Page 47 of A University of Betrayal

I tried to hear something and at the same time, as quietly as possible, to approach the door, but it was silent.

So, I ran and yanked the door open, ready to really punch someone in the face. But the apartment was empty. Instead, the autumn wind whistled through one of the open wooden floor-to-ceiling windows and blew the white curtain back and forth, which occasionally swung against the candlesticks on the table and made a slight muffled clatter.

I sucked in the air suspiciously.

Nothing.

I had been wrong.

Deciding to dismiss it as paranoia, I turned back into the hallway, closed the door behind me, and bumped into something warm.

I backed away.

“Jesus Christ! Hunter!”I gasped, startled, trying to stop my transformation from starting. “You scared me!”

He started to grin and I punched his bare chest.

“Don’teverdo that again,” I added angrily and stepped past him.

He followed me, laughing.

“I thought you were going to keep fighting with your brother,” I sighed teasingly.

“AndIthought you wanted tostudy.”Indignant, I turned to him. He had eavesdropped on my conversation with Alarik. “Instead, I catch you in the professor’s apartment.”

I felt caught out and indicated with a serious look that he should keep his voice down.

“I thought someone was there.”

He looked at me a little confused before he started talking. “Someone? I think if someone had broken in here, we all would have smelled it.”

“I know,” I sighed and closed my eyes. I really seemed to be getting paranoid.

“Is everything all right?”

Of course, it was. If there was one thing Hunter was good at, it was knowing that something was bothering me. He’d always been good at that.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re lying.”

“I’mnotlying.”

“I bet you are.”

I looked at him, considering revealing something. Hunter was part of the pack, and he might be able to understand that burden, but any attempt by me to gripe about my circumstances would result in me no longer being considered a strong pack member. And I couldn’t let that happen. Betas were the members who had to support the Alpha. They had to show strength and resilience. Without exception.

“We all have to fulfill our duties.”

Filaments

Scott Buckley

“You sometimes take a little too much weight on your shoulders than you should, Emely.”

I looked at him, puzzled.

What made him think something like that?