Filed to story: Shifter Academy: Taming Her Wild Mates (Ivy) Book PDF Free
He shrugs. “We’re cousins,” he replies. “No one will notice or care.”
“Oh,” I say, and then I lean back in my bunk as Jesse jumps down and goes to talk to a light-haired boy who has just come to introduce himself to Rafe. I didn’t even think about smelling like a girl – what else is going to give me away?
I try to think it through, to strategize, but soon the room is so filled with young men that I can’t really think about anything else besides watching them, studying how they move so I can move like that and start to blend in. I can’t even really keep track of which one is which as they all move around the room, unpacking their personal items and introducing themselves to their neighbors.
Which is why it is so incredibly disconcerting when I find my head snapping to the left, my eyes frantically searching because…
Because I swear, I just smelled…the most amazing scent that has ever crossed my nose –
My wolf leaps inside me, which is itself shocking – she’s usually so calm that I sometimes forget she’s there – Get it, she commands, instantly starting to prowl, go find it – you have to – it’s ours – “What?!” I say aloud as I sit up stark straight, suddenly a little freaked out. But then I lift my nose and almost moan aloud when I smell it again – that incredible, amazing scent – the sharp bite of citrus, bergamot and wet pavement baking under the summer sun, apricots and almonds – Something snaps within me, an almost physical twist that redirects everything in me – all of my goals, all of my dreams – just wipes them away in the singular pursuit of it, of him – Mate!, my wolf howls, lifting her nose to the sky and singing the word, her feet dancing. Go! Get up! Go and find him – Mate! Mate! Mate! And I gasp, pressing myself back against my pillows because I know it now – know it for certain in my heart and my bones – that my mate is here – But as I look around, frantic, something…something else crosses my path.
And I do moan aloud this time, my lower lip starting to shake as I go limp, falling back against my pillows. I have to press my eyes shut against the leather and whiskey scent of him – red hot cinders and the sharp bite of pine on a night so cold even the air freezes –
And, to my horror, something else snaps within me, shaking me to the core, so much so that my shoulders start to tremble with it.
Because…because the other one is still there – and this one too –
They’re both still there, both bonds now calling to me, urging me to run in two different directions at once – I’m suddenly nauseous, my head spinning as gravity reorients itself in two directions, trying to point both north and south at the same time, my internal compass spinning –
I raise my hands to my temples and give another soft moan.
“Ivi,” Rafe says, coming to the side of the bed and peering over at me, concerned. “Are you all right?”
But I don’t reply, my eyes pressed tightly shut as I concentrate on my wolf, on the ridiculous thing that she’s saying –
Inside of me she prowls back and forth, giving little hops of excitement, turning in eager circles, her tongue lolling from the side of her mouth.
Get up! She urges me, snapping her teeth with glee, go and find them! Now!
What?! I say to her, frantic. But that’s ridiculous – we can’t – we’re in disguise!
Go!, she commands, and I find myself sitting up straight, my eyes flying open despite myself. Go and find them! We need to meet our mates!
But as I look around the room – it’s too much of a mess. I know that they’re here – but I have absolutely no idea which ones they are. “Seriously, Ivi,” Rafe says, peering at me closely. “You’re…all pale. Are you okay?”
I spin my head to look at my brother with frantic eyes, my breath coming fast now. Behind him I see Jesse turn, confused, looking at me with curious worry.
I open my mouth to stumble something out – anything – to beg them to help –
But before I can, a loud clap sounds at the head of the room and we all spin towards it. Everyone goes silent, staring at the Academy Captain standing there with four Sergeants. He’s a gigantic man with a rough, craggy face that doesn’t look like it’s seen a smile for twenty years.
But I can’t think about that now – my head still spins, and I do my very best to keep my eyes forward and concentrate on walking as my body begins to adjust, not allowing myself to be distracted by my surroundings or by my stupid wolf, who is howling at me – begging me to go find them, to hunt them down, to strip off my uniform right now and – The Captain scowls around at us, clearly displeased with our disorder.
“Fall in,” he snaps. “It’s time for your first examination.”
“Time for the ranking,” the Captain growls, looking around at us with distaste. “You’re dressed in your grey candidate fatigues because you have not yet earned your Academy black. The bottom twenty percent of candidates will be cut at the end of the second week of candidacy. I suggest you take this seriously.”
The Captain surveys us, his eyes cold. “Today’s test,” he barks out, “measures what you won’t survive without at the Academy: physical prowess. Rafe Sinclair! Kenny Dextrin! You’re up – first blood wins!” The Academy is famous for teaching its students the most cutting-edge methods and technologies – but first ranking is determined by a fist fight!?
The match is over shockingly fast. Rafe knocks Kenny down and bloodies his nose within thirty seconds. When Luca Grant is called, I smirk a little. Luca dances around his opponent and taunts him for a while before whipping out a swift uppercut that knocks the other boy clean The Hidden Princess At All-boys Alpha Academyover. I bite my lip a little, admiring his technique – and the spread of his muscled shoulders – when to my horror I hear my own name.
Or at least, my pretend name.
“Ivi Clark! Robert Brown!” My jaw just drops open because – god, I’m such an idiot – but as long as I’ve been standing here watching, I’ve never thought about how I was going to have to do this!
I groan as I realize that I slipped into my Princess identity – I’m used to standing on the sidelines, watching Rafe and Jesse fight –
“Let’s go, Clark!” The Sergeant snaps when he sees that I haven’t stepped forward. Rafe, next to me, sighs and puts a hand on my back, shoving me forward. I look back at him in shock but he just shrugs, his eyes clearly saying you wanted to join the Academy, kid. Frantic, I turn to Robert, who is already stepping into a fighting stance. As he puts his fists up and I finally realize that I’m actually supposed to punch him, the candidates all around us start to shout and whistle. “Come on!” Robert shouts, urging me forward. “Let’s do it!”
But I just stand there, shocked.
Someone starts to laugh uproariously and then bellows, “The shrimp’s scared!”
Others start to laugh too, and then they pick up a call: “Shrimp! Shrimp! Shrimp!”
