Damon
A sense of doom still loomed over the doghouse. It was going to be a long, hard year, and I wasn’t looking forward to it. Last spring we’d all gone to battle against the big cats in support of our brother, Chase, and his true mate, Jenna. Jenna was a panther shifter, and her father an elitist prick hell-bent on killing Chase. No way any of us would have let that happen. In the end the dogs won, but at a great loss.
Matt Williams had been my roommate, my fraternity brother, and my friend. He died in that battle and life in the doghouse hadn’t been the same since. I was still a proud brother of Delta Omega Gamma, but the sadness of the place was hard to take.
Senior year, finally. Just two more semesters and I was out of there. When Chase moved off campus with Jenna, I moved into his room. I couldn’t handle staying in mine knowing Matt was never going to return. It was too much to bear. There were too many memories and too much sadness.
I had stuck around campus through the summer, figuring it was better to deal with it all alone than being inundated with sympathy back home. And while I was happy to have my boys back, I was already feeling overwhelmed by the constant chatter of my new roomie, Chad.
Chad was an interesting character. He’s a squirrel shifter who pledged D.O.G. at another school where they didn’t take the acronym quite so seriously. Nearly all of the D.O.G.s were canine shifters of some sort. But then Matt had shown up, a rebel jaguar shifter determined to hold his own with the big dogs. Now we had Chad, the squirrel.
That kid talked more than anyone I’d ever known, and his habit of hiding chips throughout his half of the room was downright annoying at times. Still, he was a pretty cool kid. I’d never have believed a squirrel could be that badass. Seeing him fight in the battle for Chase had been a unique, eye-opening experience.
His transition since his arrival had been the talk of the school. Heck, it even trumped the Chase and Jenna saga. Who knew squirrel shifters fattened up in the winter, then slimmed down in the warmer months? Dude had been an overnight sensation around campus, a total chick magnet, not that D.O.G.s ever had a problem catching the ladies.
Still, with everyone back at school for the start of the new year, my wolf was becoming more and more restless. I found myself going for runs daily and searching out places just to be alone. It wasn’t normal behavior for a wolf shifter. We were communal animals by nature. I knew Chase was worried about me being depressed. Maybe he was right, but damn, I think I had a right to be.
I just wanted the year to fly by quickly so I could be done with the place and the haunting memories of Matt everywhere I turned. I wanted to be angry at someone, I wanted to yell, scream, and pick fights with anyone who got in my way. But there was nowhere to channel that anger. I couldn’t blame Chase. Matt was his best friend, and Chase didn’t even ask us to fight alongside him. It was Matt’s idea. He had insisted we stand up next to our friend, or die fighting, and he’d done just that. But Matt wasn’t around to be mad at, so it was all bottled up inside me to where all I could feel was empty.
I was in bed staring at the ceiling consumed in darkness once again, when Chad walked in.
“Hey, man. We’re all heading over to Jack’s for a celebration round, then maybe over to Theta. Hear they’re having a wicked party tonight. You joining us?”
“A round of what, kid? You’re not even old enough to drink,” I teased.
“Pfft, since when did that stop me?” he asked.
It was true. The punk could get away with nearly anything since his transformation. Still, I knew he was only joking. I’d never seen anyone stay as level headed as Chad in the brink of all that attention. He told me once that the girls that followed him around during the summer were fun enough to hang out with for a while, but far too shallow for him. He needed a girl that would stick around through the winter months and love him for who he was and not what he looked like in swim trunks. Had to hand it to him, he was far more mature than he’d led people to believe.
“I think I’m gonna pass,” I finally told him.
“Damon, it’s the last night before classes begin. Come out. Celebrate with us.”
“Right, the last night before classes and I have an eight A.M.—sorry, but pass.” I saw the disappointment on his face. I’d been seeing it a lot on the faces of all my brothers since they returned. I knew they were worried about me, but I was fine, at least as fine as I was going to be. “Hey, look, I promise, Friday night. We’ll do whatever you want, okay?”
Chad perked up and smiled. “Yeah, okay. Sounds great. Enjoy your night.”
He changed his shirt quickly and left without another word. The house had gone quiet and I suspected I was all alone. The walls started closing in around me, and I knew I needed to get out of there. I changed into gym clothes and headed outdoors. I meant to actually go to the gym, try to at least be around other people, but when the woods came into view near the lake I found myself venturing off course.
