‘Oh my God, leave me alone! Why don’t you go and harass someone else?’ I asked her.

  She stepped closer, right into my personal space. ‘Because I like talking to you,’ she said, simply.

  ‘Why?’ I frowned, confused. ‘You have every idiot in this place fawning over you and you chose me to converse with someone who’s giving you a hard time.’

  ‘You intrigue me, firecracker,’ she said, studying my face.

  I released a breath of frustration. ‘Seriously?’ I muttered. ‘Why on earth would I intrigue you?’

  ‘Because you’re absolutely gorgeous,’ she sighed, her eyes scanning my face.

  ‘I’m a female!’ I exclaimed, meeting her eyes in confusion.

  ‘And?’ she laughed.

  ‘You’re a female!’ I pointed out, completely baffled by this interest she seemed to be showing in me.

  ‘That’s right…that happens sometimes.’

  ‘What does?’ I asked, confused.

  ‘Oh my God, you can’t be this naïve, firecracker! Attraction between two members of the same sex,’ she exclaimed.

  I stopped in my tracks, literally gasping in shock. ‘What?’

  ‘You heard me…I find you very, very attractive, firecracker. You’re stunning…beautiful…gorgeous.’

  ‘Shut up,’ I said, taking a shaky step backwards.

  She smiled at me, cocking her head. ‘I wasn’t looking forward to another year here but now I am,’ she murmured.

  I shook my head, backing off. ‘No…don’t get any ideas…I don’t want…didn’t…just leave me alone,’ I blustered, flushing bright red by the heat flooding my system.

  ‘I’ll catch you later, firecracker,’ she smiled, finally turning and heading in the other direction.

  I watched her go, totally and utterly confused and bemused by the woman.

  My next two lessons were surprisingly boring compared to the first one. With no royal wolves to talk to, they were tame, and I found myself feeling distracted, almost hoping to see her again.

  When lunchtime rolled around, I headed out of the main building and towards the benches outside where I’d told Avi I would meet her. She was already waiting, sitting on one and watching for me.

  ‘Hey!’ I smiled, approaching.

  ‘Hey you! How was your morning?’ she asked.

  ‘Confusing,’ I told her, sitting down beside her.

  ‘Confusing? Why’s that?’ she asked, intrigued.

  ‘Well, you know that royal alpha you pointed out this morning…Dax?’

  ‘The female royal Araidax?’ she questioned, looking confused.

  ‘She prefers to be called Dax apparently,’ I shrugged, trying to look uninterested, when I was anything but.

  ‘Oh, does she? What about her?’ she questioned, glancing over my shoulder. ‘Actually, hold that thought-she’s headed over to us,’ she warned.

  ‘She what?’ I exclaimed, too late to move away from where we were sat.

  ‘Hey firecracker!’ she announced, coming to stand before us.

  ‘Oh my God, what do you want?’ I muttered.

  ‘Fiya! Don’t be rude! Hello!’ Avi smiled, standing and offering her hand. ‘I’m Avi, Fiya’s best friend.’

  ‘Nice to meet you Avi,’ Dax said, leaning to kiss her cheek. ‘I’m Dax.’

  ‘Oh of course I know who you are already! Everyone knows of you,’ she gushed.

  ‘Your bestie didn’t,’ she smirked.

  ‘Oh, I know…she’s pretty much a hermit! Didn’t know anything until I told her about who you and your brother are when we arrived this morning. Why are you calling her firecracker?’ she asked, looking amused.

  ‘Avi…’ I said, in warning.

  Dax just laughed. ‘She was a little fiery with me this morning over a simple misunderstanding,’ she shrugged. ‘The nickname suited her. Hey, can I join you girls for lunch?’

  ‘Oh yes! Of course!’ Avi said, excitedly. ‘Shove over Fiya!’

  ‘It’s okay,’ Dax smiled. ‘I’ll squeeze in here next to firecracker.’

  ‘Oh my God, will you stop calling me that! Will you tell her, I don’t usually have an angry temperament?’ I asked Avi.

  Avi laughed. ‘Fiya is lovely…if she’s grumpy, there’s usually a good reason for it,’ she told Dax. ‘Anyway; I hoped I’d get a chance to meet you,’ she said, clearly excited over meeting royalty. ‘Did you spend your summer at the palace? Did you have a lovely summer?’ she rambled.

  ‘It was great thanks,’ Dax said, politely. ‘And yes…we were at the palace for some of it.’

