Page 23 of Forsaken

The old Mia would ask him where, but I think this new Mia is just going to show up at his work unless he tells me a place to meet him ahead of time.

I push my phone into my back pocket and turn to find Nathan’s stare devouring me. He lets me see him watching me, and then he turns away, jogging up the stairs and disappearing.

I don’t know what Nathan and I are when we’re on Daybreak grounds. I guess some things are easier at Greystone Academy.

10

The chill in the air barely touches me. It’s a shifter superpower. We hardly ever need coats to keep warm because we have full-fledged wolf DNA hidden inside us. Despite what I initially thought when we rolled onto the alpha’s grounds, we’re not imprisoned in the cabin. Everyone has left at some point today—some to see their families, others to check in with their mates like I’m getting ready to do.

I slip my shirt over my head, bundling it neatly in the backpack I brought. It’s a shifter’s best friend. I’ll pack everything in here, then when I get to the edge of town, I’ll shift back into my human form, get dressed, and continue on like nothing happened.

My wolf is eager to get out and run on these grounds. She hasn’t done it since the night of our first shift.

I unclasp my bra, tucking it away neatly before slipping my panties off last. Once I’m fully naked, I quicken my pace. As shifters, you’re bound to see some skin, but I don’t make a habit of changing slowly either. Zipping the bag, I leave it at my feet, and then mentally move myself to the back as my wolf claws forward, ready to make her appearance.

She’s so happy during the shift that I almost don’t feel the twist of muscles and snap of bones as my body rearranges itself into its new form. The first time I shifted, it fascinated the shit out of me. Sure, I’d seen others do it, but I couldn’t fathom how my body would do the same. It was so nerve-racking. I honestly thought I was going to be a dud, but that day was beyond anything I could’ve imagined. I even got a mate out of it.

Well, for a whole ten seconds until Gayle keened so loudly I thought someone died.

I shake my head. Her howl had stopped me in my tracks, and I hate to even think of it now. It reminds me of my own pain. What she’d felt, I felt a split second after when Sean turned his back on me. I’ve often wondered who hurt more: The girl who had him when they were human? Or the mate that fate paired him with? I suppose there’s not a scale for grief.

Once in my wolf skin, I don’t feel the cold at all. Daybreak lives up in the mountains, so it’s several degrees cooler than Greystone Academy. If you look carefully, all the Daybreak shifters have a thicker coat than the others.

Being in my wolf while she’s in control is pretty cool. It’s like sitting in the passenger seat of a vehicle. Sometimes, I find myself wanting to pump the brakes, but with shifter abilities comes shifter skills. My wolf dodges trees, leaps over brush, and stretches her legs without even making herself work too hard.

Despite never fully exploring this area of Daybreak before—human or wolf—I find the edge of the city easily with my superior sense of smell. Sean’s work happens to sit kitty-corner from a chocolate shop, so I homed in on that aroma as I made my way here. Now that I’m this close, it’s super potent. My wolf’s nose wrinkles. She’d rather eat raw steaks.

She drops the bag behind the tree and lies down on her stomach. As soon as she places her head on the floor between her pawed feet, we start to shift. It comes much easier now than it did when I first got to Greystone. That’s one thing I’ll always agree with Kinsey about. It’s not really fair to send newly shifted wolves away when they’re just getting used to their wolf bond. Of course, not every wolf who ends up at Greystone is a newbie. Sometimes, they’re made to wait until their fated pair shifts at a later date. Those cases are rare, though.

Bearing down on my jaw, I hold back the flash of searing agony as I switch from one being to another. I let out a whoosh as soon as the shift is complete and then immediately get to work putting on the clothes I brought with me. I settle down once I have my bra and underwear on. If anyone were to spot me now, at least I’m wearing as much now as I would at a public pool.

My wolf and I have always been seamless companions. I’ve seen other shifters struggle against their true nature, so I guess I’m lucky to have found a partner rather than someone who wants to fight me on everything.

I stash the backpack to come back for it later. Sean never texted me again, so I have no doubt my sudden appearance will be a surprise to him. I check my phone one last time before I start off for the tree line. Nothing.

Nerves bottleneck inside my throat, pushing down into my chest until my heart rate picks up. I haven’t seen Sean in three weeks. Tuesday would’ve been a mandatory meeting, a meeting he most likely would’ve attempted to get out of using the solstice party as an excuse.

Every time I see him, it’s like a punch to the gut. It’s an attraction that isn’t reciprocated. I’ve often wondered if fate got it wrong, or if she only mated us on my side but not his. He never talks about a pull toward me. He never talks about a superpowered magnet that brings us together. In the year it’s been since fate paired us, we haven’t bonded as much as Kinsey and Jonah did and they were only mates for a few weeks.

I take a trail that leads from the woods to the sidewalk. Dirt-beaten paths like this exist all over town for the very reason why I’m using it. People run in their shifter forms and then end up near town, so these paths became a necessity for getting around.

Unconsciously, I smooth down my outfit. I’m wearing a simple pair of jeans and a forest green V-neck shirt. I have no idea what Sean’s plans are—if anything—so I went with casual. And yes, I totally bucked the system. If they want me to wear my Greystone uniform, they’re going to have to make me.

Curious glances watch me as I set a pace toward the law offices. I nod and smile to some of them and get surprised, clipped responses back. Their eyes are on me like I’m a sideshow exhibition. Not all of them are mean-spirited, though, some are just curious and far too many are sad. They’re probably mated and can’t imagine what life would be like without their mate.

I check my watch. I’m a couple of minutes early, so I wait outside, leaning against the brick building. From this vantage point, I can see all of the major downtown area. A couple streets on either side of Main host businesses before the landscape moves to residential areas. At that point, the property lines expand, giving the families ample room to shift and play in their yards. The extra square footage means Daybreak reaches out further than a normal city, even if the populations are similar.

The bell rings on the door, and I stand at attention. My heart rises into my throat as I peek around the side of the building. It’s not Sean. It’s the principal of my old high school. Slinking back, I let her leave without seeing me and check my watch again. It’s five minutes past six. There’s still no text, so I decide to head into Sean’s office to see what’s going on.

Blowing out a breath, I run my hands through my newly dyed hair and push the door open. I blink, using my wolf’s vision to adjust to the change in light. Despite it being a little later, there’s still a major difference in light levels as I step over the threshold.

In an interior room, I hear Sean’s voice, and I follow it until I hit a barrier of a woman sitting at a desk. She blinks at me. “Mia, is that you?”

I freeze where I am, shocked when I see Daisy, one of my friends from school. “Oh my gosh, hey,” I reply. “I didn’t know you worked here, too.”

She comes out from around the side of the desk, and I stiffen again. “That’s because you’ve been gone for so long,” she chides, as if I have a say in what happens with my life right now.

Seeing her, listening to her casual conversation, makes me bitter. I can’t believe she gets to work with Sean every day and has the gall to tell me it’s because “I’ve been gone.” The reason why I’ve been gone is someone she works with.

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