“It’s not,” I snarled. She didn’t look up, and I could smell her shame and
regret.
She pushed her hands through her hair. “Look, I’m sorry. I’m just afraid
of how bad this could get. These are my people. But…” She paused and
flexed her fists. “You’re part of that group now. I’ll fight with you and help
you any way I can. But if the cost gets too high, if Kahanov starts killing—”
I put up my hand and walked back past the old bleachers and down the
hall to the ladies’ room, leaving Regina and her fear and resentment far
behind me. I plopped down on a toilet, closed the door of the stall, and slid
the latch shut. Then I wept.
It didn’t last long. I’d used up most of my tears when my parents died and
didn’t have much in the way of reserves of self-pity. So after a few moments,
I gingerly dabbed my face and eyes with some toilet paper.
Damn it, Savy, get a grip.
I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and concentrated on retracting my
claws, just like Jaxson had taught me. Of course, they didn’t budge.
Gritting my teeth, I thought of his voice. His scent. The feel of his
presence, his command over me.
That did the trick.
Annoyance tugged at me. How was it that he still had control even when
he wasn’t there?
As my claws retracted, the turmoil of emotions churning in my chest
slowly began to subside. The rage faded, my wolf let go, and clarity returned.
I breathed a sigh of relief and opened my eyes.
It wasn’t a nice toilet stall, and I instantly regretted my hiding spot.
Over the years, scores of girls, and probably quite a few guys, had carved
hundreds of graffitied marks into the walls of the stall—phone numbers, dirty
phrases, existential questions, and a few naughty stick figures on roller-
skates.
One made me smile—a girl with large tits kicking a guy in the balls. The