  ‘In my castle we have five elephants, six ponies and peeled grapes on command,’ I mocked, looking away.

  ‘Fiya!’ Avi exclaimed shocked.

  ‘You think I’m spoiled?’ Dax asked, shifting closer still so that her leg brushed against mine.

  I moved away swiftly, unable to cope with the feeling of her touching me and the strange butterfly sensations that evoked in the pit of my stomach. ‘Can you just give me a bit of space?’

  She smiled at me. ‘Why’d you say that? You think I’m spoiled?’ she asked again.

  ‘I don’t know you,’ I said, moving up, away from her. ‘All I know is that you turned up in a huge black limousine this morning and now you’re talking about a palace.’

  ‘Your friend mentioned the palace, not me.’

  ‘Well still…you’re royalty, right?’ I murmured.

  ‘I am, yes…not through choice I might add. It was just something I was born into,’ she said, simply.

  ‘Well, I think it’s wonderful you attend here,’ Avi interrupted. ‘We’re so excited to start here, aren’t we Fiya?’ she rambled, without letting me get a word in. ‘I did notice your brother with you this morning too. Everyone’s talking about him!’ she gushed.

  ‘Yeah, they always do,’ she said, chuckling. ‘Do you want an introduction?’ she asked, pegging her correctly. It seemed Dax knew where Avi’s interests lay-with her gorgeous prince of a brother.

  ‘Oh, I’d love that! He seems so…wonderful!’

  ‘I’ll text him, ask him to come and meet you,’ she said, reaching for her back pocket and drawing out her phone.

  I watched her long, strong fingers tapping away on the phone for a moment and when she lifted her eyes, she caught me looking at her.

  ‘Fiya,’ she said, tucking it away.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Which pack did you say you were from?’ she questioned.

  ‘I didn’t say…you haven’t asked before,’ I murmured.

  ‘She’s from the Asfallight pack,’ Avi answered for me. ‘I’m from the Yivalzen.’

  ‘Oh right…and why did you say you’re wearing that stinky plant extract around your neck?’ she asked.

  ‘I didn’t answer you,’ I said, as Avi started to talk too.

  ‘Oh, it’s gross, isn’t it!’ Avi exclaimed. ‘Apparently,’ she said, leaning in conspiratorially, ‘Fiya’s had all the boys becoming interested in her this summer! They’ve been hassling her and all sorts!’

  ‘Avi!’ I exclaimed. ‘Shut up!’ I muttered, blushing bright red.

  ‘Who has been hassling you?’ Dax frowned, turning to look at me.

  I felt mortifyingly embarrassed. ‘No-one…nothing…just ignore what Avi’s saying,’ I said, shaking my head.

  ‘No, I want to know!’ she exclaimed. ‘What led you to wearing this stinking vial around your neck, Firecracker?’

  ‘Stop calling me that! Look, I went through some changes this summer…I’m an omega and apparently my natural scent is somewhat…’ I hesitated.

  ‘What?’ she questioned, keen to know.

  I shook my head. ‘It doesn’t matter…’

  ‘No, I want to know…what about your natural scent?’ she questioned.

  ‘It’s changed, apparently. It’s, uh…alluring, I guess…to some wolves. Guys started hassling me when I went to the pool this summer or when I was in the forest. It got to be a pain. It was constant.’

  ‘I mean, I can understand the interest,’ she smiled, regarding me with that look of hers, the hazy eyes and slow smile which betrayed her interest and desire towards me.

  Avi gasped. ‘Are you a lesbian wolf, Dax?’ she questioned, bluntly.

  Dax laughed. ‘I do like women, yes, Avi. Why…do you?’ she smiled.

  ‘No! I like boys! Well, men…I especially think that dreamboat of a brother of yours is incredibly hot.’

  ‘You wouldn’t if you lived with him,’ Dax chuckled. ‘What about you, Fiya? What’s your sexuality?’ she questioned.

  ‘My…I don’t think I’ve ever considered it. I’m expected to be claimed by a male…have cubs. Those are the expectations, right?’ I mused, frowning at her.

  ‘Well, we’re all instilled with those expectations, yes…whether we choose to follow them or not is a different matter.’

  ‘Your family respect your choice to date women?’ I asked her, thinking of my own, and how against it they would be.

  ‘Well, not yet…I’m working on them,’ she smiled.

  ‘Have you had a girlfriend before, Dax?’ Avi asked.

