Chapter 21

Dylan

T he rush of excitement, joy, affection, and gratitude that went through her soul made Dylan's knees buckle. She bent over as she tried to keep herself upright at this sudden rush of emotions. They were not her own emotions. They were Hunter's. Which meant that she had found yet another fated mate.

Dylan screamed in frustration and then took off running in the opposite direction that Hunter stood. She didn't care that this could trigger the wolf inside of him, making him want to chase her. She needed to get away and let the situation settle inside her mind. Many females had three or more mates, but Dylan always hoped she would only receive one. Jackson, being her second mate, did not hit her the way that Hunter did when it came to realizing they were her mates. Since her mother only had one, Dylan never thought to ask if anyone felt something different each time they met a new mate. Lupe only had one mate as well, so she doubted that was something she could ask her. Silas was hopeful even though she was reluctant to find one at first. She hoped he was Jackson because she couldn't stop staring at him after her eyes found him from across that fire. Hunter... Hunter was a completely different story.

There was always something off about Hunter to her. The way he didn't talk much, even in class. Dylan felt drawn to him, but it always felt like there was an air of mystery around him. It intrigued her more than anything, so she discredited it as a fascination with him being weird rather than a pull inside her soul for him to be her mate. Often, she would smell his scent but couldn't find him in her vicinity. It was like he was a ghost, just hovering around her at all times, but she couldn't see him. Now she knew why that was. Hunter was an Enforcer. He was trained to be basically a ninja so he could kill anyone the Monarch felt was a threat to the Werewolf's existence.

I'm mated to a fucking Enforcer! How is that possible? It can't be possible! They aren't mated to anyone!

The feeling of Hunter's emotions of anger and hurt from her running away flooded the bond. Dylan built a wall up inside to keep herself protected from Hunter rooting around in her head and from her being able to feel his emotions. She weaved through the trees and stumbled over several roots before Dylan leaned her shoulder on one to catch her breath. While looking over her shoulder, Dylan scanned behind her and couldn't see Hunter anywhere. Either he knew she needed space, or he was too busy losing it because she ran from him and needed some time to shift into his wolf before he took in the chase.

I need to find Jackson and Lupe. I can't just wander around these woods and hope to happen upon them.

Dylan looked around and breathed in the air. She noticed an orange flickering of light through the trees and the scent of smoke and burning wood from its direction. If her nose was right, someone was in the woods by a fire. From what she understood, the school was on its own grounds, and others couldn't just wander onto the property. The people around that fire had to be students. Dylan gathered herself and slowly walked through the trees in that direction. Within a few minutes, she walked through a small clearing and saw a group of five students around a campfire. Dylan recognized them as werewolf students who tended to sit at a table in the corner of the dining hall and didn't talk to others. They were fine with only networking with themselves and usually were really quiet in class outside of when the professors forced them to interact.

They must have heard her coming because they were all turned to face her. There was something off about them as Dylan looked at each individual. They seemed to all have a vacancy in their eyes, but their faces looked like they had a permanent scowl. When they recognized her to be a fellow student, they all smiled, and it was the creepiest shit she had ever seen in her life. It was almost like they didn't know how to smile. Their teeth were bared like they were in their wolf forms, and their eyes appeared dead. Dylan felt she needed to run in the opposite direction for the second time that night.

"Hello. I am Cole," said the one closest to her. He remained seated, so she wasn't sure how tall he was, but she did notice his hair was nearly white. His eyes were a light gray, and since they weren't glowing, she had to accept that they were not his wolf's eyes. Dylan had never seen someone with this color of eyes before and had only seen it on a wolf.

"Hi. I'm Dylan."

"Ah, the school's Shadowborn."

There was a collective "ohhhh" from the rest of them. Dylan shuddered at the sound.

"This is Brandy," Cole pointed to the girl on his right. Her hair was super short, almost shaved to her head. Brandy's eyes were honey-brown, almost gold like a wolf's.

"That guy over there is Alastair," Alastair was seated next to Brandy, and his whole frame looked as if he was half-giant. His brown hair was past his chin, and she couldn't tell what color his eyes were since he was across the fire.

"The guy next to him is Alex," Alex was bald with pale blue eyes. He was smaller than Alastair, but not by much.

"And this small fry is Lex." It was the girl to his left, and she was tiny. Even seated, Dylan could tell she was around five feet tall and had dark skin, black hair, and wolf-green eyes.

"How did you all get so lucky to have the eye colors of wolves?" Dylan blurted out before she could stop herself.

