I don't know who told Mr. Smurfeet that Peer Group Class was a good idea. For fuck's sake we weren't even a tangible number.
Just six students and yet he had us grouped in twos and gave us an hour to make friends and bond with our partners, over a cup of coffee.
I curve my protests into a helpless scowl . Ginger also had a similar scowl. But Allen and Scott had satisfied smiles all over their faces. If anything, compared to our really really tight rigorous schedules, Peer Group Class seemed pretty trivial.
I mean, who wouldn't like a full hour of casual unsupervised talk. It sounded kinda synonymous with doing nothing.
I found myself paired with Minata Straus. Her stunning features were enough to disrupt my confidence. I sat mechanically, watching her willowy figure lower itself gracefully into the seat across mine.
"Night Carter" Her smile is broad."Jordan's friend." Her eyelids flutters accusatorily over me and her face contorts into a frown.
Since the day Viviette Tom and Minata bumped into Jordan and I in the hallway, Minata keeps glaring at me in class as if she wants to wring my neck.
Eight days ago. Eight different shades of murderous glare.
My head do a little spin. I want to tell her Jordan was a prickling pain in my ass and if at all, we were nothing like friends. But my heart grip this lie and shove it down my throat and instead I say listlessly "Minata Straus. Jordan's mate."
"A not so pleasurable honor" She murmurs, folding her white hands on the table with all the innocence of a waxen doll.
"An honor none the less " I say dryly, silently cursing Mr. Smurfeet. God. What do Minata and I have to talk about.
"Do you remember the day I told you I wished I would be Jordan's Luna" She sighs.
I remember the letter folded into a childishly cute butterfly. I remember the crushing hug she had given me when I told her he had agreed to be her Fest date. I remember a lot of things .
A lump rise in my throat. I drown it in my glass of coffee.
"Guess wishes do come through after all" I sigh .
"Sometimes " She shrugs " Ah. Your cup is empty. You want more?"
I nodded my head mechanically while she caressed the coffee mug. My eyes flirted around the room. Scott had been paired with Ginger. Allen Reds had been paired with Jordan who looked thoroughly bored and unamused. I stiffled a laugh.
When Minata handed me my coffee cup, I drained it's contents in one gulp. The coffee sat warm in my stomach.
"Do you know the best bit of wolf lore?" She asks casually.
I raise an eyebrow "Call me clueless" Minata is looking at me as one would look at a child. Her flawless face is contorted into a demeaning sneer.
For the second time in eleven minutes, I am wondering what unlucky wisp of fate paired me with her.
She smirks "Let me enlighten your pathetic ignorance" She gestures smilingly to Jordan Files "Mates will always stay Mates. No one is wiser than the Almighty Moon Goddess. Some may rebel at first. But a little rebellion never severs a fated connection. "
"Well, congratulations " I manage a smile, still confused as to where the conversation was headed.
She leans closer in a chilly whisper "Always remember that, little human wannabe".
My stomach churned and somehow my face contorted into a frown. Something was working its way through my chest.
When the bell rang and the class fizzled out, I sat in my seat , slowly watching the whole world blur in front of me. The edges of the classroom wavered as though someone had dipped the room in water, and my vision couldn't quite focus on anything. I blinked, thinking it was fatigue—but the blur didn't recede.
My hands trembled slightly as I shifted in my chair, gripping the sides to steady myself. A tingling, prickling sensation crawled from my fingers up my arms, spreading a cold weight that made my muscles feel unfamiliar, foreign. My legs felt leaden, like they belonged to someone else entirely. I tried to rise, to escape the suffocating haze, but my knees refused to bend properly.
A strange lightness stirred in my chest, as if my lungs were filled with air too thin to support me. My breath was almost nonexistent, tingly and faint, and every inhale seemed to falter halfway. My stomach churned in panic as the reality settled like ice in my veins: I couldn't move properly. Not fully.
"Night" A voice cut through the haze, familiar, tinged with that grating arrogance. Jordan Files. Footsteps approached. I couldn't speak. I couldn't move. I was finding it hard to breathe.
His hands caressed my face. I felt the panic surge through him. His hands dropped to my arms, turning it this way and that.
"You are turning blue" He said solemnly "Wolfskull."
I heard him rattle the china on the table.
"Wolfskull" I heard him say again.
"Am I going to die?" The words drifted out of my mouth with all the lifelessness of a whisper.
"Your coffee was poisoned" He said , pulling me to my feet while my legs wobbled and I collapsed feebly against him. "Who was here?"
"Minata Straus" I said hoarsely while he jerked me unto his arms and I could feel us moving. My eyes were closing. My breathe was finishing. And somehow the tugging thought on my mind was that Minata Straus had poisoned my cup of coffee. And I was going to die. My head banged as if it had been struck by a sledgehammer. Jordan wrapt his arms tightly around me .
"Don't die on me, please" His voice was hoarse and something wet dropped on my lips. I opened my mouth to taste it. It was salty. Tears.