  She smiled back at her. ‘Yeah…a couple…’

  ‘We both haven’t even been kissed!’ Avi exclaimed.

  ‘Avi!’ I cried, mortified by how openly she was talking to Dax.

  ‘I’m just saying!’ she laughed. ‘We haven’t! Neither of us have met anyone yet, have we? Late bloomers I guess.’

  ‘Avi, we’re seventeen!’ I reminded her. ‘There’s plenty of time for all that anyway. Besides, I’ve had offers-I’ve just chosen to tell the fuckwits where to go,’ I grinned.

  ‘And why is that, Firecracker? Not your cup of tea?’ she asked.

  ‘I don’t know,’ I shrugged, having wondered the same thing. ‘Generally, they just smell really bad.’

  ‘The guys that come onto you smell bad?’ she questioned.

  ‘Really bad,’ I confirmed.

  ‘Interesting…’ she mused.

  ‘Why is that interesting?’ I demanded.

  ‘Oh, it just is,’ she said, evasively. ‘Anyway, I’d better get going…people to see, you know,’ she said, glancing over my shoulder.

  I turned to see who she had spotted but couldn’t tell who it was she had noticed.

  ‘See you later girls!’ she called, heading off.

  Both Avi and I watched her leave.

  Once she’d walked away, joining a couple of male wolves I noted, Avi was gaping at me in shock.

  ‘What?’ I muttered.

  ‘Oh my God, Fiya!’

  ‘What?’ I said again.

  ‘You’ve got a female royal seeking you out! She wants you bad!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘Oh behave,’ I said, dismissing her comment. ‘That’s ridiculous.’

  ‘You heard her! She’s gay, Fiya! You better watch yourself, she seemed very, very interested in you!’

  ‘What do you mean ‘watch myself?’ I questioned.

  ‘Well, you know, she might try and come on to you or something!’

  ‘She already has!’ I exclaimed. ‘She’s in my classics class and she was banging on and on about gorgeous I am…all that shit. I just ignored her.’

  ‘So, you’re not interested?’ she asked me.

  I gaped at her. ‘She’s a female!’ I exclaimed.

  ‘So?’ she laughed. ‘You’re so innocent, Fiya! So traditional. Wolves can be anything these days…gay, straight, bisexual or trans. Anything goes!’

  ‘Says you! I don’t think my mother would agree, Avi! She expects me to marry well and start churning out cubs! She’s already talking about it, saying that at my age she’d already met my Dad.’

  ‘Yeah, but that was in the old days,’ she said, dismissing it. ‘Things are different now.’

  ‘Are they, though? If I came home with a girlfriend instead of a boyfriend, my mother would lose her shit,’ I told Avi, clearly.

  ‘Well, I guess it’s just as well you’re not gay then…right?’

  ‘Mmm,’ I murmured, thoughtfully.

  ‘Come on, let’s eat lunch. It’s halfway over already!’

  ‘Oh yeah,’ I said, distractedly, reaching into my bag for my sandwich. As I ate, I found myself distracted from Avi’s constant chatter. Instead, my mind was focused on something else. Someone else. Dax.

  Chapter 2

  After lunch, I headed to my next class which was history. It was another advanced class and when I walked in, I saw Dax there, chatting to a group of people who seemed to hang on her every word.

  I walked past the group, towards the back of the room, and sat down by myself. I was hoping to go undetected by the other people around me and sit through the lecture in peace, but from the outset, that did not happen.

  ‘Hey,’ a tall dark guy said, sitting down beside me. ‘I’m Garsay,’ he told me, leaning in close.

  ‘Hello,’ I said, politely, wishing he’d leave me alone.

  ‘I haven’t you seen you around before,’ he continued, scanning my face with interest.

  ‘I’m new here. First year,’ I said, looking away, and meeting eyes with Dax across the room, who immediately narrowed her eyes in my direction.

  ‘Love the haircut,’ he told me, reaching to touch the side of my head.

  ‘Get off,’ I said, flinching and moving back.

  ‘Alright! Just giving you a compliment! Fucking hell, touchy much?’ he exclaimed, lifting his hands as if to say, ‘what the hell have I done?’

  ‘Everything alright here?’ Dax asked, arriving at my side.

  I could almost feel her bristling with discontentment. It annoyed me and I looked up at her, angrily.

  ‘Everything’s fine. I don’t need you looking out for me.’

