Page 86 of Wolf Unseen

“Yes, Clarkson.”

“Because we’re powerful and humans are shit-scared of us, miss?”

“That is a factor, yes,” she agreed. “Anyone else?”

I raised my hand. “You have some insights for us, Mr. Scott?”

“Perhaps humans dislike magicals because many of them, especially shifters, treat humans with contempt?” I had some fond memories of wolf shifters hurling derogatory sexual comments at me when I walked past construction sites on the border between the human and shifter neighborhoods back home.

Human whore was a personal favorite.

Miss Raven said nothing while half the class began shouting bullshit, accusing me of betraying my shifter half and spying for the humans. I snorted at that one. As if I’d work as a human agent. Most of them hated me more than shifters, which was a feat in itself.

Was it any wonder I had trust issues? Or so Felix claimed.

When the torrent of abuse and species slurs finally died down, Miss Raven nodded thoughtfully.

“Mr. Scott makes a good point. Many magicals do look down on humans. Some use their biological advantages to coerce and control weaker humans. The history books tell us vampires often coerced humans. Sirens are also renowned for coercing humans and magicals alike.”

Someone sniggered. “I wouldn’t say no to a siren, miss.”

“No, Collins, but they might say no to you,” she retorted, causing the shifter to flush tomato red with embarrassment.

By the time the bell rang, I couldn’t help but think I might never find my place in this fucked-up world. I didn’t fit in with either group. Humans sensed my otherness without understanding why, and shifters thought I was weak.

I sighed as I packed my stuff away. Once I’d rescued Lorna from the shifter mafia, maybe I’d suggest that we and Felix move to the northern islands and make a home in a remote location, far away from humans and magicals. Perhaps then we’d all be safe from those who wanted to hurt us.

51

Riley

Ipulled my hood up and jogged down the drive to the campus gates to meet my Uber. Tonight was the Halloween ball at Moonrise Academy. There were buses waiting to transport the students from Moonfall, but I needed to arrive early so the feline shifters could fix my costume.

None of them would tell me what it looked like. Only that I’d love it.

Hmm. I wasn’t so sure about that, but if it helped me question the remaining suspects on my list without them realizing I was Riley Scott, hybrid wolf shifter, then I’d suck it up.

The pendant felt warm against my fingers as I shoved a hand into my pocket, double-checking that I hadn’t dropped it.

I was excited to party as a female. Having to act like a male had worn me down over the last few weeks. Male shifters were dumb. Most had barely evolved, and the vast majority of idiot shifters at this academy had nothing intelligent to say. Worst of all, at least half of them viewed females as little more than willing orifices for their stupid, and most likely tiny, dicks.

Honestly, it was disappointing, and I worried about the future of the shifter species. Any female worth her salt would surely think twice about mating with these pricks.

Headlights gleamed farther down the lane as a vehicle approached. The fox shifter guard on the gate looked up but soon lost interest when he spotted the rideshare logo. Considering this was an elite academy, the security was surprisingly lax.

Still, I wasn’t complaining.

I spent the trip to Moonrise Academy planning how I was going to approach each of my suspects.

Tobias was going to the dance—he’d made a big show of asking me to accompany him yesterday—and had acted butt-hurt when I said no.

Tank had been AWOL since he took me back to the alphas’ apartment, much to my relief. The big wolf stole all the oxygen from my lungs, making it hard to breathe.

Tank might not be here this evening, but Tate Montes was the shifter I was most interested in talking to or at least observing while he let his guard down. The discovery that a Montes pack beta wolf had taken Lorna somewhere made him my prime suspect.

Getting him alone was risky, but if he drank enough fae wine, perhaps he’d open up to me. It wasn’t the best plan, but it was all I had.

The Uber spat me out half a mile from Moonrise Academy. Kasia had informed me there were guards stationed at the main entrance, so she said to enter via a small gate at the back of the campus. She promised it would be unlocked.