Chapter 9

Dylan

T he paper nailed to the wall entailed the schedule she would have to adhere to over the next few months. A snarl filled the room as Dylan committed it to memory. The etiquette course was first on the list. It was the only class she had an issue with because she knew her attitude was due to being raised by Alphas. It was the nature of an Alpha to be as rigid as she was, and that was everything needed to run the pack. She could never allow someone to bully her around without a fight. How she handled the situation with Silas wouldn't have changed with any other dominant female of her level.

A knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts. She called out for them to come in, knowing it was Serafine from the scent. The smile on Serafine's face made Dylan groan. Serafine was a morning person, which Dylan particularly wasn't, but she could at least still function during the morning hours.

"I find it insulting that I have to go to this stupid class. What am I even going to learn there?" Dylan whined to her friend.

Serafine laughed and hopped onto her bed. " How to walk, talk, and act like a Luna? That would be my first guess, anyway."

Dylan growled. "I was getting that through my damn mother. Why would I want some teacher, who was probably never a Luna to begin with, to teach me how to do these things? My mother was perfectly capable of teaching me what I needed to know!"

"I'm sure there is more to it they can teach you here. I mean, while you are here learning this stuff, it means you don't have to go through as much training under your mom when you go back."

Dylan took a deep breath. Serafine had a point. She would need less training if she were taught everything here. It could mean she would be ready to be a Luna as soon as she was mated, or her father allowed her to take over the pack instead of having her mother still looking over her shoulder and teaching her things while she tried to run the pack. It was what all Luna's did when a new one took over. They would help train the new ones until they felt they weren't needed anymore. If she could skip that step entirely, that would be a blessing. She loved her mother, but sometimes the woman could be a little much.

"I guess it won't be too bad. Didn't you say we have the same schedule?"

She nodded. "Yeah, but in my one-on-one, I am to learn emotional regulation and coping skills to help curb my quirkiness." Serafine rolled her eyes. "It's not like they can beat this out of me. I just like seeing things from a positive perspective."

Dylan smiled at her. "You know what? I thought that would make me run in the opposite direction because of that, but it's actually quite addicting to be around your positivity right now. It's better than just being my normal self and wanting to punch people who annoy me. The fact that you need a class to ‘fix' that annoys me for you. I hope you show them that it's not something that can be changed or fixed. It's literally who you are."

Serafine laughed. "I find that quite endearing about you. You don't take shit from anyone. I can feel that. You are unapologetically you. I can't wait to see how that plays out in class today."

Dylan looked back at her class schedule and smiled. She couldn't wait to see how it played out herself. Would the teachers find her annoying and keep her from graduating? Would they see that as an asset for her to be a Luna someday and allow her ways to be something to look up to instead?

I guess we will find out.

Breakfast was surprisingly quiet. Dylan noticed dirty looks thrown her way from Camilla and her goons' table for the duration but nothing more. The expectancy of Camilla wanting to try to assert her Queen Bee dominance over her and Serafine in front of the whole school felt like water under the bridge compared to what Dylan thought. Did she think this meant Camilla accepted the fact Dylan showed her she wouldn't tolerate being pushed around? No. As a matter of fact, Dylan was wondering when the sneak attack would happen because that normally happens in these situations. Instead of some spectacle, Camilla and her squad ate their food, threw a few glances their way, and then walked out of the room to their classes.

I should be doing the same damn thing.

Without thinking much about it, Dylan ate her food and followed suit. Serafine was on her heels and discussing what she expected during this class. Dylan didn't have high hopes that it would be interesting. Etiquette classes just sounded like someone learning how to be "proper." She was anything but proper. As they walked up the stairs to the second floor, Dylan took note of the other supernaturals she noticed in the halls. A few had very pale complexions and a sort of shimmer around them. Dylan smelled something sweet like mint with some char as she walked by them, hinting at the magic around them and calling out to her. From what she knew about the Fae, that was the last thing she should do. Their magic revolved around making deals, which always came at a price. She could smell other scents of shifters of various animals and even some that smelled of smoke.

A phoenix or maybe a dragon? Boy, that would be scary to piss off.

Dylan looked at the map she received and other school supplies from the academy to assist with their time there. The map pointed out the hallways where her classes were held and even the fastest pathways to get there. She noticed there were certain corridors for certain types of classes. It made her snort, knowing she would be in the same area as the other supernaturals, and she wondered if there had been any deaths in the school while housing all of them at once. Before she knew it, she was in the classroom for Etiquette. There were about twenty desks in the room, with a large one in front of a chalkboard. All of the desks were taken in the back. Dylan rolled her eyes at the sinking feeling of being back in high school. She was never the one who made it a point to sit in the back to make people who felt awkward sit in the front where the teacher singled them out. As someone who was to be a Luna someday, she sometimes gave up her seat in the back so someone who was really shy could sit in the back. It didn't matter to her. She was there to learn something and then go home.

Same thing right now. I am here to get through these classes and go home.

