“Good job today,” Drew said, patting me on the shoulder as he walked away. My hand twitched as I resisted the urge to touch the place he patted.
“Sophie, pull yourself together,” I muttered. I couldn’t act like a love-struck puppy every day in class.
“Tomorrow we start with a mile run. Meet outside this building on the sidewalk. After that we will be talking about ways to stop a bigger and stronger attacker. You’re dismissed.”
Chapter Five
The first day of class passed into the first week and before I knew it, I had been at Animage Academy almost a month. My days quickly took on routine. Breakfast, shifting class, lunch, more classes, then I ended the day with defense. We had a student shift for the first time almost every day in shifting class. My own time to shift drew closer.
I was standing in my bathroom the day before my birthday. It was time for my daily inspection to check for clues as to what I was going to shift into. Hands first. Nope, no talons or claws. None on my feet either. As I brushed my hair, I checked for the start of horns or ears. Nothing. It was hard to see my back in the mirror, but I craned my neck around to check my skin for fur, or scales. At this point I would’ve even accepted a tail. My reflection shrugged at me. Just like every other day the answer was the same: nothing.
We’d moved on to staff lessons in defense class. Drew continued to partner with me every day. His charm had yet to wear off on me, but at least I managed to not be a babbling idiot around him most days. Even though we talked every day in class, I never had the courage to talk to him when I saw him around school. It didn’t help that Kylee and her gaggle of followers were usually all over him.
I let my mind drift as I blocked his staff with my own. With my birthday so close, I was struggling to focus on anything. I was excited about shifting the first time, but also sad that it would be my first birthday without Simon. The first-year students hadn’t been allowed off campus yet, so this was the longest I had ever gone without seeing or talking to him. While I was lost in thought, Drew went for another hit and I didn’t bring my staff up in time. The end of his staff glanced off mine and hit me in the cheekbone.
“Ouch!” I said, grabbing my face with one hand.
“Oh no, Sophie,” Drew said, dropping his staff and stepping toward me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you, when you hit my staff, I couldn’t stop it fast enough.”
“Don’t drop your staff Drew,” Professor Sarah said. “A pretty girl playing the damsel can take you down like that.” Of course, she was watching us. She directed her attention to me.
“Sophie, that’s what happens when you get distracted. Remember, an enemy is not going to give you a chance to recover from your boo boos, quit whining and hit back.”
I smarted a little at Professor Sarah’s accusation. I wasn’t really whining. The pain of the strike radiated from my cheekbone and through my head. Drew settled back into a fighting stance while Professor Sarah continued to watch us. Anger swelled up inside of me, wild and sudden. I wasn’t a prissy girl that fell down from a bruise. Before Drew was completely ready, I struck out, hard and fast. Drew brought his staff up to meet mine just in time.
There was a crack as the staffs connected. The impact was so intense the staffs broke, and a small explosion threw Drew into the air and against the far wall. He bounced off and collapsed onto the floor. I dropped the pieces of my staff like they were on fire. My skin was on fire. Heat rushed through my limbs and into my face. What was going on? Professor Sarah rushed to Drew. Sounds crashed into my ears. The sound of the students around us backing away grated in my ears. Rubber soles rubbing against the mats on the floor sounded like an avalanche of rocks. I had to cover my ears with hands. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. Once. Twice. Three times. The heat faded and then I was able to get my hearing back to normal. Professor Sarah helped Drew stand up.
“Everything okay?” Professor Sarah asked him.
“Yeah,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. He unfurled his wings behind him for a moment and then pulled them tight against his back again. He looked up at me and, to my surprise, grinned.
“Wow, Sophie, that was impressive. No one has knocked me off my feet in a long time. How did you do it?”
“I have absolutely no idea.”
It was still dark when I woke on my birthday. Sweat soaked through my nightgown and sheets. I threw the covers off. My normally comfy mattress dug into my back, and then into my side, and then into my elbow. The pillows suffocated me. A sliver of moonlight shone on my analog alarm clock telling me it was just past 3 a.m.. I gave up on sleep and let myself out onto the balcony.
The full moon was huge in the sky. It gave everything outside a ghostly silver glow. I saw the shadows of wolves running around in the fields to my left. On the night of the full moon the werewolves were allowed to run outside on campus while in their wolf forms. A couple of howls sent shivers down my spine. I looked down at the ground to see a group of wolves walking along the tree line. One large white wolf stuck out. Hudson stopped for a moment and looked in my direction. I didn’t know if he could see me, but I waved anyway.
A strong wind began to
