Page 27

Delores

“I feel like half the teachers in this stupid school are giving me suspicious or dirty looks. I really am cursed,” I mutter.

The books in front of us on the stage are full of musicals we can license for this year, and the professors left us to our own devices while we looked. I’m sure they’ve fucked off to a teacher’s lounge or in Professor Sarabhai’s case, smoking one of those weird clove pipe things she likes.

Rufus snorts, shaking his head. “Girl, you’ve got it twisted. Yes, that snivel-y bitch in Shifter History probably hates you, but it’s probably because you’re an heir he can’t suck up to, so he sided with those doppelg?nger girls. Professor Short Dick has been schmoozing heirs for years ; you’re not special.”

“What about Fame ?” Cori asks, her brightly colored hair popping up from behind a big songbook. “It feels appropriate.”

“Fuck, no, Coco. Where are we going to get that many dancers who don’t look like water buffalo galloping around the stage?” Rufus shakes his head, leaning back on the stage as he stares up at the lighting rig. “There is a serious lack of talent and eligible, non- closeted dick on this campus. I can’t wait until they finally start letting us out on the weekends.”

Cori snickers, ducking back behind her book as he rambles. I pretend to focus on our task for a minute before I finally give in and ask, “What about everyone else? Felix glares at me like I offended his ancestors now and Chess keeps hiding from me. How am I going to survive the semester? The dudes are all bent out of shape, which means I’m fucked because my only female professors are from this program. Artemis knows they won’t go easy on me grade-wise.”

“Dolly, you told us you’ve always been an outstanding student. I’m sure, regardless of a professor’s personal conflicts, you don’t need to worry about—” Cori stops, looking at Rufus and I staring at her with our mouths open. “Right. I forget what an unregulated hellhole this place is. Yes, I suppose it is possible a few rotten apples could wreck your GPA and make your bitch mother go bonkers.”

I nod, chewing on my lip. “It’s like Fitz and the cranky crew are the only ones besides you guys who give a shit if I survive. But that doesn’t even help, because only Fitz is willing to really get involved.”

“Oh, honey. Fitzgerald Khan may care, but that will only continue until you give up what he’s hunting. At least, that’s been the buzz in the beehive since I arrived.” Rufus holds up his finger and pauses. “Speaking of which, Best Little Whorehouse , anyone? We have ourselves a Dolly.”

Even though I’m not worried about Fitz—he’s with me so much he can’t be fucking around with anyone else—I smack Rufus with my book. “You asshole! I have enough people calling me a whore; I don’t need to star in a show where it’s accurate!” The two of them giggle as I cross my arms over my chest, huffing. I may be a blonde, but I’m not that blonde. Painting that target on my ass would be as bad as the stupid bunny tail already there.

Cori reaches over and pets my hair, her expression rueful. “Aw, Dolly Bear. We didn’t mean to make you pissy. Rufus was just being… well, Rufus. He’s a grade-A bitch.”

I roll my eyes at her, giving up a smile. “I know that. I’m not mad at either of you—the joke was funny, but the people after me aren’t. If it weren’t for you picking up the phone when I ran to the nurse’s office, I might not be here to choose the musical.”

That’s when I see the change in my friends for the first time—the preds they keep underneath. Rufus’ face morphs under the tattoos, somehow looking even scarier than he already does, and Cori’s bulk grows as white fur sprouts on her limbs. I back away, not because I’m afraid of them, but I’m aware my scent might provoke their animals. Within seconds, a giant polar bear and a half-shifted honey badger are sitting amongst Broadway songbooks and notebooks as if it’s perfectly normal.

“Um, guys? Guys? I didn’t mean...” My butt scoots along the wooden stage slowly, wanting to be ready to run if need be.

My friends aren’t first-years like me, but that doesn’t mean they have full control over their shifting. It takes years for that to happen, which is why Shifter Basics is a five-year class. People need years to master their animal and their emotions. Or at least, that’s what Professor Felix says when he’s not purposely riling me up.

Rufus morphs back to human first, plopping back down on the boards like nothing happened. “Shit, girl. I haven’t lost my cool like that for non-business reasons for months. You really have the damsel in distress thing on lock.”

The enormous bear heavily sits on its haunches next to me, leaning in to lick my hair. I blink. “Uh...”

“Don’t worry. It’ll take Coco a mo’. She’s not an alpha/pack leader/what have you. Shift control is much harder to learn when you’re not destined to take the throne. I, however, already look fabulous in a crown,” Rufus drawls, winking at me.

I turn to look at the polar bear, blinking again when she places a paw on my shoulder like she’s comforting me. “Ooookay. That's not weird at all.” We go back to paging through the books in silence, and after a few minutes, our curvy friend is back to normal. Of course, that’s when I realize they’re both naked and my eyes widen. “Um, guys… clothes?”

Cori laughs, her rainbow curls shaking as she clutches her chest. “You were definitely raised by weird shifters, Dolly. It’s perfectly normal for us to be naked after we shift. Most of us learned that the hard way as kids, when our parents hulked out and went ‘animal’ when we were bad.”

I feel like the dumbest person in the room.

Lucille and Bruno shift all the time—though usually what people here call ‘half-shift,’ so it never causes a clothing problem. Their control must be superb, which matches up with their claims of importance within their families. The Heathers never invited me over to their homes, so I have no baseline to judge other shifter households. My new friends are telling me full shifts and nudity are basically so normal they’re blasé, and I had no idea.

Hera, help me, I’ve been so sheltered I may never fit into this society—bunny or not.

