Page 1 of Untamed

1

Sorrow surrounds me like an unwanted hug.

I breathe in slowly, trying to temper the chaos of feelings brimming under my skin. Two Lunar Pack elders sit in the front seats of the most expensive car I’ve ever ridden in, and I just know their holier-than-thou asses are attuned to my wolf’s emotions. Fucking pack bond. I would sooner sever it than have them read my pain. I focus outside the vehicle’s window to hold it all in. Acres of moonlit grass lead to Greystone Academy’s two stone turrets peeking above the centuries-old trees in the distance. Lunar Pack is incapable of flying under the radar. Glad to see that’s true even for the place they keep their unwanted.

Rejected Mate Academy.

From the first moment I learned of its existence in fourth grade Pack Civics class, I knew I would end up here. The note Bitch Queen Laura threw on my desk that day only solidified those thoughts.Welcome to your future hell, bitchwas a lot harsher than the caption in my textbook:Greystone Academy takes in ill-mannered pups for reform.

That’s me. Ill-mannered, and in need of reform.

Above those bland words was a black and white picture of the same sprawling structure looming in front of me now. What they don’t describe in detail when you’re in fourth grade is that when you arrive at Rejected Mate Academy, you’ll be grief-stricken from a broken heart you never wanted. So, in essence, I guess Laura was right all along.

Thisismy new hell.

My wolf whines, and I bear down my jaw. I swear the Council elder sitting in the front seat gets a whiff of my suffering and enjoys it. His nose twitches before his lip quirks at the corners, and he drives even slower up the long, desolate road toward my new home as if to draw out my agony.

It’s cool. I’m used to my own pack taking pleasure in my misery. Bunch of pretentious, know-it-all asshats if you ask me. But the elder taking me to this hellhole should be above the bullying and teasing, right? Wrong. Because this ride of shame proves what everyone’s been saying about me since I was a young pup.

I’m unwanted. Unloved.Untamed.

The blacktop road turns to gravel as the car inches past an ornate gate. Stone columns give way to an arch of iron flourishes that readsGreystone.

The name is well-known in my pack, supplying us with a long line of strong alphas. Greystone Academy was Silas’ brainchild—the third leader from that superior bloodline who made most of our current laws, and in his tenure, built this enormous school while writing mandates that secured its use. Currently, Lunar Pack is on our tenth Greystone alpha. When I was little, I pretended I was the daughter of that strong line. After all, Greystone wolves don’t get tormented every day of their lives. They’re revered.

My mind drifts too close to the topic I would do anything to forget right now. My wolf perks up, but I shut that shit down with as much force as I can muster. My wolf and I have been at odds with most things. Hell, I’m not even sure we like each other, mainly because I’ve been avoiding her thoughts and feelings since she started to awaken. Ignoring shit is my coping mechanism. It’s worked wonders for a very long time.

Today of all days, though, we might be the closest to syncing. Still, she wants to think ofhim. She wants to relive the pain.

I’d rather die.

I smirk when my wolf gives me the cold shoulder. Have you ever given yourself a brush off? It’s pretty freaking weird.

The height of the building as it comes into view draws me closer to the window. The stone turrets I spied before are impossibly tall and large, even from the ground. The gothic structure spans thousands and thousands of square feet. It’s what happens beyond the exterior that scares me the most though. I can only recite the facts I learned from that textbook years ago. Inside these walls, rejected mates learn civility, obedience, pack mentality, more education or less education, basically anything a wolf needs to assimilate back into their own pack on the arm of the mate who rejected them in the first place.

I’m already calling bullshit.

The car slows, coming to a stop in front of an arched wooden door at the top of gradually inclining steps. The sparse evening light casts the medieval structure in shadows, reinforcing the gothic look the builders were apparently desperately trying to achieve.

Between the two turrets, the moon shines bright, and despite myself, the hair on my arms pricks, and my wolf gets restless. Electricity courses through the interior of the car. The moon coupled with this time of night is when our wolves are most alive. New shifters like me aren’t expected to control their shifts. However, I’ve been disagreeing with my wolf for so long, we don’t have that problem. Plus, she’s sulking.

The pack elder in the passenger seat pushes his door wide. With a deep breath, I wrap my fingers around the strap of my book bag lying next to me on the seat. The door to my right opens, but before I can step out, the yellow wolf eyes of the driver catch on mine through the rearview mirror. Turquoise blue flares from his pupils, ending in a starburst of sunlit gold. His cruel smirk has me exiting the fancy ride quickly, and when I straighten, I stare up at the seemingly never-ending structure.Just…wow.

The main academy itself consists of four floors of gray stone. The steeples and turrets rise up from there like they’re trying to touch the moon itself. Before tonight, the biggest house I’d ever seen was the alpha’s. His, too, is rock built and large, but this massive structure dwarfs the biggest house in Lunar by far.

“This way,” the gruff voice next to me orders. He takes off without bothering to see if I’m following and has already ascended the steps before I can make my feet move. I hike my book bag up my shoulder and march forward, quickly catching up so that when he yanks the huge, wooden door open, I’m only a few paces behind.

Our footsteps echo through the cavernous, stone halls. Every doorway that splinters off from this main artery arches high above us. A mixture of primitive and modern style meshes together with iron chandeliers and sconces for a design that is both impressive and classic. Voices drift down the corridor, but we’re alone as we traverse the building that’s half stuck in time. My wolf peeks her head up to admire our surroundings. It doesn’t last; she settles back down with a whimper almost immediately.

I straighten my shoulders and do what I always do: put on a brave face.

“Ms. Ebon is your advisor,” the Lunar Pack Council elder rattles off. “You’ll be meeting with her to acclimate you into Greystone Academy.”

A hundred questions burn my brain. Is this Ms. Ebon from Lunar? I’ve never met a wolf from another pack before. Was she rejected, too? Is that why she dares work with ill-tempered shifters like me?

For all the academy horror stories passed down, no tale went beyond its reason for existing. It was nightmarish enough that wolves were sent here, so there was no talk of what it was actually like once they stepped beyond the doors. Now that I have to call this place my new home, I’d like to understand more about it. Considering I had to leave my parents, my home, and my life—as pathetic as it was—against my will, I deserve some sort of guidance.

Attendance at Rejected Mate Academy is mandatory once you’ve been, you know, rejected.

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