Greymoor Academy: I Accidentally Bonded With Four Lycan Royals! novel Chapter 2

Chapter 2: 2. Death or Insanity?

Maisie

I arrived at school late, soaking wet through my clothes and shivering like a drowned rat. The drizzle had become rain approximately forty five seconds after I left the packhouse, because the universe often liked to shit in my face.

I missed the bus. I missed orientation. I missed the tour. I walked four blocks in the wrong direction before a janitor took pity on me and pointed me toward the lecture hall, and by the time I found it, the period was nearly over and every single seat was taken.

"Ah, Ms. Adams," said Professor Halven, peering over wired-rimmed glasses. "Late again, I see. Swept up in yet another hurricane. I don’t suppose it’s too much to hope that you left that particular habit behind in high school."

Laughter rang through the hall as my teeth clattered, "S-sorry, M-Mr. Halven."

He ignored me, facing the class once more. "And now, your questions."

I started for the back, embarrassment flushing my cheeks red as my shoes squeaked loudly.

More laughter.

If the ground would be kind enough to open up and swallow me whole.

This was recoverable. The first day was always the worst day, and everyone would forget this by next week. Hopefully.

They wouldn’t. Half of this room had known me since high school, and the other half would hear stories by noon. Ashbourne was a Pack town. Everyone knew everyone, which meant everyone knew Maisie Adams: the clumsy Omega maid who walked into walls, tripped over flat surfaces, and had once, memorably, knocked an entire refreshment table into Alpha Dante’s son, Cole Hayes, at the harvest festival.

So much for fresh starts.

A hand shot up from the left. Jenny Park, one of my two best friends, waved at the empty seat beside her and I slid into it and exhaled.

"Maisie," she whispered, honey-brown eyes wide. "What happened to you?"

"What didn’t?" I sighed tiredly.

Regina wordlessly pulled her boyfriend, Nick’s soccer jacket off his shoulders and draped it over mine. Nick, to his credit, only winked at me.

Regina Braxton was Lana’s stepsister. The Braxton family’s daughter. She had grown up in the same house as my twin, watched exactly how Lana spoke about me and had once stood up for me during a Pack event when Lana’s friends thought it was a good idea to test my resistance to scalding hot tea.

We’ve been thick as thieves since then.

"Happy birthday, May," she said with a half-giggly smile.

"Is it?" I mumbled sourly, snuggling deeply into the jacket.

My ears perked up as Darby Foreman said loudly enough to carry across the hall, "What actually happens when a mate bond is rejected?"

Professor Halven’s stare flattened. "I’m positive that is not a part of the syllabus, Ms. Foreman."

Laughter echoed in the hall, but Darby wouldn’t be deterred. "Just last fall, there was a case of a girl dying in Ashbrook because she got rejected. Many of us turn eighteen this year and would like to know how to avoid that fate. This is a werewolf academy, after all. One lecture on it wouldn’t hurt."

There were many more agreeing nods this time. I found myself leaning forward despite myself.

Professor Halven seemed mildly irritated, but he set down his notes. "Most of you have been told a romantic story. The Moon Goddess selects two wolves and binds their souls." He pauses. "That part is true. What isn’t is that it can be broken with a tantrum and three convenient words. I Reject You."

Another round of laughter. But Halven didn’t laugh.

"When one wolf rejects another, the words do not sever the bond." His gaze swept across us, heavily. "They wound it. The wolf experiences rejection as spiritual mutilation. The Goddess forged that tie. When one side attempts to tear away from it, the backlash is, in the same way, divine."

"But I read that accepting the rejection ends it," a boy said.

Professor Halvern’s smile was thin. "Nonsensical fiction."

Death. Or insanity.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify