Chapter Five

"We have three classes together, but not the first one of the day. I'm in the same hallway that hour, so I'll help." Dahlia was just as much a fan of unrelieved black in the morning as the rest of the day.

I locked the door to our room and put the key in my pocket. "Thanks. I didn't know if I was going to get a nice roommate or…"

Dahlia gasped. "Are you a crime fan too? I used to be, but now I'm more about conspiracies."

"Oh," I said. "I watched that show about the worst roommates ever. It kind of scarred me for life."

"I watched that one too. Now I'm into podcasts mostly."

I whirled around and walked backward as Dahlia launched into a spiel about conspiracies that ranged from aliens who built the structures before the pyramids, to shadow people and everything in between.

"Wait, shadow people? I'm not going to sleep tonight. Oof!" I slammed into something hard and, from the hot breath on the back of my neck, I knew it wasn't a wall. My heart beat so fast I could hear the tempo between my ears.

"Are you okay?" A deep voice pulsed through my body and made direct contact with my thighs.

Dahlia's open mouth and red cheeks did nothing to calm me.

Best to start with an apology. "I'm so sorry," I said, whirling around only to find myself face to chest with someone who smelled like oak and apricots. Huh.

"You don't have to be sorry, kitten. And I asked if you were okay."

Kitten? I looked up, ready to give any man hell for calling me that nickname until I saw his face and build. This man was a god in his own right. Chiseled jaw. Broad shoulders. Muscles on top of muscles. And his lips? Yeah, that man could call me anything he wanted to if that meant that one day I got to touch those lips to mine. "I'm okay."

"Good. Hey, Dahlia." He looked over my shoulder at my roommate, which wasn't hard since he towered over me. It wasn't until then that I realized two other men were at his sides.

Two equally panty-meltingly handsome men.

"It's nice to meet you," the one to my right said, stepping forward. "My name is Neo. I'm apparently the one with the manners. What's your name?"

"Kiki. It's nice to meet you too. This is Dahlia, my roommate."

He ticked his chin at Dahlia and greeted her as well. "This big wall you ran into is Artemis, and the one with freckles is Ian."

"Hey," I said. "Um, we were headed to dinner and Dahlia was talking about conspiracy things and…yeah."

"We were headed to dinner as well," Artemis, the sculpture came to life said. "How about we all eat together. Dahlia?"

I turned around with even wider eyes, showing them only to my new roommate and friend. She stammered for an answer. "T-that would be great. This is Kiki's first day, so she doesn't know very many people."

Lucky I had a good roommate.

My wolf was howling for these men, sending me images of mating marks and mating acts hot enough to burn up even the spiciest romance novel.

"Kiki?" I spun to see the redhead speaking to me. Ian. "You coming?"

My throat went dry. Gods, I'd never responded to a male like this, much less three. "Yeah. Right behind you."

The entire way, one of the boys made sure to open the doors for us and once, Neo even put his hand on the small of my back as I passed through a doorway.

Usually I would've torn up a guy who assumed it would be okay to touch me without permission, but my wolf knew they were good. She didn't mind at all.

Wolves knew best. That's what one of my foster mothers said.

Still, being paid attention to by males, especially males who looked like they'd just stepped out of a magazine was new for me. I'd had a few dates here and there but never been one of those girls who had boys vying for her attention.

In fact, one of those dates, I had asked the boy out myself.

Artemis wasn't the only one who smelled nice, either. We got in line with the other students, and I was sandwiched between Ian and Neo. Ian smelled like warm ginger and cinnamon, while Neo's scent was a rainy night. All three of their scents together made me want to curl up on a fall night and eat pumpkin pie into oblivion.

I also got some serious side-eye from Minx and Ava, but they didn't approach as we sat at a table.

"Tell us more about yourself, Kiki," Ian asked. "Dahlia said today is your first day?"

"It is. I only arrived hours ago. The semester is halfway through, I know, but I'm hoping I can catch up soon."

Artemis nodded. He combed his blond hair back and put his brownie on my plate. "Did your old school end at a different time of year or something? You graduated?"

"I got my GED. I had all the credits to graduate, but my eighteenth birthday was sooner than graduation, and I was ready to move on."

"Your parents were okay with that?" Ian asked. I bristled, but there was no way he could've known.

"I…don't have a family. No pack. I never knew my parents. I've been in the system since I was a baby."

They all meant well and were only trying to get to know me, but retelling my sob story over and over was already getting stale.

Dahlia must've noticed my reaction. "I'm sure everyone here will help you with the classes, and we have the school bonfire to look forward to as well. I bet you'll have guys lining up to ask you."

I laughed hard. "I doubt that. Enough about me. Tell me about you three."