Nash looked at me, unimpressed.
Sometimes you just had to force him to be happy.
“What?” Hunter stammered.
“I’m putting myself up, too,” I added quickly. Then there was only one person left to take us to the final. I looked around, and my eyes fell on Harry, Hunter’s big and reasonable brother.
“Wow, wow, wow...” Hunter exclaimed and stood in front of me, placing his strong hand on my shoulder. “Wait, Emely.”
I narrowed my eyes determinedly.
“This is our chance to get rid of the DeLoughreys.”
The guys exchanged conflicted glances. Nash and Hunter looked at me searchingly.
“You want to kick them out by becoming president?” Cody asked, confused.
“Not such a bad idea...” Noah returned with a raised thumb before tapping the tree stump. “I’d be happy to support you.”
“Then take part in the election,” I urged him. “We’ll all nominate each other and round up people to help us.”
Noah looked at me, thinking.
Why were they all so hesitant? Just like me and the rest of the pack, they wanted the DeLoughreys to crawl back into their bush and preferably never come back.
“How about this,” Noah suggested. “We all nominate one of us. And since Nash obviously doesn’t want to, and Hunter doesn’t exactly look like the campaign champion either, I’d suggest you.”
Noah seemed serious. And the guys around us, except for my brother, nodded in agreement.
“Just me?” I asked suspiciously.
I could already see the booing, because I was definitely not one of the most popular students.
“You’ve got what it takes,” Noah said. “Besides, you’re studying law. I’m sure you can defend yourself well.”
Funny. I had only just started studying.
“I’m all for it,” Cody said, patting my free shoulder.
That was the moment Hunter finally let go of me and backed away in thought.
“If anyone can kick the DeLoughreys out, it’s her,” Cody added.
I really appreciated how much Cody always supported me in everything.
“You guys should still get nominated.” I looked back up at my brother, who hadn’t said much about my plan until now. “You, Nash. You’re popular.”
And suddenly, I had an idea.
The guys started arguing.
I wheeled around and started walking.
“Where are you going, Emy?” I heard Nash call out.
“To see Alarik.”
Alarik shook his head, and disappointment instantly spread through me.
“No way.”
“But you make the rules here,” I returned impatiently. “And it would only be fair if we had a voice at this university. This place belongs to us.” I pointed outside through the huge window next to his desk. “It’s the last thing our family still owns.”
At least when it came to real estate, and you left out the Pavati Lake housing project and the hospital.
“I won’t support any sort of hatemongering,” Alarik replied sharply. His look was filled with...disappointment? “It’s time you learn to coexist with the other species.” Shaking his head, he turned back to his papers. “I found it alarming enough that you transformed in front of the Quatura and attacked one of them.”
I crossed my arms in indignation.
“That was Vivienna. Everyone hates that girl.”
My uncle sighed, lowered his quill and looked at his open laptop.
“Apparently, just as many people like her because she’s already been nominated with 40 votes.”
I widened my eyes.
“What?”
