“Why do you always think so well of them?” I asked, unimpressed.

“Because they’re just like us.”

If there was anything these crazy people weren’t at all, it was like us.

His words sounded like he was harboring sympathy. But he wasn’t allowed to, and he wouldn’t. After all, that was one of the many rules the Blairs and Westcodes had laid down for their damned peaceful coexistence. And now sharing a house with their offspring didn’t make it any easier. On the contrary. It was one of those many gray areas.

I knew for a fact that the witches didn’t want to live peacefully with us at all. They were trying to buy more and more forest from us, but they were playing with the wrong ones. In addition, there were those ridiculous rumors that the Bexleys spread about us. Father would never sell the hospital, not to anyone. And we weren’t broke, at least not if Alarik ran the university like a sensible director and didn’t make all the students de-register on the first day of the semester with his messy organization. 

An idea came to me.

“Can’t you assign me to another house?”

I looked pleadingly at Alarik, and when he glanced up, I could see his thoughtful expression. But to my disappointment, he shook his head.

“It’s too late for that now.”

“But...”

“I can’t just throw any other girls out of their rooms. You know exactly how unfair that would be.”

Yet there was something much bigger at stake. I couldn’t even imagine all the things that could happen.

“At least try it, Emely. Quatura don’t bite.” 

There it was again... That amused grin. 

Very amusing. I couldn’t smile because I was serious. I wanted to get out of there somehow. I had to find another way, perhaps resort to more radical measures. The thought was tempting, and let’s admit it, I could think of a few things I could do....

A knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Come in!” Alarik shouted, and we both looked at the door, where two guys with laptops I didn’t recognize appeared. Probably five-semester students from the IT-security team where my best friend usually worked, but he was abroad this semester.

“We’ll continue talking later,” my uncle said, directed at me, and welcomed the two of them.

Annoyed, I left the office without closing the door. 

I didn’t like at all how he didn’t care. Father would have understood the problem, and I got the feeling that he really didn’t know anything about this disaster.

This was our territory, and here we could damn well decide what the witches did. These spawns of hell were not going to mess up my life. I had to take things into my own hands. And I already knew how.

All the frustration inside me wanted to burst out, but the campus was definitely the wrong place to transform.

My feet carried me across the soft forest floor and as I drew in the fresh air I immediately felt better. I had been running for half the morning. That was exactly what I had needed.

On principle, I hadn’t turned since the chance of running into any hikers or hunters was high.

Even though my father had enforced that no one went hunting here, there were still the one or other illegal fanatics in town. And let’s not forget all the life-weary reporters from the Blairville Daily. Just three days ago I had almost run into one of them in wolf form.

I stopped when I heard a crack behind me. 

I was about to turn around and investigate the area, but it was already too late when Julian appeared from between the trees and jumped straight at me.

We collided, and both landed on the forest floor with a thud. His upper body had become more massive and defined. 

Embarrassed that that was the first thing I had noticed, I pressed my hands against him.

“Julian!” it escaped me in shock, and he immediately pushed off of me.

I jumped up, unwilling to look like I had nothing better to do on my first day at Vanderwood than wallow in the dirt.

“I’m sorry...”

He sounded confused, and I was overcome with an uneasy feeling that something was wrong. He ran his hands over his clothes, looked at me scrutinizingly, and then around.

“What are you doing here? What’s going on?” I asked.

Julian was pacing back and forth. He looked like he had seen a ghost.

“I’m at a lodge with your brother.”

I looked at him, uncomprehending.

“Are you serious?”

“What?” It sounded like an accusation.

“You’re going running because you got put in a room with Nash?” I had to laugh.

“You know he hates me,” Julian murmured, annoyed, and sat down against a thick moss-covered tree that softly supported his back as he slid down. 

“He doesn’t hate you. He’s just suspicious because you haven’t joined the pack yet.”

“His problem.”

“Julian...” I sighed.

Julian was truly a complex case. And he had been ever since I knew him.

I settled down next to him.

“I’m in a room with witches,” I added, as if it was the most normal thing in the world, looking up into the dense treetops. It seemed so peaceful out here, and I could feel the forest. My home.

“I’d love to switch now,” Julian just laughed. 

I snapped my eyes open and punched him in the side.

“Hey!”