Chapter Four

The three of us stopped by the office to get my things. Minx and Ava had afternoon study hall, but they were ditching that effort in favor of helping me settle in.

"Did you always know you were a shifter?" Minx asked as we got into the elevator.

"Well, I was in a group home until I was eight. I spontaneously shifted on a group field trip to the forest when I was six. After that, they tried to only put me in shifter foster homes but sometimes, there were humans. But the humans never wanted me for long, and I never quite fit in with other shifters. No one ever adopted me."

"No way!" Ava laughed. "I mean, not about the adoption. About the spontaneous shift. That was an early shift."

"Yeah. That's what they said. I was living in a foster house once, and the people were really mean, so I went for a walk one night, and a tornado plowed right though the house. They didn't die, but I was moved to another house."

I left out the part where I was certain that some power inside me created said tornado.

I had pummeled them with enough information as it was.

"Here we are," Minx said, checking my room assignment again. She opened the door and inside was a typical dorm room setup. Single bed. Desk. Lamp and chair. A tiny closet. At least there was a private bath. The other side of the room was decorated with all black blankets, pillows, and a pair of black boots sat underneath the bed.

Someone liked things void of color.

"Do you have a comforter?" Minx asked, putting my box on the bed. She'd insisted on carrying it for me.

"No, I don't. Maybe I can go out and get one?" I asked.

"I have my stuff from my room when I first moved it. I can get it for you. Wait here."

I plopped onto the bed while Ava leaned her butt against the desk, studying my schedule. "The only class we have together is Shifter Mythology. I hate that class."

I snorted. "That actually sounds interesting to me. Why do you hate it?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I should be interested. There's some suspicion that our father was an original shifter. We've been looking for texts or something to tell us more but we haven't found anything. You don't…have any powers or anything do you, Kiki?"

Her question stumped me. "Do you? Does Minx?"

Minx returned with a cute comforter and sheets in her arms. "Minx does what?"

"Have a power," Ava said, cocking one eyebrow.

"Is that what we're talking about?" Minx asked, plopping the pile of bedding on my bed. She didn't answer at first. Instead, she helped me make the bed. Finally, she sat on it and said, "Okay. This is sister and sister mates' information."

"You don't even know me. Don't tell me anything secret if you don't want to. I feel weird." The words came out almost in one long run-on sentence.

Ava cracked up. "Dude, your DNA results are right there. You are our sister. Welcome to the circle of trust. Go on, Minxy."

"What did I tell you about calling me that? It sounds like you're calling me loose or something. Anyway, I might have some fire powers and Ava might have some healing powers. Okay, not might. We do have those powers. Do you?"

I sighed. "I have a thing with wind, maybe, but I haven't really explored it yet."

"Wind, huh?" Ava said. "That's really cool. Maybe you can put out Minx's fires."

"Shut it, Ava."

I snorted at their candor. "I—" I almost blabbed about my tornado incident when the doorknob turned.

"Hello…I'm Dahlia. You must be Kiki. I heard from someone that I had a new roommate." Dahlia was dressed in black from head to toe. She had long raven hair and was fond of eyeliner.

I liked her already.

"I'm Kiki," I said, stepping forward. "I'm the new roommate."

She nodded. "And you are Minx and Ava?"

"Yes," I answered. "They are my sisters. Which is still weird."

We all laughed. "That's cool. You have your schedule?"

For the next few hours, all four of us talked about school and the rules here, which weren't many. Dahlia didn't reveal much about her background, but perhaps she would once she didn't have such a big audience.

"Well, our mates are probably wondering where we are. But we will see you at dinner, right?" Ava came over to give me a quick hug. We exchanged phone numbers and Minx followed her out, saying her mate Theron was probably pacing the floor.

"Aren't they lucky to have a harem?" Dahlia sighed, flinging herself on her bed.

"I guess."

Dahlia helped me unpack the rest of the way and, before I knew it, dinnertime arrived. She headed for the door. "Hey, let's go. It's fried chicken night."

Didn't have to tell me twice.