Page 75 of Wolf Trial

“Show us your arms, then,” I challenged. “If you’re not the wolf who helped us, you won’t mind removing your gloves.”

“I do not take orders from—”

“Not an order,” I cut in mildly. “Just a test. If you’re not the wolf, you won’t have similar marks on your arms.” I glanced at Verne. “I’m guessing scars in human form show up in wolf fur.”

“They do,” he confirmed, a furrow between his brows as he faced Mortem. “If it’s true, your secret is safe with us. You are safe with us, your own kind.”

“I am not your kind,” Mortem snarled, not even reaching for a glove. Her hands curled into fists. “I want nothing to do with you, except to cut you down like stalks of wheat—”

“I wouldn’t,” I advised her with a cruel smile. “I wouldn’t threaten us.”

Mortem laughed, her eyes flashing. “And why is that? You think you, an amateur slayer with less than a month’s training, are a match for me?”

“No,” I agreed, and wasn’t sure why I smiled when I said, “But this man right here would happily slash you into ribbons with his claws. I bet he’d use your bones to decorate this lovely little garden. I think they’d make a nice border fence, don’t you?”

“I fucking love you,” Paige said under her breath. That… was not the expected response.

I met Mortem’s enraged stare and added, “The only thing holding him back is me. So be careful what threats you throw around.” Whatever she saw on Lainsz’s face made the blood drain from hers. “I’ll keep your secret if you keep mine.”

I didn’t know if I wanted to go back to Lunova Academy, but I’d be damned if I had the choice ripped from me by a woman who was an even bigger hypocrite than me. Not just a slayer, but the headmistress of all slayers. It sounded like she had some baggage when it came to wolves, but that wasn’t my problem. It was my advantage, though, because I could use it.

“Let me keep my place in the academy, and I won’t tell anyone you’re a fraud.”

“Same goes for me,” Paige said loudly. “Let Sadie stay, or I’ll tell everyone.”

Elix nodded, jabbing her thumb at her chest.

“You want to go back?” Leander’s small voice cut through my chest, making a lump swell in my throat.

I hoped he could read the response in my stare—I don’t know—but we barely knew each other. We weren’t at the reading each other’s thoughts stage yet.

Yet? I was getting way too carried away.

But a part of me wanted to get carried away. I wanted to properly get to know these men who’d saved me, who cared in a way I’d never known, who I was beginning to accept were woven into my soul like oxygen threaded through blood.

One thing was clear—it wasn’t a one-time thing. And that terrified me. I could never be casual and carefree about relationships. I would always be afraid to open up, to reveal my hidden fears and secret dreams, to be seen.

Mortem was backed into a corner. She could kill the three of us to keep us quiet, but we had a whole pack as backup, and the headteacher hesitated. “Fine,” she bit out. “But one more toe out of line, Sadie, and you’re out.”

“She’ll need an extended leave of absence, of course,” Verne said smoothly. “To recover from the near-death assault from one of your staff members.”

Mortem’s expression twisted, but she bit out, “Fine.”

This hadn’t gone the way she planned, I sensed. She’d come here to deliver her winning hand, probably to issue threats of her own. She might have helped us with the hag and Beaufort, but it was clear she wasn’t on our side.

Oh god, now there were sides. And I’d drawn myself on the wolf end? A long sigh escaped me, and I watched Mortem melt back into the shadows.

“She’s going to be a problem,” Paige grumbled.

“If I’d been allowed to kill her,” Lainsz snarled. “There wouldn’t be a problem at all.”

Lainsz didn’t strike me as the sort of man to allow someone else to forbid him from doing anything, yet I was still holding him back. Why?

CHAPTER 44

SADIE

Igave Lainsz a strange look as I let go of his shirt. He could have overpowered me at any point. My grip on him was human, not particularly strong.