  ‘He bothering you?’ she asked, sitting on my other side.

  ‘Me?’ Garsay exclaimed. ‘I didn’t do anything!’

  ‘You lay another finger on her, you’ll have me to deal with,’ she warned him, bitterly, leaning across the desk to snarl at him.

  ‘Laying your claim, are you, Dax? My cock’s bigger than yours, dyke,’ he said quietly, for her ears only.

  I gasped at the disgusting comment. ‘You vile…’ I began.

  ‘Don’t waste your breath, Fiya. He’s not worth the effort. Come and sit with us,’ she encouraged. ‘It’ll be much more fun.’

  I got up and moved, mainly because I got really bad vibes from the creepy guy who Dax had threatened. I didn’t allow myself to also consider that I was moving because I was completely captivated by Dax and her incredible eyes. ‘Fine,’ I said, following her. ‘But I don’t need you saving me at every opportunity. Like I said, this kind of thing happens all the time,’ I muttered.

  ‘Not around me it won’t,’ she responded, under her breath.

  ‘Excuse me?’ I gaped.

  ‘I just mean we’re friends now, right?’ she smiled. ‘I’m around if any idiot messes with you-just like your friend Avi!’

  ‘You’re nothing like my friend Avi,’ I murmured, sitting down.

  She leaned in closer to me. ‘Yeah? And why’s that?’ she asked, shifting even closer, so much so that her arm brushed mine and her scent filled my nostrils.

  As I inhaled, a small involuntary gasp came from my throat as a myriad of delicious, incredible smells filled my system. ‘I, uh…’ whatever I had been about to say was lost. My head swam, I felt dizzy and disoriented and actually swayed dangerously when she leant even closer.

  ‘Fiya? You okay?’ she questioned.

  ‘I just got a little…dizzy for a moment there,’ I said, resting my head on my hand.

  ‘You’re dizzy? Why?’

  ‘I…’ I shook my head, unsure.

  ‘Fiya? Are you okay? Do you need the nurse?’ she questioned, looking concerned.

  I moved back, away from her heady scent and breathed deeply, calming myself. ‘No, I don’t need the damn nurse,’ I said, when I could. ‘I just felt dizzy for a second.’

  ‘Why?’ she asked, staring at me intently.

  ‘I don’t know!’ I said, flushing red. ‘Can you just give me a bit of space?’

  ‘Space? I’m getting too close?’ she questioned.

  ‘Way too close! Your scent is everywhere!’ I said, without thinking.

  She stared at me, going stock still. ‘My scent makes you dizzy?’ she questioned.

  ‘I didn’t say that,’ I muttered, moving even further away.

  ‘You said I was too close and that my scent was everywhere. It’s what you meant,’ she decided.

  ‘Can you just stop talking for a minute?’ I blustered, feeling like an idiotic fool. How did she make me feel like this? All flustered and unsettled?

  She sat back, folding her arms across her chest. Her eyes remained fixed on mine, unwavering in their intensity.

  ‘Can you just…not?’ I exclaimed, turning away from her as my cheeks burned even hotter.

  ‘I’m not doing anything,’ she said, quietly, as the teacher called for our attention.

  ‘Like hell you’re not,’ I muttered, but didn’t look her again, and instead tried to focus on the lesson being taught.

  The hour was long and unsettling, maybe because I could feel Dax’s eyes on me throughout the session. Her gaze seemed to bore into my skull, and it left me feeling confused, bewildered and more than a little uncomfortable.

  When the teacher was finished, I quickly packed up and headed for the door. Dax caught up with me before I could make my exit.

  ‘Hey Fiya?’

  ‘God, just leave me alone!’ I exclaimed, continuing down the corridor.

  ‘You want me meet after school?’ she questioned, falling into step beside me.

  I stopped, gaping at her. ‘Meet you after school?’ I exclaimed. ‘No! No, I don’t want that.’

  ‘How come?’ she questioned, cocking her head at me.

  I felt my mouth drop open, surprised at her blunt questioning. ‘Why would I?’

  ‘To spend some time together…get to know each other a bit better,’ she suggested.

  ‘I…no,’ I said, completely shaken by her. ‘I don’t…I mean…I’m going home. I have to work.’

  ‘Work?’ she frowned. ‘You’ve been working all day!’

  ‘Homework,’ I explained, long-sufferingly. ‘You don’t get to do advanced studies if you don’t work hard at home too.’

 

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