Frowning, I wonder what other parts of ‘normal’ life I’ve missed, and how stupid I’m going to look as they get revealed. My confusion will be prime gossip material if the Heathers figure out I don’t have a clue what ‘real’ shifters do when they’re not in public.

“Dollface, whatever you’re sweating about, stop. Every clan, pack, or whatever does things differently. You don’t have to know everything right away—that’s what classes are for. The curriculum may be half-bullshit and half-reality, but you’ll figure it out. Stop making a face like Coco murdered your yappy dog.”

Great. Now they think I’m a cloistered little rich girl with a pocket Yorkie.

So much for being a badass at Apex.

I sigh, reminding myself that Rufus and Cori are just looking out for me. “Thank you for sharing, but I’m really concerned the tiny sphere Lucille kept me in will hurt me. I don’t even know what things might get me in trouble.”

“Eh, we’ll help you learn. Besides, you can’t look any stupider than the dimwits you used to hang out with . They’re barely able to string five words together without their brains melting, and I heard they all joined the school paper yesterday,” Cori says, her eyes dancing with mirth. “Can you imagine? Trust me, Professor Cormac will not let them get away with whatever they have planned. That platypus is fierce.”

A giggle escapes before I know it. She might be a social justice warrior, but Cori can be as catty as the rest of us when she’s not in public. “I know! I was going to major in English first, so I visited the paper during my tour and her spurs were no joke. That’s why I used the office for the change of major form; I was afraid she’d come after me!”

What Cori doesn’t realize is Pink doesn’t need the school paper to spread rumors and lies—her father owns the legitimate news outlets and most of the social media platforms. She can spew her venom anytime, anywhere, without fear of reprisal. Their plans for the paper have to be Apex-specific, and I’m not sure what would warrant making it one of their extracurriculars. They can’t be cheer-monkeys because post-secondary Pred Games don’t have squads. Professional ones do, but none of the Heathers are good enough dancers or tumblers to get picked for that level of performance, no matter how much money their parents throw at the Leonidas family.

Why the school newspaper? What am I missing?

I look over at my friends, giving them a shrug. “It’s hard to predict what those girls are planning. They aren’t book smart, but their cunning lies in being raised to be so ruthlessly ambitious that they’ll do anything and everything to win. They don’t care if you’re not playing their games; their parents expect them to be victorious, so they will make you play so you can lose. Their drive to prove they deserve their Council seats is completely ingrained in their personalities; hell, it might be their personalities.”

“They don’t scare me a bit,” Rufus says, leaning back on his hands again. “They might play rich girl games, but in my family, the games aren’t so civilized. Let them show their hand. I won’t hesitate to show them how real gangsters operate.”

The toothy smirk would make me shiver if I wasn’t beginning to trust him. I don’t doubt that whatever his family does, Rufus is tattooed-neck deep in it. Still, I nibble my lip in concern. “If we’re waiting for them to make a move, what do you suggest we do in the meantime?”

“Maybe we should talk about why you think all of your professors hate you when five of them clearly want to chase your fluffy cottontail,” he replies. “Outside of Abel, the Asexual Asshole, you’ve got all the hotties trying to peek at your panties.”

“What?” I blurt. “ Rufus! Don’t say that kind of stuff where people can hear. What if someone told them I’m crushing? It would be humiliating.”

Cori looks at us for a moment before dissolving into giggles. “Shit, Ruf, she doesn’t know!”

His head tilts as his smirk grows wider. “Oh, now that’s adorable! Dolly Bear thinks they’re being mean to her because they don’t like her.”

I smack my foot on the ground next to him. “They don’t! I mean, okay, except for Fitz—he’s clearly being a perv. A sweet perv, but a perv. You can’t possibly think Felix or Renard or Aubrey…?” They look at one another and burst into laughter again, making me crinkle my nose.

What in the hell is goddamn funny?

“Dollface, you don’t realize because you’re new here. Big kitty’s brother is known for being allergic to students—period. That he put you under Khan protection in front of the entire staff is shaking the grapevine something fierce.”

“And, and... " Cori cuts in excitedly. “The other two never let students call them anything but professor or… well, to be honest, people don’t call the librarian anything because he roars and kicks them out before they can open their mouths. His assistant handles everything because his temper is like… legendary. There’s never been a student aide that made it through their first week in the library. They always get kicked out with bellows and flames.”

What? Are they serious?

They have to be pulling my leg. I mean, yeah, the guys are all pretty stand-offish, but it’s not like I’ve worried they’re going to roast me or anything. And Felix probably said the Khan protection thing because Fitz would lose his shit if people messed with me. After I kicked Gold’s ass in the ring, her family might have bribed people to hurt me, and he knew that.

Right?

Rufus bats his lashes, sighing as he clasps his hands near his cheek. “Methinks the blonde bunny has suitors. However, will she choose?”

That makes me scowl even more. Not only do I not know what to do with their claims of a goddamn harem lining up for me, I also don’t like the insinuation I’d have to choose one of them. It’s putting the cart before the horse, I know, but it bothers me to hear Rufus say it.

“Oh, shut up, Ru-Ru,” I mutter, pulling out my phone to look up the ranges of the last show I spotted in the book in front of me.

“Touchy, touchy. Guess I won’t suggest Seven Brides for Seven Brothers ,” he snarks, picking up his book and flipping the pages. “ Clearly, our Dolly would put a hit on six of them. Greedy, greedy.”

Narrowing my eyes, I pointedly ignore him while researching on my phone. I’m not greedy; I just refuse to be pigeonholed into the antiquated idea that monogamy is the only option. I’m a feminist.

Yeah, that’s it.