Camilla smirked at the sight of Dylan walking into the room, and Dylan smiled right back. An interesting thought crossed her mind, and Dylan didn't hesitate to see it through.

"Hi, Camilla! I didn't expect you to be in an etiquette class! If anything, I thought you'd be teaching it."

Camilla made a low growl to sound threatening, but it only made Dylan's smile grow. "If you think that is going to bother me, nice try. Looks like your mate didn't like how you talked either."

"Talked. Acted. The whole nine yards. I challenged the asshole and won. Made his ass sweat by locking him in place. It was hil-ar-ious!" Dylan made sure to enunciate that last word.

Serafine laughed along with some of the others. Camilla's eyes went wide, and then she scoffed. "No wonder he rejected you. That's just disrespectful!"

Dylan laughed, sat in her seat, and turned toward Camilla. "That was the point. The dick thought he could intimidate me, and I showed him he couldn't. At least he knows that he won't get away with that shit when he comes back and claims me. Hell, I might reject him and make his ass go through these classes himself."

Squeaks from shoes on the linoleum made Dylan turn in her seat to find Jackson walking into the room. Dylan raised an eyebrow at him, not expecting him in this class. His eyes found hers immediately, and Dylan's breath caught in her throat. The corners of his lips turned up a little before he winked, making Dylan's stomach do a flip. She had forgotten they were in a classroom before he sat beside her. Not once did their eyes break from each other's. Dylan nervously wiggled in her seat, waiting for him to drop his eyes or do something other than hold her gaze. It wasn't until someone was clearing their throat that they did. Dylan whipped her head to the front of the room and found an aging Werewolf with her arms crossed and looking down her nose at them.

The woman's faded copper-colored hair had some silver at its roots, and her steel gray eyes were zeroed in on Dylan. There was some roundness to her body, but once Werewolves aged past a couple of hundred years, their muscles weren't as firm, and their metabolism finally slowed, especially if they didn't keep up with the rigorous training they had to complete to stay in battle shape. She wore a pair of black slacks and a deep blue button-up blouse, her hair in a bun on top of her head. The only thing missing was a pair of glasses hanging on a chain around her neck, and she would have checked off the boxes for a typical teacher look.

She finally broke eye contact with Dylan, making her wolf settle. Dylan wasn't sure if it was due to not being more dominant than Dylan or just tired of looking at her from the face she made before she stood in front of the chalkboard.

Here we go.

"Good morning, class. I am Professor Lunapei. That is Loon-ah-pay, and don't catch me hearing you trying to call me anything else." She lifted a piece of chalk from the tray and wrote it out on the board. "I am here to teach you everything you need to know about proper etiquette in the Werewolf culture. Failure in this class will only cause you to have to repeat it in the spring semester." Lunapei turned to face them. "Does anyone here know the seven key components in navigating professional situations?"

There are seven components to this stuff? Holy shit.

Dylan saw Lunapei's chin lift a little, and her eyes narrowed at Camilla's raised hand. "Miss Adler, I would assume you know this as this is your second semester in my classroom. How about we give someone who hasn't taken my class a chance."

A collective "Ooooh" filled the room. Dylan sniggered but raised her hand to play it off that it wasn't her.

Lunapei nodded for her to answer. "I'm not sure about all of them, but I do know a proper introduction is one of them."

"Correct, Miss Pierce! Proper Introduction is the first component when meeting new people, especially in professional situations. Is there anyone else who can give me others since it doesn't seem anyone here knows them all?"

Others raised their hands and added the other seven components Professor Lunapei sought. The seven components were Proper Introduction, Dining Etiquette, Communication Skills, Professional Conduct, Social Graces, Cultural Sensitivity, and Networking Etiquette. The point of the class was to teach them these seven things to help them hone their skills to be the best they could be in social situations such as pack meetings and meet-and-greets.

Dylan didn't think this class would benefit her until now. Her mother touched on them when it came to being a Luna, but this felt more intensive. Professor Lunapei indicated they would discuss and act out the situations and how to properly navigate each throughout the class. They would receive points on different factors and would be graded on each one individually. At the end of the semester, she would host a party for them to show what they had learned, and during the party, she would grade them on how well they implemented the lessons. Dylan was amazed at how thorough it would be and sighed a bit, knowing this wouldn't waste her time.

During the whole class, she felt Jackson's eyes on her. She did her best to keep her eyes forward, but she gave in a couple of times, and he smiled each time she did. She felt the glares from behind her, but she ignored them. She didn't care if Camilla didn't like Jackson giving her any kind of attention. The whole point of being here was to get through the classes and go home. There was no time to deal with a bimbo who couldn't take having another person getting attention. Camilla would have to come to terms with it, or Dylan would have to challenge her to get her to knock her shit off.

