Initiation (Wolf Blood Academy Book 1) by RaShelle Workman (best book club books for discussion txt) 📕

sleeves of her sweater as perspiration beaded along her hairline and on her upper lip. Her mouth was very distracting. Plus, it was unseasonably hot today. “Well, maybe I’ll see you around,” she said and went to move around me, but I took hold of her arm. Warmth radiated through my fingers.

Definitely a blood bond. Damn!

She pulled away. “Sorry,” she said, pushing down the sleeves. “I’m all hot and sweaty.” Her cheeks blushed deeper pink.

“Can I give you a tour of the campus?”

Diana's lips pushed into a smile. “I think I’m supposed to meet over there on the grassy knoll for an official tour.” She pressed her lips together, and I realized she was trying not to laugh at me.

My face had fallen at her dismissal of my offer even though she had a point. An official tour was a good idea. “Great. I’ll join you if that’s okay.”

She shrugged, eyeing me in a way that said she couldn’t believe I would want to waste my time. “Won’t you be bored?”

“Not in the slightest,” I said and meant it.

We walked in companionable silence over to the other students. I felt like a man among teenagers, even though technically, I was still a teen. If memory served, Diana was around the same age as me, possibly a little younger.

The girl she’d been talking to in line gave me a once over. “Who’s this?” she asked when we joined the group.

“Oh, sorry. Penelope Smythe meet Wyatt?” She paused at not knowing my last name.

I stuck out my hand. “I’m Wyatt Wright. Nice to meet you.”

“And you,” the girl said, a smirk on her face.

While we waited for our guide to start the tour, I took in the other newbies sizing up the competition. I would have no problem coming out on top.

“Hey,” Diana said.

“Yeah.” My eyes found hers, and they locked.

“Uh, I wondered if you could tell us why we don’t have any class assignments yet. If this is a school, it seems logical we would attend classes?” She was flipping through her packet like she’d missed her schedule somehow.

“She’s beyond new,” Penelope said, snorting and laughing, her upper body shaking awkwardly.

“That’s true,” Diana admitted. “It’s only been a few days since I found out about…” She paused and considered how to finish.

I watched the different emotions race across her beautiful face, though I didn’t know her well enough to be able to read what they all meant. I hoped to remedy that sooner rather than later. “The fact that you have a wolf inside you,” I finished, winking. Then I mentally punched myself in the face. I was acting to fresh around Diana and needed to calm the eff down.

She swallowed so loud I heard it. “Exactly,” she said, glancing down at her boots.

So close to her, I got a whiff of her hair—like apple blossoms and sliced oranges. Good enough to eat. I casually breathed in, and my wolf shuddered. It made me wonder how Diana was handling the blood bond. She was probably craving me as much as I craved her, though it was difficult to tell. The feelings would probably get worse once she shifted the first time. Then her wolf and the human part of her psyche would become more in sync. For that reason, I really wanted her to shift. If memory served, she would have to during the first test.

Chapter Six

Diana

From the moment I saw Wyatt again, there was an almost irresistible current of desire for him tingling along my skin. At the same time, there was resistance. An almost primal loathing. The dual needs hurt my head, and I had a splitting headache.

Penelope, Wyatt, and I talked about the basics. From our chat, I found out Penelope was from Brooklyn, New York. She had a definite accent, and I enjoyed listening to her talk. Turned out, she was the youngest of four children. Her whole family belonged to Claw house. That’s where she hoped to wind up too.

Mother had gone over the houses, including Legacy, Claw, and Familiar. Supposedly, my dad was a Legacy, but mom said it didn’t matter what house I ended up in, as long as I was happy. I also learned that my father, who I believed was an archeologist and traveled all over the world, was actually the dean of the Wolf Blood Academy. When I asked her why she hadn’t told me what she was, what she and my dad were, she explained she hadn’t wanted this life for me, and my dad had been okay with that.

Obviously.

It’d been years since I’d seen him.

I also learned most wolf bloods go through a change during their preteen years where their parents hold a ceremony and help them change. That hadn’t happened for me either.

That meant I was behind on everything. Most of the other students had been shifting for years. I was terrified. Would it hurt? What if I couldn’t change? What if because I waited so long, the wolf part of myself was broken and wouldn’t work? The questions and worries went on and on.

I had asked mom to show me how to shift, but she said she wasn’t allowed. It was too dangerous. Shifting for the first time at my age outside the protection of the Wolf Blood Academy might end with a neighbor getting eaten. She'd meant to alleviate my fears, but my anxieties worsened.

When I asked why I hadn’t been given a class schedule, Wyatt and Penelope had exchanged a look.

“Before you are placed in classes, you must first go through an initiation. Three tests. They will determine which house you belong in and what classes are best for you to take.”

“Initiation?” This was the first I heard about it. “What kinds of tests?”

“Actually, no one will say,” Penelope said, and I saw a shiver of nerves course through her. “Do you know?” she asked Wyatt.

He nodded grimly. Glanced back and forth between us, shoving his hands in his pockets. “It’s all a