First Day

ALLIE

I wake up early the next morning.

I had a great time getting to know my new housemates last night. We stayed up chatting until two o’clock in the morning. I can’t remember the last time I was so relaxed and had so much fun.

It would have been so easy to stay in bed, but today is my first day at school. I can’t wait to register and get my schedule, and then Danielle and Toby are going to give me a guided tour of Linton.

They’re eager to show me the places they like to hang out and introduce me to their friends. They’re also going to point out the places to avoid if I don’t want trouble from the pack wolves.

I dress casually in jeans and a halter top, then apply some light makeup and brush my long auburn hair before pulling it back into a ponytail.

When I go downstairs, Danielle is already sitting at the dining room table eating toast.

“Hey, sleep okay?” she asks.

“Yes. Good thanks, I’ve been here for less than a day but already I feel so comfortable, and well…safe.”

“Good, because you are safe here. This is one of the few places where lone wolves are free from harassment so relax and enjoy it!”

“I’ll do my best.” I give her a smile.

“Grab some breakfast and then we will head into Linton,” Danielle suggests. “We can show you around the campus and the places we like to hang out.”

She frowns before continuing, “I say ~we~, but Toby hasn’t surfaced yet, and for all his promises last night he isn’t normally seen before eleven a.m.”

“That’s a shame, but we can still have fun. I can’t wait to explore.”

“Cool. Get some breakfast and we can go.”

Twenty minutes later, we head out and begin the walk into town. As we pass by the run-down houses in our neighborhood, I ask, “Do any of the other wolves live out here?”

“Yes, most of the lone wolves stay in this part of town. The pack wolves live nearer to campus. They wouldn’t be seen dead here, which is one of the reasons this area suits us.”

As we get closer to town, the houses become grander and better maintained. “Is this where the pack wolves live?”

“Yes. Each pack has its own house where the students stay. They buy the biggest houses so they can accommodate all the wolves in their pack who come to school here.”

She points to a large sprawling mansion. “That house belongs to the Silver Fang Pack, they are one of the biggest packs in the country. It has accommodation for up to thirty students at a time.

“It’s almost like a mini-packhouse. Not that I’ve ever been inside. The Silver Fang Pack is probably the least friendly of all the packs to lone wolves.

“We’ve had a few run-ins with them, nothing serious, but they’d like to see us all thrown out.

“They have reasons to hate rogues—their previous alpha was killed in a rogue attack, but they lump all lone wolves together.

“Their new alpha is determined to punish any loner he comes across, and he’s powerful and ruthless enough to do it.”

“Thanks for the heads-up.” I make a mental note to keep away from the wolves from the Silver Fang Pack, especially their alpha.

“You’ll be fine,” she promises. “There shouldn’t be many in your year. Unfortunately, the alpha’s brother David and his cronies are in mine but I know how to handle them.”

Danielle’s voice has a steely edge when she adds, “David and his goons know better than to try bullying me.”

We leave the residential area behind and walk along a street lined with coffee shops and a few bars. At the end of the road, I see the gates to the university campus.

We walk through the open gates onto a grassy square surrounded by buildings.

Each one is unique with a different architectural design. Some are three stories tall, and others are just one. Some are modern while others look hundreds of years old.

“The main student office is in here on the ground floor,” Danielle tells me as she walks toward a large red sandstone building. “I won’t go in with you. It will be packed.”

She points to a bench in the middle of the square. “I’ll wait over there until you’re finished.”

When I walk into the building, I see she was right—it’s packed. Dozens of humans stand around chatting to each other, and I see a long line spilling out of an office door to my right.

I guess this is the line for registration.

While I’m waiting, I strike up a conversation with one of the other students.

We are so caught up in our conversation that I don’t notice the handsome dark-haired man in the expensive suit walk through the door until his shoulder slams into my face.

I grab hold of his expensive shirt to steady myself, but it’s not enough to save me. The shirt rips and I fall to the floor.

I slam onto the hard tile, hitting the back of my head. I’m still grasping the piece of fabric I’ve torn from the man’s shirt. I’m stunned.

He bends down to help me up with an apologetic look on his face. He stares at me, and I feel as though I could get lost in his dark brown eyes. His sandalwood and pine needle scent is intoxicating.

He’s a werewolf.

He inhales my scent. “Wolf,” he whispers so quietly that only I can hear. He looks into my eyes and inhales again. His nostrils flare. “Rogue,” he says with disgust.

I shrink back. In my head, I hear my wolf howling in pain and distress. What is wrong with her? I push away from him trying to get up, but I still feel disoriented.

He grabs my arm and sparks ignite from his touch. He gasps. I try to wriggle out of his grasp, but he holds me firmly and gazes into my eyes.

“I’m not going to hurt you. I knocked you over, and the least I can do is help you to your feet.” He pulls me up, and with one last look, he walks away.

I’m shocked. What was that? Why did I react the way I did to that man’s touch? A man who obviously hates rogues.

A girl behind me says “Well, that was rude. He didn’t even apologize for knocking you over or ask how you were!”

“No, he didn’t, but never mind. There was no harm done. I feel okay.”

“Really?” She looks at my head. “You went down with one hell of a bang, and you’re going to have bruising on your face.”

“Really, I’m all right,” I reassure her.

She doesn’t realize how lucky I was. That was a pack wolf. Things could have gone so much worse for me. He could have blamed me for ripping his shirt and getting in his way.

He still might. He might not have wanted to make a scene in front of all the humans, but he could come back to take his revenge.

I need to tell Danielle about what happened, find out if she knows who he is, and ask her advice.

All I can think about while I wait is the pack wolf. After thirty minutes of fretting, I’m officially registered as a new student. I’m given an ID card and my schedule.

I find Danielle as promised, sitting on the bench in the center of the square reading a book.

“How did it go?” she asks.

I’m too flustered to answer her question. “I ran into a pack wolf,” I tell her breathlessly. “He wasn’t looking where he was going and knocked me off my feet. I tore his shirt when I fell.”

“Did he make a scene?” she asked worriedly.

“No, he was actually all right. He helped me to my feet and then left, but he recognized that I was a werewolf, and he called me a rogue.”

I look at her, full of nerves. “Do you think he’s going to come after me, that he was only keeping his temper in check because we were around humans?”

“Maybe, but most of them wouldn’t bother. They would try to find a way to intimidate you, but they wouldn’t go so far as to attack you. It would destroy the peace between pack wolves and loners.”

She thinks for a minute before asking, “What did he look like?”

“Tall, dark brown hair. He wasn’t a student. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, wearing an expensive suit.” I try to remember more details, but I had been disoriented after falling over.

“He had brown eyes,” I add. “He was big, big even by werewolf standards.”

“He doesn’t sound familiar. We don’t normally get wolves that aren’t students hanging around the university.”

“Good. The last thing I need is to upset a pack wolf on my first day.”

“You won’t have. Come on, I’ll show you around the campus.”

I follow her willingly, feeling more at ease knowing the wolf I bumped into isn’t likely to come after me.

Maybe this day won’t be so bad after all.