Page 29 of Wicked Dove (Institute Thirteen #1)

TWENTY-TWO

ELODIE

The breathing space Rion promised continues right through breakfast. None of the guys show up at the Institute Thirteen section in the dining hall, but even in their absence, the attendants wave us to take a seat and food is brought to us again.

Today it’s French toast and crispy bacon with a mini jug of maple syrup.

I almost decline it, but the look of disbelief and wonder on Ocean’s face makes my decision for me.

I feel Willow’s withering stare on me the entire time, but ignoring her seems to work, and we’re off toward our first class of the day without interruption.

My fingers itch slightly from my new gloves, the ones I’m still not sure about, but something tells me they’re a good idea, so I’m rolling with that for now.

Instead of leading me to the main academy building like she did yesterday, Ocean takes the path to the right, and I frown, trying to remember the name of the class for the day, but my brain’s got nothing.

“What is this class?” I ask as she moves toward a gym and a built-up arena that looks like a sports venue in the city near my home.

“Strenuous,” she answers, her nose crinkling in distaste, and my features mirror hers as we step around the corner to reveal a huge open field.

“Like gym class?” I ask, and she turns to me with puckered brows.

“What’s that?”

My eyes bug out of my head as I gape at the seriousness on her face. It feels weird being the one in the know on something around here. It’s a shame it’s about gym class and nothing more exciting. “It’s like track or sports.”

She blinks at me once as she comes to a stop in the center of the field before her head falls back with a laugh. I watch her with wide eyes as she slaps a hand to her stomach, chuckling like I told the best joke, but it doesn’t fill me with humor.

When she finally calms down, she shakes her head at me. “It’s active, sure, but a lot more… intense,” she states, and I gulp, glancing around at the gathering crowd of students forming.

“Like a high intensity workout?” I push. I’ve never done one of those before; they always look brutal, but I guess I could suck it up while I’m here.

Ocean snickers. “If that means fighting in a controlled environment, then yes.”

“Fighting?” I blurt, and she gives me a pointed look as she runs her fingers through her blonde hair, pulling it back into a secure ponytail.

“How else are you going to prepare for the rebellion?” she asks, offering me another hair tie from her pocket, and I take it, despite the uncertainty warring inside of me.

“I’d rather we didn’t have to,” I mumble, twisting my purple strands into a makeshift bun at the base of my neck. “Can we get changed?” I ask, peering down at my uniform with a grimace, and when my gaze meets hers again, her eyebrows gathering once more.

“Change?”

I nod. “Yeah, like, into more appropriate clothing.”

“Do you think the rebellion will wait for you to change before they attack?”

I startle, the voice behind me firm and unwavering.

I turn slowly to find an older woman standing before me with a pointed look on her face.

She’s pretty. Her eyes are wide and soft, but the thin set of her lips darkens her features, making it clear she’s not impressed.

Her brown hair is tied in a braid down her back as she plants her hands on her hips.

She’s dressed in a black tank top and khaki combat pants. I want to say that she looks far more dressed for the occasion than we are, but instead, I opt to answer her question, desperate to avoid any unnecessary drama for the day.

“No, probably not,” I admit, and she nods.

“So it’s best I don’t either,” she snaps, stalking off without another word, and all I can do is watch her leave.

“That’s the professor, isn’t it?” I ask, tilting my gaze to Ocean as I wait for confirmation, and she hums in agreement.

“You bet. She’s vicious too. That was nothing. She was once a recruit for the actual army until The Sanctum decided to train us instead.”

I peer back in her direction to find her standing off to the side with Rion.

I don’t know when he appeared, or why it matters that I need to know, but I can’t help but stare.

They’re toe to toe, heads tilted slightly as they talk.

The softness in her eyes and the gentle curl to her lips are far from the version of her I got, but whatever she says doesn’t seem to please Rion.