Cole chuckled. "Many people ask us that. We wish we knew the answer. I guess the Great Moon blessed us."

Dylan nodded and bit her lip. She wasn't sure what to do or say next. Thankfully, Cole seemed to know she didn't know what to say and did the talking for her.

"We didn't feel like going for a run this month. We tend to do our own runs the day after. Too crowded with the other students. We aren't the kind of people who like crowds."

Dylan could sympathize. She wasn't a huge fan herself but dealt with them anyway. She had to if she wanted to run a pack someday.

"Well, maybe you can still help me. I have only been here a short time, and I don't know the woods well. Can you show me the way back to the school?" Cole moved over and patted the log to show he wanted her to come sit. Dylan stayed where she was and leaned her head to the side. "I asked for a way back to the school, not for permission to sit next to you."

Cole laughed, and the rest of them joined in. Their laughs felt fake. The sounds weren't exactly what someone would expect in a laugh. "The group will end up around here before they return to the school. If you sit here and wait for them, it will save you trouble." Then he patted the log again.

"Sorry, but I've been through a lot tonight and even more in the last few weeks. I'm still filled with adrenaline, so I'll stand."

"Suit yourself. Tell me, Dylan. What is it like to be a Shadowborn?"

This was not the first time she heard that question, and she knew it wouldn't be the last. People always asked her that question because they thought it was so much different from being a normal werewolf. At least this question always opened the doors for her to express that there wasn't much of a difference between her kind and theirs.

"I guess it's like anything else when being a werewolf. I feel the need to shift during a full moon. I have a wolf spirit inside me that needs to run free, protect others who are not as strong as me, and even the need to kill something every so often with my teeth."

"But you are a Shadowborn. You hold something inside of you that is not like other wolves." Brandy's voice was pleasant enough, but it felt like listening to someone rubbing a balloon against someone's skin.

"I guess, but it doesn't drive us the way people think it does. It's not like we have two wolves inside of us either."

There was a myth that there was a good side and bad side to Shadowborns. Inside of them were wolves that held the person's destiny inside of them. If the person chose to follow the path of their shadow wolf, then they were choosing a darker path. It was a stupid myth that made people believe Shadowborns were evil if they used their shadow wolf during battle. Dylan didn't know a single Shadowborn that didn't use their shadow wolf. Yet, none of them were evil people. If anything, she met more evil people who were non-Shadowborns.

"I never did understand that myth. How can anyone have two wolves inside of them? How would that magic work?" Lex said to no one in particular.

Dylan rolled her eyes. "That's why it is only a myth. I have dozens of Shadowborns in my life. None of them could shift into two types of wolves other than using their shadow wolf's abilities."

"That leads me to my next question," Cole's smile was a little better this time, but it still looked as if it were his wolf instead of his human self. "Are there Shadowborns with other abilities?"

Dylan wasn't sure if everyone knew Lupe was a Shadowborn, and with her long list of abilities, she seemed to know how to do what no other Shadowborn had done in front of her. Yes, Lupe was supposed to be the school's main mentor for the werewolves, but did they all do combat like she did with Dylan? If she did, did she use her Shadowborn abilities with other werewolves since other werewolves viewed Shadowborns as a threat and even evil because of the abilities granted to them by the Great Moon.

"I only know about going astral," Dylan told them. She was not about to tell these students she didn't know about Lupe's abilities. If they didn't know, she did not want to be the one to tell them this information.

"I heard there are other things a shadow wolf can do. That is why Shadowborns are so feared. Their abilities to manipulate the pack bonds, for instance. That is a lot of power inside of just one Shadowborn."

Dylan bit her lip. It was hard to distinguish who was and wasn't a Shadowborn. If these were all regular wolves, was this a setup to get Dylan to say something that would solidify their hatred for her kind?

"I never noticed my father being able to do that. He's been the Alpha of our pack for quite some time. One of the longer-running wolves for Alpha in our pack, actually."

"Are you an Alpha's daughter?" Alastair asked her. He practically drooled as the words left his mouth, and Dylan wasn't sure if he was turned on by the possibility or just intrigued.

"Yes, I am."

"So, you are a natural-born Luna?" Alastair's tone was lowered and almost seductive.

Dylan felt her wolf come to the surface just enough to be able to shift quickly if it was needed. She didn't like the way this conversation was going, either. Dylan leaned her head to the side to look as though she was stretching it, but she was actually listening to see if the group was around yet. Unfortunately, they weren't.

"I am. I have learned recently that I am mated to three wolves now. None of them are Shadowborns. So, it will be interesting for them when they all join my pack."

