Page 189 of Wicked Savage Wolves
I shudder.
To make matters worse, Mom decided I needed to join the Kappa Eagle house, because a traditional dorm wasn’t bad enough. Kappa Eagle is a wannabe paranormal sorority, and she thinks it’ll be a positive experience for me. Something to do with making friends and stepping out of my comfort zone.
I call bullshit.
Mom wants to leave the Pack. She was invited to the South Atlantic Pack Summit and thinks she met her mate while she was there, you know, for the whole three days she had to get to know the guy.
I huff out a breath. I shouldn’t be such a pessimist. If she met her one true mate, that’s great. I want Mom to be happy. She and Dad obviously didn’t work out, not that we didn't all see that coming, but Mom falls in love hard and fast. Her relationships never last more than a few months and the only reason she wants to leave is because she’s already made her way through everyone here in Clan Cat and according to her, she’d never stoop to looking for someone outside of her Clan again nor will she mate withanother white man who doesn’t appreciate her culture. I guess Zheng’s Dad being human and mine being the manwho can’t appreciate her cultureand all left a lasting impression. Now she’s determined to mate with a tiger, preferably one of Asian descent, and live happily ever after.
She suggested I go with her. There aren’t any other tigers in our Clan around my age, but I’m not looking for my forever mate at the ripe age of seventeen, and I’m in no hurry to leave my brother or friends behind. Also, because it’s worth mentioning, I don’t care what kind of animal my mate shifts into or what ethnicity he is. If it's love, it’s love. None of the rest matters, so she can take her elitist bullshit and keep it to herself. I don’t need that noise in my life.
Which brings me to Kappa Eagle.
Paranormal sorority hell. And no, I don’t have any firsthand experience with sororities, and yes, I’m absolutely judging them based on what I’ve seen on television, but let's be real, if you knew anything about me, you’d agree that me and the perfect plastics I see walking in and out of the houses on sorority row aren’t a match made in heaven. No one here is going to understand what it’s like to be a shifter. As far as I know, I’m the only Pack member moving in. What if they hate me? Or end up being afraid of me? Which isn’t unheard of. Things might be better since the Awakening, when paranormals came out and announced to the humans that we were here. But there are always those pockets of people who think paranormals, and shifters in particular, should be caged. That we’re wild savages at risk of going rogue at any moment.
I chew on my bottom lip and do my best to force away my anxiety. Hellbound High was fine. Hellbound U will be fine too.
When I applied for Hellbound High’s running start program—a program that allows me to attend college courses and earn both college credits and the final credits I’ll need for my high school diploma, I thought,this is exactly what I need.An escape from the stupid drama that is high school life where I never really fit in. It’s hard to relate to the people at school when all they can talk about is how Suzie made out with Jason behind Ruby’s back and other stupid nonsense, like who is asking who to senior prom. Public high school isn’t required for all factions now that the university is open, and once Zheng and the others graduated, I was virtually on my own.
Meanwhile, my best friends have all graduated and are planning their mating ceremonies and being moms and doing real-life things that matter. It makes it hard to relate to high-school life. Hearing the gossip and then seeing all the back-stabby antics, it’s not what I’m interested in. And don’t even get me started on the boys.
They’re so incredibly stupid in high school. The catcalling and fuck-boy flirting. Urgh. You’d think they’d find a better pickup line then, “You must be an angel, because you look like you just fell from heaven.”
Barf.
No asshole. I’m a tiger and here, let me show you my teeth and claws.
The guys I go to school with have zero game. Not that I’d be interested in anyone at Hellbound High anyway. I almost wish I was. It’d make seeing a certain broody wolf on the regular a hell of a lot easier, and both of us attending the same college isn’t going to help.
Hellbound University is his turf, and here he reigns supreme, not that I’m surprised. Desmond Pierce and his Clan mates Rafael and Jordy ran the halls of Hellbound High as the school's shifter gods, so of course their reputations would follow them to college as they continue to dominate even more now with the introduction ofInfernum. The University's solution to athletics between factions which means “hell” in Latin. And trust me, it’s an accurate name for that game.
Anyone can play, and as far as rules go, there are few. It’s brutal and bloody and one of the few chances people have to really let themselves loose and see what they’re capable of. Even vamps play, since all games take place after sundown. It’s insane and super intense.
Not that I’d ever admit to watching Desmond and the others play. It’d go to their heads, and I’m not one for stoking wolf egos.
I used to hate those three for what they put my brother through, but now we’re all friends. Hell, more like family, if I’m honest. But I don’t need people realizing we know each other, especially with the unwanted attention that will bring.
“Ready to braid hair and paint your nails bubblegum pink?” my brother—Zheng—asks from the front seat.
I roll my eyes and flip him the bird. “Ha. Ha. You’re so funny.”
He turns to glance at me, pushing his jet black hair from his face to give me a wink. “Don’t worry, sis. They’ll leave you alone once they realize what a prickly personality you have.”
I lunge forward on a growl, but he swings open the passenger side door, stepping out just in time to avoid my swipe.
“Meiying!” my mother admonishes me.
“What? He started it,” I tell her as I unbuckle to follow him. Despite the early hour, the house is already buzzing with activity—what looks to be a party in full swing. Girls in all manner of summer wear are flitting about, socializing, drinking whatever is in those red Solo cups—and let's be honest, it's not water—and carrying boxes, doing exactly what I'm here to do. Move in.
I wrinkle my nose and glance at my mom as she slings her oversized purse over her shoulder and moves to join Zheng and me on the sidewalk. “Not too late to change your mind,” Zheng mutters under his breath. “You know you wanna.”
I elbow him in the ribs.“Are we telling jokes now?”
When mom concocted this grand idea of me joining a sorority, Zheng, being the protective big brother he is, was nice enough to offer me the spare room at his place. An offer I was quick to decline.
Under normal circumstances, I’d consider it. We were never very close growing up given the four-year age gap between us, but Zheng has always looked out for me. Most brothers would balk at the idea of living with their baby sister after they moved out, but Zheng genuinely wouldn’t mind. He’s pretty chill about stuff like that.
The problem isn’t living with my brother. It’s living with my brother’s very hot, very broody, drives-me-insane, asshole of a wolf roommate—Desmond Pierce. On the best of days, we tolerate one another. On the worst, well, things can be openly hostile.