He steps back, jaw tight and hands clenched at his sides, before storming off to my right, where Thorne and Kael are standing. A look passes between them, making it clear there’s a hint of concern in the air, but it doesn’t last long before Kael’s gaze finds mine and his eyes narrow.

Dammit.

Glancing away as fast as I can, I turn my attention to Ocean, eager not to have to deal with any more of their bullshit for the day. Thorne was already enough this morning; I don’t need anything else.

“Students,” the professor hollers, her tight and closed facial expression back in place, and everyone turns to her, the group falling silent.

“I’ll call names in pairs. Once your name is spoken, join your opponent for the session and find a space,” she yells, and I gulp as the air seems to shift around us.

One by one, she calls out students’ names, and they do as she asks without complaint.

There’s no flow to her pairing; guys are called with other guys, girls with girls, and both combined.

“Ocean, you’re with Dominic.” My friend squeezes my arm before striding toward a guy in a pink-stitched uniform.

“Kael and Willow,” she hollers next, and my gaze snaps to the vampire in question.

His features give nothing away as always, but he joins the bubbly redhead who beams at him like he hung the moon. A knot forms in my gut and I hate it. That snare of jealousy threatens to consume me. I hated him suffocating me yesterday, and now, I hate him being paired with someone else.

I need to get over myself.

No.

I need to go home and away from this madness.

“Rion and Thorne,” she calls next, and Rion glances in my direction with a half smile that turns into a grimace before he saunters off with Thorne.

My stomach begins to do summersaults now. Despite my frustrating encounter with Thorne this morning, I wouldn’t have been mad at being paired with him, and Rion, well, he’s been the nicest to me out of the three of them.

Get a grip, Elodie.

“Elodie Blackwood and Tiran,” she hollers, and my heart lurches in my chest.

That’s far from what I wanted. Damn, I think I’d rather pair off Willow than him. Sadly, I find him immediately in the crowd, a sinister grin on his lips as he stares at me. When he doesn’t move a single foot, I take the hint and head toward him, instantly feeling uncomfortable in his presence.

He doesn’t utter a word as the professor continues to call out everyone else’s names and I use the silence to commit this man to memory.

Everything happened so fast the other day and my defenses kicked in quickly, all but blinding me to the mess before me, but now I see him beyond the stature he holds.

He thinks he’s hot shit, built and muscular, but I can’t help but think he looks like a weasel.

“We will be working on agility training today. All you have to do is touch the other person’s arm. The first to ten wins. No magic allowed,” the professor declares, and everyone falls into a fighting stance as they pair off with their partner.

I gulp, but follow suit, immediately hating the way his eyes narrow and his grin spreads wider.

“Are you Kael’s new pet?” he asks, and I fight back an eye roll. At least he doesn’t recall what happened yesterday so he can’t threaten me with it, but I half consider doing it all over again before I remember it would be impossible right now, with my black leather gloves in place.

“No,” I grunt, and he tilts his head as he stares at me.

“Are you sure? It looks to me like you are. He won’t let anyone near you, won’t let you breathe,” he comments, circling me, and I have to focus to keep in step with him, but it’s futile and his hand connects to my upper arm.

Fuck.

He’s trying to distract me, and it’s working. The touch was a little harder than necessary, but I suck it up.

“That doesn’t make me his pet,” I bite back, shaking my arms out as I face off with him again, but he’s not done.

“Do you want to know what happened to his last pet?” he asks, his voice dropping to a whisper, but when his hand comes toward me this time, I manage to dodge it.

“She chose to sleep with you?” I ask with a raised eyebrow, and I catch him off guard as his jaw falls slack, my palm connecting with his blazer in a light touch, but the intent is there.

His nostrils flare as he looks down at where I touched him before his deathly stare turns back to me. “Willow was never his pet. I wouldn’t allow it,” he grunts, and I shrug, trying my chances again, and I manage to connect my palm with his other arm.

He doesn’t like that, but I’m on a roll now.

