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I hadn’t even felt this out of control when I was a toddler, first learning about my magic.
It turned out my mom was right all along. A witch as powerful as me shouldneverhave been cursed with a beast.
My leopard let out an even louder growl.
“What’s wrong?” Jasmine asked.
“I have no idea. She’s cranky. She’s always cranky.”
“Maybe she’s just hangry,” Jasmine suggested.
“Yo, Markus!” A wolf shifter I recognized from one of my classes last year barreled over, slapped the back of the student who’d moved down a chair, and settled into the seat he’d abandoned.
“Mikaela,” herumbled, turning toward me. “You smell different.” He set one hand on my thigh while leaning in to sniff my neck.
“Back off, Taggart,” I rumbled, distracted by my leopard, who let out a soft whimper, the kind she usually only made when we dreamed of shadows.
“Ah, don’t be like that, pussy-ca?—”
I didn’t know I was going to do it until it happened.
One moment I was irritated as hell, the next, my hand was on his throat, claws pricking the skin.
Claws.
I stood, dragging him from the chair.
He struggled to get his feet under him as I leaned up and hissed—literally,hissed—in his face.
I wasn’t in control anymore, not full control anyway.
I was angry at his nerve and lack of respect for the concept of consent, but more? I waspissedthat he’d scared my leopard.
In that moment, realizing my leopard had crawled into a corner in my mind and washidingthere, I wanted toburnhim to ash. I wrestled for control and hissed at him, “Mybody.Mytable.Myterritory. Find somewhere else to sit.” Then, I tossed him across the room.
CHAPTER 2
Obviously,the reason I’d confronted Taggart was his lack of respect for my boundaries and the concept of consent. The reason I’d tossed him, though, was because he’d scared my leopardandbecause throwing him was definitely better than the alternative, which was to give my magic free rein.
Unfortunately, I’d also been stupid enough to extend our dispute over mybody and respect into a wider, territorial one. I’d claimed not only my body, but also the table itself as my territory, which apparently had significant meaning in shifter circles.
To make things worse, I’d reinforced my claim by tossing Taggart out of “my” territory.
Turns out it’s bad form for shifters to get into territorial disputes over minor pieces of property.
We’re supposed to holdthosedisputes for the properties that matter.
Like pack lands or dens or community gardens, places like that.
Not a cafeteria table in an Academy that isn’t even on shifter lands.
Worse, by claiming the table as my territory, I’d set myself up for territorial disputes. I had to beable to defend my territory from all other shifters, or risk losing it in a territorial battle.
Who knew?
Luckily, the professors all knew and intervened before the various shifters in the cafeteria who overheard my declaration managed to challenge me.
Headmistress Blackthorn arrived in a rush, shouting that all territory at the Academy belonged to the Blackthorns and no one else, demanded my presence in her office and swept out again.
