Walking into the quad, I quickly located April amongst her little group. She was holding court with about six other girls, and had her back turned to me.

Shaking my head, I approached her. I’d finally gotten the hang of the low heels she forced me to wear. It took a bit of care to make sure I didn’t step on the swishing full dress she’d wrapped around my frame. You had to kind of kick the dress out of the way, before taking a step or you risked a tumble, and I was humiliated enough already without adding that little cherry on the sundae.

I did some quick isometrics with my biceps, quads, and pectoral muscles to appear as masculine as I could. Sweat gleamed on my smooth skin, and all things considered, I didn’t hate the way the bodice enhanced my pecs.

“I’m here,” I said, trying to glower. I didn’t have to try very hard.

“Oh, fool.” She gave a little wave of her hand as if the entire incident in the weight room had never happened. “We were just talking about you.”

“That so?”

“Mhmm.” She approached me. “Kayla and Stephanie want me to go full face makeup next, but Jenni and Charlotte think I should start working on that frame to make it a bit more willowy. What do you think?”

I sighed. “What does it matter what I think?”

She gave me a bright smile. “You’re right! It doesn’t matter!”

She turned with a gleeful twirl of her hair and dress to gossip some more with her group.

I stood, feeling like an idiot, and found Mitzy and Jeff in the crowd. They spoke with each other but nodded at me and Mitzy gave me a forlorn wave.

Miss Minnick, Henry James, the SchoolMaster and High Sorcerer, along with Pete Vargas, our werewolf alpha pack leader and the chief of security approached us a few minutes later.

“Miss Lancaster,” Henry James said. “A word, please.”

April turned to them, and for a brief moment, I saw her eyes go black, but then they returned to normal. “Of course!”

The group walked off a ways, and Jeff and Mitzy took the opportunity to slide up to me.

“What do you think that’s about?” Jeff said.

“What do you think?” I replied. I felt a quickening in my guts like butterflies would come spewing out of my mouth. I wish I’d eaten more than just the sandwich, I was now ravenously hungry.

Which is not a good state for a Werewolf to be.

“Think they’re going to suspend you, Seth?” Mitzy said. Her eyes were wide. She was a severe introvert and hated confrontations, so this must have been torture for her.

“Hey,” I said, putting my hands on her shoulders. “Whatever happens, whatever they do has nothing to do with you.”

She nodded, swallowing, and I could tell she was holding back tears. “I feel—“

“I know how you feel.” I tipped her chin so she’d look up into my eyes. “Don’t worry. No matter what happens, we’ll all be okay.”

She nodded again; then her eyes darted to the group of administrators.

They were telling April something she didn’t want to hear. I could see her stamping her foot in frustration, and her voice took on a higher pitch. I used my curse to narrow the focus of my hearing, to eavesdrop a little on their conversation.

“Miss Lancaster, you have put this entire school in jeopardy with this little game you are playing with a powerful Shifter. It ends now,” Miss Minnick said.

“But he agreed to it!” April protested. “I’m just making him follow through on his commitment! Isn’t that what you want the students of High Valley High to achieve?”

“In normal circumstances, that might be the case,” Henry James said. “But I know your mother has brought you in on the situation we are currently facing. Do you want to possibly add a feral werewolf on top of all that?”

Wait. What was this now?

April’s shoulders deflated. “No.”

“This occurrence happens once every thousand years. Do you really want to be the one to undo everything we’ve brought to focus here at High Valley High?”

“Oooh, it isn’t fair!” she said, stamping her foot. “You know how bad my Cycle has been over the past few months!”

“I know, child, believe me,” Miss Minnick said. “I’ll bring in an ifrit to ground you out if needed.

“Under normal circumstances, I’d be all for you doing whatever you wanted with Atkins,” Pete Vargas said. “He’s strong and could be a future alpha, for sure, so anything to humble him is okay in my book. But right now, with the Who, who stands at the Gate, we can’t risk anything more than what will happen. We’ll need him and every single shifter we can get to combat this Thing.”

I frowned. What the hell were they talking about?

“Do you guys know anything about a Gate and someone standing at it?” I whispered.

Both of my friends shook their heads.

“What gate?” Jeff said, a little too loud.

Miss Minnick shot us a glance, and I saw her eyes focus on me. Heat waves rose off her brow, and I briefly saw her skin fade to red before returning to normal.

“Aw, shit,” I said.

“What?”

“You let the bag out of the cat.”

The group returned. Pete put a hand on my shoulder, and I’m not sure it was a friendly gesture.

“This little game you’ve been playing is over,” Miss Minnick said. “Mr. Atkins, you are no longer April’s fool.”

The crowd moaned as one at this. “Aww, it was fun, though!” Jenni Stapleton said.

“Miss Landcaster, you will return Mr. Atkins to normal this instant.”

She waved her hand, and I was wearing what I put on this morning, jeans, a pullover polo shirt, and my trusty athletic shoes.

“I can’t do anything about the hair or your skin, but you should be your normal hairy self after your next change,” she said in a deflated voice.
Pete’s grip became stronger.

“Thank you,” I said. “Here’s your backpack.”

She took it without saying anything. Then, strangely, her eyes turned on Mitzy. “Be good to him.”

Mitzy blinked. “Okay?”

April spun and returned to her little group.

“I wonder what that was—“

“We need to talk,” Pete said. He pulled me over toward the wall.

“That’s all to see, children. Fun is over. Now, what do we say about getting to class?”

They began to echo. “To be early is to be—“ but the rest of the chant was drowned out by the furious Alpha wolf who was gripping my collarbone like he wanted to crush it.

“Ow!” I said, wrenching myself from his grip. “What the hell, Pete?”

Pete was short, stocky, and had stiff black hair and tan skin. He was Latino and spoke with a slight accent.

“You dodged a bullet here, Ese.”

I rubbed my collarbone where he’d gripped me. It was going to bruise. “How so?”

His finger came up.

“One: that little girl has no idea how close she came to triggering you. Two: I can smell the change on you, so you got this close—“ he held up his fingers about an inch apart, “to going full feral and being stuck as a wolf the rest of your life! What the fuck, Seth? You know better!”

“Yeah, she got under my skin a little,” I said. “I admit it.”

“I should have let that girl turn you full-on bitch!” He gave me a sharp slap across the face, and I yelped. “You are way to smart to let a little brujita like that get the better of you! Let her play her games, but you don’t, don’t—“

He flicked me hard with his index finger on my forehead.

“You don’t let her get to you like that. You’re way too smart of a student to be a feral werewolf locked in a pen, Ese.”

“I get it, Pete, Jesus.”

He shook his head, took a few deep breaths, and controlled himself.

“What the hell were you guys talking about back there anyway? What was that about a Gate?”

He looked at me and ground his teeth. “Using your curse to eavesdrop, are we?”

I gave a little shrug.

He sighed heavily. “Look. I’m not supposed to tell you this…or even mention it.” He held his hands out, closed his eyes and shook his head.

“Something is about to go down in High Valley. Something big.”

I resisted the urge to prod some more and let him figure out what he wanted to say.

“And it’s coming at the dark of the moon. When all of our power is at its lowest.”