“Why? Because she’s your pet?” I move to get him again, but he’s quicker than I anticipate, slamming his hand against my arm with so much force that I tumble back, landing on my ass with a thud.

I glare up at him as tingles of shock coat my skin.

I blink, the world stilling for the briefest moment as I decide what my next move will be.

I’m reaching for the fingertips of my gloves before I even realize it.

No man gets to lay hands on me like that.

None. I’m ready to throw it all to Hell and pray my magic pulls through, but I don’t manage to tug the material off before a blur passes before my very eyes.

A scream from somewhere behind me rips through the air, but my gaze is latched onto the wolf before me. Tiran is pinned to the grass, eyes shifted in that vampire kind of way, but the way the wolf has him trapped leaves him helpless.

“Rion! Rion!” the professor yells, cutting through the crowd as I remain seated on the grass right beside them. The entire class pauses, watching as Rion snaps and snarls in Tiran’s face, but as the professor tries to interject, desperate to pull Rion off him, it only seems to make him angrier.

Launching to my feet, I take a step back as Rion kicks the professor back at the same time he brings his huge teeth to Tiran’s throat.

I need to get out of here. His rage is uncontrollable and I don’t want to see what happens next.

The moment I turn, ready to make a run for it, Kael looms over me, hands falling to my shoulders as he roots me to the spot.

“Help him.”

“Help who?”

“Rion.”

I balk as I follow his line of sight, glancing at the wolf determined to rip the vampire into shreds, and I shake my head. “There is no helping him,” I admit, but the words feel feeble on my tongue.

“I think there is if it’s you,” Kael insists, his eyes trained on mine.

He’s either not going to let me go without trying, or force me to. Either way, I know there’s no running. A reminder of yesterday flashes in my mind and my desire to run ceases. He deserves for me to return the favor, or at least try to.

Turning to the carnage, Kael’s hands drop from my shoulders, but the second I try to step toward them, the professor shoves me back, straight into Kael.

“Stay back,” she snarls as Kael’s hands wrap around my middle, keeping me from falling.

I blink in a mixture of confusion and bewilderment before I scramble out of Kael’s hold and stand toe to toe with the professor. “Don’t ever touch me again,” I bite through clenched teeth.

Fuck this all to Hell if people think they can just push me around. Unfazed by who or what she is, I shoulder past her with more force than is necessary, only to drop to my knees at Rion’s side.

I can feel eyes on me from every angle, but I’m hoping they’re too invested in the chaos to realize my part in it all. Tentatively, I place my hand between his shoulder blades, fear zapping through my veins as I brace for impact.

He freezes, standing tall over Tiran, who is still currently in one piece. He continues to snap and snarl a few times, but the ferocity isn’t there.

“Rion?” I breathe, and he tilts his head toward me. I dare to run my hand through his fur and it eases the tension rippling through him as he nuzzles the tip of his nose into my neck.

I should be freaking out right now. There’s a big-ass brown wolf touching me. Not just any wolf, one that was a man mere moments ago, and not just any man either; Rion.

A hand lands on my shoulder and I glance behind me to see Kael, but before he can say a word, the professor’s voice cuts through the air.

“Get out of here, Rion. I’ll deal with you later,” she warns, but Rion doesn’t turn to her.

Instead, he stares right at me. I can’t breathe as he makes my racing heart lurch from my chest as he nuzzles his nose into my neck again.

I manage to ghost my hand through his fur one last time before he takes off without a backward glance.

Tiran whimpers on the ground, writhing like he’s dying, but I don’t feel an ounce of sympathy for him.

He doesn’t deserve it. He’s a giant ass, and I’m ready to tell him just that when movement out of the corner of my eye turns my attention away from him to find the professor wagging her finger in my face.

Her eyes are dark, a swirling concoction of contained rage and disbelief. Her entire body vibrates with anger and she seems unfazed by the audience we’re still surrounded by.

“You… with me. Now.”