Cole tilted his head to the side and looked more like a wolf than human. "None of them are Alphas. I am shocked, given that you are an Alpha."

"Well, the one who rejected me is a son of an Alpha. I don't know if things will work out between us." Since the asshole decided to put a hit out on me. "Truthfully, even if he wanted a relationship, I think I'd have to pass. I don't think I can live with the fact he discarded me so easily."

The group gave her a collective grunt in agreement. She wasn't sure if she liked them agreeing with her or if it was weird they all grunted in response in the exact same way.

"We have not been accepted back from our fated mates. We have chosen to stay here and learn more about everything we can before we return home." Cole said to her.

Interesting. What else needs to be learned? I mean... there's only a handful of classes for us.

"I'm sorry you all had to go through that. At least you had someone to lean on while hearing your mates say they didn't want to accept the bond."

Alastair and Alex growled. Dylan looked at them with a cocked eyebrow and waited for them to collect themselves. She didn't care who they were or what they went through, they were not about to growl at her.

"Thank you for your kind words. I do hope your mate accepts the bond with you. He will be a better man for it."

Dylan chortled. "You sure about that? I'm not."

"What would make a confident person like yourself second guess that?"

Dylan thought about it for a second. It was going to get around the school that she had killed Camilla. Her two best friends took off before she or Hunter could tell them to keep their mouths shut because Dylan planned on telling Lupe anyway.

"Well, I killed someone tonight."

No one seemed surprised about that. Dylan felt like she was slapped in the face without reaction. Did they expect me to kill someone because I am a Shadowborn?

"It wasn't intentional at first. It was Camilla Adler. I'm sure you noticed she hadn't taken it well that Jackson Fastolf is my fated mate and not hers."

There were some groans and even a chuckle among the group. Cole looked at her with what she was sure was supposed to be a comforting face, but he didn't exactly pull it off.

"If someone chooses to ignore all of Pack Law about fated mates, then they deserve to die at the hands of the insulted party. She did not understand the boundaries that were in place once you two completed the bond. That is no one's fault but her own."

Even hearing it from someone else didn't take the guilt away. "I think she was lost to the wolf. Her eyes were glowing through the entire fight. She attacked me and made me fall off the cliff during the run."

Cole shook his head. "All she needed to do was move on. Again, not your fault that she could not accept that Jackson was not hers. Now during the fight, did you use your abilities to win?"

Man, these guys are really interested in my abilities as a Shadowborn. Why? Have they never met one before?

"No, actually. I did try to use my power and dominance to make her submit. It was kind of an effort to get her to take control of her wolf so I wouldn't have had to do what I did. It didn't work."

"She had gone feral?" Brandy and Lex said at the same time.

Okay I hope to God they never do that again.

"From what it looked like, yes."

"That's a damn shame. That didn't need to happen."

Dylan bowed her head. "That's what I keep saying to myself. It didn't need to happen. I wish it didn't. I'm going to have to live with the fact I killed her. It wasn't an opposing pack trying to take over my pack's land or anything like that. It was because she couldn't accept that Jackson wasn't hers."

"It was self-defense. That is more than acceptable."

"Maybe. But I am a Shadowborn. I am always looked at differently. Like I am a threat to every wolf in this school because I am just a little different than them. I don't understand why. It's not as if I am here to take over everyone's packs and make them my own. It's not even like I am here to take everyone's mate! If you cut me, I bleed. If you tell a joke, I might laugh. If you call me a sadistic person, it's going to hurt me. If you stab me in the heart, I will die. I am not any different than anyone else in this school. I just happen to have the magic to make myself go astral at times! I can't even do that right every time I try so I'm not even as much of a threat as everyone thinks in that area!"

Cole looked at her as if a light bulb had gone off. Dylan leaned back on a tree, taking deep breaths to calm herself, as Cole stared at her, his face as if the wheels in his mind were turning.

"What do you mean by you cannot go astral whenever you wish?"

"I mean, there are times I try to go astral, but my magic fails me in doing so."

He looked at the others, and they all had the same look he had. They knew something about this or had an idea about it. Or worse, they now saw she was less than a threat, and this was their chance to move in and kill her.

Hey, you never know people. They are sitting here by fire like a bunch of outcasts from the rest of the school while everyone else is enjoying a nice full-moon run.

"We know how we can help you with that. If you allow us, we can make it so you always go astral when you command and much, much more."

"How?"

"Meet us next Saturday at the library. We have much to discuss."