Untamed (Rejected Mate Academy #1) - E. M. Moore Page 0,3

ever wanted to hit an authority figure? I have. Many, many times.

I stuff that urge—along with the growing grief—back into a small ball. My wolf bares her teeth, growling as if Jonah rejecting us is all my fault. I breathe out in a rasp once I’ve forced her to retreat, and when I glance up, Ms. Ebon holds a glass of water in front of my face. Grasping it, I give her a small “thank you.”

She takes her seat across from me again, staring more curiously. When I meet her gaze with my own, she pulls a file into her lap and starts flipping through its contents. I instantly straighten, peering over, trying to catch a glimpse. It must be about me. What else could my advisor be doing during our first meeting? When I spot the quarter moon in the center of a few of the papers, it dawns on me that it must be Pack Council letterhead. That, right there, is communication about me from my own pack.

I take another drink, gulping down half the glass before placing the cup on the side table. I wish I’d had more time with Mom and Dad before I left. We were too shocked for proper goodbyes. Mom didn’t even start crying until I was forced in the back of the Pack car with no reassurance of when I would return.

Actually, that’s a fantastic question. I clear my throat and peer at Ms. Ebon. “How long do I have to stay here for?”

She glances over the file. “Until you’re reformed.”

“That sounds vague. When will that be?”

“When you move through your appropriate classes and your mate”—she checks the paperwork again—“decides that he’ll accept you.”

I scoff. I don’t mean to. It just comes out. Why the hell would I care if he wanted to accept me? What about what I want? Maybe I don’t want to accept him.

“If you fail to do so, you’ll be cast out of Lunar Pack, the other packs will shun you, and you will live Feral.”

Oh right. Fuck. Sometimes I’m too stubborn for my own good. I’ll unpack my feelings about him later. This is much more serious.

My wolf barely reacts, so either I’ve majorly pissed her off or she’s not listening anymore. While she pouts, real fear slices through me. If Greystone Academy was the cautionary tale of wolf society, Feral was the scary story told around campfires. No one who went Feral ever lived to talk about it.

Ms. Ebon still studies me, so I tap my fingers against the arm of the chair and nod toward the paperwork. “Is that about me?”

She flips the folder closed and offers me the entire file. “It is. It’s communication from both the Lunar Pack Council and Jonah Livestrong.”

My stare immediately tracks to her, questioning as she waits for me to take the folder. It doesn’t seem likely that she would let me read what everyone has to say about me. Unless I’m missing something…

She shakes the manila folder. “Go ahead. I don’t believe in keeping things from my students. You have a fight in front of you, young one.”

I take the file from her, spying my name in elegant handwriting on the tab. My stomach squeezes. I try to stifle my nerves, but when I open the folder on my lap, my hand quivers. I have no doubt Ms. Ebon sees my reaction. She’s been watching me like a hawk since I got here, and I’m suddenly well aware that she’s most likely assessing me at this very moment. Maybe her opinion matters in this whole scheme of things—in my “reform.”

I sit up straighter as I scan the first document. Mate Rejection Slip is typed on the top. I almost shut the fucking file right there. Mate Rejection Slip. Taking those words in makes me nauseous. Why would anyone reject their mate? Their true love? Isn’t doing so like a huge slap in the face of our pack dynamics?

When you think about it, it doesn’t make sense that I’m the one in here and he’s out there. A growl crawls up my throat. It sounds like my wolf and I can find something to agree on. We might—well, she might crave him on some sort of instinctual level, but that doesn’t mean we have to like him right now.

He’s the reason we’re here, and I’m not sure I can get over that.

If only fate had skipped me. I would’ve been happy as an unmated wolf. Fuck all this love