Page 68 of Wolf Unseen

Kasia nodded, confused. “Yeah, you said your friend hacked the admissions system.”

“It’s way worse than that.” I closed my eyes briefly, praying these amazing shifters didn’t skin me alive for what I was about to tell them. Or worse, tell the authorities.

“I’m not male,” I whispered, not wanting anyone in the vicinity to overhear my confession. Thankfully, there were no other sharp-eared shifters left now that Tate and his ho had gone.

All four of the felines scrunched their noses in confusion.

“But you’re…” Kasia waved a hand at my male features. “You look like a guy. Not super masculine, but not female.”

“A pretty guy,” Raquel chirped.

“It’s a glamour,” I huffed out. “I needed to be a male to get into Moonfall Academy, so I could find the guy my sister met before she disappeared.”

The felines exchanged looks that ranged from baffled to skeptical. It was obvious they thought this was a wind-up, and honestly, I’d have thought the same if one of my friends came up with such a crazy story.

“Look, I can prove it,” I said, reaching into my pocket for the pendant. It felt warm against my fingers, giving me a measure of relief that the magic hadn’t faded.

“Go on then,” Kasia said. Orange fur sprouted along her arm, a sign her tiger wasn’t happy. Brilliant. Being mauled by an angry tigress would be the cherry on top of my shit sundae.

I left my seat for the second time and dashed back into the small bathroom. My reflection stared back at me from the cracked mirror, vaguely masculine with a squarer jaw. But once I looped the pendant over my head, I morphed back to myself, my features instantly softening.

It took a minute to remove the chest binder and loosen my shirt so it was more comfortable around my breasts, and then I was ready to face my friends. I ran my fingers through my hair and forced a smile.

Riley Wallis was back.

For now anyway.

The smells of cinnamon and coffee made my mouth water when I headed back into the coffee shop, adding some sway to my hips for fun—mostly because I missed acting like a female. The felines turned as one and gaped at me.

“I really thought you were fucking with us,” Haley gasped as I slid back onto the bench.

“Oh my goddess, Riley has tits! Like, cute little tits!” Bree stared at my boobs, giggling.

Feeling self-conscious, I tried not to blush and failed.

“Holy smoke, Riley, you’re freaking gorgeous! I can’t believe you’ve been hiding your sweet little ass all this time.” Haley choked on a laugh.

Kasia remained silent, however, and I huffed out a sigh.

“I’m sorry for lying to you all. I didn’t know if I could trust you at first, and if anyone finds out…” My voice trailed off.

“But you trust us now?” the tigress asked, giving nothing away.

“Yeah, I do. You’re all amazing.” And it was true. I’d never really had female friends before. Only Felix. The human females I’d met growing up never trusted me. Never let me join their friendship cliques.

We all fell silent while I scrambled for something to say that might make Kasia hate me less. After a minute of spiraling into a low-key existential crisis while the felines sipped their drinks waiting for Kasia to exact judgment on my duplicitous ass, her expression softened.

“I forgive you,” she said with a sigh and an eye roll. “But no more lies or half-truths!”

“No more lies,” I agreed, my body sagging with relief.

“So,” Bree said with a smirk. “Now that we know your secret, we can have fun at the Halloween costume ball!”

“The what now?”

The felines all rolled their eyes. “Do you not pay attention to the social calendar?” Bree asked.

“Um, no?” I scratched my head. Simon had said nothing about a social calendar. But then again, he didn’t socialize beyond gaming nights with his buddies. He had invited me to these, but gaming bored me. I preferred to read in my room and stalk Tobias on social media.