Page 46 of Monsters Within (The Creatures We Crave 1)
Alexandra
For only the second time in my life, I woke up with my heart full of love and warmth around me. I wanted to bask in it like a house cat in the rays of the sun, but I bolted upright when I realized it had to be quite late if the sun was shining so brightly.
I pushed my monsters from my bed, yelling at them to get dressed as I did the same. I settled on a pair of black leggings and a simple tank top, topping it off with black converse. It had occurred to me that maybe I should expand my horizons outside of my comfort zone with black clothing—but then I remembered the old saying, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”
We had time for me to throw my hair up in a ponytail, and Kylo quickly toasted some bread and shoved it into my hands as we ran out the front door. Now, I’m not sure if you’ve ever had to eat while running, but take it from me—it was a complete choking hazard.
I’d tossed the last half of the toast at Kylo’s head when he told me he wouldn’t let me participate in testing until I had finished it, claiming I needed sustenance.
I honestly wouldn’t have put it past him to pick me up and carry me back home for more food, so I’d run like crazy through the gate, welcoming the switch in climate to the cooler temperatures of the pavilion. It signaled that I was safe from his wrath—because who would tell a bunch of professors and the headmistress that they needed to wait until I’d had breakfast?
It turned out that I was in fact, not safe, and Kylo was the person who would do exactly that.
I’d been severely panting, showing how terrible my endurance was when we’d approached and he had yelled from my back, “You need to eat more often! This can wait!”
Holding a hand up as I bent over, I heaved out an apology. “I’m so sorry. How late are we? There wasn’t an alarm clock, and we didn’t think to ask Victoria for one.”
Estrid let out a soothing laugh, immediately easing my fears that we’d ruined our chance to stay. “Oh, you’re right on time, dear. No need to fuss.”
Relief washed through me, giving room for excitement to take over.
Clapping her hands excitedly, Estrid introduced us to the professors standing around. Some grouped up, and two stood alone, staring at us like we were dirt beneath their feet. Well, really only the two loners looked like that, and in the guy’s defense, it looked more like extreme boredom, but the female was openly sneering.
“Alright, ladies and gentleman, these are our new, surprise students! I felt the tug to them in trouble yesterday and promptly swooped them up into our safety here,” Estrid stated with a big smile on her face.
No one quite matched her exuberant energy, and I chuckled internally at the notion of no one else being a morning person quite like she was. Did she just have an endless supply of energy and patience at her disposal? Sign me up for whatever it was that gave her access to it.
I took a moment to admire her outfit today, pinstripe black pants that tapered tightly at her ankles and a shiny, long-sleeve black shirt. Her blonde hair was swept up into a fashionable ponytail—the kind where you couldn’t see the hair tie because a strand of her hair was covering it.
I felt like a trash panda in comparison to her and all of the professors who were dressed impeccably in business attire. No one told me the dress code, in my defense.
“I’ve sensed immense power within Alexandra, but I am unsure of what she is. Elwin, Kylo, and Lucien have another form with close resemblance to a demon if I had to guess, but not like any I’ve seen before.”
This seemed to pique everyone’s attention, and the sneering woman narrowed her eyes at me. Whichever sector she belonged to, I was hoping with everything in me that we wouldn’t have to be anywhere near her.
You know when you’re around a bad person and they just make your skin crawl? That was how she made me feel.
“As I mentioned, I don’t think you all need to test them, as some of you are obviously not a match, but it doesn’t hurt to have you here in case you sense something. Let’s begin. Please, Professor Clanguard.” She gestured to a massive man with dark hair that shone with hints of auburn.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it definitely wasn’t a violent explosion of sprouting fur and cracking bones. In the time it took for me to gasp, the man was gone, and in his place was a large wolf that took one massive leap towards me with snapping jaws.
I’d woken up this morning with the odd sensation still deep within my chest, but any lingering pain that had remained even after Kylo had taken some of it away had been gone for the most part. But now it slammed into me full-force, knocking my breath out at the same time he jumped.
“What the—” I shrieked, covering my face with my hands, as if that would protect my face from being ripped off by his claws or sharp teeth. My chest hammered as the power within me demanded release, but I gritted my teeth, trying to contain it.
Bracing myself for impact, my body tensed and my breathing went rapid and shallow, but a moment later a deep laugh sounded in front of me. Cracking an eye open and spreading my fingers to peek through, I saw him back in his human form, shaking his head with a bemused expression that didn’t fit his initial serious expression. “They aren’t shifters. Her base instinct would have forced her to shift into an animal to fight or flee, or I at least would have been able to scent it lurking beneath the surface.”
Turning to look at my monsters, who had changed into their true forms and were vibrating with barely contained rage at my safety being called into question, he tacked on, “And they definitely aren’t any creature I’ve scented before in Trabea.”
I recognized that name. It was the territory of shifters within Praeditus.
My heart was still racing as I dropped my hands completely, and a majority of my panic receded. He turned and walked off, dismissing himself from the meeting, and thankfully the energy inside of me coiled back up, seemingly content now with the threat gone.
What the hell was that? Was the energy trying to…protect me?
“Next up is Professor Boneclaw, please,” Estrid announced, not fazed in the least by the tactics of the wolf shifter. Apparently this was just another Saturday here on the Dark Imaginarium Academy campus.
“Breathe,” I murmured quietly for my monsters’ ears only. “They won’t hurt us.”
