Page 121 of A University of Betrayal

Now it was Friday, and I was sitting in Julian’s passenger seat because he insisted on taking me home, even though he no longer lived next door but on campus.

“And you’re not afraid that someone will find out?” I asked in astonishment.

Julian was focused on the road, as always. That was why I had gotten into the habit of only communicating with him at traffic lights, because then his attention belonged to the passenger for once.

“You have to think of it as a gray area.” I raised an eyebrow as he slowed down and shifted into first gear. “I don’t live here anymore, but I can’t take the workshop onto campus with me.” He grinned mischievously at me. “And it’s just as difficult to take the grand piano.”

Both were true, but that wasn’t the whole truth. I knew he was helping his father pack and planned to check on him regularly.

“Has your father found a house by now?”

Silence. Then I realized that everything was working in Julian before he answered me. “Our old house is already occupied by people.”

“Oh” The subject was sensitive, but it was worth trying to dig further. “And that seems to upset you?”

Julian grumbled something incomprehensible, then stepped on the gas and crossed one of downtown’s many traffic lights, driving past the glass-encased DeLoughrey skyscrapers that cast a huge shadow over the district.

“It’s my old family home, not just any place to live... It feels like they could takeeverythingfrom us here, kick us outeverywhere.”

Shit.I seemed to have a talent for bringing up sensitive subjects.

“I grew up there.” He snorted contemptuously. “If I’d known back then that our value to that pack depended on our loyalty and performance, and that they didn’t give a shit about our private problems, I would have left a lot sooner.”

His words stuck in my head, dug deeper. If anyone ever found out I was one of them, I’d be under the same pressure as Julian, forced to get to know the pack and maybe get to experience the same sides as he did.

And another thought came to mind: I was like him, like Julian.

My eyes wandered to the young man next to me.

“Alarik...” I began and Julian turned his head toward me. “Our professor... He’s part of the pack and seems somehow trustworthy.”

Julian laughed. “To hearthatfrom a Quatura...”

I almost started to protest, but for some reason it felt unsafe. It was strange that no one had noticed what Ireallywas. By now, I was asking myself if what the professor had shown me wasn’t just an illusion. It had been five days and... seemed so blurry.

“Alarik is different from the rest of the pack. Sometimes I get the feeling he’s against a lot of what the Alpha decides. And he dares to speak against it, which makes it more complicated for him in the pack. But that’s a whole other topic.”

“Explain it to me,” I demanded, and Julian rolled his eyes.

“Oddly enough, for being one of them, you want to know a lot,Blueberry.”

“Hey!” I said, offended, yet with a grin.

I felt my cheeks redden.

That nickname was ridiculous.

Julian next to me just grinned. At least he didn’t seem to notice that I was almost bombarding him with questions.

“Nickolas – the Alpha – and Alarik are brothers,” he continued. “And since they are equally strong and equally skilled, it is impossible for Nickolas to bind his brother to him through the Alpha bond. This is mainly due to the Alpha gene that they both carry.”

“Alpha bond?”

“It’s a mental process in which the Alpha makes the members of the pack submissive. That’s all it is.”

Oh God,this pack was no better than Mum’s cult.

“But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s the Alpha’s brother and therefore an integral part of the pack. He’s a Beta wolf, Emely’s father’s closest confidant. At least, that’s what he was until recently.”