I sighed, stripping at the edge and setting my wolf free. I wasn’t the only one depressed these days. We ran until past nightfall. It was easier for me in my fur. I could give myself over to the wolf and forget everything that had happened, even if it was only temporary.
I was exhausted when I finally shifted back to my skin and headed home, collapsing into bed the moment I entered my room. Chad was already snoring softly in his own bed. It felt like I passed out the second my head hit the pillow, and for the first time in a while I slept peacefully.
When the alarm clock woke me, I groaned and pounded on it till the noise stopped. I wanted to curl up under the blanket and go back to sleep, but I knew it was first day of classes. Why the hell had I signed up for an eight a.m.?
I begrudgingly got out of bed and hit the shower, dressed for the day, and grabbed my backpack to head off to my final year of college. I was so ready to be done with this place.
The walk across campus was refreshing. New faces, and a new buzz in the air. I normally loved freshman, especially those dumb enough to pledge Delta Omega Gamma. But this year the usual excitement for new recruits was waning.
I heard whispers about my friends along the way. Trying hard not to roll my eyes or engage. Chase and Jenna were interspecies true mates, a rarity that many of us didn’t even know was possible till it happened to them. They’d become instant campus celebrities. By the end of last semester the shock and gossip had calmed down, but I supposed with the new class coming in word was spreading again.
I didn’t blame him for moving off campus. I missed the shithead, but still couldn’t fault him for it. If I had the money the Westins had, I’d have left too. Chase came from Westin Pack, a large and influential Pack. He was among the upper elite of wolf shifters. I, on the other hand, came from a very small, virtually unheard-of Pack in Italy. Not that you could tell by my accent.
My Alpha sent me to the States to study when I hit my teen years. I lived mostly with the Longhorn Pack of Texas. I’d picked up a bit of the southern drawl quickly. My Mediterranean coloring was about the only thing that set me apart at this point. No one would have guessed I wasn’t born and bred in the USA.
For a little extra cash I worked as a teacher’s assistant in the Italian department. It was a pretty sweet gig. After all, it was my native language even if I was equally fluent in English. I had spoken with the professors and we all agreed I wasn’t needed for the first two weeks of school. I was grateful for it as it gave me time to settle into my own schedule before taking on theirs as well.
I walked into my first class, Intercultural Communications. I was an International Relations major. I was hoping it would help me with Pack status down the road. For the moment, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to return to Italy or change my allegiance to Longhorn or some other Pack. I really didn’t know where I would go when I graduated. Maybe a few years as a lone wolf would do me some good. Only time would tell. I had put off all inquiries surrounding that question throughout college and had no intentions of trying to decide on an answer anytime soon.
Looking around the classroom, I was surprised to see Chase and Jenna there. They were sitting down front, and I quickly made my way across the room.
“What are you guys doing up here?” I asked.
Jenna smiled and gave a little wave.
“Liam thought it would be a good class for us. Verdict’s still out, but we’re here,” Chase said. Liam was his older brother and CEO of the Westin Foundation, their family business. Chase would assume his role in the company after graduation. Both he and his mate would be heading up their communications department, specializing in social media. I didn’t think the class was exactly what they were looking for, but I was all for a couple of friendly faces.
I took the seat next to Chase as the professor called the class to order. He handed out the syllabus and discussed the expectations for the semester. Nothing looked too difficult and I knew it would be an easy class for me.
The hour passed quickly and soon I was off and running to my next class, and then the one after that. I’d loaded three back to back Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, then a lunch break, and three more in afternoon into evening. It was a heavy load but freed up Tuesdays and Thursdays for me to work or study.
By the time my last class ended, I was exhausted, and it was only day one, the easiest day of the semester. I was wondering if I would grow to regret this schedule. It certainly made for three very long days in the week.
Walking back across campus to the doghouse I felt a tingle run up my spine. It made me stop in my tracks, and my wolf became aggressive and excited, fighting me to take control. That rarely happened and freaked me out a little. I looked around in search of the cause of it, but didn’t see anything unusual. I was standing outside Fenrir Hall. It had been my freshman dorm. I chalked up the weird feeling to nostalgia and headed home.