“No, no buts. I’m not part of your pack. When are you going to realize it?”

Anger rose in my chest, not at Emely, but at her father, Nickolas Copeland. He had set his own daughter up to get me into his pack, and now I had even ended up in a lodge with his arrogant son. At least I had my own room, even if I would have preferred the king suite I had been mistakenly promised.

I didn’t know if it could have been worse, but the very thought of spending three whole years studying at a university with them was driving me nuts.

Determined not to waste any more time with even one of them, I turned around.

The only one I felt sorry for in all this chaos was Emely. Sure, it was annoying what she did every day.  But we had been good friends. Back when my mother used to...

No. I didn’t want to think about that. She wasn’t alive anymore, for those very reasons. I had been weak and had turned, and I never wanted to show that weakness again.  

Emely said nothing. And that was good. She had to know when to stop.

I went back to the modern student accommodation, hoping to find some peace in my solitude, but fate seemed to want to smack me in the face.

Chapter 19

Adrian

“How dare you set foot on this ground!” It sounded like an accusation and less like a question.

This Dr. Copeland, who Bastien had said was the Alpha dog of the wolves, had kept his cool until just now. But at that moment, it was over. He paced back and forth while nervously playing with the cufflinks of his vest, decorated with noble patterns. 

Wolves, as always, did not have their emotions under control. 

I had never met an Alpha before, but Nickolas confirmed that it was a waste of time. I did not doubt his strength, or the danger that his kind posed to ours. But his nervousness took away all seriousness from him. A dog who thought he had something to say.

I sat with my blood brothers on one of the two dark green leather couches in a larger salon adjoining the university director’s office. A huge glazed arched window provided a view outside to the campus lawn and parking lot.

Bastien’s car was still there. I knew those morons wouldn’t dare touch our belongings. If they had parked their car on our property, we would have reduced it to rubble.

“We have a contract,” the Alpha warned more calmly now.

“And this one still stands,” Bastien retorted.

If my mentor was tense, he didn’t let it show. 

Were they talking about the contract that so drastically limited our lives?

“That contract includes keeping your boys away from my pack!”

I suppressed a dry laugh.

Boys. What was his son if I was a boy? A toddler?

“But it does not include privatizing educational institutions, Dr. Copeland.” 

Bastien maintained his composure the whole time. As professional as our clan was, we tried to handle the matters we got into in a businesslike manner. Bastien was not only the best example from the family in that case, but also the one who knew how to act in difficult situations. He had his job to thank for that.

He looked a good fifteen years younger than Dr. Copeland, although he wasn’t. That was because of the blood that ran through our veins. Pure Ruisangor blood. Legacy blood.

The wolf didn’t respond to Bastien’s argument, which led me to conclude that we had hit a sore spot. 

“The three of them wanted to come here. Any one of us would have gladly sent them somewhere else.” 

That was an extremely bald-faced lie, Bastien.

Miles next to me cleared his throat audibly, whereupon he earned a warning look from his trainer – our family bodyguard – Laurent.

Laurent was standing by the window in his three-piece suit and had been looking out, watchfully surveying the surroundings until just now. 

Bastien, on the other hand, skillfully ignored the three of us on the couch. He had been the one who had persuaded us to come here rather than to a prestigious university in the States, where Nicolaj, the clan head, would have liked to see us. When Nicolaj had learned what Bastien was planning with us, Bastien had almost lost his head. But his benefit to the clan was enormous, which is why it hadn’t come to that. Bastien had known, and he had taken advantage of it for whatever ridiculous reason.

I didn’t care where I studied as long as I could take the economics course and finally satisfy Nicolaj. I had already studied twice, but I had centuries ahead of me. Why not collect graduation hats?

It wasn’t like I had ever wanted to, but in the DeLoughrey clan, it wasn’t about wanting. It was about the consequences of the actions of all brothers and sisters.

Laurent, who had been standing at the window all this time getting an overview of the campus, now turned to face us completely. His eyes flashed reddish, giving me to understand that he had used his powers.

“Someone is coming,” he remarked, addressing Bastien.

We all looked at the door, which flew open with a crash, presenting us with an angry young wolf. To be precise, the unpredictable son of Nickolas Copeland.

“What are you still doing here!!!” he growled in our direction, his eyes turning yellow, showing us his teeth. Black veins stood out wildly under his skin.

Beside me, Miles jumped up, and I just barely got a hold of his wrist to pull him back onto the hard leather couch. He looked at me, sighing, as if I had once again spoiled his stupid fun, his brown strands almost falling into his red glowing eyes.

What was wrong with everyone? Had they forgotten that we were superior to this lowlife?

It was clear to me that Miles had always had trouble with emotions. He was a Ruisangor who couldn’t manage to keep his feelings in check. And he had absolutely no manners.

“We are where we belong, mutt,” I murmured, unfazed by Nash’s ridiculous threatening tone, and leaned back even further into the back of the couch. 

The alpha dog’s eyes snapped open wider.

“How dare you show up here and talk to us like that...” Nash began and was about to jump on me when Laurent intervened.

“Enough!” it escaped Dr. Copeland, who was still struggling with his own emotions. 

Weak. These wolves were not only uncontrolled but also extremely weak. It was a wonder they had survived all these centuries without being discovered by humans.

“Nash!” a voice rang out from the hallway.

I could immediately place it with the English professor from earlier, who seemed to be the only wolf with brains in this facility. “You shouldn’t always overreact like that...”

The Senseque paused in the doorway as his alarmed gaze met that of Bastien, who also seemed to slip out of his trained mind for a few seconds. Something very unusual. Bastien had always been a master of his emotions. 

For a few seconds, the two stared at each other, though I didn’t know why exactly.  They had to know each other. I couldn’t explain it any other way.