Page 17 of Untamed

After that, I try to read the manual like a good little Greystone Academy student. I really do. But now that the temptation is out there, it’s hard to ignore. We get restless, my wolf’s back arching as if she’s already limbering up. I read a whole page and realize I was never paying attention, so I start it three more times before giving up.

“You want to run? Let’s run,” I finally say, sighing as if this is the greatest hardship.

My wolf sees right through my bullshit.

Since I was little, I dreamed about traipsing through the woods near my house, chasing after my parents. When they used to go out, I’d watch them shift from inside the doorway, envy pulsing through me. Since I’m here, family outings have been taken away, at least for the time being, but the idea of running for fun shouldn’t be stolen, too.

A quick peek outside tells me it’s still early. The sun hangs low in the sky, burning a bright pink-orange in the tree line. I toss my manual to the side and leave the room, heading toward the main doors. I smile at other students who happen to be milling around the building, and almost unbelievably, they return the favor.

I’m on such a high when the warm air welcomes me as I step outside. Anticipation burrows into my stomach, popping my nerves in excitement. I make myself walk casually to the south lawn. Luckily, a row of little changing huts are lined together. I’ve seen similar things around Lunar back home. They’re places to get naked so you spare your clothes during the shift.

Spotting an empty one, I step inside. A whole set of directions and rules is posted on the interior of the door, most likely so students can’t feign ignorance. Everything the paper says is already explained in the manual I just read, so I carefully peel my clothes off and set them on the bench. My heart pounds. Butt naked, I stand in the center of the room and reach out to my wolf. “Ready?”

Like that’s even a question. By the time we’re old enough for our initial shift, our wolves are panting for it. The only reason there are rules against shifting early is so a true bond can take place between human and wolf. Shift too soon and the wolf can take over and run free, never returning to human form. Try to suppress the wolf and you’ll never be able to shift.

It’s a constant worry I’ve had over the years, but luckily, my wolf is as strong-willed as I am.

She doesn’t let me prepare for the shift before she rushes to the surface. The tingling in my arms from my coat coming out to the breaking of my bones happens in a split second. A scream rips through me as I fall to the ground.

Thanks for that, I grumble.

Tongue lolling, my wolf smiles now that she’s in control.

She pushes free of the swinging door and trots through the grass, claws sinking into the damp earth. The wind rustling through the trees tickles her auburn coat. The blades of grass tickle her feet.

Then, a familiar smell hits her.

My wolf immediately perks, her ears standing at attention. That sweet, sweet aroma captivates her very being.

She smellshim.

8

Her copper paws dig into the ground as she races. The wind whips through her fur, making it ripple all the way to her tail. His scent is faint, but she follows it anyway. Nose in the air, she sniffs the wind to gain direction.

There are a bunch of cool things about being a shifter, but one of the negatives is that when human-Kinsey is walking around, I’m in the driver’s seat, completely operating our form. However, when we’re shifted, my wolf is in control. I can try to talk to her like she does to me, but it’s of no use. As we get to know each other, we’ll become one being, one mind, but that’s not the case right now. So, though I’m trying to tell her that Jonah’s scent is most likely from yesterday, she doesn’t listen.

A part of me is worried, too. What if it is fresh? I don’t know if I can take another rejection right now.

Since she’s not listening to me anyway, I quiet and become the audience to what’s happening around me.

My wolf stretches her legs, strength and agility flowing through her. She dodges trees and skillfully jumps over fallen branches. She moves completely on instinct. To be honest, it’s a nice reprieve from having to think all the time.

She scents the air, shifting direction. She’s getting closer.

At the same time she thinks it, I feel it. I try to remind her about the school’s boundaries, but she has a one-track mind. The fated bond is hardest to ignore, which is part of the reason why the academy is so unfair.

My wolf stumbles over a rock and growls. She’s telling me to shut the fuck up and stop distracting her as she gets her feet under her again. A twig breaking nearby makes her pause. Ribcage expanding and deflating rapidly, she waits. If she smelled him, he had to have smelled her, too.

A branch moves to her right, and she spins. Coming out from behind a bush stands a russet-haired wolf that dwarfs us. My wolf whines as he approaches, muzzle in the air. Treading steadily, he moves closer until they’re nearly nose to nose. His eyes are a green-yellow in wolf form—a striking difference from his normal brown with flecks of emerald.

That familiar pull comes again. It’s like high-powered magnetization, tugging them to nudge each other, to play.

My wolf moves in, butting their muzzles together, then resting her head around his mane. He sniffs her, and my heart constricts when his wolf responds with a warm,Kinsey. The sound, masculine and strong, is foreign from my own thoughts but natural at the same time. It’s as if it was always missing from me, and now that I’ve heard it, it’s clicking the last few pieces of my soul in place.

My wolf preens.Jonah.

Mine, he growls, and his wolf rumbles the sound from deep within his chest.

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