Page 3 of Untamed

She takes her seat across from me again, staring more curiously. When I meet her gaze with my own, she pulls a file into her lap and starts flipping through its contents. I instantly straighten, peering over, trying to catch a glimpse. It must be about me. What else could my advisor be doing during our first meeting? When I spot the quarter moon in the center of a few of the papers, it dawns on me that it must be Pack Council letterhead. That, right there, is communication about me from my own pack.

I take another drink, gulping down half the glass before placing the cup on the side table. I wish I’d had more time with Mom and Dad before I left. We were too shocked for proper goodbyes. Mom didn’t even start crying until I was forced in the back of the Pack car with no reassurance of when I would return.

Actually, that’s a fantastic question. I clear my throat and peer at Ms. Ebon. “How long do I have to stay here for?”

She glances over the file. “Until you’re reformed.”

“That sounds vague. When will that be?”

“When you move through your appropriate classes and your mate”—she checks the paperwork again—“decides that he’ll accept you.”

I scoff. I don’t mean to. It just comes out. Why the hell would I care if he wanted to accept me? What about what I want? Maybe I don’t want to accept him.

“If you fail to do so, you’ll be cast out of Lunar Pack, the other packs will shun you, and you will live Feral.”

Oh right. Fuck. Sometimes I’m too stubborn for my own good. I’ll unpack my feelings about him later. This is much more serious.

My wolf barely reacts, so either I’ve majorly pissed her off or she’s not listening anymore. While she pouts, real fear slices through me. If Greystone Academy was the cautionary tale of wolf society, Feral was the scary story told around campfires. No one who went Feral ever lived to talk about it.

Ms. Ebon still studies me, so I tap my fingers against the arm of the chair and nod toward the paperwork. “Is that about me?”

She flips the folder closed and offers me the entire file. “It is. It’s communication from both the Lunar Pack Council and Jonah Livestrong.”

My stare immediately tracks to her, questioning as she waits for me to take the folder. It doesn’t seem likely that she would let me read what everyone has to say about me. Unless I’m missing something…

She shakes the manila folder. “Go ahead. I don’t believe in keeping things from my students. You have a fight in front of you, young one.”

I take the file from her, spying my name in elegant handwriting on the tab. My stomach squeezes. I try to stifle my nerves, but when I open the folder on my lap, my hand quivers. I have no doubt Ms. Ebon sees my reaction. She’s been watching me like a hawk since I got here, and I’m suddenly well aware that she’s most likely assessing me at this very moment. Maybe her opinion matters in this whole scheme of things—in my “reform.”

I sit up straighter as I scan the first document. Mate Rejection Slip is typed on the top. I almost shut the fucking file right there.Mate Rejection Slip. Taking those words in makes me nauseous. Why would anyone reject their mate? Their true love? Isn’t doing so like a huge slap in the face of our pack dynamics?

When you think about it, it doesn’t make sense that I’m the one in here and he’s out there. A growl crawls up my throat. It sounds like my wolf and I can find something to agree on. We might—well,shemight crave him on some sort of instinctual level, but that doesn’t mean we have to like him right now.

He’s the reason we’re here, and I’m not sure I can get over that.

If only fate had skipped me. I would’ve been happy as an unmated wolf. Fuck all this love and politics shit.

“Why don’t you go ahead and read why your mate rejected you. It’s in the big box at the bottom.” My gaze tracks down the page. Curiosity brims at the surface, but I know anything he says is going to be the biggest bunch of bullshit. He doesn’t like me because no one likes me. Because I’m different. Because they got it in their heads when we were pups that I wasn’t like them. “Aloud, please,” she instructs.

I snap my jaw shut. Apparently she wants my humiliation to be spoken instead of just internalized. I’d thought she was pretty cool, but I’m rescinding that assessment.

I clear my throat. “Kinsey Walker has never tried to become part of Lunar Pack. Due to my future position under the alpha, I don’t believe she and I will be the perfect mating pair.” My jaw practically dislodges. “I’ve never tried to become part of Lunar Pack?” I screech and then laugh. “He’s kidding, right?”

She leans back, crossing her legs at the ankles. She looks so regal sitting there with her long, black hair against the purple chair that I calm my tone a bit as she narrows her eyes. “I don’t imagine he is. He lodged the complaint with the Council, and he’s aware what that would have done to him as well.”

I glare at her. I really want to tell her that Jonah can go fuck himself. He’s the one who brought this on both of us. In fact, I know a way he could’ve avoided this all together.

A trickle of unease rolls through me at that. You can’t force mated pairs. It’s the ultimate F-U to the universe. Hence the reason for Greystone Academy’s existence.

What I don’t understand is why it’s always me that has to suffer.

“Why don’t you tell me about Jonah’s position in the pack?”

I blink down at the summary box. He’s literally only written those two lines as if he wanted to give me nothing to go on. “Is it in here somewhere?”

“It is. I’d like to hear it in your own words, though.”

I smile smugly. If I never tried to join the pack, how would I know anything about them? Living amongst the wolves who hated and feared me gave me a lot of time to watch, listen, and learn. “His family is third from the alpha. They’ve taken over alpha security, sometimes whole pack security and Council security, too.”

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