh, they are. Our parents made sure of that while they were growing up." She took a bite of her burger and sighed. "And they are the next rulers, so keep that in mind."

My alarm blared, and I sat straight up in bed. I blinked a few times before the realization of where I was finally sunk back in. I fumbled over and turned the alarm off before plopping back onto my pillow. This bed was way too comfortable. It was twice as big and softer than my bed back home. It almost felt like I was sleeping on a cloud.

I ran a hand over my face and took a deep breath. I had to get out of bed or I'd be late to orientation. Luckily, I wouldn't have to wear a school uniform yet. At least, that's what Bree had said, but I should get my class schedule at the very end.

It took every ounce of my will power to climb from my bed and stumble into the bathroom. I turned on the lights and took in the huge marble room. It was nicer than anything I'd ever seen before, so it made me wonder what the council members' houses looked like inside.

I grabbed a blood-red towel from the closet and laid it on the sink next to the walk-in rain shower.

I stepped into the shower and quickly washed away my anxieties concerning the new day. Maybe I wouldn't have to run into Liam. The thought both upset and comforted me. It was as if my human and wolf side were at war, which was strange. I'd always been perfectly in-sync before.

It didn't take long for me to blow dry my hair, brush my teeth, and put makeup on. I always went for the enhanced natural