Page 32 of Dark Bonds

Tori purposely left her phone at the house during our spa retreat, and Andy and Abbi gave zero fucks about talking to the guys. In fact, after a few tries of them calling and Abbi laughing like a lunatic into the phone, they gave up.

Honestly, I had no idea just how unhinged Tori’s mom is, and I secretly love her for it.

“But why?” I press, even though we’ve been over this a thousand times.

“Think of it as a cat fight. All the girls are fighting for guys to add to their pack, and all the men are fighting to get noticed. Now that you’re in the know, you should look at the rugby games with a new lens.” She mimes wearing sunglasses with a toothy smile.

“It’s just so hostile.” I frown, because the words feel weird, even to me.

I’ve always been a hothead. I go from zero to a hundred really fast and crash even faster, but knowing that an entire university is alright with murder seems, well, disturbing. Maybe I can use that to my advantage though—set up some decoy traps or create a network of allies and keep them guessing.

“If it helps, no one has actually killed anyone in over a decade.” She sighs wistfully. “Mostly because of the population decline.”

That’s another thing she explained. The shadow realm is dying, and no one seems to know why. That disturbs me just as much as anything else.

How can an entire realm just die, and what does that look like?

Apparently, I’ll get a whole new schedule now, one that will teach me how to move easily through the veil, which is something I haven’t even attempted to do.

A part of me is excited to return to the only place that ever felt like home, and as I see the snow sprinkled spires, my excitement bubbles over. I’ll never get tired of the first look at the college.

“Okay, so here’s the deal with shadow realm classes,” Tori explains. “You know how you step into a puddle, and sometimes it’s way deeper than you thought?”

I nod, confused.

“Well, it’s kind of like that. You step into your own shadow, and suddenly, you’re somewhere else entirely. It’s trippy as hell the first few times, and some people get shadow sick, like motion sickness but weirder.” She grins at my bewildered expression. “Don’t worry, I’ll be right there with you. Just don’t let go of my hand, or you might end up lost in the shadows, and trust me, that’s not a fun place to be.”

I really don’t know about that, but okay…

“Ready?” I ask Tori as I pull into the student parking lot.

“Yes,” she says, unbuckling her seatbelt, her hand on the door as she patiently waits to open it. “Office first, since we have to get our keys, then get to the room, and I’m starving.” She groans, rubbing her stomach.

“You’re always hungry.” Something I learned about Tori over the last six weeks is that she is practically a bottomless pit. I swear she’s always consuming something, and she has hidden food stashes in my Jeep now as well.

“I am.” She opens the door as soon as I put my Jeep in park. “Okay, so there are usually parties the first night back, and I really think we should hit up at least one, or we have our own cove party.”

I slowly get out of the Jeep and flip my seat forward to grab our bags. “I’ve never thrown a party.”

“You’re right, we should save that for the spring solstice! I think the rugby team is having something tonight.”

My heart dances in my chest, and I look up at her. Licking my lips, I struggle to find words.

Luckily, Tori reads me like a damn book. “They’ll be there.”

My heart hammers even harder in my chest. Trying to appear nonchalant, I grab my backpack and toss it over my shoulder before slamming the door. It’s cold out here and snowing. I had to splurge a little and buy boots because they are calling for oneof the worst snowstorms that we’ve seen in the Northeast in over a decade.

Tori comes around with her own backpack and loops her elbow in mine, leading me to the offices. I swallow as I look around at everyone parking and unloading, some students with keys in their hands and others just pulling in.

“So…” I clear my throat, because asking about packs is still new to me. “Do you have your eyes on anyone for a pack?”

Tori snorts. “No.” She sounds sour. “Honestly, I’m super thankful things didn’t work out with Bishop. Could you imagine what it would be like to have someone in your pack who doesn’t want to be with you?” She shudders as she speaks.

“Well, I have no idea if things will even work out with us,” I say as we step on the path to head inside.

“Have you decided on forgiveness?” she asks. It’s been a conversation we’ve had at least a thousand times, and I still don’t know the answer to that question. On one hand, I want more than anything to forgive, forget, and move on just to put everything behind me so I don’t have to deal with it or talk about it.

On the other hand, I’m not so sure. I need to work through things with each of the guys, and even then, I don’t know. Shrugging, I answer, “I just discovered that I’m not alone in the world and there are others like me, and to immediately jump in and look for a pack seems…”

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