"Now, class, I want to see you all give a proper introduction before we leave here today. What goes into proper introductions, you may ask? Let's review the components of one. First, you must give a greeting. Hello is the best way to do it, but you can also use good morning, afternoon, or evening. Then, you must state your name, rank, and pack name. Touch is a huge cultural thing for our people, so I suggest holding your hand to complete a handshake. You should always have a firm grip, but not so firm that it hurts. Even in social gatherings, staring at someone in their eyes is rude unless you intend to spark their wolves into a challenge. No matter the person's control over their wolf, it will end in a challenge. Be sure to listen to them as they speak about their name, rank, and pack name. It will always show that you are someone to connect with if you listen to, understand, and remember before you respond. We have many packs and hundreds of werewolves that we may meet someday. Not listening to them as you build yourself a network will cost you."

The professor wrote down the key things to remember, such as an introduction and notes on what to do on the board. Dylan jotted them down in her notebook and jumped when the professor called Serafine up to complete her introduction. Dylan looked over at her friend, who had the face of someone who looked as though they were shitting a brick. The nervous energy rolled off Serafine as she plastered her smile on her face. Dylan wanted to jump up and volunteer to complete it herself, but Lunapei noticed Dylan moving and silenced her with a glare. Dylan stopped the growl in her throat because it would only cause things to get worse.

Serafine slowly approached Professor Lunapei and held out her hand. "Hello. I am Serafine Osmera. I am the Beta's daughter of the Crystal Valley Pack. It's lovely to meet you."

Professor Lunapei smiled, took Serafine's hand, and shook it. "Good morning, Serafine. I am Laura Lunapei, Professor in the Werewolf Etiquette course at RISE Academy." She turned to the rest of the class. "Serafine did wonderfully. Now, I want the rest of you to do the same."

One by one, each student was called up to complete the task of introducing themselves correctly. A few appeared nervous and tripped over their words, some just had suggestions of speaking louder or clearer because they mumbled, and then some botched the handshake. Lunapei narrowed her eyes at them and said through her teeth that it was inappropriate to squeeze her hand until the bones cracked. Camilla did hers, and Dylan was surprised to learn she was the daughter of a Gamma. Third in the pack was high, but Camilla acted as though she was the daughter of an Alpha. It also meant she should carry more power than it seemed she had, which made Dylan smile a little.

Jackson was next. Dylan noted that his power rolled off him in waves as he strolled confidently up to Professor Lunapei. He reached out his hand with an award-winning smile. Dylan's stomach did a flip at the sight of it and nearly missed his introduction.

"Hello, I am Jackson Fastolf, Beta of the Silver Falls Pack. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Dylan's mouth dropped open at Jackson's reveal. She knew she could feel power from him but expected him only to be the son of someone high-ranking. It didn't dawn on her that he could already be a ranking wolf in a pack. He looked to be her age, and most of her age didn't get a rank until they were mated. Lunapei shook his hand and commented on Jackson's flawless introduction, especially since he was a ranking werewolf and knew to look past her at the wall instead of her eyes, so there was no challenge for the wolf. When he sat down, Dylan looked at him, and he winked at her again. The butterflies in her stomach made her nervous about her own introduction.

Would he care that I am not ranking yet? Wait. Why am I asking that? He isn't my mate! Why should he care about where I rank? Oh my God, do I need to get it together!

"Miss Pierce, you are up."

Dylan was used to completing introductions at events because her parents taught her at a young age to at least state her name and rank. She stood up, walked confidently to the front of the room, and held out her hand to Professor Lunapei. "Hello. I am Dylan Pierce, daughter of Alpha Valko Pierce of the Silver Moon Pack."

A collective gasp rang through the room. Dylan looked over at them and was confused as to why they would gasp at the name of her pack. Lunapei broke the tension that rose through the room by making an announcement.

"You are a Shadowborn."

Dylan dropped her hand to her side. "I am."

"Well, it's going to get interesting around here." Her eyes went to Dylan's hand, so she raised it again, and Lunapei took it. Dylan was sure to apply pressure, but not much, and not look in the eyes but instead at the wall. Lunapei bowed her head. "Another wonderful example."

The bell rang, and Lunapei dropped her hand. Dylan tried her best not to look at the professor's eyes, but there was something off about Lunapei now that it was revealed she was a Shadowborn. Lunapei's face seemed to hold nothing other than interest in her, but something was in the air. Dylan turned toward her seat and sniffed the air as people left the room. She didn't notice before, but someone's wolf was close to the surface. Dylan kept her wits about her as she gathered her things. Serafine was at her back as she stood straight and noticed the room was empty outside of them, including Lunapei.

Why did the teacher leave? She has a class coming in after this.

"Well, that was an interesting class. It's kind of nice to know that it won't be boring," Serafine told her as they walked out of the room.

"Yeah, definitely. Did you smell someone's wolf at the end of class?"

Serafine frowned. "No. Why?"

"I did."

"Why would someone have their wolf that close to shifting during a laid-back class? It's not like combat training or something."

Dylan wasn't sure how to answer that one. But knowing someone was easily threatened at the mention of her being a Shadowborn was not a good sign. She knew she would need to keep herself on guard now.

Of course I do. It's only the first class of a new semester, and I may have made an enemy at the mention of what I am! Why did I think this shit would be easy?